The Questor Grand Prix was a non-championship race for

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 ...

and

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

cars held on 28 March 1971 to inaugurate a new racing facility in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: United States Au ...

, built by the Questor conglomerate. Because of the smaller fuel tanks of the F5000 cars, the race was run in two heats of 32 laps, and the final result decided by a points system.

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Scottish people, Scot" ...

qualified on pole for Heat 1 and finished runner-up behind

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (; 20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win a Formula One Grands Prix, ...

set fastest lap. Andretti and Stewart again finished first and second in Heat 2 and Pedro Rodriguez set fastest lap, quicker than Amon's time in Heat 1. Andretti was declared the winner; with Stewart in second place and

Denny Hulme Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Bear", Hulme won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Brabham, and won eight Grands Pri ...

third.

Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victory. Donohue is probably best kno ...

was the best-placed F5000 finisher in Heat 1, and Ron Grable best in Heat 2. Grable was also the best-placed F5000 driver on aggregate. During free practice on Wednesday, Andretti had heavily crashed his Ferrari. The team chief mechanic, Giulio Borsari, managed to rebuild the car overnight by using the one of Andretti's team mate

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard Edmon Martin Henri "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ickx twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in and , and won eig ...

as a reference point with the aid of a local welder. After Andretti won the race, Borsari was awarded the ''Mechanic of the Race'' trophy along with a $500 prize. Hopes for a regular fixture rapidly faded due to financial problems. The Questor Grand Prix remained a one-off event and the Ontario Motor Speedway was never again used to host a Formula One race.

Qualifying

''Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.'' ¹ Hobbs, Lovely and Byers were late entries and relegated to reserve drivers.
² Stewart briefly drove Foyt's car in qualifying.

Classification

''Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Questor 1971 Formula One races 1971 in American motorsport 1971 in sports in California Motorsport in California