USA GP den 4 oktober 1970, Watkins Glen

Ronnie Peterson startar sitt nionde F1 lopp i USA:s GP den 4 oktober 1970. Loppet är unikt ur flera avseenden, det är t ex första gången fler än en svensk står på startlinjen - då såväl Jo Bonnier som Reine Wisell lyckats kvala in till huvudloppet på Watkins Glen. Ronnie har nr 29 på sin gula March och står i likhet med de senaste tävlingarna längre ner i startfältet (kvalificerad som nummer 16). I första startledet står Ickx tillsammans med Stewart (som tar starten och leder större delen av loppet).

Ronnies gamle parhäst Reine Wisell har efter Jochen Rindts tragiska dödskrasch på Monza erbjudits en plats i Lotusstallet som andreförare bakom Emerson Fittipaldi. Han tackar genom att köra in på en sensationell tredjeplats i sitt första F1 race någonsin och tar därmed hem de enda poäng (fyra stycken) som svenskarna totalt kan summera för säsongen 1970. Reine bäddar därmed för förnyat förtroende och får möjlighet att fortsätta köra för Lotus i samtliga deltävlingar under påföljande år (1971).

Emerson Fittipaldi tar i slutet av loppet över ledningen och vinner i sin fjärde F1 start före Pedro Rodriguez i en BRM. Han blir därmed den yngste vinnaren någonsin. Ronnie kör i mål som 11:a och kan redan här summera sin debutsäsong som fullt godkänd eftersom han inte ställer upp i det avslutande loppet i Mexico ett par veckor senare.

Summary in english

A month had passed since World Championship leader Jochen Rindt had been killed at Monza. Jacky Ickx was the only man capable of taking the World Championship away from the Austrian and he needed to win both at Watkins Glen and in Mexico City. The Ferraris, however, were the dominant force with Ickx and his team mate Clay Regazzoni having won the previous three races.

Team Lotus had missed Canada but reappeared to defend Rindt's position and the Constructors' title. Emerson Fittipaldi was now team leader and John Miles had been dropped to make way for another rising star, Sweden's Reine Wisell. Several other teams had made changes as well with Surtees running a second car for Derek Bell and BRM adding a fourth for hillclimb champion Peter Westbury. The entry amounted to a healthy 27 cars, 24 of which were allowed to start. Westbury, Peter Lovely (private Lotus) and Andrea de Adamich (McLaren-Alfa Romeo) failed to make it.

Pole position went to Ickx by over half a second but Jackie Stewart was on the front row in his new Tyrrell, while Fittipaldi shared the second row with the BRM of Pedro Rodriguez. Chris Amon's factory March was on the third row with Regazzoni while Jack Oliver (BRM) lined up on row fourth with John Surtees (Surtees) alongside. Wisell shared the fifth row with the Rob Walker Lotus 72 of Graham Hill.

Stewart took the lead at the start with Rodriguez grabbing second ahead of Ickx and Regazzoni. Behind them came Amon, Surtees, Oliver and a slow-starting Fittipaldi. Surtees soon disappeared with mechanical trouble and Oliver followed on lap 15, soon after he had passed Amon. On lap 16 Ickx overtook Rodriguez and a lap later Regazzoni was also ahead of the Mexican. Amon was fifth and Fittipaldi sixth. Stewart was well clear of Ickx and Regazzoni was five seconds behind his team leader when the second Ferrari headed for the pits to change a tire. On lap 48 Amon also had to stop for a new tire and so Fittipaldi moved to fourth place. On the 57th laps Ickx headed for the pits with a fuel leak. His World Championship hopes had gone.

At the front Stewart seemed in total control until lap 83 when an oil leak forced him to retire. Rodriguez went into the lead with a 20 second lead over Fittipaldi. And then on lap 101 of 108 the BRM ran out of fuel and coasted into the pits. Fittipaldi took the lead to win his first Grand Prix victory. Rodriguez rejoined to finish second while Wisell's F1 debut ended with an impressive third place finish.

 

Sammanställning Grand Prix USA Datum 4 Oktober 1970 Bana Watkins Glen Säsong 1970 Deltävling 12 Längd (km) 3.701 Varv 108 Tid 1:57:32.790

Placering Nr Förare Team Tid Grid 1 24 Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus 1:57:32.790 3 2 19 Pedro Rodriguez BRM 36.390 4 3 23 Reine Wisell Lotus 45.170 9 4 3 Jacky Ickx Ferrari +1 varv 1 5 12 Chris Amon March +1 varv 5 6 18 Derek Bell Surtees +1 varv 13 7 8 Denny Hulme McLaren +2 varv 11 8 7 Henri Pescarolo Matra +3 varv 12 9 11 Jo Siffert March +3 varv 23 10 15 Jack Brabham Brabham +3 varv 16 11 29 Ronnie Peterson March +4 varv 15 12 16 Rolf Stommelen Brabham +4 varv 19 13 4 Clay Regazzoni Ferrari +7 varv 6 14 9 Peter Gethin McLaren +8 varv 21 r 1 Jackie Stewart Tyrrell +26 varv 2 r 14 Graham Hill Lotus +36 varv 10 r 2 François Cevert March +46 varv 17 r 30 Tim Schenken De Tomaso +47 varv 20 r 27 Jo Bonnier McLaren +58 varv 24 r 6 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra +81 varv 18 r 31 Gus Hutchison Brabham +87 varv 22 r 20 Jackie Oliver BRM +94 varv 7 r 21 George Eaton BRM +98 varv 14 r 17 Johnny Surtees Surtees +102 varv 8 nq 32 Peter Westbury BRM     nq 28 Pete Lovely Lotus     nq 10 Andrea de Adamich McLaren

NC=Not Classified NT=No time set in qualifying R=Retired EX=Excluded from meeting W=Withdrawn DQ=Disqualified NS=Did not start NQ=Did not qualify NPQ=Did not pre-qualify

Total slutställning för 1970 års GP i Formel 1