Race Report: Anderstorp, 18 June 1972

This round of the Shell Super Oil Championship was held as part of the Ronnie-Gala meeting with Peterson himself demonstrating his F1 March 721X to the crowds. The race was held over two 12 lap heats with the result being decided on aggregate times.

Mike Walker claimed pole position in the works Ensign F372, he knew the track having raced a F5000 car here, next up were Jochen Mass in the works STP March 723 and Peter Hull in his Brabham BT38 both of whom had taken advantage of some pre-race testing. Dave Walker had done over 100 laps testing to set up the JPS lotus 73s and Bernard Vermilio appeared to benefit as he equalled Hull’s time in fourth place. Newcomer Gunnar Nordström was fifth in his Brabham BT35 from Colin Vandervell’s Ensign F372 whilst Roger Williamson found himself back on row three due to a stripped third gear.

The grid lined up for heat one in a 2-2-2 formation and it was Mike Walker who made the best start with Hull moving up to second as Mass bogged down slightly in the STP March, the German then took Hull at the second corner only to loose the place again on the main straight. Williamson and Vandervell were making good progress and when Hull went off at he end of the main straight with brake problems on lap 2 they both moved onto the tail of the leading Ensign.
Vandervell took over the lead on laps seven and eight but then Williamson moved into the lead for the final four laps, Walker and Vandervell battled over second place with Walker succeeding in getting ahead for the important last two laps. Mass had dropped to fourth on lap 8 but an excursion onto the grass on lap 11 saw him remove the nosecone from his March, he resumed to finish eleventh. Vermilio had been having a steady run in fifth but a broken ignition lead saw him retire on lap 10, Hull, still dealing with his brake problems, moved up to and finished fifth behind Conny Andersson (Brabham BT38). Tony Trimmer struggled home in eighth, very unhappy with his Lotus 73. Retirements included Ulf Svensson (Brabham BT38) and Erikki Salminen (Brabham BT28) after a shunt.

It was Williamson again in front for heat two followed by Walker, Vandervell, Andersson, Jonsson and Hull, Vandervell and Walker were constantly swopping position in their fight for second whilst Hull moved his Brabham up to fourth. Trimmer was going a little better in this heat and lap 5 saw him move the Lotus up to sixth at the expense of Andersson whilst Jonsson’s good run came to an end when he retired on lap 7 when he went off at the end of the main straight. Meanwhile at the front Williamson continued on his relaxed way to an easy win, behind him the battle for second was resolved when Walker spun off on lap 10 leaving Vandervell with the position from Trimmer and Hull. Hull passed Trimmer on the last lap and as Trimmer tried to regain the place Andersson joined in the fun putting two wheels on the grass in his attempts to get third, but at the line it was Hull from Trimmer and Andersson. Mass had a mixed race, he had to pit at the end of lap 1 to have a loose wheel tightened on his March, he then set fastest lap before spinning out of the race.

The aggregate result left Williamson the clear winner from Vandervell and Walker, this meant that Williamson now had a 14 point lead in the Shell Championship from Vandervell with Walker a further six points down.

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