Text by John Sutton

Photos from Geoffrey Harrison Archive

SILVERSTONE MAY 14th 1960

Innes Ireland won the 150 mile race in the new Lotus-Climax by a mere 1.6 seconds from World Champion Jack Brabham in the Cooper-Climax, but the race was overshadowed by the unfortunate events of the previous days practice.

The wet circuit was slippery and Harry Schell lost control of his Cooper at Abbey curve, hitting the marker wall backwards.  He was thrown out and killed instantly.  Stirling Moss was also involved in a serious, but not fatal, accident when he lost control of his Cooper when accelerating out of the Paddock exit at Woodcote and spun into one of the Aston Martins in the pits. But not before he had set the fastest practice time with 1 minute 50.4 seconds.  Both cars were severely damaged and the mechanics had to work all night to transfer the major components into the spare chassis. 

Brabham Cooper	Gurney BRM

So the starting order was Moss on pole position with the rebuilt Rob Walker Cooper, which unusually for him was Number 20 (instead of his usual Number 7).  The other drivers lined up on the front row of the grid were, Bonnier – BRM in 1 minute 52.6 seconds, Dan Gurney – BRM in 1 minute 53.8 seconds and Phil Hill – Ferrari in 1 minute 55.6 seconds.

25 cars started and Bonnier’s BRM was in the lead into Copse followed by Dan Gurney.  Graham Hill in the other BRM was third having made a very good start from the third row of the grid.  Stirling Moss made a poor start and was fourth away.  However by the end of the first lap Moss had put the Cooper in the lead ahead of Bonnier, Gurney, Ireland and Brabham in the latest and lowest Cooper.  Several cars were already in trouble and before lap 7 Gurney had retired as had Surtees when his Lotus was loosing oil.  Others were delayed with pit stops.  Tony Marsh broke a fuel line, Taylor and Salvadori had plug changes and McLaren with a sticking throttle.  Parnell’s Cooper was suffering with overheating.

Bonnier  BRM	Bonnier  BRM

On lap 7 Stirling Moss, who had been setting a blistering pace, broke the lap record with 1 minute 35 seconds (110.917 mph) and looked set for victory.  Innes Ireland was now piling on the pressure and on lap 25 he passed Stirling to set another lap record in 1 minute 34.2 seconds (111.86 mph).  He held the lead for another 4 laps before Stirling regained the lead, but it was not to last.  On lap 33 Stirling’s Cooper suffered a broken top wishbone and with the offside wheel leaning in he was forced to retire.  Whether this failure was as a result of the accident in practice is not recorded.

Graham Hill  BRM

By now Ireland had a considerable lead and on lap 37 was 6 seconds ahead of Brabham’s Cooper.  In spite of some enthusiastic cornering Brabham was unable to catch the Lotus and this was the order at the finish.  Third place was taken by Graham Hill in the only remaining BRM but he was 1 minute 12.2 seconds behind the winner.  Stacey’s Lotus was fourth but he and the rest of the field did not complete the full distance.

It was splendid day for Innes Ireland who demonstrated that he had the potential to become a Grand Prix driver of note.   

Raymond Mays, Peter Berthon and Jo Bonnier in the BRM pit