TOP 10 NON-CHAMPIONSHIP F1 RACES

1973

10 BRDC International Trophy

Silverstone

Snow is not normally associated with F1, but it was a key element in the outcome of the 25th International Trophy at Silverstone. Autosport was moved to comment on the competitiveness of the best of the 16 stock-block F5000 machines that shared the grid with 13 F1 cars, but it was the three-litre thoroughbreds that led the way.

Poleman Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus suffered clutch failure off the line, leaving team-mate Ronnie Peterson in front. But Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell outbraked the Swede into Stowe on lap two and started to pull away – until he atypically spun at Becketts.

That put Peterson back in front, as Stewart mounted a charge from sixth position. He scythed through to second and, on his softer tyre compound, caught the leading Lotus. Stewart then struggled to find a way by, until snow arrived on lap 32 of 40… “Peterson arrived into a Becketts gone suddenly greasy wet and slid off on to the grass,” reported Autosport’s Pete Lyons. “Stewart, with an instant’s more warning, held himself on the track and passed by into the lead.

“Peterson rejoined with a plume of tyre smoke into second place and rapidly made up half of his lost ground, but the surface was getting ever wetter and three laps from the end he gave up his hopes of a first F1 victory and let Stewart go.”

Stewart crossed the line 10.4 seconds ahead, recording an average speed of 132.8mph, then the fastest race held in the UK since the closure of Brooklands, despite the snow. It also set the scene for the Stewart-versus-Lotus contest for that year’s F1 title.

1971

9 Questor Grand Prix

Ontario

A ‘Race of Two Worlds’-style contest at the new Ontario Motor Speedway pitted Formula 1 cars and drivers against Formula A (to become F5000) machinery with American stars. It would prove to be a one-sided contest, apart from the Penske-entered Lola T192 Formula A machine of Mark Donohue, but it was still an enthralling event.

Due to the smaller tank capacity of the Formula As, the Questor GP was run over two