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- Chattanooga, TN
The 1970 race was nearly a catastrophe of danger for the drivers. 200,000 rabid Mexicans attended and became human guardrails as they ventured as close to the track as possible eventually climbing over the Armco and taking spectator positions right at the track's edge.
“Every Mexican wanted to get a better view than his neighbour and that meant watching from the roadside”
“Thousands disregarded the restrictions of the spectator areas as they smashed down fences and crowded onto the safety banks. Some of the braver ones even took up positions sitting on the Armco barrier.”
Local hero Pedro Rodríguez plus Jackie Stewart and others toured the circuit imploring the crowd to move back, but with limited effect. Indeed impatient spectators had also thrown bottles onto the circuit, meaning glass had to be swept away too.
It might strike that the obvious thing to do in this situation was pack up and go home, but a large-scale riot among the restless massed ranks was feared if the race was called off. So, reluctantly and belatedly, all got on with it.
“So close were the spectators to the track that a spin could have wiped out 20 or more while an accident similar to the fiery incident between [Jackie] Oliver and [Jacky] Ickx at Jarama [at the Spanish Grand Prix] earlier this year could have meant the death of 200 people.
“The repercussions of an accident of that nature could be the total ban of motor racing in several countries.”
It was avoided thanks to F1 drivers’ professionalism as, amazingly, the race was completed in full. Yet it owed also to luck, as Jackie Stewart could recount in particular.
“I hit a dog that had inexplicably strayed onto the track,” he recalled in his autobiography; “it had looked the size of an elephant from where I was sitting. I must have been travelling at 160mph.
And that was just the beginning. “The car veered violently to the left,” JYS continued, “towards a bank where spectators were sitting cross-legged a few metres from the tarmac. I only just managed to regain control and prevent my car from ploughing into that area.
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