1973 Singapore Grand Prix

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1973 Singapore Grand Prix
Thomson Road Circuit.svg
Race details
Date22 April 1973
Official name VIII International Singapore Grand Prix [1]
Location Old Upper Thomson Road, Singapore
Course Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit
Course length 4.865 km (3.023 miles)
Distance 50 laps, 243.250 km (151.149 miles)
Pole position
Driver Surtees-Hart
Time 1:57.1
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leo Geoghegan Birrana-Hart
Time 1:54.9
Podium
First March-Hart
Second Surtees-Hart
Third Brabham-Ford

The 1973 Singapore Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Thomson Road Grand Prix circuit on 22 April 1973. It was the final Singapore Grand Prix before the cancellation of the event, which resumed in 2008 as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The race was contested over 50 laps and was won by Vern Schuppan driving a March. The race was run to Australian Formula Two rules. [2]

Contents

Report

Background

John MacDonald had a brand new Brabham BT40 delivered to him for the race. However, his team ran into difficulty due to fuel pick-up problems with the new car. [3]

In the 1972 event, the 28-year-old Singaporean driver Lionel Chan was involved in an accident which saw his car roll into a ditch on the fourth lap after losing a wheel and hitting an official car. He was taken to hospital but fell into a coma and later died. [4] [5] The circuit was considered dangerous and the Singaporean Minister of Social Affairs, Encik Othman Wok, stated, "I'll be the happiest man when we get a permanent circuit." [6]

Race

Schuppan was leading Malcolm Ramsay's Birrana when Schuppan's March kicked up some stones, puncturing Ramsay's fuel tank and covering him in petrol. [3]

Malcolm soldiered on until the pain of the petrol burning his balls forced him to retire.

Angus Lamont, mechanic for John MacDonald [3]

Aftermath

"The circuit over which the Grand Prix is run would send shivers down the collective spines of the CSI safety committee. To obtain the circuit the public roads are simply closed off. If there are any safety devices I didn't see any."

Richard Feast [6]

During a support race for touring cars, Swiss driver Joe Huber went off the track into a lamp post. He died six days later as a result of his injuries. [7] The difficulty of implementing adequate safety measures, along with concerns that the Grand Prix was promoting reckless driving, led to motor racing being banned in Singapore after the 1973 Grand Prix. [8] Other contributory factors have been suggested, including an increase in traffic, the inconvenience of having to close roads for the event and also a surge of oil prices stemming from the Suez Crisis. [9] On average the Grand Prix saw one fatality per year, partly due to the nature of the circuit which featured monsoon drains and bus stops. [2] Graeme Lawrence, a three-time winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, believed that the Thomson Road circuit was one of the most dangerous in the world. [8]

A permanent track incorporating a sports complex was proposed as a replacement for the Thomson Road circuit, but this did not come to fruition. [3]

Classification

Starting grid

PosNameChassisEngineTime
1 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graeme Lawrence Surtees TS15 Hart 1:57.1
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan March 722 Hart 1:57.3
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leo Geoghegan Birrana 273 Hart 1:57.8
4 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ken Smith March 722 Hart 1:59.1
5 Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg John MacDonald Brabham BT40 Hart 1:59.1
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Malcolm Ramsay Birrana 273 Hart 1:59.5
7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Max Stewart Rennmax BN3 England 2:01.3
8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Stewart Dolphin 732 England 2:01.5
9 Flag of Malaysia.svg Sonny Rajah March 722 Hart 2:02.6
10 Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg Albert Poon Brabham BT40 Hart 2:03.0
11 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Hall Brabham BT40 Hart 2:04.0
12 Flag of Malaysia.svg Percy Chan Lotus 69RES2:07.5
13 Flag of Singapore.svg Jan Bussell Palliser WDB4 BRM 2:07.6
14 Flag of Indonesia.svg Hanny Wiano GRD 272 Hart 2:08.9
15 Flag of Japan.svg Kiyoshi Misaki Brabham BT30 Toyota 2:11.1
16 Flag of New Zealand.svg Steve Millen Elden Mk. 8 Ford 2:12.7
17 Flag of the United States.svg Harvey Simon Elfin 600B Ford 2:13.6
18 Flag of the United States.svg John Green Chevron B20 Hart 2:14.4
19 Flag of New Zealand.svg Dave HaywardHawke Ford 2:31.8
20 Flag of Singapore.svg Chong Boon Seng Brabham BT302:49.1
Source: [6]

Race

PosDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGrid
1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan March-Hart 501:38:58.32
2 Flag of New Zealand.svg Graeme Lawrence Surtees-Hart 50+38.51
3 Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg John MacDonald Brabham-Hart 49+1 lap5
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Max Stewart Rennmax-England 49+1 lap7
5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Stewart Dolphin-England 49+1 lap8
6 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ken Smith March-Hart 47+3 laps4
7 Flag of Singapore.svg Jan Bussell Palliser-BRM 47+3 laps13
8 Flag of New Zealand.svg Steve Millen Elden-Ford 43+7 laps16
9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leo Geoghegan Birrana-Hart 41+9 laps3
10 Flag of the United States.svg Harvey Simon Elfin-Ford 40+10 laps17
 ? Flag of Malaysia.svg Percy Chan Lotus-RES12
 ? Flag of Indonesia.svg Hanny Wiano GRD-Hart 14
 ? Flag of Japan.svg Kiyoshi Misaki Brabham-Toyota 15
 ? Flag of the United States.svg John Green Chevron-Hart 18
 ? Flag of New Zealand.svg Dave HaywardHawke-Ford 19
 ? Flag of Singapore.svg Chong Boon Seng Brabham 20
Ret Flag of Malaysia.svg Sonny Rajah March-Hart 25Battery9
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Malcolm Ramsay Birrana-Hart 17Fuel tank6
Ret Flag of the United States.svg Mike Hall Brabham-Hart 7Radiator11
DNS Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg Albert Poon Brabham-Hart Engine10
DNS Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Brian Robertson Brabham-Hart Practice crash
DNS Flag of Indonesia.svg Robert Silitonga GRD-Hart Practice crash
Source: [6]

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References

  1. "About Singapore Motor Sports Association". Singapore Motor Sports Association. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  2. 1 2 Tommy T.B. Koh, ed. (2006). "Singapore Grand Prix". Singapore:The Encyclopedia. Editions Didier Millet. p. 490. ISBN   981-4155-63-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Solomon, Eli (March 2006). "Singapore Fling". Motor Sport (March 2006): 77.
  4. "Driver dies after racing crash". The Times. 5 April 1972. p. 6.
  5. "Lionel Chan". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Feast, Richard (26 April 1973). "Schuppan shows the way". Autosport . 51 (4): 16–17.
  7. "Joe Huber". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 3 October 2008. He was the seventh fatality in the history of the Singapore Grand Prix.
  8. 1 2 "Singapore Grand Prix". Singapore Infopedia. National Library, Singapore. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  9. "A History of the Singapore Grand Prix". Snakes & Devils. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
Preceded by Singapore Grand Prix
1973
Succeeded by