F1 Quiz Chain

[xpensive]

1972, the March 721X.

No, on both counts.

[thearmofbarlow]

Then it has to be '71 in the 711.

[1158]

Then it has to be '71 in the 711.

Correct.

I found it just now when I was trying to find out what I cannot remember about the brake incident. I wasn't going to post it though since I feel I "cheated". lol

[xpensive]

OK, with a little bit of guesswork, baton to barlow, but who's for the gold star?

Lead; the failure was fatal the previous season.

[thearmofbarlow]

Obviously referring to Rindt's crash. I know it was a brake failure, but can't find any specifics outside of it possibly being one of them failed to actually brake properly.

[munudeges]

Was this the race in 1971 where Jo Siffert was killed, or am I a bit off-base there?

[xpensive]

Was this the race in 1971 where Jo Siffert was killed, or am I a bit off-base there?

No, this was the Race of Champions, run on March 21 1971. Clay Regazzoni won in the new Ferrari 312B2, but many top drivers were at Sebring for the 12h sportscar race and most DFVs were in for service, why the field was thin. March' factory team did not compete and Ronnie was offered to drive Frank Williams brand new 711 as his regular driver Henri Pescarolo too was at Sebring.

Frank's 711 had been delivered in a kit-state by MrM, why his mechanics were doing the assembly day and night to make it to the race and had it at he track late Saturday night. No practice meant that Ronnie had to start from the back with a 10 seconds delay, which didn't stop him from passing three drivers on the first lap and another two on the third, then two more on lap seven and twelve.

On the fourteenth lap however, a brake-shaft for the inboard front discs snapped and that was that.
Scary stuff really, same failure killed Jochen Rindt at Monza the year before.

You were thinking of the October 24 F1/F5000 victory race, won by Peter Gethin, where sadly Jo Siffert was killed.

[munudeges]

Yes, that's the one. It was sponsored by Rothmans I think from something I read quite a while ago.

I wouldn't want to think about a brake failure in one of those cars. You're going to have a high speed accident with no means of slowing down and little to no protection. I can see why many drivers liked the idea of being thrown out, even if it was quite ill-advised.

[1158]

Did the Peterson crash lead Frank Williams to say something along the lines of he was never going to use inboard brakes again or am I thinking of another incident with a different owner?

[xpensive]

Did the Peterson crash lead Frank Williams to say something along the lines of he was never going to use inboard brakes again or am I thinking of another incident with a different owner?

At the request of Ronnie, March rebuilt their own 711s to outboard brakes, but I don't know about Frank's customer chassis.

Robin Herds original 711 was quite advanced in many ways with interesting aerodynamics, but it became rather ordinary as the season wore on. Not that Ronnie bothered, he just drove whatever he had as fast as it could go, not much of a developer.

[1158]

Did the Peterson crash lead Frank Williams to say something along the lines of he was never going to use inboard brakes again or am I thinking of another incident with a different owner?

At the request of Ronnie, March rebuilt their own 711s to outboard brakes, but I don't know about Frank's customer chassis.

Robin Herds original 711 was quite advanced in many ways with interesting aerodynamics, but it became rather ordinary as the season wore on. Not that Ronnie bothered, he just drove whatever he had as fast as it could go, not much of a developer.

Very interesting, thanks for adding the extra info. I could be totally wrong. I just thought I remember reading somewhere that an owner (who I thought was Frank) said they would never use inboard brakes again after one of the brake shaft failures. I usually do my reading very late at night so I could be remembering incorrectly.

[thearmofbarlow]

I'm not a huge F1 repository like some of you guys, so anything from me is going to be fairly easy.

Who won this race:

[xpensive]

...
Very interesting, thanks for adding the extra info. I could be totally wrong. I just thought I remember reading somewhere that an owner (who I thought was Frank) said they would never use inboard brakes again after one of the brake shaft failures. I usually do my reading very late at night so I could be remembering incorrectly.

When the only brake-shaft failures known to me is Rindt in 1970 and Ronnie in 1971, while Colin Chapman continued with the concept on Lotus 76 in 1974, it seems very likely that it was Frank saying that, referring to the 1971 Race of Champions.

[beelsebob]

I'm not a huge F1 repository like some of you guys, so anything from me is going to be fairly easy.

Who won this race:

Stirling Moss did. That's Ain Diab, which was on the calendar only in 1958.

[markc]

In a Vanwall A true patriot, Mr Moss. He nearly won the championship at that race, he needed 1st and fastest, while Mike Hawthorn had to come 3rd.
He got 1st and fastest, but MikeH got 2nd and WDC.