50 years of the Malaysian Grand Prix and Formula 2
03/22/2012
The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia takes place next Sunday. To mark the occasion, we went through our archives and found a few interesting things. Would you have guessed that the history of this Malaysian GP is already 50 years old? The first official race took place in 1962, back then with Formula 2 cars.
The race took place at the Thomson Road Grand Prix Circuit, a street circuit in the Upper Thomson district of Singapore. The circuit was a great challenge and at times unsafe, as it was peppered with streetlights, bus stops and manhole covers. Until 1968, the races were held over 60 laps.
From the point of view of the Formula 2 regulations, 1962 was a transitional period, as in 1961 the Formula 1 rules were transferred to the 1.5-liter Formula 2 in terms of engine capacity, meaning that there was no longer a Formula 2 category. It was not until 1964 that the Formula 2 category was officially reintroduced, but then with 1-liter engines. From 1961 to 1963, the "Formula Junior" class was therefore regarded as an interim solution to Formula 2.
At the end of November 1962, the FIA released the first facts of the new Formula 2 rules to the public, as the Automobil-Revue reported at the time(Automobil-Revue No. 50 of 1962): Maximum displacement 1 liter, 4 cylinders, minimum 420 kg.
Another interesting find in our archive is the report on the different and innovative chassis designs by De Tomaso, Wainter Mantovani and Colin Chapman (Automobile-Revue No. 53 from 1962), which were presented for Formula Junior and the subsequent Formula 2.
The switch to ever smaller engines was also an issue at the time, and you can read the very comprehensive technical article about the Coventry-Climax engine that was most commonly used at the time. In addition to the entire history of the engine, the transition from the 8-cylinder to the 4-cylinder variant is also highlighted: Automobil-Revue No. 27 of 1962 on pages 17, 19, 21 and 23.
