The 7th Modena Grand Prix was a non-championship
motor race, run for cars complying with
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
rules, held on 3 September 1961 at
Modena Autodrome,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The race was run over 100 laps of the circuit, and was dominated by British driver
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula On ...
in a
Lotus 18/21.
The qualifying system for this event was very unusual in that despite over 30 entrants, the starting grid was restricted to only 14 cars. Furthermore, the fastest three Italian drivers in practice would be guaranteed to start the race, regardless of how many other drivers were faster. This resulted in
Innes Ireland
Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) was a British racing driver and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix with Lotus.
Born in Mytholmroyd and raised in S ...
failing to qualify despite being 13th fastest, and faster than
Giorgio Scarlatti
Giorgio Scarlatti (2 October 1921 – 26 July 1990) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1956.
Formula One career
Scarlatti was born in Rome. He got interested in ra ...
who did qualify.
["The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974, pp.48-49]
Moss took pole position, fastest lap and the win, finishing a few seconds ahead of the
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
pairing of
Jo Bonnier and
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorspo ...
. Gurney led at the start, but Moss passed him on lap 11 and stayed in front.
Qualifying
Results
*Scarlatti and Starrabba used the same car.
*Scuderia Centro Sud entered a Cooper-Maserati, given #6, but withdrew the entry.
References
Bibliography
* "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995.
* "The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974.
See also
*
1957 Modena Grand Prix
External links
*
{{F1 NC race report
, Name_of_race =
Modena Grand Prix
, Year_of_race = 1961
, Previous_race_in_season =
1961 Danish Grand Prix
, Next_race_in_season =
1961 Flugplatzrennen
, Previous_year's_race =
1960 Modena Grand Prix
, Next_year's_race = —
Modena Grand Prix
Modena Grand Prix
Modena Grand Prix