Dutch Grand Prix 1971: Zandvoort
Make sure you click the HQ button on this great video of the 1971 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Unfortunately the commentary is not in English, but the footage is superb.
For the Dutch GP Team Lotus lead driver Emerson Fittipaldi was out of action after a road accident in France and his place was taken by South African Dave Charlton. The team also entered a gas turbine car for F1 debutante Dave Walker. He crashed one of the conventional cars on Friday and this could not be repaired, so Charlton did not get a drive and Walker had to race the Lotus-Pratt & Whitney 56. The only other change in the entry was the appearance of local driver Gij Van Lennep in a third Surtees.
As usual it was Jackie Stewart versus the V12 cars with Ickx taking pole for Ferrari from Pedro Rodriguez (BRM). Stewart was on the outside of the front row in his Tyrrell-Cosworth, which had won two of the first three races of the year. The second row featured Clay Regazzoni’s Ferrari and Chris Amon’s Matra. This left Reine Wisell to be the second V8 car back on the third row, which the Lotus driver shared with John Surtees (Surtees) and Jo Siffert (BRM).
It was wet on Sunday. At the start Mario Andretti’s Ferrari was missing because of a fuel pump problem. He did start the race but was a long way behind and retired after just a few laps.
At the start Ickx went ahead of Rodriguez, Stewart and Amon. Siffert blew his chances with a spin. On the second lap Amon spun out and on the third lap Stewart had a rare spin and dropped to eighth place. This left Regazzoni third and Surtees fourth ahead of Wisell. The Swede did not last long because a rear wheel worked loose and trying to solve the problem, he reversed into the pitlane and was disqualified. As everyone else struggled Ickx and Rodriguez built up a big lead with Rodriguez moving ahead on the ninth lap. Their duel would continue for most of the afternoon but towards the end Ickx pulled away to win by nearly eight seconds. Regazzoni finished third.
Images via Jacky Ickx fan Words via GrandPrix.com
