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The Eternal Triangle

It was probably early in 1961 that the local media coined the phrase with reference to the big upcoming motor race. Comprising the 'eternal triangle' was the reigning world champion (back to back reigning world champ to boot), the man generally acknowledged as the best in the business, and the brightest young hot shot on the world stage - and all in near identical machinery.

The modern equivalent, 12 months ago at least would have seen Mika Hakkinen line up again Michael Shumacher and Jensen Button in a non-championship race, but where most of the star grand prix drivers were also on show. Except that the 'bright young star' was already at 23 a national hero, and the race was in his hometown.

The drivers concerned were:

In a 2.5 Lotus 18 Climax - S.C.Moss (in Rob Walker racing navy blue and carrying his famous number 7).

In the lead 2.5 Cooper T53 Climax - J.A. Brabham in full works colours and carrying his 'NZ racing' number 4.

In the second 2.5 Cooper T53 Climax - B.L.McLaren (also in the dark works green with the famous 'fore and aft' white stripes and his familiar number 47).

The event of course was the 1961 New Zealand International Grand Prix run on 7 January - amazingly 40 years to the day that I clumsily punch these words on my PC. The entry certainly lived up to the title. In addition to the 'eternal triangle' the line-up included four future world champions (Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees - already a multiple world champion on two wheels and emerging local star Denny Hulme), two men who would go to win GPs (Dan Gurney and Innes Ireland) plus seasoned professionals like 1959 Dutch GP victor Jo Bonnier, 1959 Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori, and local favourite Ron Flockhart from Scotland.

Add to this the best of the local talent from New Zealand and Australia including Stan (father of 1980 world champion Alan) Jones who had won the inaugural NZIGP seven years earlier. It is an unfortunate fact of life that we generally only appreciate how good things were rather than realising it at the time. We Kiwis, and I dare say our Aussie mates too, viewed the summer with top racing as our birthright throughout the mid/late 50's and all of the 60's. In terms of depth of quality however nothing ever surpassed that field in 1961 - either before or since.

The 'eternal triangle' had it origins in 1958 as far as the New Zealand racing public was concerned.

With no Moss that year the field was thin in comparison to previous events - and a shadow of what was to come. The machines of the leading contenders emphasised the 'free formula' in place with Jack Brabham in a 2.2 Cooper, Archie Scott Brown in his famous Lister Jaguar, the best locals in either 250 Maserati's or assorted Ferrari's plus a couple of Connaughts entered by one B C Ecclestone.

Along with Brabham came an ex-works T43 with a 1,700cc Climax motor for his local protégé - one Bruce McLaren. Brabham won the pole and the 20 year old Kiwi made the outside of the 4-4-4 grid. But there was drama on the dummy grid when the young Aucklander's gearbox was jammed and his family set about affecting a replacement. Despite diversions to soak up minutes such as allegations of oil spills to the far side of the track being miraculously discovered, the crowd's fave started half a lap behind the rest of the 24 car field.

McLaren sat in fifth when that annoying gearbox seized just four laps from home. Brabham won the first of his three NZIGPs equalling the lap record set by Moss in a 250F Maser on his way to victory two years earlier.

Short of a major upset, the 1959 NZIGP would be fought out between Moss (who as a Vanwall driver had just missed the 1958 world championship by the narrowest of margins), Brabham, McLaren, Jo Bonnier, Harry Schell, Carol Shelby and Ron Flockhart. The Scotsman was motoring very impressively in the works BRM P25 while Bonnier, Shelby and Schell were all aboard 250F's. The rear engine brigade were all Cooper T45 mounted but each with variations of the FPF Climax engine. Bruce had the standard 1964cc version whilst Stirling had a special 'stroked' motor giving 2015cc. Jack meanwhile had the same 2205cc power plant that he had used to win the race 12 months earlier.

The Maserati's were in control from the start but Moss was tearing through the field from the back of the grid where he had been forced to start after dropping out of the lead in one of the preliminary events that determined starting positions. The English maestro was already in the lead by lap 3, while the man who would end that year as champion of the world had got around the squadron of 250F's to run second. Moss was nearly a lap ahead of Brabham by the end, while McLaren's third was largely due to various maladies that struck the Maserati's.

The Grand Prix would be the only appearance in New Zealand that summer for the trio of international 250F's and for Stirling Moss, however a fortnight later the Cooper's would go up against Flockhart and the local Maserati's of Ross Jensen and Johnny Mansel at the Lady Wigram Trophy. An air of gloom however met the competitors on their arrival in Christchurch with the news and the recently retired reigning world champion Mike Hawthorn had been killed in a road crash the day before. Brabham and McLaren would again finish second and third respectively but this time it was Flockhart in the winner's circle for BRM.

Brabham, Moss and McLaren were all back for the 1960 summer of motor sport in New Zealand, the Kiwi fresh from winning the final world championship race of 1959 on December 12 at Sebring. In doing so Brabham secured the championship and McLaren became the youngest ever winner of a world championship event - record he still holds. In his debut season he had finished fifth in the championship standings, half a point behind the vastly more experienced American Phil Hill. His Ferrari teammate Brooks ended up second in the last year the front-engined machinery would be a threat.

Brabham, Moss and Brooks all went to the inaugural US GP with a chance at the title - never before or since would the cars of the combatants to the title be as extreme as the big red front-engined machine from Italy, and the nimble little rear-engined Coopers from Surbiton. Brabham, Moss and McLaren would all be aboard Coopers for the 1960 race - the local hero in T45 while Jack and Stirling had T51's. All were powered by 2.5 Climax 4's. In other words these were current Formula 1 vehicles. Moss' car was in Yeoman Credit colours and was on the receiving of a Climax engine for the first time having spent its life up until time as an F2 car with Borgward power. Along with the familiar local Australian and New Zealand drivers were David Piper (Lotus 16) and Ian Burgess (Cooper T51) and making his NZIGP debut in a 2 litre Cooper T45 was one Denis Clive Hulme.

Again starting positions were determined by preliminary races and this time it was Brabham's turn to start from the back of the grid after his engine climaxed by catching fire while he led the second preliminary comfortably. Moss would start from pole with McLaren right alongside. But it was a young Kiwi who got the jump at the start while the amazing Brabham had weaved through the field (24 cars started) to be an extraordinary third on lap 1. Moss was by in the lead on lap 3 but the world champion was through on lap 4 only to be shadowed by the pale green and red Cooper of Moss for lap after lap. Brabham seemed untouchable and shortly afterwards when the transmission on the Yeoman Credit car went leaving McLaren behind his boss and the expectation of a formation finish.

Wrong - Brabham's car had a slowly deflating tyre and the Kiwi was not only catching, he at one stage nosed in front until remembering his status at the Cooper team and coming in 6/10ths behind 'the boss'.

1961 and as mentioned earlier, the greatest ever field for a NZIGP. Moss, Surtees, Ireland, Clark and Salvadori were all aboard Lotus 18's. Brabham and McLaren had the works T53's while others Cooper-mounted include Flockhart, Bonnier, Jones and Hulme (T51's) while the works BRM team turned up with Graham Hill and Dan Gurney in P48's.

Moss won the first heat from McLaren, Hill, Flockhart, Salvadori and Surtees. Brabham prevailed in the second from Ireland, Gurney, and Hulme. The net result of all this was that Moss would start from pole with McLaren, Brabham and Hill sharing the front of the still 4-4-4 grid. The strength of the field is emphasised with the starting position of the driver who would come to dominate the forthcoming decade - Jim Clark was starting eleventh!

Clark and fellow Scotsman Flockhart made the best starts with the latter actually in the lead from fifth starting position (those were the days) but the local hero was soon past with Moss the meat in the works Cooper sandwich. Inevitably Moss was soon in front as the three stars of the day ran nose to tail for a short time but eventually the gaps lengthened and Moss had nearly 20 seconds over Brabham when the number of gears at his disposal reduced to the point where he had little more than a fistful of neutrals.

The brief glimmer of excitement as McLaren closed the gap on Brabham was short lived and although the motor in the world champions car was farting and banging noticeably, it wasn't enough despite the vocal urging by the crowd of some 65,000. Brabham was home by 1.7 seconds ahead of McLaren from Hill, Flockhart, Hulme and Clark.

Sadly 1962 would be the last featuring the 'eternal triangle'. The works Coopers this time at the benefit of 2750cc Climax engines - as did John Surtees in his Cooper T53, while the similar car for Roy Salvadori had a 2.6 Climax. Also Cooper T53 mounted was Lorenzo Bandini making his only visit to New Zealand, his Centro Sud entered car having a 2890cc Masarati motor.

Not a bad field by normal standards but obviously weak compared with that line-up the previous year. Moss had a 2.5 Lotus 21 at his disposal while the only other international was Ron Flockhart in the Lotus 18 Clark had driven the year before.

The New Zealand International Grand Prix's at Ardmore had been held in the first fortnight of January for the previous eight years in typically warm New Zealand summer conditions. The big race of 1962 was due to start at 2pm and coincided with a cloudburst for what would be the final ever Grand Prix at Ardmore. Grid positions this time were determined by practice times with McLaren on pole with Brabham, Surtees and local hero Angus Hyslop making up the balance of the front row. It was becoming commonplace for either Brabham or Moss to start the NZIGP from the rear of the grid and 1962 would prove no exception. Moss had been snowbound in London and did not arrive in time for practice, although as events would unfold, his drive from the rear of the grid merely added to one of the greatest performances ever put on for the New Zealand motor sport public, and certainly one of the wettest as the downpour refused to let up for the duration of the race.

Surtees led from the start ahead of McLaren with Brabham back in fifth while by the end of lap 1 Moss was seventh but was ahead (!) by lap 7, while Brabham and McLaren duelled for third behind Surtees safe in second place.

The conditions were appalling yet by lap 15 Moss had put a lap on everyone apart from Surtees, Brabham and McLaren. Unbelievably by lap 28 he had lapped both McLaren and Brabham, the latter out four laps later but it really was Stirling's day as he put on a virtuoso performance that saw him lap the entire field (although Surtees unlapped himself just prior to the end) while Bruce McLaren had been lapped twice.

It was an extraordinary performance still talked about by people old and brave enough to have endured the conditions. It is worth also noting that opposite locking his way to 11th place was 18 year old Chris Amon in a Maserati 250F, his first big motor race.

Any chance of future battles of the 'eternal triangle' were scuppered when Moss suffered his career-ending accident at Goodward on Easter Monday, 1962. In all the three had gone head-to-head at Ardmore over four consecutive summers resulting in two wins apiece for the only two racing drivers ever to be knighted for their services to the sport, while McLaren netted two seconds and two thirds.

The originator of the 'eternal triangle' term could scarcely have imagined that nearly 40 years later Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jack Brabham still don their overalls and helmets before climbing into old Coopers or Brabhams (or in Sir Jack's case in recent times, a McLaren!) while the name McLaren as the third part of the triangle would continue on as one of the three most significant Formula 1 teams, and with every reason to expect that this is a situation that will continue well into the new Millenium.

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