1970 1000km of Brands Hatch

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Layout of the Brands Hatch (1960-1975)

The 1970 1000 km of Brands Hatch was an endurance race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, United Kingdom on April 12, 1970. The race was the 3rd round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.

Pre-race[]

The challenging, bumpy and undulating Brands Hatch circuit near London saw New Zealander Chris Amon return temporarily to Ferrari to drive one of their 512's, and he qualified his car on pole position. Amon's fellow countryman Denny Hulme drove a works Porsche 917K with factory driver Vic Elford. This race was only for prototypes; no GT cars were allowed to enter.[1]

Race[]

On the day of the race, the conditions were made awful by heavy rain, wind and cold air- a common occurrence during spring in England. The race started with Elford, Jacky Ickx in another works Ferrari, Jo Siffert in works/John Wyer Porsche 917K all getting past Amon around the outside of Paddock Hill, and Amon was followed by Piers Courage in a works Alfa Romeo, Pedro Rodríguez in the other John Wyer Porsche and the rest of the field followed.

At the end of the first lap, Barrie Smith in a privately entered Lola crashed heavily on the pit straight, and yellow flags were shown at the site of the accident. Rodriguez, who passed cars while yellow flags were being shown (oblivious to the fact), was shown the black flag and went into the pits while an astonishing 2nd, was reprimanded. Ickx, like Rodriguez- was a wet-weather specialist, had passed Elford and was leading the race. But he soon went into the pits with rain-wiper motor failure.

Elford was back in the lead, but the flying Rodriguez, who had come up from coming out of the pits in 12th to 2nd by lap 15 (only about 25 minutes into the race), passed Elford and led the race. This was a lead he kept until the end; he and Elford drove their cars for 5 1/2 of the 6 1/2 hours of the race in the dreadful conditions, and Rodriguez won the race by 5 laps. Porsches romped home 1-2-3-4; the first 3 being 917K's. Rodriguez' performance was such that the race is sometimes known as "the day they forgot to tell Pedro it was raining".

The running of the race was changed from a 6 hour time limit to a 1000 kilometer overall distance.

Official results[]

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps
1 S
5.0
10 United Kingdom John Wyer Automotive Engineering Mexico Pedro Rodríguez
Finland Leo Kinnunen
Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 235
2 S
5.0
11 Austria Porsche Salzburg United Kingdom Vic Elford
New Zealand Denny Hulme
Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 230
3 S
5.0
12 Austria Porsche Salzburg United Kingdom Richard Attwood
Germany Hans Herrmann
Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 227
4 P
3.0
57 Finland Racing Team AAW Finland Hans Laine
Netherlands Gijs van Lennep
Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 227
5 S
5.0
2 Italy SpA Ferrari SEFAC New Zealand Chris Amon
Italy Arturo Merzario
Ferrari 512S Ferrari 5.0L V12 225
6 P
3.0
56 Germany Martini International France Gérard Larrousse
Germany Gerhard Koch
Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 217
7 S
5.0
5 Sweden Ecurie Bonnier Sweden Jo Bonnier
Sweden Reine Wisell
Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 217
8 S
5.0
1 Italy SpA Ferrari SEFAC Belgium Jacky Ickx
United Kingdom Jackie Oliver
Ferrari 512S Ferrari 5.0L V12 213
9 P
3.0
28 United Kingdom John L'Amie United Kingdom John L'Amie
United Kingdom
Porsche 910 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 211
10 S
2.0
25 United Kingdom Central Garage (Mirfield) United Kingdom John Lepp
United Kingdom George Silverwood
Chevron B8 BMW 1.8L I4 211
11 P
3.0
28 United Kingdom Nick Gold United Kingdom Mike Beuttler
United Kingdom Nick Gold
Porsche 910 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 201
12 P
3.0
51 France Equipe Matra-Simca Australia Jack Brabham
France Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Matra-Simca MS650 Matra 3.0L V12 201
13 S
5.0
3 Switzerland Scuderia Filipinetti Switzerland Herbert Müller
United Kingdom Mike Parkes
Ferrari 512S Ferrari 5.0L V12 197
14 S
2.0
25 United Kingdom Intertech Steering Wheels United Kingdom John Lepp
United Kingdom Angus Clydesdale
Chevron B8 BMW 1.8L I4 195
15 P
2.0
81 United Kingdom A. M. Graphic Racing Organisation United Kingdom Gerry Birrell
United Kingdom Andrew Mylius
Gropa CMC Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 195
16 P
2.0
79 United Kingdom Roger Nathan Racing United Kingdom Roger Nathan
United Kingdom Mike Beckwith
Astra RNR2 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 193
17 P
2.0
74 United Kingdom Chevron Racing Team United Kingdom John Bridges
United Kingdom Peter Lawson
Chevron B16 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 189

Did Not Finish[]

Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps
P
2.0
72 United Kingdom Mark Konig United Kingdom Tony Lanfranchi
United Kingdom Mark Konig
Nomad Mk.2 BRM 2.0L V8 185
P
3.0
58 United Kingdom Ecurie Evergreen United Kingdom Alain de Cadenet
Argentina Jorge Omar del Rio
Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 179
S
5.0
9 United Kingdom John Wyer Automotive Engineering Switzerland Jo Siffert
United Kingdom Brian Redman
Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 176
P
3.0
52 France Equipe Matra-Simca France Henri Pescarolo
France Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Matra-Simca MS650 Matra 3.0L V12 161
S
2.0
21 United Kingdom Worcestershire Racing Association United Kingdom John Bamford
United Kingdom Peter Creasey
United Kingdom James Tangye
Chevron B8 BMW 1.8L I4 112
P
2.0
77 United Kingdom Worcestershire Racing Association United Kingdom Mike Walker
United Kingdom John Burton
Chevron B16 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 101
S
2.0
24 United Kingdom Lec Refrigeration United Kingdom David Purley
United Kingdom Chris Skeaping
Chevron B8 BMW 1.8L I4 88
S
2.0
22 United Kingdom Paul Watson Race Organisation United Kingdom Trevor Twaites
United Kingdom Peter Smith
Chevron B8 BMW 1.8L I4 73
S
2.0
26 United Kingdom Road & Racing Accessories (Holborn) Ltd. United Kingdom Paul Vestey
United States Roy Pike
Porsche 910 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 73
P
2.0
76 United Kingdom Digby Martland United Kingdom Charles Lucas
United Kingdom Digby Martland
Chevron B16 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 69
S
2.0
71 Germany Hans-Dieter Blatzheim Germany Hans-Dieter Blatzheim
Germany Ernst Kraus
Porsche 907 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 56
P
3.0
60 Italy Autodelta SpA United Kingdom Piers Courage
Italy Andrea de Adamich
Alfa Romeo T33/3 Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8 54
S
5.0
7 United Kingdom Grand Bahama Racing Team United Kingdom Mike De Udy
United Kingdom Frank Gardner
Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 26
P
3.0
59 United Kingdom Ecurie Evergreen United Kingdom Chris Craft
United Kingdom Trevor Taylor
McLaren M8C Ford-Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 25
S
5.0
82 United Kingdom Daren Cars Ltd. United Kingdom Jeremy Richardson
United Kingdom Peter Brown
Daren Mk.2 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 12
P
2.0
75 United Kingdom Chevron Racing Team United Kingdom John Hine
United Kingdom Ian Skailes
Chevron B16 Ford-Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 9
S
5.0
7 United Kingdom Grand Bahama Racing Team United Kingdom Barrie Smith
New Zealand Howden Ganley
Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 0

Statistics[]

  • Pole position: #2 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Ferrari 512S Spyder (Chris Amon/Arturo Merzario)- 1:28.6 (107.723 mph/174.081 km/h)
  • Time taken for winning car to cover distance: 6 hours 45 minutes 29.6 seconds
  • Average Speed: 148.296 km/h (91.540 mph)
  • Weather conditions: Heavy rain, windy, cold

References[]


World Sportscar Championship
Previous race:
12 Hours of Sebring
1970 season Next race:
1000km of Monza
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