1973 Dutch Grand Prix

Netherlands  1973 Dutch Grand Prix
Race details
Race 10 of 15 in the 1973 Formula One season
Date July 29, 1973
Official name XXI Grote Prijs van Nederland
Location Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.18 km (2.6 mi)
Distance 72 laps, 304.27 km (189.06 mi)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver Lotus-Ford
Time 1:19.47
Fastest lap
Driver Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford
Time 1:20.31
Podium
First Tyrrell-Ford
Second Tyrrell-Ford
Third March-Ford

The 1973 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on July 29, 1973. It was the tenth race of the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. Zandvoort returned to the Formula One calendar following a year's absence for extensive safety upgrades to the race track including new asphalt, new barriers and a new race control tower. Jackie Stewart won the race, this Grand Prix being fourth of five wins for Stewart during the 1973 Formula One season, and he became the most successful Formula One driver of all time with his 26th Grand Prix victory, surpassing Jim Clark's record of 25 victories.

Driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race; this was the first of two driver fatalities in the 1973 season. François Cevert, who took the podium in second place at this race, would later perish during practice for the 1973 United States Grand Prix.

Death of Roger Williamson

The burned wreckage of Roger Williamson's March 731.
Williamson's fatal accident.

On the 8th lap of the race through the high speed esses near the Tunnel Oost (East Tunnel) right-hand corner, a suspected tyre failure caused Williamson's car to pitch into the barriers at high speed, and be catapulted 300 yards (275 m) across the track, eventually coming to rest upside down against the barriers on the other side. The petrol tank had ignited whilst being scraped along the track, and the car caught fire. Williamson had not been seriously injured by the impact, but was trapped in the car. The race was not stopped and continued with a local yellow at the scene, a fact which would become significant over the next few minutes.

Fellow driver David Purley, who witnessed Williamson's impact, almost immediately pulled his car over on the opposite side of the track, then ran across the live racetrack to assist him. Williamson was heard shouting to Purley to get him out of the car as Purley tried in vain to turn the car upright. There appeared to have been ample time to right the car and pull Williamson out, but as desperately as he tried, Purley was unable to do it by himself, and the marshals, who were not wearing flame retardant overalls, were unable to help due to the intense heat.

Race control assumed that it was Purley's car that had crashed and that the driver had escaped unharmed. Many drivers who saw Purley waving them down to stop assumed that he was trying to put a fire out from his own car, having safely exited it, and thus did not know that a second driver had been involved. As a result, the race continued at full pace while Purley desperately tried to save the life of Williamson.

There was only a single fire extinguisher in the area, and it was not enough to put out the fire. With the car still burning upside-down, the situation became hopeless, and the distraught Purley was led away by a marshal. Some spectators, appalled at Williamson's plight, tried to breach the safety fences in order to assist Williamson, but were pushed back by track security staff with dogs.

With the race still on, it took some eight minutes for a fire truck to completely travel around the circuit with the flow of race traffic. By the time the car was eventually righted, and the fire extinguished, Williamson had died of asphyxiation. A blanket was thrown over the burnt-out wreck with Williamson still inside, and the race carried on.

Purley was awarded the George Medal for his brave actions in trying to save his fellow sportsman. Williamson's remains were later cremated and his ashes transferred to an undisclosed location.

In an otherwise uneventful race, Jackie Stewart won his 26th career Grand Prix and broke Jim Clark's 5-year-old record of the most career Grand Prix victories.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap
1 2 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 1:19.47
2 5 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 1:19.97 +0.50
3 6 France François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.12 +0.65
4 7 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:20.31 +0.84
5 10 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 1:20.59 +1.12
6 8 United States Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 1:20.60 +1.13
7 27 United Kingdom James Hunt March-Ford 1:20.70 +1.23
8 24 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 1:21.02 +1.55
9 20 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 1:21.14 +1.67
10 17 United Kingdom Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1:21.23 +1.76
11 21 Austria Niki Lauda BRM 1:21.43 +1.96
12 19 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni BRM 1:21.56 +2.09
13 11 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 1:21.82 +2.35
14 28 Liechtenstein Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 1:22.01 +2.54
15 25 New Zealand Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:22.10 +2.63
16 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 1:22.24 +2.77
17 12 United Kingdom Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 1:22.50 +3.03
18 14 United Kingdom Roger Williamson March-Ford 1:22.72 +3.25
19 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Tecno 1:22.73 +3.26
20 26 Netherlands Gijs van Lennep Iso-Marlboro-Ford 1:22.95 +3.48
21 18 United Kingdom David Purley March-Ford 1:23.09 +3.62
22 16 United States George Follmer Shadow-Ford 1:24.14 +3.67
23 15 United Kingdom Mike Beuttler March-Ford 1:24.45 +3.98
24 23 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 1:32.33 +11.86

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Tyrrell-Ford 72 1:39:12.45 2 9
2 6 France François Cevert Tyrrell-Ford 72 + 15.83 3 6
3 27 United Kingdom James Hunt March-Ford 72 + 1:03.01 7 4
4 8 United States Peter Revson McLaren-Ford 72 + 1:09.13 6 3
5 20 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise BRM 72 + 1:13.37 9 2
6 26 Netherlands Gijs Van Lennep Iso-Marlboro-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 20 1
7 24 Brazil Carlos Pace Surtees-Ford 69 + 3 Laps 8  
8 19 Switzerland Clay Regazzoni BRM 68 + 4 Laps 12  
9 25 New Zealand Howden Ganley Iso-Marlboro-Ford 68 + 4 Laps 15  
10 16 United States George Follmer Shadow-Ford 67 + 5 Laps 22  
11 2 Sweden Ronnie Peterson Lotus-Ford 66 Engine 1  
NC 12 United Kingdom Graham Hill Shadow-Ford 56 Not Classified 17  
Ret 21 Austria Niki Lauda BRM 52 Fuel Pump 11  
Ret 23 United Kingdom Mike Hailwood Surtees-Ford 52 Electrical 24  
Ret 7 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 31 Engine 4  
Ret 11 Brazil Wilson Fittipaldi Brabham-Ford 27 Accident 13  
Ret 22 New Zealand Chris Amon Tecno 22 Fuel System 19  
Ret 10 Argentina Carlos Reutemann Brabham-Ford 9 Tyre 5  
Ret 18 United Kingdom David Purley March-Ford 8 Withdrew 21  
Ret 14 United Kingdom Roger Williamson March-Ford 7 Fatal Accident 18  
Ret 1 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus-Ford 2 Physical 16  
Ret 15 United Kingdom Mike Beuttler March-Ford 2 Electrical 23  
Ret 17 United Kingdom Jackie Oliver Shadow-Ford 1 Accident 10  
DNS 28 Liechtenstein Rikky von Opel Ensign-Ford 0 Non Starter 14  
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart 51
2 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 41
3 France François Cevert 39
4 Sweden Ronnie Peterson 25
1 5 United States Peter Revson 23

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 1 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 62 (66)
1 2 United Kingdom Lotus-Ford 58 (62)
3 United Kingdom McLaren-Ford 38
4 United Kingdom Brabham-Ford 12
5 Italy Ferrari 12

References

  1. "1973 Dutch Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.
Previous race:
1973 British Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1973 season
Next race:
1973 German Grand Prix
Previous race:
1971 Dutch Grand Prix
Dutch Grand Prix Next race:
1974 Dutch Grand Prix
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.