Editing 1969 Canadian Grand Prix

Saturday dawned bright and warm ahead of the race, which was scheduled to get underway at 1:00pm local time.<ref name=MM></ref> Overnight work had seen fresh engines installed by those that had them, while others complained about the timing/scoring system, which was seen as being inadequate given three drivers had set identical times to the nearest tenth.<ref name=MM></ref> Otherwise the field was ready to race, with 50,000 fans gathering around [[Mosport Park]] to watch the latest round of the [[1969 Formula One Season|1969]] season.<ref name=MM></ref>

When the flag fell to start the race it would be [[Jochen Rindt]] who reacted fastest to snatch the lead, the Austrian having the best line into turn one despite starting on the outside of the front row.<ref name=MM></ref> Pole sitter [[Jacky Ickx]], also made a good start, something of a rarity for the young Belgian racer, slotting in behind Rindt as the field streamed into the flowing turn one.<ref name=MM></ref> The rest of the field soon filtered into the first corner of Mosport Park, with several local drivers making ground with strong starts.<ref name=MM></ref>

It was because of the local starters that [[Silvio Moser]] ended his race on the opening lap, despite running at the very back of the field.<ref name=MM></ref> The Swiss racer had made a terrible start to fall to the very back of the field, although that meant he came charging through the opening corners at full speed, catching the locals who were already being bumped down the order after their initial high.<ref name=MM></ref> Indeed, Moser's closing speed was so great that he had to take avoiding action, getting completely locked up after throwing his car sideways, slamming into the barriers with enough force to end his race on the spot.<ref name=MM></ref> Moser himself was unhurt, although he would be likely to invest in a new car after his latest accident.

After the first lap drama for Moser things began to settle, with Rindt just pulling clear of Ickx, who had both [[Jean-Pierre Beltoise]] and [[Jackie Stewart]] breathing down his neck.<ref name=MM></ref> Elsewhere, [[Jackie Oliver]] became the second retirement of the day when his {{BRM-CON}} suffered an engine failure, as he, teammate [[John Surtees]] and {{Pedro Rodriguez}} in the {{Ferrari-CON}} fell away from the {{Ford Cosworth-ENG}} herd out ahead.<ref name=MM></ref> Behind them sat the local contingent, led by [[Pete Lovely]] in his [[Lotus 49|Lotus 49B]], while [[Al Pease]] was noticeably losing time at every turn.<ref name=MM></ref>

Once the order had settled down after the opening laps, Stewart began to wind up the pace, soon challenging teammate Beltoise for third.<ref name=MM></ref> Moments after Oliver moved over to the side with a ruined engine, Stewart dived past his teammate into the final corner, before tagging onto the back of Ickx to begin an assault for second.<ref name=MM></ref> Two laps later and the Scot had forced his way past the Belgian around the back of the circuit, before claiming the lead from Rindt with another unseen move on lap six.<ref name=MM></ref>

Stewart push seemed to ignite a hidden desire in Ickx, for the Belgian began to harass the back of Rindt just moments after the Scot had made his way past.<ref name=MM></ref> Two laps of constant pressure finally paid off to allow the Belgian to move through to second, by which stage Stewart had escaped up the road by three seconds.<ref name=MM></ref> Yet, the gap was not enough to deter Ickx at this early stage, with the {{Brabham-CON}} soon glued to the back of the Matra while Rindt's {{Team Lotus-CON}} fell further and further behind.<ref name=MM></ref>

As Stewart and Ickx pulled away out front, Rindt was being drawn in by an impressive scrap for fourth, all held up behind Beltoise.<ref name=MM></ref> [[Graham Hill]], [[Jo Siffert]], [[Jack Brabham]] and [[Piers Courage]] were all stuck behind the Frenchman, and as time wore on it seemed inevitable that the Matra would be elbowed out of the way.<ref name=MM></ref> As this battle developed two more drivers disappeared from the race, [[Denny Hulme]] suffering an ignition failure, quickly followed by one of slower Canadians when [[John Cordts]] retired with an incurable oil leak.<ref name=MM></ref>

It was a stalemate out front between Ickx and Stewart, and with Rindt just escaping the attentions of the battle for fourth, most of the fans were drawn to queue behind Beltoise.<ref name=MM></ref> It was a terrific scrap for fourth place, which did have a shout of challenging for the lead if the lead trio suddenly lost pace, until the quintet came across the back marking Pease.<ref name=MM></ref> The Canadian was proving to be a nuisance at best even in the opening stages, and when Beltoise came up behind him, the {{Eagle-Climax}} made no attempts to move out of the way.<ref name=MM></ref> Unsighted, Beltoise had to turn in, and the immovable Pease refused to make room, leaving the Matra to bounce off the side of the Eagle, damaging something in the suspension and allowing Beltoise's chasers to move swiftly past.<ref name=MM></ref>

In the few moments that followed Brabham managed to break through into fourth, leaping in between Beltoise and Hill as the former skidded sideways.<ref name=MM></ref> The Australian was soon able to hound the back of Rindt as Beltoise, Hill and Courage recovered, although both Hill and Courage soon made their way past the Frenchman when he pulled into the pits for a quick look over.<ref name=MM></ref> With the Matra squad quickly diagnosing that they could not solve the issue without effectively ending the Frenchman's race, Beltoise was soon back in the fray, emerging just moments before Courage dropped out with a split fuel tank.<ref name=MM></ref>

The Stewart/Ickx duel, meanwhile, was raging on out front, although the Belgian simply could not force the Scot into a mistake.<ref name=MM></ref> Then on lap 33, as the pair came charging past the soon to be disqualified Pease, Ickx finally sent a lunge down the inside of Stewart, getting his car alongside the Matra.<ref name=MM></ref> It had been a slight hesitation from Stewart that delayed his turn-in, and when he did it meant that his left rear wheel touched the right rear of Ickx, tipping both into a spin.<ref name=MM></ref>

Fired up by the incident, Ickx quickly managed to get his car spun back around and in motion, well before Rindt came upon the scene of the crime.<ref name=MM></ref> Yet, when the Austrian did come past, Stewart was still sat at the side of the road, desperately trying to get his Cosworth engine to restart.<ref name=MM></ref> When Ickx came round a lap later, looking embarrassed as he spotted the stranded Stewart, the Scot gave up on his attempts to start the car again, instead opting to push his non-firing car away from the edge of the circuit.<ref name=MM></ref>

With such a huge advantage out front, Ickx was already effectively the winner, only needing to tick off the remaining laps as others fell by the wayside.<ref name=MM></ref> Surtees and Rodriguez would retire either side of Stewart's stall, while [[John Miles]] was within touching distance of the points when he suffered a gearbox failure in the [[Lotus 63]].<ref name=MM></ref> Siffert and Hill would also fall before the flag, while [[Bill Brack]] was too slow to be classified when the chequered flag appeared.<ref name=MM></ref>

Indeed, the only major on-track change came when Brabham came charging up onto the back of Rindt after the halfway point, the two running nose to tail for several laps.<ref name=MM></ref> Unfortunately for the Austrian the Australian was in a very antagonistic mood, and so when he was finally given half an opportunity, Brabham stuck his car up the inside of the Lotus and forced Rindt to move aside.<ref name=MM></ref> The next few laps would see Brabham establish a fair sized gap back to the demoted Rindt, before settling down to a cruise as everyone else had done.<ref name=MM></ref>

Ultimately Ickx would win by three quarters of a minute from teammate Brabham, while Rindt finished six seconds further back.<ref name=MM></ref> Beltoise dragged his wounded Matra home to fourth as others fell away with mechanical issues, while a demoralised [[Bruce McLaren]] came across the line in a distant fifth.<ref name=MM></ref> Sixth place went to [[Johnny Servoz-Gavin]] in the 4WD Matra, the Frenchman therefore claiming a small piece of history by scoring the first point for a 4WD car, while Lovely completed the classified finishers a grand total of six laps behind.<ref name=MM></ref>