1961 Danish Grand Prix

The II Danske Grand Prix, or rather the 1961 Danish Grand Prix, was a non-championship Formula One race, held at the tiny Roskilde Ring in Roskilde, Denmark. The race, the first "Danish Grand Prix" to be held as an F1 event, took place over two days through three heats. An aggregate result was then decided, with Stirling Moss claiming victory after a dominant display in all three heats, taking victory in each one.
Moss, who collected DKK 10,000 in prize money for his victory, was joined by Innes Ireland and Roy Salvadori on the podium over the two day competition.http://forix.autosport.com/8w/roskildering.html This race was also one of only two Danish Grand Prix to be held for Formula One cars, the other being won by Jack Brabham a year later in 1962.
==Background==
Set in a gravel pit near the heart of the town of Roskilde on the second largest island of Denmark, the Roskilde Ring was not a particularly outstanding centre for motorsport. Yet, the FIA allowed the owners of the 1.2 km circuit, which lacked any straights of considerable length and banked bends, to host a Formula One level race in 1961, a surprise in any circumstance. To generate interest in the race (which was one of 25 non-championship races in 1961) the organisers offered a relatively large prize of DKK 10,000 to the race winner, with all entrants also receiving a significant payment for attending.
The ploy worked, with a fair number of Formula One stars taking up the challenge. These names included Stirling Moss, reigning World Champion Jack Brabham, and rising star Jim Clark, as well as a number of drivers from the smaller teams on the 1961 grid.http://www.statsf1.com/en/1961-hc/grand-prix-186.aspx Scuderia Ferrari were notably absent from the race, as were several other major teams, but the circuit still attracted 50,000+ fans to watch Denmark's first Formula One race.
==Entry list==
Below is the entry list for the 1965 Race of Champions.
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jack Brabham 	Cooper Car Company 	 	T53 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
2 	John Surtees 	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	 	T53 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
3 	Roy Salvadori 	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	 	T53 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
4 	Jim Clark 	Team Lotus 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
5 	Innes Ireland 	Team Lotus 	 	21 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
6 	Keith Greene 	Gilby Engineering 	 	61 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
7 	Stirling Moss 	UDT Laystall Racing Team 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
8 	Masten Gregory 	UDT Laystall Racing Team 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
9 	Henry Taylor 	UDT Laystall Racing Team 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
10 	Tim Parnell 	Privateer 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
11 	Lucien Bianchi 	Equipe Nationale Belge 	 	18 	 	FPF 1.5 L4 	
15 	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Ecurie Maarsbergen 	 	718 	 	547/3 1.5 F4	
==Qualifying==
Stirling Moss claimed pole for the Danish Grand Prix, setting a time of 0:42.8s, a feat which meant he would start from pole for each of the three heats.'1961 Danish Grand Prix', wikipedia.org, (WikiMedia, 01/04/2013), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Danish_Grand_Prix, (Accessed 20/07/2015) Jack Brabham and John Surtees joined him on the three car front row, with Innes Ireland the first of the Team Lotus entries on the second row.'II Det Danske Grand Prix 1961', formula2.net, (F2 Register, 13/05/2003), http://www.formula2.net/F161_18.htm, (Accessed 20/07/2015) Jim Clark was to line up last, having failed to set a time at all, while Lucien Bianchi saw his entry withdrawn before qualifying began.
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1 	7 	Stirling Moss 	 	0:42.8 	—
2 	1 	Jack Brabham 	 	0:43.0 	+0.2s
3 	2 	John Surtees 	 	0:43.0 	+0.2s
4 	9 	Henry Taylor 	 	0:44.0 	+1.2s
5 	5 	Innes Ireland 	 	0:44.1 	+1.3s
6 	3 	Roy Salvadori 	 	0:44.3 	+1.5s
7 	10 	Tim Parnell 	 	0:44.3 	+1.5s
8 	8 	Masten Gregory 	 	0:44.3 	+1.5s
9 	15 	Carel Godin de Beaufort	 	0:45.7 	+2.9s
10 	6 	Keith Greene 	 	0:45.9 	+3.1s
11 	4 	Jim Clark 	 	No TIme 	—
WD 	11 	Lucien Bianchi 	 	Wthdrawn	—
==Race==
===Heat I===
===Heat II===
===Heat III===
===Aggregate Result===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired	Grid 	Heats
1 	7 	Stirling Moss 	 	80 	0:59:28.5 	1 	1st/1st/1st
2 	5 	Innes Ireland 	 	79 	+ 1:14.0s 	5 	3rd/2nd/2nd
3 	3 	Roy Salvadori 	 	78 	+ 2:06.8s 	6 	5th/3rd/3rd
4 	9 	Henry Taylor 	 	76 	+ 2:53.9s 	4 	7th/6th/5th
5 	10 	Tim Parnell 	 	76 	+ 3:19.4s 	7 	10th/5th/6th
6 	6 	Keith Greene 	 	74 	+ 4:39.6s 	10 	9th/7th/7th
7 	4 	Jim Clark 	 	60 	+ 20 Laps 	11 	6th/Ret/4th
Ret 	2 	John Surtees 	 	48 	Camshaft 	3 	4th/4th/DNS
Ret 	1 	Jack Brabham 	 	44 	Gearbox 	2 	2nd/Ret/DNS
Ret 	8 	Masten Gregory 	 	39 	Gearbox 	8 	8th/Ret/DNS
Ret 	15 	Carel Godin de Beaufort	 	34 	Puncture 	9 	11th/Ret/DNS
WD 	11 	Lucien Bianchi 	 	Withdrawn	Withdrawn 	Withdrawn	Withdrawn
==Milestones==
*First Danish Grand Prix (according to Formula One regulations).
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Danish Grand Prix
Category:1961 non-championship Grands Prix
Category:Non-Championship races