The 1970 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on June 21, 1970. It was race 5 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This race was held the same day as the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final in Mexico City, Mexico, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix.
The race was won by Lotus-Ford driver Jochen Rindt in his new monocoque-chassis Type 72, a radical wedge shape first used on the 1968 Indianapolis Lotus, with inboard braking and torsion bar suspension, it represented a major technical advance, giving the driver superior ride and vision in a better ventilated seat. Rindt had only raced the car twice before (but in a different spec) and had preferred his old Lotus 49 in the preceding Monaco and Belgian rounds of the World Championship. Three years earlier the 72's predecessor; DFV-debutant Type 49 won in 1967 won first time out at exactly the same track with Jim Clark driving. Rindt, who opted to race the 72 without the complex anti-squat and anti-dive features, which he had never believed in, effortlessly dominated the practice and race putting little pressure on the car and not even having to use the maximum road width or line. The race also saw the debut of Clay Regazzoni with Ferrari, who finished fourth.
Race report
Jacky Ickx led Jochen Rindt off the line. On lap 2, Rindt running on full tanks, with 50–55 gallons of petrol on board, put in his fastest lap of the raceD. S. Jenkinson. 'The Dutch GP . A Tech Advance' in Motorsport August 1970. Retrieved 31/3/2019. and outbraked Ickx into the Tarzan hairpin, on the inside in a classic passing manoeuvre, at the start of lap 3. Colin Chapman had persisted with anti-squat and dive on John Miles' Lotus 72 which was fifth on the first lap and proved difficult to pass. This assisted Team Lotus as it was much easier for Rindt to thread past the four car duel for fifth on lap 29–32 than for Ickx or Jackie Stewart who spent 7 laps getting past Jack Brabham, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, John Surtees and MilesDutch GP. Motorsport August 1970. Retrieved 31/3/2019 Miles in the second 72 was finally being passed by Beltoise on lap 49, when a large wave over the coast dunes saw Miles lose adhesion and Surtees did finally claim the 6th place and the final point by passing John Miles' Lotus, which was brakeless by then, 4 laps from the flag. However the race was marred by the violent fatal accident of British driver Piers Courage driving the Frank Williams-entered De Tomaso-Ford on lap 22, at Tunnel Oost, when his car's suspension was damaged after hitting a curb, and the car went straight up a grass embankment. It then somersaulted and exploded, and Courage had died instantly after being hit on the head by one of the car's front wheels. The flames were so intense, that trees surrounding the accident site, were lit up as a result. A similar accident occurred at the 1973 race, which claimed the life of Roger Williamson.
Qualifying classification Pos.DriverConstructorTimeGrid1 Jochen RindtLotus-Ford1:18.5012 Jackie StewartMarch-Ford1:18.7323 Jacky IckxFerrari1:18.9334 Chris AmonMarch-Ford1:19.2545 Jackie OliverBRM1:19.3056 Clay RegazzoniFerrari1:19.4867 Pedro RodríguezBRM1:20.0778 John MilesLotus-Ford1:20.2489 Piers CourageDe Tomaso-Ford1:20.32910 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra1:20.381011 Peter GethinMcLaren-Ford1:20.411112 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Ford1:20.761213 Henri PescaroloMatra1:20.891314 John SurteesMcLaren-Ford1:21.181415 François CevertMarch-Ford1:21.181516 Ronnie PetersonMarch-Ford1:21.241617 Jo SiffertMarch-Ford1:21.271718 George EatonBRM1:21.351819 Dan GurneyMcLaren-Ford1:21.3619 Andrea de AdamichMcLaren-Alfa Romeo1:21.36—21 Graham HillLotus-Ford1:21.7520 Rolf StommelenBrabham-Ford1:22.34— Pete LovelyLotus-Ford1:23.37— Silvio MoserBellasi-Ford1:24.29—Source:
Race classification
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 10 Jochen Rindt Lotus-Ford 80 1:50:43.41 1 9 2 5 Jackie Stewart March-Ford 80 + 30.00 2 6 3 25 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 79 + 1 lap 3 4 4 26 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 79 + 1 lap 6 3 5 23 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 79 + 1 lap 10 2 6 16 John Surtees McLaren-Ford 79 + 1 lap 14 1 7 12 John Miles Lotus-Ford 78 + 2 laps 8 8 24 Henri Pescarolo Matra 78 + 2 laps 13 9 22 Ronnie Peterson March-Ford 78 + 2 laps 16 10 1 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 77 + 3 laps 7 11 18 Jack Brabham Brabham-Ford 76 + 4 laps 12 15 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 71 + 9 laps 20 6 François Cevert March-Ford 31 Engine 15 3 George Eaton BRM 26 Oil leak 18 2 Jackie Oliver BRM 23 Engine 5 4 Piers Courage De Tomaso-Ford 22 Fatal accident 9 9 Jo Siffert March-Ford 22 Engine 17 20 Peter Gethin McLaren-Ford 18 Accident 11 32 Dan Gurney McLaren-Ford 2 Engine 19 8 Chris Amon March-Ford 1 Clutch 4 21 Andrea de Adamich McLaren-Alfa Romeo 19 Rolf Stommelen Brabham-Ford 31 Pete Lovely Lotus-Ford 29 Silvio Moser Bellasi-Ford
Notes This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver and future Grand Prix winner Peter Gethin and for Swiss driver and future Grand Prix winner Clay Regazzoni. This was the first win for the Lotus 72. This race marked the 10th podium finish for an Austrian driver. This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Swiss constructor Bellasi. For the first time since the 1968 French Grand Prix, a Ford-powered car did not set the fastest lap during the race. This ended a record streak of 21 consecutive fastest laps set by a Ford-powered car.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Jackie Stewart 19 2 2 Jochen Rindt 18 2 3 Jack Brabham 15 1 4 Pedro Rodríguez 10 5 Denny Hulme 9Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 March-Ford 25 2 2 Lotus-Ford 23 1 3 Brabham-Ford 17 1 4 McLaren-Ford 16 5 Matra 13Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References