1961 Danish Grand Prix

II Danske Grand Prix
The Roskilde Ring layout in 1961
Race details
Date	August 27, 1961
Official Name	II Danske Grand Prix
Location	Roskilde Ring Roskilde, Denmark
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.2km (0.746mi)
Distance	1x20 + 2x30 laps, 96.000km (59.664 miles)
Pole Position
Driver	Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax
Time	0:42.8
Fastest Lap
Driver	Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax
Time	0:43.1
Podium
First	Stirling Moss Lotus-Climax
Second	Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax
Third	Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax
Lap Leaders
No data available

The II Danske Grand Prix, or rather the 1961 Danish Grand Prix, was a non-championship Formula One race, held at the tiny Roskilde Ring in Roskilde, Denmark. The race, the first "Danish Grand Prix" to be held as an F1 event, took place over two days through three heats. An aggregate result was then decided, with Stirling Moss claiming victory after a dominant display in all three heats, taking victory in each one.

Moss, who collected DKK 10,000 in prize money for his victory, was joined by Innes Ireland and Roy Salvadori on the podium over the two day competition. This race was also one of only two Danish Grand Prix to be held for Formula One cars, the other being won by Jack Brabham a year later in 1962.

Background

Set in a gravel pit near the heart of the town of Roskilde on the second largest island of Denmark, the Roskilde Ring was not a particularly outstanding centre for motorsport. Yet, the FIA allowed the owners of the 1.2 km circuit, which lacked any straights of considerable length and banked bends, to host a Formula One level race in 1961, a surprise in any circumstance. To generate interest in the race (which was one of 25 non-championship races in 1961) the organisers offered a relatively large prize of DKK 10,000 to the race winner, with all entrants also receiving a significant payment for attending.

The ploy worked, with a fair number of Formula One stars taking up the challenge. These names included Stirling Moss, reigning World Champion Jack Brabham, and rising star Jim Clark, as well as a number of drivers from the smaller teams on the 1961 grid. Scuderia Ferrari were notably absent from the race, as were several other major teams, but the circuit still attracted 50,000+ fans to watch Denmark's first Formula One race.

Entry list

Below is the entry list for the 1965 Race of Champions.

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Jack Brabham	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T53	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
2	John Surtees	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper	T53	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
3	Roy Salvadori	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper	T53	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
4	Jim Clark	Team Lotus	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
5	Innes Ireland	Team Lotus	Lotus	21	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
6	Keith Greene	Gilby Engineering	Gilby	61	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
7	Stirling Moss	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
8	Masten Gregory	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
9	Henry Taylor	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
10	Tim Parnell	Privateer	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
11	Lucien Bianchi	Equipe Nationale Belge	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF 1.5 L4	D
15	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Ecurie Maarsbergen	Porsche	718	Porsche	547/3 1.5 F4	D

Qualifying

Stirling Moss claimed pole for the Danish Grand Prix, setting a time of 0:42.8s, a feat which meant he would start from pole for each of the three heats. Jack Brabham and John Surtees joined him on the three car front row, with Innes Ireland the first of the Team Lotus entries on the second row. Jim Clark was to line up last, having failed to set a time at all, while Lucien Bianchi saw his entry withdrawn before qualifying began.

Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	0:42.8	—
2	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	0:43.0	+0.2s
3	2	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	0:43.0	+0.2s
4	9	Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	0:44.0	+1.2s
5	5	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	0:44.1	+1.3s
6	3	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	0:44.3	+1.5s
7	10	Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	0:44.3	+1.5s
8	8	Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	0:44.3	+1.5s
9	15	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	0:45.7	+2.9s
10	6	Keith Greene	Gilby-Climax	0:45.9	+3.1s
11	4	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	No TIme	—
WD	11	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	Wthdrawn	—

Pos	Pos	Pos
Driver	Driver	Driver
______________
1	______________
Stirling Moss	2	______________
	Jack Brabham	3
		John Surtees
______________
4	______________
Henry Taylor	5	______________
	Innes Ireland	6
		Roy Salvadori
______________
7	______________
Tim Parnell	8	______________
	Masten Gregory	9
		Carel Godin de Beaufort
______________
10	______________
Keith Greene	11	______________
	Jim Clark	12
______________
13	______________
	14	______________
		15

Race

Aggregate Result

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Heats
1	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	80	0:59:28.5	1	1st/1st/1st
2	5	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	79	+ 1:14.0s	5	3rd/2nd/2nd
3	3	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	78	+ 2:06.8s	6	5th/3rd/3rd
4	9	Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	76	+ 2:53.9s	4	7th/6th/5th
5	10	Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	76	+ 3:19.4s	7	10th/5th/6th
6	6	Keith Greene	Gilby-Climax	74	+ 4:39.6s	10	9th/7th/7th
7	4	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	60	+ 20 Laps	11	6th/Ret/4th
Ret	2	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	48	Camshaft	3	4th/4th/DNS
Ret	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	44	Gearbox	2	2nd/Ret/DNS
Ret	8	Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	39	Gearbox	8	8th/Ret/DNS
Ret	15	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	34	Puncture	9	11th/Ret/DNS
WD	11	Lucien Bianchi	Lotus-Climax	Withdrawn

Milestones

• First Danish Grand Prix (according to Formula One regulations).

References

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