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www.QV500.com - De Tomaso 505 Part 2: 505 Racing History 1970 |
 505-381, 1970 South African GP |
After testing at Vallelunga, De Tomaso's Tipo 505 was despatched to South Africa for the opening race of the 1970 Formula 1 season. Now painted red with an Argentinean tricolour, the number 22 car (chassis 505-381) was overweight by 55kg and Courage unsurprisingly found it a real handful around the Kyalami circuit. Electrical problems hampered his progress and a disappointing 20th on the grid was the result. In the race, Courage fared little better and was running 15th when he locked the brakes and clouted a kerb. |
Enough damage was sustained to force him out of the race, the ensuing six-week break between Kyalami and round two at Jarama allowing De Tomaso to put 505-381 on a crash diet. They also reworked the suspension by fitting a wider track, this in an effort to improve stability. It paid immediate dividends and at the Spanish Grand Prix, Courage circulated the number 12 car in a time good enough for 12th on the grid. However, the Englishman had a huge qualifying accident on the uphill section behind the pits, 505-381 hitting the guardrail, bouncing off and then impaling itself on a wooden post. Courage was unhurt but the car was written off. A week later, Frank Williams entered a hastily put together new car (chassis 505-383) for the non-championship International Trophy race at Silverstone. Alessandro De Tomaso didn't want the car to run as there was an F2 race at Zolder that weekend and Courage had already been entered in the '69 car. When Williams overruled him, his actions inevitably led to tension between the two headstrong personalities. The new car for Silverstone (505-383) was substantially lighter than its predecessor and showed great potential throughout the weekend. The most obvious external difference was at the front where the winglets either side of the nosecone were repositioned much higher up in an attempt to provide a little more downforce. Wearing number 14, 505-383 was driven by Roy Pike and Jackie Stewart during Saturday qualifying as Courage was in Italy contesting the Monza 1000km race for Alfa Romeo. He arrived in time for the race but had to start from the back of the grid after not setting a practice time. A storming performance followed, during which Courage rose from last to third in both heats. No doubt buoyed by their promising run with the new car at Silverstone, Frank Williams and De Tomaso headed to the principality of Monaco in early May for the annual Monte Carlo Grand Prix. Having qualified in a sensational seventh place, the weekend was unfortunately blighted by another disagreement between Williams and De Tomaso. |
 505-381, 1970 Spanish Grand Prix |
Ford boss, Lee Iacocca, was making a rare appearance at a Grand Prix and De Tomaso was looking to impress as Ford were underwriting the Pantera project. De Tomaso wanted Courage to try a small fuel load that would allow him to run quickly during the opening stages, but Frank Williams refused (his car had finished second the previous year after all). When the handbags had blown over and the race gotten underway, Piers was running seventh when he was forced to pit for repairs to be made to the steering rack. |
| He lost 20 laps while the faulty rack was replaced and was subsequently unclassified when the chequered flag fell. The Belgian Grand Prix took the F1 circus to Spa Francorchamps in early June and Courage used 505-383 on Friday before a new car, 505-382, arrived from Italy for the final session on Saturday afternoon. It was based on the chassis he had crashed in qualifying at Jarama (505-381) and was the lightest yet. Qualifying 12th, Courage unfortunately retired after just four laps due to a loss of oil pressure. Having shown good speed but precious little reliability, both 505's were then taken to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. Courage started out with the newer wide track car as raced in Belgium (505-382), this featuring a modified steering and fuel system. He then switched 382 over to the narrow track rear suspension taken from the spare car for Saturday and qualified well in ninth. Rising quickly to seventh, Courage was looking good for his first championship points of the season until lap 23 when 505-382 sped off the track at a series of flat out bends. It ploughed through the catch fencing, dislodging a wheel that struck Courage with enough force to remove his helmet. The car then rolled along the steep dune banking and burst into flames while still moving. Piers Courage died instantly and the car was destroyed. F1 was robbed of one of its most popular drivers and Frank Williams shell-shocked team missed the subsequent French Grand Prix. After the Zandvoort disaster, Alessandro De Tomaso lost interest and for the rest of the season, Williams received minimal support from Italy. De Tomaso delivered some parts, but Dallara was rarely at the races and it very soon became clear the programme would not be continuing in 1971. Four weeks after that fateful weekend in Holland, the one remaining 505 (chassis 383) was entered for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. |
 505-383, 1970 Monaco Grand Prix |
Williams had enlisted Brian Redman for driving duties but after just a couple of laps in the first practice session, the splined shaft of the rear hub broke. Williams could have got spares in time from Italy, but as these parts would have come from the same batch, he felt that for safety reasons it would be better to withdraw the car. Redman did get to test at Silverstone the next week and would have his chance at the German Grand Prix. However, after starting off at Hockenheim with the wrong ratios, he then suffered chronic ignition trouble. |
| Finally, just as he was getting going, Redman spun off, beaching 505-383 in the sand at the second chicane. Two weeks later, the same car was entered for the Austrian Grand Prix and Redman was replaced with upcoming Aussie, Tim Schenken. By this time, major developments had completely dried up and the 505 was beginning to lag behind its contemporaries. Qualifying 19th in Germany, Schenken had already lost his exhaust pipe by the time the engine blew on lap 26. De Tomaso's home race, the Italian GP at Monza, should have been a high point, but it was blighted on two counts. Although 505-383 featured a subtly lower cockpit surround in an attempt to improve top speed, it was suffering from fuel starvation all weekend. After qualifying 19th for the second race in succession, Schenken went out early with another engine failure. More importantly, the result was overshadowed by the death of Jochen Rindt who went on to become F1's only posthumous World Champion. The last two events on the calendar meant a trip across the Atlantic for Frank Williams and his team. Canada's St. Jovite circuit hosted the penultimate race of 1970, but 505-383 arrived at the track without an engine and was eventually fitted with one of McLaren's spare units after repeated delays to the aircraft that was bringing a motor from London. Schenken qualified 17th and circulated for 17 laps before stopping back at the pits with a broken damper. He got underway again after losing nine laps and was still running at the flag, but nevertheless ended up unclassified. At New York state's fabled Watkins Glen track in October, Schenken ended the season by qualifying 20th, but a programme that by this time had completely run out of steam appropriately ended with broken rear suspension forcing another DNF. Chassis 505-383 was taken back to the De Tomaso factory in Modena and has resided there ever since. |
| Date | Race | Driver | # |
Chassis |
Engine |
Grid |
Result |
| 07/03/1970 | South African GP | P. Courage | 22 |
505-381 |
DFV 924 |
20th |
DNF |
| 19/04/1970 | Spanish GP | P. Courage | 12 |
505-381 |
DFV 925 |
12th |
DNS |
| 26/04/1970 | Silverstone Int. Trophy | P. Courage | 14 |
505-383 |
? |
24th |
3rd |
| 10/05/1970 | Monaco GP | P. Courage | 24 |
505-383 |
DFV 067 |
7th |
NC |
| 07/06/1970 | Belgian GP | P. Courage | 7 |
505-382 |
DFV 925 |
12th |
DNF |
| 21/06/1970 | Dutch GP | P. Courage | 4 |
505-382 |
DFV 925 |
9th |
DNF |
| 19/07/1970 | British GP | B. Redman | 25 |
505-383 |
? |
DNS |
- |
| 02/08/1970 | German GP | B. Redman | 25 |
505-383 |
DFV 067 |
DNQ |
- |
| 16/08/1970 | Austrian GP | T. Schenken | 26 |
505-383 |
DFV 067 |
19th |
DNF |
| 06/09/1970 | Italian GP | T. Schenken | 54 |
505-383 |
DFV 067 |
19th |
DNF |
| 20/09/1970 | Canadian GP | T. Schenken | 10 |
505-383 |
DFV 905 |
17th |
NC |
| 04/10/1970 | United States GP | T. Schenken | 30 |
505-383 |
DFV 905 |
20th |
DNF |
 505-383, 1970 International Tophy, Silverstone |
