The 12th Solitude Grand Prix was a non-Championship motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 15 July 1962 at the Solitudering, near Stuttgart. The race was run over 25 laps of the circuit, and was won by Dan Gurney in a Porsche 804.
Race Report The 1961 Solitude Grand Prix had been very exciting, and 320,000 people showed up in 1962 for a new record attendance. However, the race proved less than exciting, with only Lotus and Porsche sending their cars in addition to numerous privateers. Ferrari and Scuderia SSS Venezia stayed away due to the ongoing Italian metal workers' strike, while UDT/Laystall and Yeoman Credit Racing both stayed home to repair cars damaged in the 1962 French Grand Prix.
Jo Bonnier was hindered at the start by a photographer on the track, and the race began with Gurney leading Clark, then Bonnier, and then Trevor Taylor. These positions remained unchanged until just past the middle of the race, when there was a rainsquall and all of the oil and rubber deposits on the track made for very slippery conditions. Clark slipped backwards into a fence and had to retire with a damaged exhaust and rear end. Taylor also slipped off the track a few times, and the tempo dropped steadily. As an indication thereof, Gurney's average speed for the first fifteen laps was while it was only for the last ten. Ian Burgess' Cooper-special was best privateer in fourth. Jo Siffert had an electric short which led to a small fire. Luckily for the spectators, Solitude also hosted the German Motorcycle Grand Prix and there was a GT-race, won by Kalman von Czazy in a Ferrari 250GTO which he had crashed during practice.
Results Pos Driver Entrant Constructor Time/Retired Grid 1 Dan Gurney Porsche System Engineering Porsche 1.45:37.2 2 2 Jo Bonnier Porsche System Engineering Porsche + 1:47.1 s 3 3 Trevor Taylor Team Lotus Lotus-Climax + 3:55.1 s 4 4 Ian Burgess Anglo-American Equipe Cooper-Climax 24 laps 7 5 Carel Godin de Beaufort Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche 23 laps 8 6 Gerhard Mitter Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus-Climax 23 laps 14 7 Heinz Schiller Ecurie Filipinetti Porsche 23 laps 11 8 Bernard Collomb Bernard Collomb Cooper-Climax 19 laps 12 Ret Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus-Climax Accident 1 NC Günther Seiffert Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax 18 laps 13 Ret Tony Settember Emeryson Cars Emeryson-Climax Oil leak 9 Ret Tony Marsh Tony Marsh BRM-Climax Clutch 6 Ret Kurt Kuhnke Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-Climax Engine 10 Ret Jo Siffert Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus-BRM Electrics 5 DNS John Campbell-Jones Emeryson Cars Emeryson-Climax Practice accident - WD Peter Arundell Team Lotus Lotus-Climax No car - WD Nino Vaccarella Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia Porsche - WD Carlo Abate Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia Porsche - WD Innes Ireland UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-Climax - WD Masten Gregory UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-BRM - WD John Surtees Bowmaker Racing Team Lola-Climax - WD Wolfgang Seidel Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-BRM No car -
Porsche System Engineering entered a third car but no driver was assigned and the entry was not used.
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