1962 Mexican Grand Prix

NC Mexico 1934 Mexican I Gran Premio de Mexico Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 1963.svg 4 November 1962 Permanent racing facility 3.107 5.000 60 186.411 300.000 Jim Clark UK Lotus-Climax 2:00.1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:57.6 UK Trevor Taylor UK Lotus-Climax Jim Clark UK Jack Brabham Australia Brabham-Climax Innes Ireland UK Lotus-Climax The I Gran Premio de Mexico (or 1st Mexican Grand Prix) was held on 4 November 1962 at the Magdalena Mixhuca circuit, Mexico City. The race was a non-championship event run to Formula One rules and attracted a large entry, including many top teams and drivers. The race was run over 60 laps of the main circuit, and was eventually won by Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor, sharing a drive in a Lotus 25. The race meeting was marred by the death during practice of local driving prodigy Ricardo Rodríguez. The circuit would later be renamed the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to honour him and his brother Pedro. Race summary Pole-sitter Clark suffered a flat battery, so his Lotus 25-Climax got a replacement, but still failed to start; mechanics gave it a push start to get the engine going.Kettlewell, Mike. "Grand Prix Racing South of the Border", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974) Volume 12, p.1331. However, due to a lack of communication between the starting officials, the start flag was waved while marshals were still on the track.October 2018 For John Surtees, the delay caused a cylinder to burn out and his race was over before it even started. The race stewards decided the push start had been illegal (despite it being done by race officials)October 2018 and black-flagged Clark's car (leaking oil in addition, so unlikely to survive full distance in any case)Kettlewell, p.1331. on lap 10. Clark took over the second works Lotus of Lotus team-mate, Trevor Taylor, during a pit stop, dropping him to third, behind Jack Brabham's Brabham and Bruce McLaren in the Cooper.Kettlewell, p.1331. The Scot put in a superb drive to claw back the 57 second deficit on the leaders, passing both with over one third of the race distance still remaining. McLaren's engine blew after half-distance,Kettlewell, p.1331. and as the Brabham was also having trouble,Kettlewell, p.1331. Clark completed the remainder of the race with very little opposition, scoring an easy win. This would prove to be the final time that a Grand Prix victory would be shared by two drivers.October 2018 Also notable was the participation of German driver Wolfgang Seidel, who competed despite having had his FIA licence suspended over two months previously. The Porsche works team did not attend, Porsche having withdrawn from motor sport at the end of the 1962 World Championship season. Despite the starting confusion, the race earned the Mexican Grand Prix full World Championship status from 1963, which it would retain until 1970. Results Pos Driver Entrant Constructor Time/Retired Qual 1 UK Trevor Taylor / Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus-Climax 2:03:50.9 3 2 AUS Jack Brabham Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham-Climax + 1:01.9 7 3 UK Innes Ireland UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-Climax + 1 lap 2 4 USA Jim Hall Jim Hall Lotus-Climax + 1 lap 10 5 USA Masten Gregory UDT Laystall Racing Team Lotus-BRM + 1 lap 9 6 USA Rob Schroeder John Mecom Lotus-Climax + 3 laps 11 7 Netherlands Carel Godin de Beaufort Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche + 3 laps 12 8 USA Homer Rader Jim Hall Lotus-Climax + 3 laps 14 9 USA Jay Chamberlain Ecurie Excelsior Lotus-Climax + 7 laps 16 Ret USA Walt Hansgen Walter Hansgen Lotus-Climax Ignition 13 Ret USA Roger Penske Dupont Team Zerex Lotus-Climax Gearbox 6 Ret New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper Car Company Cooper-Climax Engine 5 DSQ UK Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus-Climax Push start 1 Ret UK Roy Salvadori Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team Lola-Climax Accident (Rear suspension) 8 Ret USA Alan Connell Alan Connell Cooper-Climax Engine 15 Ret Germany Wolfgang Seidel Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel Lotus-BRM Gearbox 17 Ret UK John Surtees Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team Lotus-Climax Ignition 4 WD Mexico 1934 Moisés Solana Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team Cooper-BRM Car too slow – DNS Mexico 1934 Ricardo Rodríguez Rob Walker Racing Team Lotus-Climax Fatal accident – DNA USA Dan Gurney Porsche System Engineering Porsche DNA Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche System Engineering Porsche Moisés Solana withdrew from the event during practice, complaining that his car was too slow.https://f1destinations.com/mexicos-home-race-heroes/ Mexico's Home Race Heroes F1 Destinations 24 October 2018 His fastest recorded time was faster than those of Seidel, Connell, Rader, Chamberlain and Hansgen. References http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1962-mexican-grand-prix 1962 Mexican Grand Prix MotorSport.com 2017-11-06 http://www.formula2.net/F162_22.htm I Gran Premio di Mexico 1962 2003-08-12 formula2.net https://web.archive.org/web/20170201230717/http://www.formula2.net/F162_22.htm 2017-02-01 Note that the track length and race distance seem to be incorrectly quoted, while times/speed imply correct numbers (5.000 km/300.000 km) which agree with MotorSport source. http://www.forix.com/8w/mex62.html Mexico's fatal arrival on the world scene Mattijs Diepraam Felix Muelas 8W 2006-11-18 2017-11-06 Mexican Grand Prix 1962 1962 International Gold Cup 1962 Rand Grand Prix None 1963 Mexican Grand Prix Mexican Grand Prix Category:Mexican Grand Prix Grand Category:November 1962 sports events in Mexico