Intercontinental Formula
The Intercontinental Formula (German: Intercontinental Formula) was a motor racing series that was held in Great Britain in 1961 . The series was initially intended as an alternative to Formula 1 , but could not establish itself. The attempt to establish it in the long term failed after only half a year.
background
The introduction of the Intercontinental Formula had its origins in a change in the regulations for Formula 1. Up to 1960 , engines with a displacement of up to 2.5 liters were permitted in the World Automobile Championship, which was carried out according to the Formula 1 regulations. In the autumn of 1958, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI), as the responsible supervisory authority, decided to align the Formula 1 regulations with those of the previous Formula 2 : At the beginning of the 1961 season , Formula 1 only had engines with a displacement of at least 1.3 and maximum 1.5 liters allowed; there were also smaller cars with a minimum weight of 450 kg.
Most designers initially rejected these rule changes. The British teams in particular openly threatened to boycott the Formula 1 World Championship from 1961. They believed that the rule change was aimed at unilaterally favoring Ferrari and Porsche , which had been successful in Formula 2. In the expectation that the 1.5-liter Formula 1 would fail prematurely, they developed plans for an alternative racing series, the main object of which was to maintain the previous Formula 1 regulations. The British manufacturers Cooper Car , Lotus and BRM were primarily involved in these plans ; The engine manufacturer Coventry Climax was also involved in the project. Initially, the Italian Scuderia Ferrari was also one of the proponents of the new series. The idea was to have the races in Great Britain and Italy; A medium-term expansion into the USA is also being considered. The name Intercontinental Formula resulted from this international approach .
On the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix in 1960 , Scuderia Ferrari surprisingly announced that it would only take part in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1961. The reason for this was that Ferrari's smaller six-cylinder engine, which complies with the new Formula 1 regulations, had proven to be very powerful in the first test drives. A little later, Coventry Climax also withdrew. The company relied on limited manufacturing capacity, which would primarily be needed for the new, small Formula 1 engines. In the period that followed, negotiations with Italian racetrack operators also failed, so that the Intercontinental Formula was ultimately limited to racetracks in Great Britain.
Between March and August 1961, only five races of the Intercontinental Formula took place. BRM and Lotus took part with one or two cars, the other teams were private racing teams. In 1962 there were no more runs.
Some of the vehicles were sold to Australia at the end of the year. There they ran in individual Australian Intercontinental races. They were the forerunners of the Tasman series established in 1964, which was further based on the rules of the Intercontinental Formula.
Regulations
The rules of the Intercontinental Formula largely corresponded to the Formula 1 rules in force until 1960. Deviating from this, the maximum displacement was increased to 3.0 liters, which on the one hand allowed the existing engines to be enlarged, but on the other hand also opened up the possibility of using modified American series engines in the medium term. But it didn't come to that.
run
At the opening race in Snetterton , in addition to vehicles from the Intercontinental Formula, cars that complied with the new Formula 1 regulations were also permitted. The starting field consisted of 14 drivers, only five of whom entered Intercontinental vehicles. Nine drivers competed with current Formula 1 cars. With Jack Brabham and Cliff Allison , two Intercontinental drivers took the first two places, but all the other drivers who crossed the finish line after them were driving Formula 1 cars. The second race, which took place a week later at Goodwood , was reserved for the Intercontinental Formula. There were a total of nine drivers at the start. All came to the goal. In the third race, the traditional BRDC International Trophy in Silverstone, the starting field comprised 21 drivers. It was similar in the following two races.
The most successful car in the series was the Cooper T53 with a Climax engine: all five victories went to drivers of this car. Stirling Moss , who competed for the Rob Walker Racing Team , won three of the five races; Jack Brabham won the other races .
Overview: results
| No. | date | Race (track) |
Distance (km) |
First | Second | Third | Pole position | Fastest lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 26, 1961 |
Lombard Bank Trophy ( Snetterton ) |
161,334 |
 Jack Brabham( Cooper ) |
 Cliff Allison( Lotus ) |
John Surtees ( Cooper ) |
Innes Ireland ( Lotus ) |
Innes Ireland ( Lotus ) |
| 2 | April 3, 1961 |
Lavant Cup ( Goodwood ) |
81.102 |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
 Bruce McLaren( Cooper ) |
Graham Hill ( BRM ) |
Bruce McLaren ( Cooper ) |
Bruce McLaren ( Cooper ) |
| 3 | May 6, 1961 |
BRDC International Trophy ( Silverstone ) |
376.8 |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
Jack Brabham ( Cooper ) |
Roy Salvadori ( Cooper ) |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
|
| 4th | July 8, 1961 |
British Empire Trophy ( Silverstone ) |
244.92 |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
John Surtees ( Cooper ) |
Graham Hill ( BRM ) |
John Surtees ( Cooper ) |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
| 5 | August 7, 1961 |
Guards Trophy ( Brands Hatch ) |
324.14 |
Jack Brabham ( Cooper ) |
Jim Clark ( Lotus ) |
Graham Hill ( BRM ) |
Stirling Moss ( Cooper ) |
Bruce McLaren ( Cooper ) |
literature
- Beverley Aston, Mark Williams: Playing to win: The success of UK motorsport Engineering , Institute for Public Policy Research, 1996, ISBN 1-86030-031-6
- Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
- David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
- Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945–1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 (English)
Web links
Results of the races for the Intercontinental Formula on the website www.formula2.net
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 10.
- ^ A b Beverley Aston, Mark Williams: Playing to win: The success of UK motorsport Engineering , Institute for Public Policy Research, 1996, ISBN 1-86030-031-6 , p. 4.
- ^ David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 272.
- ↑ The Australian engine manufacturer Repco implemented this approach in 1966 for the new three-liter Formula 1, the engine of which was based on a high-volume block from Oldsmobile.
- ↑ Surtees competed in a car that complied with the 1961 Formula 1 regulations.