page_title: Chris Amon
section_title: 1971
hierarchical_section_title: Chris Amon / Racing career / 1970s / 1971
caption_attribution_description: English: Matra MS120-02 Formula-1 car, driven by Henri Pescarolo and Chris Amon. This car won the Argentinian GP on January 24, 1971 (with Chris Amon behind the wheel). Bought by a Matra enthusiast, here on display at a Matra workshop in Leerdam, The Netherlands. Nederlands: Matra MS120-02 Formule-1 racewagen, bereden door Henri Pescarolo en Chris Amon. Deze auto heeft de Argentijnse GP op 24 januari 1971 gewonnen (met Chris Amon achter het stuur). Gekocht door een Matra-liefhebber, hier tentoongesteld bij de opening van Matraspecialist Carjoy in Leerdam.
context_page_description: Christopher Arthur Amon MBE was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix. His reputation for bad luck was such that fellow driver Mario Andretti once joked that "if he became an undertaker, people would stop dying". Former Ferrari Technical Director Mauro Forghieri stated that Amon was "by far the best test driver I have ever worked with. He had all the qualities to be a World Champion but bad luck just wouldn't let him be".
  Apart from driving, Chris Amon also ran his own Formula One team for a short period in 1974. Away from Formula One, Amon had some success in sports car racing, teaming with co-driver Bruce McLaren to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1966.
context_section_description: In 1971, Amon, now driving for the Matra factory team, once again scored a pre-season victory, this time at the Argentine Grand Prix. Once the Formula One season had begun, he managed to convert a third-place start at the Spanish GP into a third-place podium finish and scored a couple of fifth places in the South African and French GPs. Apart from these results, however, his run of poor F1 returns continued. He had a major accident at the Nürburgring and it sidelined him for the next race at the Österreichring. At the Italian GP he qualified in pole position and despite a poor start to the race looked as if he would capitalise on it – until the visor on his helmet became detached. Amon had to slow to avoid risking a major accident, thereby allowing other drivers to catch and overtake him. He finished the race in sixth place, scoring just one Championship point.
  During the year Amon also competed in the non-championship Questor Grand Prix at the new Ontario Motor Speedway, where he qualified second and, despite suffering a puncture during the race, managed to finish fourth.
  In the Tasman Series Amon started from fourth at the Levin Circuit and in the race, he battled with David Oxton and John Cannon but managed to finish third. Amon's third race at Wigram Airfield starting fifth and spun at the start to drop him to the back of the field but managed to climb up to fifth.
caption: Chris Amon's Matra MS120 racing car, used in the 1971 Argentine Grand Prix
exif: {"Image Make": "Nokia", "Image Model": "N95 8GB", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "140", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3084", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "28641", "EXIF ExposureTime": "29/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:10:17 13:23:47", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:10:17 13:23:47", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5107/1000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "297/100", "EXIF LightSource": "Flash", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up"}