1960 United States Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Country = United States
Grand Prix = United States
Official name = III United States Grand Prix
Date = November 20


Year = 1960
Race_No = 10
Season_No = 10
Location = Riverside International Raceway Riverside, California
Course = Permanent road course
Course_mi = 3.275
Course_km = 5.271
Distance_laps = 75
Distance_mi = 245
Distance_km = 395
Weather = Sunny
Pole_Driver = flagicon|UK Stirling Moss
Pole_Team = Lotus-Climax
Pole_Time = 1:54.4
Fast_Driver = flagicon|Australia Jack Brabham
Fast_Team = Cooper-Climax
Fast_Time = 1:56.3
Fast_L

First_Driver = flagicon|UK Stirling Moss
First_Team = Lotus-Climax
Second_Driver = flagicon|UK Innes Ireland
Second_Team = Lotus-Climax
Third_Driver = flagicon|New Zealand Bruce McLaren
Third_Team = Cooper-Climax

The 1960 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on November 20, 1960 at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

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ummary

For whatever reasons (unfamiliarity of the fans with open-wheeled cars and European drivers, media disapproval of Eastern promoters, or lack of an ongoing Championship battle), promoter Alec Ulmann had no more success drumming up support for the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside International Raceway in California than he had the year before in Sebring, Florida.

Set in the desert near the San Bernadino mountains east of Los Angeles, the Riverside track featured a particularly demanding uphill esses section, just past the start-finish line. Riverside resident and local hero Dan Gurney headed the field as the natural favorite of the crowd, which numbered only about 25,000. Jack Brabham, who had already clinched his second consecutive World Championship a few weeks prior in Portugal, was back with teammate Bruce McLaren in the factory Cooper-Climaxes. Team Lotus had cars for Jim Clark, Innes Ireland and John Surtees, while Rob Walker entered a Scottish blue Lotus for Stirling Moss. BRM had three mid-engined P48s for Jo Bonnier, Graham Hill and Gurney. With the Championship chase over, Enzo Ferrari decided to keep his cars at home, believing his time would be better spent preparing for the new 1.5-liter Formula for 1961. The old man's drivers, Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, however, were allowed to enter the race with other teams. Hill particularly wanted to protect his third place position in the Championship behind Cooper teammates Brabham and McLaren.

Moss won the pole battle, well ahead of Brabham and Gurney, who completed the front row. Phil Hill was astonished at the "incredible" difference in handling between the year-old, rear-engined green and red Cooper he was given for the race and the Monza-winning Dino Ferrari he had been driving all season, but he managed to put it only thirteenth on the grid.

"On his way to the track in nearly perfect weather on Sunday morning, race promoter Ulmann realized that, indeed, he had bitten the hand that might have fed him. Following the rousing success of the Los Angeles Times-sponsored Sports Car Grand Prix that summer, where a crowd of 70,000 packed RIR, Ulmann said plainly that a genuine Formula One Grand Prix would surely do even better, since the Times race wasn't really a Grand Prix at all!"

"Ulmann's words angered Times publisher Otis Chandler, and only Ulmann was surprised when the biggest daily paper in Los Angeles and most of the local media completely ignored the event."

The small crowd of Riverside veterans who were on hand for the race, however, were stunned by the spectacle of the F1 cars. As Brabham took the early lead into Turn One, ahead of Gurney and Moss, the Riverside radio and PA announcer could only call their names and utter, "Wow." The Coopers of Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien stalled on the grid, but were restarted and got under way. On lap 4, Surtees spun his Lotus in front of teammate Jim Clark, putting himself out, and causing the nosecone from his car to be used to replace the now-shattered one on Clark's.

"Still leading, Brabham paid the price for over-reacting to last year's sputtering last lap at Sebring. Not wanting to run out of fuel again, he had overfilled his tanks, and excess fuel was spilling and being ignited by the heat of his exhaust. Two stops failed to find the source of the problem, or to assuage Brabham's concern over the noises and flames erupting from the back of the car."

The Australian's troubles left Moss well in front, and when Gurney's BRM blew a core plug, Moss' teammate Bonnier took second, ahead of Ireland, Graham Hill and Texan Jim Hall, driving his first Grand Prix. Just before halfway through the 75-lap race, Graham Hill retired with a broken gearbox, and Bonnier began to drop back when a broken valve spring caused a misfire. Brabham had been charging up through the field since his pit stops, however, and eventually finished a battling fourth, behind teammate McLaren. Phil Hill ran fifth in the unfamiliar Cooper until a spin dropped him behind Bonnier, who got his ailing BRM home for two points.

Moss won the last race of the two-and-a-half liter era going away, and grabbed third in the Championship for the second year in a row. It was his fourteenth victory under the outgoing regulations, one less than five-time World Champion Juan Fangio.

Having failed to realize his dream for Formula One in the US a second time, Ulmann nobly used his own money to pay prize and appearance fees. Winner Moss got a check for $7,500, a staggering amount for the time, and while suppliers had to wait a few months for theirs, they received every penny. Happily, the following year would see the United States Grand Prix finally settle in to a regular home, with a loyal and appreciative crowd in Watkins Glen, New York.

Classification

F1 race report
Name_of_race = United States Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1960
Previous_race_in_season = 1960 Italian Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1961 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1959 United States Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1961 United States Grand Prix

References

*
* Dennis Shattuck (February, 1961). "Grand Prix of the U.S.". "Road & Track", 78-81.