71st, Regazzoni Triumphs Amid Tragedy: Italian GP Marred by Rindt's Death, Regazzoni Claims Victory

1970 Italian GP
September 6, Monza

Stewart’s March–Cosworth V8 had been at the heart of a slipstreaming classic typical of the era. But it’s the context of his performance that really makes one gasp, for the day before his close friend Jochen Rindt had died after his Lotus 72 snapped left into a barrier on the approach to the Parabolica. For those who would later accuse Stewart of cowardice over his stance on safety, his strength of character at Monza that weekend should have been remembered. There was, in fact, none more brave.

Unlike the race that would play out a year later, the battle for Monza ’70 would not go to the line, Clay Regazzoni’s Ferrari breaking the tow late on to claim a clear win that sent Italy into raptures. Stewart was left in his wake, edging Jean-Pierre Beltoise’s Matra and Denny Hulme’s McLaren for second. He’d raced to win, as usual, despite everything.

Jacky Ickx’s clutch failure would contribute to Rindt eventually becoming Formula 1’s only posthumous world champion – something that mattered not at all to Jenks. In Continental Notes, he wrote: “There are so many occasions when I get sick and tired of the Drivers’ World Championship… at Monza I had to be very short with a lot of people. They were not saddened by the death of Rindt or the loss to Team Lotus, all they were worried about was whether the rules allowed a dead man to be World Champion.

“There have been years when I personally would not have awarded a World Championship to any driver, and other years when the choice has been obvious, irrespective of the points scored under FIA rules. The fact that Rindt was killed while he had an almost unassailable lead in the points race for the title of World Champion put so many people into a flutter that it was really sickening…

“To win a Championship by scoring more points than the next man is a bit like winning the football pools. To win all the races is much more impressive. So dead or alive, champion or posthumous champion, let’s not forget that in 1970 Jochen Rindt had a record that read 1st Monaco GP, 1st Dutch GP, 1st French GP, 1st British GP, 1st German GP. A worthy driver, if not among the great artists of the sport of motor racing.”

Jenks had been hard on Rindt and he would be tough on Stewart in the future, too – in both cases unfairly so. But his assertion that a race hard-won counted for more as a single entity than a title of world champion is one by which Motor Sport still stands. Or as he put it: “I still think that the reason for motor racing is for the combination of car and driver, coupled to the rest of the team that operate out of the limelight, to beat all the opposition and win the race for which they are entered.”

Simple, isn’t it? DS

1st Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
2nd Jackie Stewart (March-Ford)
3rd Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra)
Winner’s time & speed 1hr 39min 6.88sec, 147.07mph
Pole position Jacky Ickx (Ferrari), 1min 24.14sec, 152.86mph