7 MATRA MS120
BEST RESULT 3RD 1970 MONACO, BELGIAN AND ITALIAN GPS 1971 SPANISH GP 1972 FRENCH GP POLES 2 SUPERTIME POSITION 1970 7TH; 1971 4TH; 1972 4TH DESIGNER GERARD DUCAROUGE AND BERNARD BOYER
AFTER PARTING COMPANY WITH KEN TYRRELL AND Jackie Stewart, a combination that had dominated 1969 with Matra chassis and Cosworth DFV power, the French concern ran its own team in’ 70. Various iterations of the MS120 were used over the next three seasons and it should have been a winner.
In fact, it was. After a solid 1970 season and three podiums with Jean-pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo, Matra signed Chris Amon for ’71 and he promptly won the non-championship Argentinian GP, albeit against limited opposition in a combined F1/F5000 field.
More impressive was third at the Spanish GP, but the MS120B’S best chance to win came at the pre-chicane Monza, where the V12 could stretch its legs. Amon beat Jacky Ickx’s Ferrari to pole by 0.42 seconds and, having stayed in the lead pack early on, moved to the front on lap 37 of 55. He looked strong, only to accidentally remove both his visors instead of one and get hit in the face by the high-speed airflow. He lost the lead, and fuel-vapourisation issues meant he finished sixth.
The stiffer MS120D for the 1972 French GP should have provided the team with a long-awaited first victory. Amon took pole, held off Denny Hulme (Mclaren) and Stewart (Tyrrell) while the thirsty V12 burned off its extra fuel load, then edged away.
“The MS120D felt very good straight out of the box,” Amon told Autosport in 2011. “Right from early on I knew we had a pretty good chance.”
But then Amon suffered a puncture. A slow tyre change left the Matra eighth, but Amon charged through the field. Lapping two seconds faster than eventual winner Stewart, Amon rose to third.
“I really felt nobody could touch me that day,” he rued. “I had a clear margin over everyone.”
Amon would never lead another GP and
Matra withdrew from F1 at the end of 1972.