1975 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Montjuïc circuit on 1st March 1975. It was the third race in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
Mick Ashcroft won in his first race with Ferrari, with Stefan Van Damme and Gunnar Olander completing the podium.
== Race Summary ==
Before the race, many drivers expressed concerns at the safety of the circuit and it's high speed layout. Gunnar Olander did not share these concerns unlike most of the grid. 
The battle between Lotus and Ferrari continued into the weekend, with Stefan Van Damme taking pole by just half a tenth over Ferrari's new driver, Mick Ashcroft. Tyrrell attended their first race this season, but 1973 champion Alex Plunkett would start at the back of the grid due to missing qualifying. 
Starting from the inside, Ashcroft had a better start than Van Damme and launched into the lead. There was a small incident at the first corner as Gunnar Olander was tapped from behind and fell to the back of the pack. As the race went on, Ashcroft found himself under pressure from Van Damme and the Fittipaldi driver Strip Weathers, who was taking part in only his second race. This order continued until Van Damme span at the exit of turn 6 and fell to third. Ashcroft and Weathers started the penultimate lap side by side, but Weathers locked up into turn 1 and ran wide, giving up second to Van Damme. 
Ashcroft was leading the race on lap 13 when he suffered a gearbox problem at the final corner, losing several seconds as well as the lead to the Lotus driver. In a sign of sportsmanship, Van Damme returned the position to Ashcroft and ultimately the Australian driver would go on to win the race. Gunnar Olander would recover from last at the end of the first lap to finish on the final step of the podium. 
This race also saw the death of Bastian Stuber, who hit the pit wall on lap 2. 
== Classification ==
Pos	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	Mick Ashcroft 	Ferrari 	14 	20:21.639 	2 	9
2 	Stefan Van Damme 	Lotus 	14 	1 	6 	
3 	Gunnar Olander 	Ferrari 	14 	3 	4 	
4 	Strip Weathers 	Fittipaldi 	14 	4 	3 	
5 	Nathan Meiri 	Lotus 	14 	5 	2 	
6 	Alex Plunkett 	Tyrrell 	14 	12 	1 	
7 	Giuseppe Ferrari 	Brabham 	14 	8 	 	
8 	Vadim Pshenichnikov	McLaren 	14 	7 	 	
9 	Russell Coight 	Tyrrell 	11 	11 	 	
10 	Max Westland 	Shadow 	10 	10 	 	
11 	Waldemar Bauer 	Shadow 	8 	9 	 	
12 	Bastian Stuber 	Brabham 	1 	Fatal Crash 	6 	
Category:Races