Muddle at Misano

21 June 1973

A CURIOUS INCIDENT of a nature that would surely never be possible today occurred back in 1973 at the Misano circuit in Italy, as the Rothmans F5000 European Championship arrived for its eighth race.

Formula 5000 was a category that began in the US for single-seaters using production-derived V8s. The European series was set up in 1969 after the new Cosworth DFV engine lowered Formula 1’s barrier to entry, and meant that building customer F1 cars became unviable, but not low enough for the smallest entrants to hurdle it.

Back to our 1973 tale. The F5000 circus arrived at Misano, which had been inaugurated less than a year earlier, and ran their Saturday practice – before realising no timekeepers or marshals were present.

It transpired that the local mayor had refused to permit the race, because he was frightened of being jailed. “Italian law has to find a scapegoat in cases such as fatal accidents in motorsport events,” we explained, “and the mayor of Monza is apparently threatened with jail due to the recent motorcycle accident that claimed the lives of Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini.

“It was alleged that Misano was too dangerous for drivers and spectators, although Tom Belsø, one of the F5000 regulars, said it was well protected from both points of view.”

The issue was clearly resolved swiftly, given that an F2 race was held there a month later.

The Euro F5000 title was won after 15 races by Teddy Pilette, who drove a Mclaren and a Chevron, both with a Chevrolet V8.