THE LAST SLIPSTREAM BATTLE IN HISTORY
... was the 1971 Italian Grand Prix at
Monza for the last time without any chicanes. The great star drivers of that
time, Stewart, Ickx, Regazzoni, Siffert and Fittipaldi already had retired
from the last European F1 round or had dropped down in the rankings when a
group of outsiders consisting of Amon, Peterson, Cevert, Gethin,
Ganley and Hailwood were fighting for victory. No driver of this group ever
had won a Grand Prix. Chris Amon was considered the greatest loser in the
business, Ronnie Peterson and Francois Cevert were the best novices, Peter
Gethin and Howden Ganley only were of average abilities and Mike Hailwood
was the famous motorcycle champion. In the finish Gethin (B.R.M. P160) was
able to beat Peterson (March Ford 711) by 1/100 of a second. It was
the fastest race (average speed some 243 km/h) and the closest finish in
history so far.