Austrian GP 1970

Austrian GP, 1970

It had been six years since the Formula 1 cars had visited Zeltweg aerodrome and in the interim the local organizers had built a magnificent new racing circuit in a natural bowl on the hillside of the valley. The track featured a series of fast corners, fast climbs and diving descents. It was marvelous. Rindt (who had made his F1 debut at the 1964 race) returned home with a huge lead in the World Championship and took pole position with his Lotus 72.

The field was much as it had been a fortnight earlier at Hockenheim although Frank Williams ran Tim Schenken in the De Tomaso as Brian Redman was committed to a sportscar race elsewhere. Ferrari decided to run three cars and so Jacky Ickx was supported by Clay Regazzoni and Ignazio Giunti. Missing were Graham Hill in the Walker Lotus 49, the car no longer being competitive, and Ronnie Peterson in the Antique Automobiles March, which had run out of engines.

Regazzoni's rise to stardom continued as he qualified on the front row alongside Rindt while Ickx was on row two with Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell March. Giunti was on the third row with Chris Amon's March. Also beginning to show well was Francois Cevert, Stewart's teammate, who was ninth.

There was a huge crowd for the race on Sunday but they were to be disappointed as Regazzoni and Ickx took off into the lead while Rindt went out early with an engine failure. On the second lap Regazzoni waved Ickx ahead and for the rest of the afternoon the red cars dominated, finishing 1-2 a minute and a half ahead of third-placed Rolf Stommelen, who drove a good race early on and then moved up the order as others fell by the wayside. For a long time Beltoise was third in his Matra but he suffered fuel pick up problems in the closing laps and dropped behind Stommelen and the two BRMs of Pedro Rodriguez and Jack Oliver.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 12 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 312B 60 1h42m17.320s  3 
2 27 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312B 60 1h42m17.930s  2 
3 11 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Cosworth BT33 60 1h43m45.200s  17 
4 17 Pedro Rodriguez BRM P153 59  22 
5 16 Jackie Oliver BRM P153 59  14 
6 19 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra Simca-Matra MS120 59  7 
7 14 Ignazio Giunti Ferrari 312B 59  5 
8 4 Chris Amon March-Cosworth 701 59  6 
9 3 Jo Siffert March-Cosworth 701 59  20 
10 23 Peter Gethin McLaren-Cosworth M14A 59  21 
11 18 George Eaton BRM P153 58  23 
12 22 Andrea de Adamich McLaren-Alfa Romeo M14D 57  15 
13 10 Jack Brabham Brabham-Cosworth BT33 56  8 
14 20 Henri Pescarolo Matra Simca-Matra MS120 56  13 
15 8 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Cosworth 49C 55  16 
r 21 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M14A 30 Engine 11 
r 15 John Surtees Surtees-Cosworth TS7 27 Engine 12 
r 26 Tim Schenken De Tomaso-Cosworth 505 25 Engine 19 
r 6 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Cosworth 72C 21 Engine 1 
r 24 Silvio Moser Bellasi-Cosworth  13 Radiator 24 
r 5 Mario Andretti March-Cosworth 701 13 Throttle Jammed/ Accident 18 
r 1 Jackie Stewart March-Cosworth 701 7 Fuel Line 4 
r 7 John Miles Lotus-Cosworth 72C 4 Brakes 10 
r 2 Francois Cevert March-Cosworth 701 0 Engine 9