1962 French Grand Prix (partially found footage of Formula One World Championship race; 1962)

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1962frenchgrandprix1.jpg

Programme for the race.

Status: Partially Found

The 1962 French Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 1962 Formula One Season. Occurring on 8th July at the Circuit Rouen les Essarts, the race was ultimately won by Porsche's Dan Gurney, marking his first World Championship victory, and Porsche's only one as a constructor.

Background

The 1962 French Grand Prix was the 12th running of the event in the Formula One calendar,[1] with the race lasting 54 laps.[2] The 48th French Grand Prix overall,[3] the race has been held at a variety of circuits, with the last one held at Rouen occurring in 1968.[4][5] After the race was dropped from the schedule in 2009, it returned in 2018, where it has consistently been held at Circuit Paul Ricard.[5][1]

Heading into the race, it was confirmed Ferrari would not compete, as a metal workers strike in Italy prevented its mechanics from working on its cars.[6][7][8] Meanwhile, Porsche, following a difficult start to the season, were now satisfied with their cars' performances following modifications at the Nurburgring.[7] Despite clear improvements during qualifying, with Gurney setting a time fast enough for sixth on the grid, the battle for pole position was mainly between BRM, Lotus-Climax, and Cooper-Climax.[7][8][2] Jim Clark, driving a new monocoque Lotus 25, would achieve pole position with a time of 2:14.8.[7][8][6][2] Directly behind him was Graham Hill's BRM, who despite qualifying second, was struggling with engine power and gear change issues throughout the sessions.[7][8][6][2] Meanwhile Cooper-Climax's Bruce McLaren encountered his own reliability concerns in the first session, but recovered in the second to qualify third out of 17 competitors.[7][8][6][2]

The Race

With the starting order decided, the 1962 French Grand Prix commenced on 8th July.[2] Richie Ginther's BRM stalled prior to the start, forcing drivers behind him to utilise sign language to figure out how to overtake him at the start.[7] The race director was forced to order the Gendarmerie guarding the cars to move off the grid to avoid them being run over by cars dodging the stricken BRM.[7] The confusion from behind meant the top three struggled to get away at the start, but once proceedings normalised, Hill led ahead of Lola-Climax's John Surtees, Clark, and McLaren.[7][8][6][2] Hill set a lap record a lap later, while Clark was forced to resolve handling issues, which took until lap 4.[7] By lap 10, Hill was a second ahead of Surtees, while gearbox problems plus a spin for McLaren hampered his progress.[7][8] His mechanics later found the chassis was damaged, though McLaren was able to continue.[7][8] Engine and fuel feed issues meanwhile forced Surtees into the pits, allowing Clark to take second and Gurney third.[7][8][6] The Lola driver was nevertheless able to continue, eventually moving back into fourth by lap 22.[7] Clark had also set a lap record, though Hill was considerably ahead by lap 27.[7]

On lap 30, Hill lapped Cooper-Climax's Jackie Lewis.[7][8] However, Lewis suffered a brakes failure heading into a corner, and rear-ended Hill's BRM. Hill continued, albeit without his car's right-hand tail pipe.[7][8][2] The resulting spin enabled Clark to take the lead.[7][8][2] Clark was ahead by about six seconds on lap 31, but the BRM set another lap record a lap later, eventually catching the Lotus on lap 33.[7] Clark was forced to pit, believing his Lotus was suffering mechanical issues based on how quickly Hill closed the gap.[7][8][6][2] Hill was about 30 seconds ahead of Gurney, with Surtees a lap down in fourth.[7][8][6] Clark meanwhile retired as a steering ball joint broke from the car's left top wishbone.[7][8][2] It seemed Hill was going to claim victory, but an injection mixture control failure caused him to briefly stop.[7][8][6] Once he limped into the pits on lap 47, the engine cover was missing, and the engine was experiencing misfires.[7][8] He continued, but was far behind Gurney.[7][8][6][2] Surtees also pitted to fix a gearbox issue, and was now reliant on third gear.[7][8][6] This promoted Cooper-Climax's Tony Maggs to second, and Ginther to third.[7][8][6][2]

Gurney experienced no issues for the remaining race duration.[7] Having lapped the field, he claimed his and Porsche's first ever World Championship win, and eight points in the Drivers' Championship.[7][6][8][2] This was Porsche's only win as a constructor, though it would achieve more victories as an engine supplier courtesy of its partnership with McLaren in the mid-1980s.[9][6] It was also a German constructor's last World Championship victory until Robert Kubica won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix driving for BMW Sauber.[6] Maggs came home second, while Ginther finished third despite breaking two throttle cables during the event.[7][8][6] McLaren and Surtees took fourth and fifth despite their mechanical issues, and Porsche's Carel Godin de Beaufort took the final points position of sixth.[7][8][2] Post-race, Surtees attempted to pit, but was turned away by the Gendarmes.[7] Lotus-Climax's Maurice Trintignant was caught out by this, and took evasive action.[7][8] He ended up in the path of Lotus-Climax's Trevor Taylor, with him colliding with the Frenchman at 120 mph.[7][8] Despite the massive crash destroying both Lotuses, the drivers walked away unharmed.[7][8]

Availability

The race was reportedly partially televised live by the ORTF, RTB, and the BBC.[10][11] ORTF provided a combined 1 hour and 45 minutes of live coverage, splitting its broadcast into two sections.[10] RTB meanwhile provided 90 minutes of coverage, splitting it into two 45-minute segments.[10] Finally, Issue 2,017 of Radio Times states that the BBC's broadcast occurred during a 55-minute broadcast that was shared with coverage of the 1962 World Gymnastic Championships.[11][10] None of the television broadcasts have resurfaced, but colour race footage can be accessed courtesy of a film produced by Castrol Motor Oil,[12] in addition to a British Pathé newsreel.

Gallery

Videos

Colour footage from the Castrol Motor Oil-produced film.

British Pathé newsreel of the race.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ultimate Car Page listing every French Grand Prix. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Racing-Reference detailing qualifying and race results of the event. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  3. ↑ Forix listing all races classified as part of the French Grand Prix. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  4. ↑ Supercar Nostalgia detailing the history of the Rouen-Les-Essarts. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 F1 Destinations detailing the history of the French Grand Prix. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 ESPN summarising the race. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 7.30 7.31 7.32 7.33 7.34 Motor Sport providing a detailed race report. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 Grand Prix summarising the event. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  9. ↑ Road and Track's summarising Porsche's successful partnership with McLaren in the 1980s. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 List of Formula One television broadcasts noting several outlets provided partial live race coverage. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 BBC Genome archive of Radio Times issues detailing the BBC's coverage of the race. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
  12. ↑ Muscle Car Films summarising the Castrol Motor Oil-produced film. Retrieved 8th Nov '22
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