The Matra MS120 was the fifth and final Formula One car produced by

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...

(following the MS9, MS10, MS11, MS80 and MS84).

Development

The MS120 was later developed to become the Matra MS120B, Matra MS120C and Matra MS120D. The car was built at Matra's

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

base at Vélizy-Villacoublay in the southwestern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, designed under the direction of

Gérard Ducarouge Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...

and Bernard Boyer. For 1970 following the agreement with

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

, Matra asked Tyrrell to use their

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

rather than the Cosworth. Jackie Stewart got to test the Matra V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum company Elf, which had an agreement with

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended. Matra chose an all French line up with Jean-Pierre Beltoise and

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...

for 1970.

Racing history

1970

The

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

was good for Beltoise with a fourth-place finish while Pescarolo had a disappointing seventh place. The Spanish Grand Prix was a bad race, both retiring with engine failures. The

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...

saw Pescarolo get third place, but Beltoise retire with differential failure. The

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...

saw Pescarolo finish sixth with electrical failure while Beltoise scored a third-place finish. The

Dutch Grand Prix The Dutch Grand Prix ( nl, Grote Prijs van Nederland) is a Formula One motor racing event held at Circuit Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands, from 1950 to 1985 and from 2021 onwards. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, ...

saw Beltoise 5th and Pescarolo 8th. Then the French Grand Prix, which was Matra's, Beltoise's and Pescarolo's home race, saw Pescarolo fifth and Beltoise 13th, out of fuel. Next, the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

was a bad race with both retiring, Beltoise with a wheel problem and Pescarolo with an accident. Then the German Grand Prix saw Pescarolo get sixth place, but Beltoise retire with suspension failure. Next was the

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...

with Beltoise sixth and Pescarolo 14th. Then the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

saw Beltoise finish third but Pescarolo retire with engine failure. Next, the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports ...

saw Pescarolo seventh and Beltoise eighth. Then the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

saw Pescarolo in eighth place, but Beltoise retire with a bad handling car. Finally, it was the Mexican Grand Prix with Beltoise fifth and Pescarolo ninth, although the race was delayed by an hour because of crowd control. Pescarolo was not retained by Matra for 1971 and was replaced by New Zealand's Chris Amon.

1971

Matra kept Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise, and New Zealander Chris Amon joined Matra using the Matra MS120B specification version for 1971. Beltoise was in difficulty following the

1971 1000 km Buenos Aires The 1971 Buenos Aires 1000 Kilometers was the opening round of the 1971 International Championship for Makes season. It took place at the Buenos Aires circuit No.15, Argentina, on January 10, 1971. Grand tourer class cars did not participate i ...

; racing for the Matra

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

team; he was involved in the accident in which Ignazio Giunti died, and Beltoise's international racing licence was suspended for some time. Amon won the Non-Championship Argentine Grand Prix and finished fifth in the first round in the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

season in the

. Beltoise returned for the Spanish Grand Prix finishing sixth and Amon finished third. The

was a bad race with both retiring with differential failures. The

saw Beltoise ninth and Amon retiring after he spun off. Then came the French Grand Prix which was Matra's and Beltoise's home race, with Amon fifth and Beltoise seventh. Next, the

saw Beltoise seventh and Amon retiring with an engine failure. The German Grand Prix saw Matra only entering Amon and retiring because of an accident. Matra missed the

but entered the

, where Matra only entered Amon again who took pole and proved an embarrassment to

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

at their home track, and finished sixth. Then the

saw Beltoise back but retiring with an accident, and Amon finish 10th. The final race of 1971 was the

with Beltoise eighth and Amon 12th. In 1971 Matra signed Amon as team leader which frustrated Beltoise. For

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Beltoise left to join

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

1972

Chris Amon stayed with Matra, using the Matra MS120C specification version for 1972 before being replaced by the Matra MS120D version mid-season. The Argentine Grand Prix was a bad race for Amon with gearbox problems on the warm-up lap. He then finished 15th in the

. More gearbox problems followed at the Spanish Grand Prix, before luck came Amon's way with two sixth-place finishes at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The French Grand Prix saw Amon on pole and he was leading the race until a puncture forced him to pit, but he charged back through the field, bettering the Charade Circuit lap record to finish third. Amon finished fourth in the

and 15th in the German Grand Prix, before another points finish with fifth in the

. Amon's brakes failed in the

and he later came in sixth in the

. At the last race of the season, he finished 15th in the

. Matra pulled out of Formula One afterwards to concentrate on Le Mans.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Non-Championship Formula One results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{F1 cars 1972 Matra Formula One cars