1962 Mexican Grand Prix

Gran Premio de Mexico
The 1962 layout of the Magdalena Mixhuca circuit
Race details
Date	November 4, 1962
Official Name	Gran Premio de Mexico
Location	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.000km (3.108mi)
Distance	60 laps, 300.000km (186.451 miles)
Pole Position
Driver	Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time	2:00.1
Fastest Lap
Driver	Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time	1:59.7
Podium
First	Trevor Taylor Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Second	Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax
Third	Innes Ireland Lotus-Climax
Lap Leaders
No data available

The 1962 Mexican Grand Prix was a non-championship race, held as the 'dress rehearsal' for a full championship event in 1963. The race was held on November 4, and was won by Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor sharing the drive in a factory Lotus. Second place went to Jack Brabham in one of his own cars; this was the first ever podium for a Brabham car. And third place went to Innes Ireland in a UDT Leystall privateer Lotus.

The weekend was marred by the death of local favorite Ricardo Rodríguez in practice. He had been entered in a Rob Walker Lotus, and the right rear suspension broke in the banked high-speed Peraltada corner, pitching him head-on into the barrier. He died instantly of a basal skull fracture.

Background

Entry List

The full entry list for the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entreat	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Ricardo Rodríguez	Rob Walker Racing Team	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
2	Wolfgang Seidel	Autosport Team Seidel	Lotus	24	BRM	P56 V8 1.5	D
4	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Ecurie Maarsbergen	Porsche	718	Porsche	547/6 F4 1.5	D
5	Alan Connell	Privateer	Cooper	T53	Climax	FPF L4 1.5	D
8	Jim Clark	Team Lotus	Lotus	25	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
9	Moisés Solana	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper	T58	BRM	P56 V8 1.5	D
10	Dan Gurney	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche	804	Porsche	753 F8 1.5	D
11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche	804	Porsche	753 F8 1.5	D
14	Roger Penske	Dupont Team Zerex	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
15	Innes Ireland	Team Lotus	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
16	Masten Gregory	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus	24	BRM	P56 V8 1.5	D
17	Jack Brabham	Brabham Racing Organisation	Brabham	BT3	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
18	Roy Salvadori	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Lola	Mk4	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
19	John Surtees	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
21	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T60	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
24	Homer Rader	Jim Hall	Lotus	18/21	Climax	FPF L4 1.5	D
25	Jim Hall	Privateer	Lotus	21	Climax	FPF L4 1.5	D
29	Trevor Taylor	Team Lotus	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D
52	Jay Chamberlain	Ecurie Excelsior	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF L4 1.5	D
60	Walt Hansgen	Privateer	Lotus	18	Climax	FPF L4 1.5	D
77	Rob Schroeder	John Mecom	Lotus	24	Climax	FWMV V8 1.5	D

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	8	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	2:00.1	—
2	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	2:01.1	+1.0s
3	29	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	2:02.0	+1.9s
4	19	John Surtees	Lotus-Climax	2:02.1	+2.0s
5	21	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:02.1	+2.0s
6	14	Roger Penske	Lotus-Climax	2:03.0	+2.9s
7	17	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	2:03.0	+2.9s
8*	1	Ricardo Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax	2:04.0	+3.9s
9	18	Roy Salvadori	Lola-Climax	2:04.1	+4.0s
10	16	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	2:06.1	+6.0s
11	25	Jim Hall	Lotus-Climax	2:06.1	+6.0s
12	77	Rob Schroeder	Lotus-Climax	2:07.0	+6.9s
13	4	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:07.1	+7.0s
14	60	Walt Hansgen	Lotus-Climax	2:12.0	+11.9s
15	24	Homer Rader	Lotus-Climax	2:12.1	+12.0s
16	5	Alan Connell	Cooper-Climax	2:16.1	+16.0s
17	52	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus-Climax	2:21.1	+21.0s
18	2	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-BRM	2:23.1	+23.0s
DNQ	9	Moisés Solana	Cooper-BRM	Too slow
DNA	10	Dan Gurney	Porsche	Did not arrive
DNA	11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	Did not arrive

• *Ricardo would not take the start when he was killed in the Thursday practice session.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Jim Clark
	Innes Ireland	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Trevor Taylor
	John Surtees	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Bruce McLaren
	Roger Penske	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Jack Brabham
	Roy Salvadori	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Masten Gregory
	Jim Hall	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Rob Schroeder
	Carel Godin de Beaufort	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Walt Hansgen
	Homer Rader	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Alan Connell
	Jay Chamberlain	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Wolfgang Seidel
		______________

Race

Results

The full results for the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	29	Trevor Taylor	Lotus-Climax	12	2:03:50.9	3
		Jim Clark		48
2	17	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	60	+ 1:01.9	7
3	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	59	+ 1 lap	2
4	25	Jim Hall	Lotus-Climax	59	+ 1 lap	10
5	16	Masten Gregory	Lotus-BRM	59	+ 1 lap	9
6	77	Rob Schroeder	Lotus-Climax	57	+ 3 laps	11
7	4	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	57	+ 3 laps	12
8	24	Homer Rader	Lotus-Climax	57	+ 3 laps	14
9	52	Jay Chamberlain	Lotus-Climax	53	+ 7 laps	16
Ret	60	Walt Hansgen	Lotus-Climax	45	Ignition	13
Ret	14	Roger Penske	Lotus-Climax	39	Gearbox	6
Ret	21	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	36	Engine	5
DSQ	8	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	10	Push start	1
Ret	18	Roy Salvadori	Lola-Climax	9	Accident	8
Ret	5	Alan Connell	Cooper-Climax	4	Suspension	15
Ret	2	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-BRM	2	Engine	17
Ret	19	John Surtees	Lotus-Climax	0	Ignition	4
DNS	1	Ricardo Rodríguez	Lotus-Climax
DNQ	9	Moisés Solana	Cooper-BRM
DNA	10	Dan Gurney	Porsche
DNA	11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche

Milestones

• Final Formula One race to be won with a shared drive.

References

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