# 1971 Questor Grand Prix

The Questor Grand Prix was a non-championship race for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars held on 28 March 1971 to inaugurate a new racing facility in California, the Ontario Motor Speedway, built by the Questor conglomerate.
Because of the smaller fuel tanks of the F5000 cars, the race was run in two heats of 32 laps, and the final result decided by a points system. Jackie Stewart qualified on pole for Heat 1 and finished runner-up behind Mario Andretti. Chris Amon set fastest lap. Andretti and Stewart again finished first and second in Heat 2 and Pedro Rodriguez set fastest lap, quicker than Amon's time in Heat 1. Andretti was declared the winner; with Stewart in second place and Denny Hulme third. Mark Donohue was the best-placed F5000 finisher in Heat 1, and Ron Grable best in Heat 2. Grable was also the best-placed F5000 driver on aggregate.
During free practice on Wednesday, Andretti had heavily crashed his Ferrari. The team chief mechanic, Giulio Borsari, managed to rebuild the car overnight by using the one of Andretti's team mate Jacky Ickx as a reference point with the aid of a local welder. After Andretti won the race, Borsari was awarded the Mechanic of the Race trophy along with a $500 prize.
Hopes for a regular fixture rapidly faded due to financial problems. The Questor Grand Prix remained a one-off event and the Ontario Motor Speedway was never again used to host a Formula One race.

## Qualifying

Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Lap | Gap |
| 1 | 8 | Jackie Stewart | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell 001-Cosworth | 1:41.257 | |
| 2 | 10 | Chris Amon | Equipe Matra Sports | Matra MS120B | 1:41.275 | +0.018 |
| 3 | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 312B | 1:41.531 | +0.256 |
| 4 | 6 | Denis Hulme | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M19A-Cosworth | 1:42.458 | +0.927 |
| 5 | 12 | Pedro Rodriguez | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P160 | 1:42.473 | +0.015 |
| 6 | 19 | Graham Hill | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT34-Cosworth | 1:42.763 | +0.290 |
| 7 | 26 | Mark Donohue | Sunoco Penske Racing | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:43.211 | +0.448 |
| 8 | 14 | Jo Siffert | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P160 | 1:43.350 | +0.139 |
| 9 | 2 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | Lotus 72C-Cosworth | 1:43.358 | +0.008 |
| 10 | 27 | George Follmer | Brian O'Neil Racing | Lotus 70B-Ford | 1:43.474 | +0.116 |
| 11 | 3 | Reine Wisell | Gold Leaf Team Lotus | Lotus 72C-Cosworth | 1:43.535 | +0.061 |
| 12 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 312B | 1:43.542 | +0.007 |
| 13 | 18 | Henri Pescarolo | Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars | March 711-Cosworth | 1:43.709 | +0.167 |
| 14 | 20 | Tim Schenken | Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT33-Cosworth | 1:43.772 | +0.063 |
| 15 | 30 | Sam Posey | Champ Carr Inc | Surtees TS8-Chevrolet | 1:44.128 | +0.356 |
| 16 | 25 | John Cannon | STP Corporation | March 701-Cosworth | 1:44.231 | +0.103 |
| 17 | 21 | Ronnie Peterson | STP March Engineering | March 711-Cosworth | 1:44.360 | +0.129 |
| 18 | 15 | Howden Ganley | Yardley Team BRM | BRM P153 | 1:44.379 | +0.019 |
| 19 | 17 | Derek Bell | Motul/Frank Williams Racing Cars | March 701-Cosworth | 1:44.977 | +0.598 |
| 20 | 7 | Peter Gethin | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M14A-Cosworth | 1:45.310 | +0.333 |
| 21 | 37 | Lou Sell | Smothers Brothers Racing Team | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.397 | +0.087 |
| 22 | 29 | Ron Grable | Charlie Hayes Racing | Lola T190/T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.402 | +0.005 |
| 23 | 35 | Bob Bondurant | Competition Developments | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:45.528 | +0.126 |
| 24 | 31 | Peter Revson | Milestone Racing Team | Surtees TS8-Chevrolet | 1:45.668 | +0.140 |
| 25 | 34 | Tony Adamowicz | American Racing Associates | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:47.831 | +2.163 |
| 26 | 33 | Al Unser | Kastner Brophy Racing | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 1:48.172 | +0.341 |
| 27 | 38 | Bobby Unser | Charlie Hayes Racing | Lola T190/T192 | 1:48.512 | +0.340 |
| 28 | 36 | Gus Hutchison | Aero Structures Developments | ASD American Mk 1-Chevrolet | 1:50.954 | +2.442 |
| 29 | 32 | Swede Savage | Junior Tarozzi Racing/Keith Black Racing | Eagle Mk 5-Plymouth | 1:51.509 | +0.555 |
| 30 | 28 | A. J. Foyt | Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | 1:52.229 | +0.720 |
| DNQ | 45 | David Hobbs$^1$ | Carl Hogan Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | 1:45.331 | - |
| DNQ | 40 | Pete Lovely$^1$ | Pete Lovely VW Inc | Lotus 49B-Cosworth | 1:47.269 | - |
| DNQ | 47 | Dow 'Jack' Byers$^1$ | Competition Developments | Lola T190-Chevrolet | 1:54.468 | - |
| DNS | 28 | Jackie Stewart$^2$ | Agapiou Brothers/Young American Racing | McLaren M10B-Chevrolet | | |
| DNA | 9 | Francois Cevert | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell 002-Cosworth | | |
| DNA | 11 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Equipe Matra Sports | Matra MS120 | | |
| DNA | 16 | John Surtees | Brooke-Bond-Oxo/Rob Walker/Team Surtees | Surtees TS9-Cosworth | | |
| DNA | 22 | Andrea de Adamich | STP March Engineering | March 711-Alfa Romeo | | |
| Sources: |||||||
$^1$ Hobbs, Lovely and Byers were late entries and relegated to reserve drivers. $^2$ Stewart briefly drove Foyt's car in qualifying.

## Classification

Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Grid | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Final Pos. | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Ferrari | 12 | 1; 56:03.052, 176.07 km/h | 1; 55:45.358 | 1:51:48.410 | 80 |
| 2 | 8 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Cosworth | 1 | 2; 56:06.052 | 2; 55:57.658 | 1:52:04.324 | 70 |
| 3 | 6 | Denis Hulme | McLaren-Cosworth | 4 | 4/32 laps | 5/32 laps | 1:53:16.982 | 58 |
| 4 | 10 | Chris Amon | Matra | 2 | 6/32 laps | 3; 55:57.939 | 1:53:29.684 | 58 |
| 5 | 20 | Tim Schenken | Brabham-Cosworth | 14 | 7/31 laps | 6/32 laps | 63 laps | 50 |
| 6 | 14 | Jo Siffert | BRM | 8 | 3; 56:48.381 | 13/28 laps | 60 laps | 50 |
| 7 | 29 | Ron Grable | Lola-Chevrolet | 22 | 10/31 laps | 7/32 laps | 63 laps | 45 |
| 8 | 7 | Peter Gethin | McLaren-Cosworth | 20 | 11/31 laps | 8/32 laps | 63 laps | 43 |
| 9 | 15 | Howden Ganley | BRM | 18 | 8/31 laps | 11/30 laps | 61 laps | 43 |
| 10 | 12 | Pedro Rodriguez | BRM | 5 | 20/21 laps | 4/32 laps | 53 laps | 43 |
| 11 | 4 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 3 | 5/32 laps | Ret/2 laps, puncture | 34 laps | 38 |
| 12 | 25 | John Cannon | March-Cosworth | 16 | 15/30 laps, throttle | 9/31 laps | 61 laps | 38 |
| 13 | 37 | Lou Sell | Lola-Chevrolet | 21 | 14/30 laps | 12/29 laps | 59 laps | 36 |
| 14 | 26 | Mark Donohue | Lola-Chevrolet | 7 | 9/31 laps | Ret/5 laps, fuel pressure | 36 laps | 32 |
| 15 | 17 | Derek Bell | March-Cosworth | 19 | 13/31 laps | Ret/15 laps, suspension | 36 laps | 32 |
| 16 | 38 | Bobby Unser | Lola-Chevrolet | 27 | 12/31 laps | Ret/9 laps, engine | 40 laps | 30 |
| 17 | 21 | Ronnie Peterson | March-Cosworth | 17 | 16/26 laps, suspension | 17 laps | 43 laps | 30 |
| 18 | 36 | Gus Hutchison | ASD-Chevrolet | 28 | 19/25 laps | 14/27 laps | 52 laps | 29 |
| 19 | 34 | Tony Adamowicz | Lola-Chevrolet | 25 | Ret/12 laps | 10/31 laps | 45 laps | 27 |
| 20 | 2 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Cosworth | 9 | 17/25 laps | Ret/10 laps, gear linkage | 35 laps | 26 |
| 21 | 30 | Sam Posey | Surtees-Chevrolet | 15 | 18/25 laps, overheating | Ret/13 laps, engine | 38 laps | 26 |
| 22 | 18 | Henri Pescarolo | March-Cosworth | 13 | Ret/16 laps, bodywork | Ret/24 laps, suspension | 40 laps | 25 |
| 23 | 3 | Reine Wisell | Lotus-Cosworth | 11 | Ret/17 laps, ignition | DNS | 17 laps | 17 |
| 24 | 33 | Al Unser | Lola-Chevrolet | 26 | Ret/16 laps, oil pressure | DNS | 16 laps | 14 |
| 25 | 35 | Bob Bondurant | Lola-Chevrolet | 23 | Ret/15 laps, engine | DNS | 15 laps | 12 |
| 26 | 28 | A. J. Foyt | McLaren-Chevrolet | 30 | Ret/6 laps, handling | Ret/2 laps, engine | 8 laps | 11 |
| 27 | 31 | Peter Revson | Surtees-Chevrolet | 24 | Ret/11 laps, gearbox | DNS | 11 laps | 9 |
| 28 | 32 | Swede Savage | Eagle-Plymouth | 29 | Ret/11 laps, accident | DNS | 11 laps | 7 |
| 29 | 19 | Graham Hill | Brabham-Cosworth | 6 | Ret/8 laps, oil pipe | DNS | 8 laps | 5 |
| 30 | 27 | George Follmer | Lotus-Ford | 10 | Ret/3 laps, rocker arm | DNS | 3 laps | 2 |
| Sources: |||||||||