G.P. Racing "At Crossroads'

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32351, 17 July 1970, Page 17

G.P. Racing "At Crossroads'

The season is now at its half-way mark and Grand Prix racing is at the crossroads in more ways than one. There is disarray on the scene, because Formula I, the pinnacle of motor sport, is not based on a sure foundation. Costs are rising faster than lap records, writes Colin Dryden in the “Daily Telegraph,” and some sponsors can no longer stand the pace. Dunlop, a mainstay of Britain’s motor-racing eflfort for more than 50 years, has had to decide to call a halt after spending 8400,000 a year, and it is said another major traditional sponsor may soon follow. Dunlop’s runners include Jackie Stewart and the B.R.M. team, which will presumably go to either Goodyear or Firestone. Dunlop will be sorely missed by everyone associated with

the sport, and particularly by 8.R.M., whose all-British effort will now have to be American-shod. Dunlop says that many lessons have been learnt in motor-racing over the years, and these have helped improve tyres for the ordinary motorist. But in recent years the increased specialisation of racing tyres has meant that the impact of racing technology on every-day tyres has become less significant. Participation can no longer be justified in terms of the considerable technical and financial costs, the company says.

Meanwhile, as far as the racing itself is concerned, Jochen Rindt leads the championship with 27 points, and Jack Brabham and Jackie Stewart are second with 19 points each. Denis Hulme and Chris Amon have 12 points each, and the

championship is still wide open.

Last year Jackie Stewart, having spent the winter testing in South Africa and getting his Matra - Ford sorted out, won the early races and had a commanding lead half-way through the season.

This year he has no such advantage, and from the spectators’ point of view it has made for a much more interesting series. The first four races have each been won tiy different drivers in different cars.

The triple world champion, Jack Brabham, won the South African Grand Prix, serving notice on the others that at 44 he is still very much in contention. He has his eye on Fangio’s record of five world championships. At Jarama for the Spanish Grand Prix it was Stewart’s turn to win with his new March Ford 701, with Brabham right on his heels for much of the race before his engine blew up. At Monaco came Jochen Rindt’s first victory of the season when Brabham crashed on the last hairpin of the last lap while leading and had to limp in second. These wins were all with Ford Cosworth VB-powered cars, which have dominated Formula I racing for the last four years. 8.R.M., the all-British but not allconquering equipe now sponsored by the Yardley cosmetic house, had its first sniff of success at the Belgian race with a magnificent victory on the world’s fastest circuit. Pedro Rodriguez, the

little Mexican ace ' who excels in sports cars as well, beat Chris Amon of New Zealand by a mere second after two hours of racing at 150 m.p.h. At last a Ford Cosworth V 8 had to bow to a Vl2. Great things had been promised for the new Lotus Ford 72 with its needle nose and side radiator intakes like those on a jet fighter. Rindt’s Monaco win had been in the old Lotus 49 C, because the 72 was not yet competitive. Any doubts about the car’s potential were soon dispelled by the Austrian’s masterly driving at the Dutch Grand Prix. But the note of yarning sounded by the Vl2 win in Belgium was reiterated at the French Grand Prix held on the switchback of Clermont Ferrand. No expert observer could remember exactly when a grand prix field lined up for the start of a race without a British car, powered by a Ford V 8 engine, on the front row of the grid. The flat 12 Ferrari of Jacky Ickx and Jean-Pierre Beltoise’s Vl2 Matra had been fastest in practice and had the legs of every other car until the Ferrari’s chipped engine valve gave way and Beltoise’s car had a puncture.

Only when the 12-cylinder cars fell by the wayside did the VB's of Rindt, Amon and Brabham come into their own. Chris Amon, always the bridesmaid and never the bride, must surely be due for a championship race victory.