1971 Questor Grand Prix

The 1971 Questor Grand Prix was a non-championship Grand Prix, held on the road course at the brand new Ontario Motor Speedway, in Ontario, California on March 28, 1971. It was staged as a possible dry run for a second grand prix in the United States. The race was won by Mario Andretti in a , who quickly passed polesitter Jackie Stewart in a , and won both heats convincingly. Stewart was second in both heats, and Denny Hulme in a managed to snag third place on aggregate, by virtue of a tiebreaker over Chris Amon in a . Unfortunately, financial problems by the parent corporation meant that this was the only time the race was run. Formula One did eventually come back to California, but five years later, at Long Beach.
==Background==
Ontario Motor Speedway was designed as 'Indianapolis West', and the oval track matched Indianapolis Motor Speedway right down to the track measurements and the 9° 11' banking in the corners. But that's where the similarities ended. Where the grandstands in Indianapolis had to be squeezed into the available space, Ontario's were wide and open. Instead of the short and narrow pits at Indy, the pit lane ran the entire length of the front straight, and was wide enough that it was used as a competition drag strip. The builders also created a road course in the infield, running almost 3.2 miles, and designed to keep as much of the action close to the grandstands as possible. The course used the entire main straight and one of the banked turns, before turning into the infield and negotiating several switchbacks. It was also built to the latest FIA specifications, and the Formula One cars were invited in the spring after the track opened.
The race was the non-championship 'dry run' before a proposed Grand Prix, starting in 1972, but the sponsoring Questor Corporation ran into financial problems after this event, and had to withdraw their involvement. Formula One never ran at Ontario again. But the idea of Formula One on the west coast of the United States finally came to fruition, five years later at Long Beach.
The race was run in two heats of 32 laps, with a point system based on finishing position of each heat determining the final placing. Ties were broken by distance covered or elapsed time. Each heat awarded points by 40-35-32-30-28-26-24, then one point less for each spot down to one point for 30th. The field of Formula One cars was supplemented by a group of Formula A (Formula 5000 with fuel injection and other minor differences) entries. Despite the fact that the track was 6,000 miles from England, a huge prize fund of $278,400 (even larger than that posted by Watkins Glen) ensured a large entry.The teams:
*: The team returned with what would be the standard entry for 1971, with Graham Hill in the lone BT34 "lobster claw" (in which he had set fastest lap the week before at Brands Hatch), and Tim Schenken in a 1970 BT33.
*: The Bourne team showed up with three cars. Pedro Rodríguez and Jo Siffert were in P160s, and Howden Ganley was in the P153. BRM made out quite well financially with three cars in the top 10.
*: The Scuderia had originally entered three cars, but that was later reduced to two, as Clay Regazzoni stayed behind for testing. The decision to run Mario Andretti was rewarded with his second victory in less than a month.
*: The 56B turbine was supposed to be used, as its higher top speed would presumably be an advantage on the oval section that it had originally been designed for. But the team took a more conservative approach, due to the possible financial rewards of the event.
*: The factory only had one completed 711 for Ronnie Peterson, and declined to run any of their remaining 701s.
**Frank Williams entered the latest 711, for Henri Pescarolo, and also entered a 701 with rebuilt suspension for Derek Bell.
**The US-based STP Racing entered the 701 that Andretti had used in 1970 for John Cannon.
*: Jean-Pierre Beltoise was still suspended from racing for his role in the death of Ignazio Giunti, so the team only ran one car for Chris Amon.
*: McLaren had the usual entry, with no changes.
*: Surprisingly, the team skipped this event, saying the trip would be too expensive, despite the enormous prize fund.
*: Both drivers had been entered, but the team wound up keeping François Cevert in Europe for tire testing and shaking down the 003 car. This would be the last time that the 001 model would be raced until Watkins Glen.
==Entry List==
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
2 	Emerson Fittipaldi 	Gold Leaf Team Lotus 	 	72C 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
3 	Reine Wisell 	Gold Leaf Team Lotus 	 	72C 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
4 	Jacky Ickx 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B 	 	001 3.0 F12 	
5 	Mario Andretti 	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC 	 	312B 	 	001 3.0 F12 	
6 	Denny Hulme 	Bruce McLaren Motor Racing 	 	M19A 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
7 	Peter Gethin 	Bruce McLaren Motor Racing 	 	M14A 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
8 	Jackie Stewart 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	001 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
9 	François Cevert 	Elf Team Tyrrell 	 	002 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
10 	Chris Amon 	Equipe Matra Sports 	 	MS120B 	 	MS71 3.0 V12	
11 	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Equipe Matra Sports 	 	MS120B 	 	MS71 3.0 V12	
12 	Pedro Rodríguez 	Yardley Team BRM 	 	P160 	 	P142 3.0 V12	
14 	Jo Siffert 	Yardley Team BRM 	 	P160 	 	P142 3.0 V12	
15 	Howden Ganley 	Yardley Team BRM 	 	P153 	 	P142 3.0 V12	
16 	John Surtees 	Brooke Bond Oxo Team Surtees 	 	TS9 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
17 	Derek Bell 	Frank Williams Racing Cars 	 	701 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
18 	Henri Pescarolo 	Frank Williams Racing Cars 	 	711 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
19 	Graham Hill 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	 	BT34 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
20 	Tim Schenken 	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	 	BT33 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
21 	Ronnie Peterson 	STP March Racing Team 	 	711 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
22 	Andrea de Adamich 	STP March Racing Team 	 	711 	 	T33 3.0 V8 	
23 	Alex Soler-Roig 	STP March Racing Team 	 	711 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
25 	John Cannon 	STP March Racing Team 	 	701 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
26 	Mark Donohue 	Penske Racing 	 	T192 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
27 	George Follmer 	Brian O'Neil Racing 	 	70B 	 	5.0 V8 	
28*	A. J. Foyt 	Agapiou Brothers 	 	M10B 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
29 	Ron Grable 	Charlie Hayes Racing 	 	T190 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
30 	Sam Posey 	Champcarr Inc. 	 	TS8 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
31 	Peter Revson 	Milestone Racing Team 	 	TS8 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
32 	Swede Savage 	Junor-Tarozzi Racing 	 	Mk5 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
33 	Al Unser 	Kastner-Brophy Racing 	 	T192 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
34 	Tony Adamowicz 	American Racing Associates 	 	T192 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
35 	Bob Bondurant 	Competition Developments 	 	T192 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
36 	Gus Hutchison 	Aero Structures Developments 	ASD 	Mk1 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
37 	Lou Sell 	Smothers Brothers Racing Team 	 	T192 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
38 	Bobby Unser 	Charlie Hayes Racing 	 	T190 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
40†	Pete Lovely 	Pete Lovely Volkswagen Inc. 	 	49B 	 	DFV 3.0 V8 	
45†	David Hobbs 	Hogan Racing 	 	M10B 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
47†	Jack Byers 	Competition Developments 	 	T190 	Chevrolet	5.0 V8 	
*A cream background represents as Formula 5000 entries.
** Jackie Stewart also drove car #28 in practice.
*† Lovely, Hobbs, and Byers are represented as reserve entries.
==Practice==
===Results===
This was the first Formula One race to time to thousandths of a second.
Pos	No.	Driver 	Constructor 	Lap 	Gap
1 	8 	Jackie Stewart 	 	1:41.257	—
2 	10 	Chris Amon 	 	1:41.275	+0.018
3 	4 	Jacky Ickx 	 	1:41.531	+0.274
4 	6 	Denny Hulme 	 	1:42.458	+1.201
5 	14 	Pedro Rodríguez 	 	1:42.473	+1.216
6 	19 	Graham Hill 	 	1:42.763	+1.506
7 	26 	Mark Donohue 	-Chevrolet 	1:43.211	+1.954
8 	14 	Jo Siffert 	 	1:43.350	+2.093
9 	2 	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	1:43.358	+2.101
10 	27 	George Follmer 	 	1:43.474	+2.217
11 	2 	Reine Wisell 	 	1:43.535	+2.278
12 	5 	Mario Andretti 	 	1:43.542	+2.285
13 	18 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	1:43.709	+2.452
14 	20 	Tim Schenken 	 	1:43.772	+2.515
15 	30 	Sam Posey 	-Chevrolet 	1:44.128	+2.871
16 	25 	John Cannon 	 	1:44.231	+2.974
17 	21 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	1:44.360	+3.103
18 	15 	Howden Ganley 	 	1:44.379	+3.122
19 	17 	Derek Bell 	 	1:44.977	+3.720
20 	7 	Peter Gethin 	 	1:45.310	+4.053
21 	37 	Lou Sell 	-Chevrolet 	1:45.397	+4.140
22 	29 	Ron Grable 	-Chevrolet 	1:45.402	+4.145
23 	35 	Bob Bondurant 	-Chevrolet 	1:45.528	+4.271
24 	31 	Peter Revson 	-Chevrolet 	1:45.668	+4.411
25 	34 	Tony Adamowicz 	-Chevrolet 	1:47.831	+6.574
26 	33 	Al Unser 	-Chevrolet 	1:48.172	+6.915
27 	38 	Bobby Unser 	-Chevrolet 	1:48.512	+7.255
28 	36 	Gus Hutchison 	ASD-Chevrolet	1:50.954	+9.697
29 	32 	Swede Savage 	-Chevrolet 	1:51.509	+10.252
30 	28 	A. J. Foyt 	-Chevrolet 	1:52.229	+10.972
Res	45 	David Hobbs 	-Chevrolet 	1:45.331	+4.074
Res	40 	Pete Lovely 	 	1:47.269	+6.012
Res	47 	Jack Byers 	-Chevrolet 	1:54.468	+13.211
==Heat One==
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	5 	Mario Andretti 	 	32 	56:03.052 	12 	40
2 	8 	Jackie Stewart 	 	32 	+3.000 	1 	35
3 	14 	Jo Siffert 	 	32 	+44.329 	8 	32
4 	6 	Denny Hulme 	 	32 	 	4 	30
5 	4 	Jacky Ickx 	 	32 	 	3 	28
6 	10 	Chris Amon 	 	32 	 	2 	26
7 	20 	Tim Schenken 	 	31 	+1 Lap 	14 	24
8 	15 	Howden Ganley 	 	31 	+1 Lap 	18 	23
9 	26 	Mark Donohue 	-Chevrolet 	31 	+1 Lap 	7 	22
10 	29 	Ron Grable 	-Chevrolet 	31 	+1 Lap 	22 	21
11 	7 	Peter Gethin 	 	31 	+1 Lap 	20 	20
12 	38 	Bobby Unser 	-Chevrolet 	31 	+1 Lap 	27 	19
13 	17 	Derek Bell 	 	31 	+1 Lap 	19 	18
14 	37 	Lou Sell 	-Chevrolet 	30 	+2 Laps 	21 	17
15 	25 	John Cannon 	 	30 	Throttle 	16 	16
16 	21 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	26 	Suspension 	17 	15
17 	2 	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	25 	Engine 	9 	14
18 	30 	Sam Posey 	-Chevrolet 	25 	Overheating 	15 	13
19 	36 	Gus Hutchison 	ASD-Chevrolet	25 	Electrics 	28 	12
20 	12 	Pedro Rodríguez 	 	21 	+11 Laps 	5 	11
21 	3 	Reine Wisell 	 	17 	Ignition 	11 	10
22 	18 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	16 	Cross member	13 	9
23 	33 	Al Unser 	-Chevrolet 	16 	Oil Pressure	26 	8
24 	35 	Bob Bondurant 	-Chevrolet 	15 	Engine 	23 	7
25 	34 	Tony Adamowicz 	-Chevrolet 	12 	Engine 	25 	6
26 	31 	Peter Revson 	-Chevrolet 	11 	Gearbox 	24 	5
27 	32 	Swede Savage 	-Chevrolet 	10 	Accident 	29 	4
28 	19 	Graham Hill 	 	8 	Oil pressure	6 	3
29 	28 	A. J. Foyt 	-Chevrolet 	6 	Suspension 	30 	2
30 	27 	George Follmer 	-Ford 	3 	Engine 	10 	1
==Heat Two==
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	5 	Mario Andretti 	 	32 	55:45.358 	1 	40
2 	8 	Jackie Stewart 	 	32 	+12.300 	2 	35
3 	10 	Chris Amon 	 	32 	+12.583 	6 	32
4 	12 	Pedro Rodríguez 	 	32 	 	20 	30
5 	6 	Denny Hulme 	 	32 	 	4 	28
6 	20 	Tim Schenken 	 	32 	 	7 	26
7 	29 	Ron Grable 	-Chevrolet 	32 	 	10 	24
8 	7 	Peter Gethin 	 	32 	 	11 	23
9 	25 	John Cannon 	 	31 	+1 Lap 	15 	22
10 	34 	Tony Adamowicz 	-Chevrolet 	31 	+1 Lap 	25 	21
11 	15 	Howden Ganley 	 	30 	+2 Laps 	8 	20
12 	37 	Lou Sell 	-Chevrolet 	29 	+3 Laps 	14 	19
13 	14 	Jo Siffert 	 	28 	+4 Laps 	3 	18
14 	36 	Gus Hutchison 	ASD-Chevrolet	27 	+5 Laps 	19 	17
15 	18 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	24 	Suspension 	22 	16
16 	21 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	17 	+15 Laps 	16 	15
17 	17 	Derek Bell 	 	15 	Suspension 	13 	14
18 	30 	Sam Posey 	-Chevrolet 	13 	Engine 	18 	13
19 	2 	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	10 	Gear linkage	17 	12
20 	38 	Bobby Unser 	-Chevrolet 	9 	Engine 	12 	11
21 	26 	Mark Donohue 	-Chevrolet 	5 	Oil pressure	9 	10
22 	28 	A. J. Foyt 	-Chevrolet 	2 	Engine 	23 	9
23 	4 	Jacky Ickx 	 	2 	Suspension 	5 	8
DNS 	3 	Reine Wisell 	 	 	 	 	7
DNS 	33 	Al Unser 	-Chevrolet 	 	 	 	6
DNS 	35 	Bob Bondurant 	-Chevrolet 	 	 	 	5
DNS 	31 	Peter Revson 	-Chevrolet 	 	 	 	4
DNS 	32 	Swede Savage 	-Chevrolet 	 	 	 	3
DNS 	19 	Graham Hill 	 	 	 	 	2
DNS 	27 	George Follmer 	-Ford 	 	 	 	1
==Results on aggregate==
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	5 	Mario Andretti 	 	64 	1:51:48.410 	12 	80
2 	8 	Jackie Stewart 	 	64 	1:52:04.324 	1 	70
3 	6 	Denny Hulme 	 	64 	1:53:16.982 	4 	58
4 	10 	Chris Amon 	 	64 	1:53:29.684 	2 	58
5 	20 	Tim Schenken 	 	63 	+1 Lap 	14 	50
6 	14 	Jo Siffert 	 	60 	+4 Laps 	8 	50
7 	29 	Ron Grable 	-Chevrolet 	63 	+1 Lap 	22 	45
8 	7 	Peter Gethin 	 	63 	+1 Lap 	20 	43
9 	15 	Howden Ganley 	 	61 	+3 Laps 	18 	43
10 	12 	Pedro Rodríguez 	 	53 	+11 Laps 	5 	41
11 	4 	Jacky Ickx 	 	34 	Accident 	3 	39
12 	25 	John Cannon 	 	60 	+4 Laps 	16 	38
13 	37 	Lou Sell 	-Chevrolet 	59 	+5 Laps 	21 	36
14 	26 	Mark Donohue 	-Chevrolet 	36 	Mechanical 	7 	36
15 	17 	Derek Bell 	 	46 	Suspension 	19 	32
16 	26 	Bobby Unser 	-Chevrolet 	40 	Engine 	27 	32
17 	34 	Tony Adamowicz 	-Chevrolet 	43 	Mechanical 	25 	30
18 	21 	Ronnie Peterson 	 	43 	Mechanical 	17 	30
19 	26 	Gus Hutchison 	ASD-Chevrolet	52 	+12 Laps 	28 	29
20 	2 	Emerson Fittipaldi	 	35 	Gear linkage	9 	26
21 	30 	Sam Posey 	-Chevrolet 	38 	Engine 	15 	26
22 	18 	Henri Pescarolo 	 	40 	Suspension 	13 	25
23 	3 	Reine Wisell 	 	17 	Ignition 	11 	17
24 	33 	Al Unser 	-Chevrolet 	16 	Oil pressure	26 	14
25 	35 	Bob Bondurant 	-Chevrolet 	15 	Engine 	23 	12
26 	28 	A. J. Foyt 	-Chevrolet 	10 	Engine 	30 	11
27 	31 	Peter Revson 	-Chevrolet 	11 	Gearbox 	24 	9
28 	32 	Swede Savage 	-Plymouth 	11 	Accident 	29 	7
29 	19 	Graham Hill 	 	8 	Oil line 	6 	5
30 	27 	George Follmer 	-Ford 	3 	Rocker arm 	10 	2
==Notes==
Category:1971 non-championship Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in the United States
Category:1971 Formula One Season
Category:Non-Championship races