1961 Football League Cup Final
The 1961 Football League Cup Final was the inaugural League Cup final. It was contested by Rotherham United and Aston Villa over two legs. Aston Villa won 3–2 on aggregate.


1961 Football League Cup Final
Due to fixture congestion, the second leg was not played until after the start of the 1961–62 season. As a result, Villa began their defence of the trophy just eight days after winning it. Though all League clubs were eligible to participate, Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, did not enter. The prize money for winning the competition was £750. The two clubs would not play each other again until they met in the same competition in August 2013. Both clubs received first round byes.


1961 Formula One season
The 1961 Formula One season was the 15th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently from 14 May to 8 October over an eight race series. The season also included numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars.


1961 Formula One season
Phil Hill of Ferrari won his only Drivers' Championship after his teammate and rival Wolfgang von Trips was killed at the Italian Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season. Ferrari won its first F1 manufacturers' title.


1961 Formula One season
1961 was the first-ever Formula One season to feature a single tyre supplier as Firestone decided to withdraw from the sport after eleven seasons.


1961 Formula One season, Season summary
The first year of the 1.5-litre formula was dominated by a well-prepared Ferrari team - the 1961 season was the first time they made a mid-engined car, the legendary 156 "Sharknose" - going against team boss Enzo Ferrari's dislike of mid-engined cars and his old-fashioned belief that mid-engined cars were built by people who did not have enough horsepower. Only Stirling Moss, in an outdated Lotus, was able to beat the Ferraris on two tracks where his skills offset the Ferrari power advantage.


1961 Formula One season, Season summary
Innes Ireland also won a race, the 1961 United States Grand Prix, after Ferrari didn't enter the race. Giancarlo Baghetti in a privately entered Ferrari won the French Grand Prix on his championship debut, the only driver to have done so other than Nino Farina, winner of the first Formula One World Championship race. Baghetti had also won his only two previous Formula One races, the non-championship events at Syracuse and Naples, but the French race was his only win in the World Championship.


1961 Formula One season, Season summary
The contest for the championship between Ferrari's leading drivers, Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, ended in tragedy when von Trips collided with Jim Clark at Monza, killing von Trips and 14 spectators. Hill went on to win the championship, the first American driver to do so. The Indianapolis 500, a race that was run to completely different regulations to a Grand Prix and had almost nothing to do with European-style road racing, was dropped from the championship.


1961 Formula One season, Season summary
The number of points awarded to a race winner was increased to nine for the World Championship of Drivers.


1961 Formula One season, Season summary
Besides von Trips, two other drivers died during this season: Briton Shane Summers during the non-championship Silver City Trophy event at Brands Hatch, and Italian Giulio Cabianca during a test at the Modena Autodrome.


1961 Formula One season, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1961 FIA World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.


1961 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The Argentine Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar with the retirements of Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958 and José Froilán González in 1960, combined with unstable governments after the exile of then President of Argentina Juan Peron in 1955.


1961 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Aintree, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.


1961 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The German Grand Prix returned to the calendar for 1961, the 1960 race was originally supposed to be held at the AVUS circuit but the race was cancelled after drivers complained about the extreme danger of the track. The German Grand Prix was held in 1960 but was run as a Formula 2 race at the Nurburgring but on the Sudschleife version instead of the Nordschleife.


1961 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The United States Grand Prix was moved from Riverside International Raceway in California to Watkins Glen International in New York because of the lack of spectators attending and prize money being paid.


1961 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The Moroccan Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be held on 29 October as the last race of the year but was cancelled for the third year in a row for monetary reasons.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Pre-season non-championship races
Before the 1961 Formula One season was to start in Monaco in mid-May, there were a host of non-championship races held throughout Europe. The first was the Lombank Trophy at the fast 2.7 mile Snetterton circuit in eastern England. Most of the top drivers of the day such as Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips were in the United States competing in the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring sportscar race, but 2 top drivers who were in attendance were John Surtees and defending champion Jack Brabham. Brabham won the race in a Cooper while Surtees finished 3rd.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Pre-season non-championship races
A week later, the Glover Trophy at the fast Goodwood circuit in southern England was held, with Surtees winning in a privately entered Cooper, ahead of Graham Hill in a works BRM, Surtees's teammate Roy Salvadori in a Cooper and Moss in a Rob Walker-entered Lotus. On the same day, the Pau Grand Prix in southwest France was won by Clark driving a works Lotus.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Pre-season non-championship races
6 days later the Brussels Grand Prix at Heysel Park was won by Brabham in a works Coopet. 7 days after that Moss won the Aspern Grand Prix in Austria, held at an aerodrome in Vienna. 6 days later on a Friday the Aintree 200 in Liverpool was won by Brabham in wet conditions, and 3 days later the prestigious Syracuse Grand Prix in Sicily was won by Giancarlo Baghetti in a Ferrari- his first ever Formula One race. 2 weeks later, the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone was won by Moss in a Lotus.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 1: Monaco
The 1961 Formula One season did not officially start until May, 8 days after the BRDC race in England. Practice saw Clark crash his Lotus heavily at turn one and Lotus's woes continued when Innes Ireland crashed in the tunnel during the final session, destroying his car and breaking his leg. Moss took pole in his Rob Walker Lotus with Richie Ginther's Ferrari and Clark's Lotus sharing the front row. Graham and Phil Hill shared the second row. This particular Monaco Grand Prix turned out to be a classic, with one of the greatest driving performances in the history of Formula One by Stirling Moss in a privately entered Lotus against 3 Ferraris that had a lot more power but worse handling than the Lotus.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 1: Monaco
At the start, Ginther took the lead from Clark and Moss but Clark soon had to pit with fuel pump problems, and so Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney took third and fourth in their Porsches. On Lap 14 both Moss and Bonnier were able to pass Ginther, and 10 laps later Phil Hill passed both Ginther and Bonnier to move into second but there was no way he was going to catch Moss, who was driving one of the greatest races of his illustrious career. Towards mid-distance Ginther fought back, passing Hill for second and chasing after Moss, closing the gap to just three seconds. Moss responded, driving on the limit the entire way and eventually won the race. Hill finished third and Wolfgang von Trips was classified fourth despite crashing on the last lap.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 1: Monaco
The 19th Naples Grand Prix in southern Italy, held on the same day as the Monaco Grand Prix, at the Posillipo Park circuit and it was won by Baghetti- who had won two Formula One races from two starts.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 2: Netherlands
There was just 8 days between Monaco and the Dutch Grands Prix. The Dutch race was held at the Zandvoort circuit located in small sand dunes right next to a popular beach 20 miles west of Amsterdam. The injured Innes Ireland was replaced at Team Lotus by Trevor Taylor but otherwise the field was much as it had been at Monaco, with local hero Carel Godin de Beaufort getting a drive in one of the Porsches, entered by his Ecurie Maarsbergen. Ferrari monopolised the front row of the grid with Phil Hill on pole from von Trips and Ginther, while Moss's Walker Lotus and Graham Hill's BRM shared the second row.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 2: Netherlands
At the start, von Trips took the lead with Graham Hill in a works BRM and Phil Hill behind him. Graham Hill soon began to fall back, dropping quickly behind Phil Hill and Clark, who had stormed through the field from the fourth row to run fourth at the end of the first lap. Clark proceeded to battle for second place with the Ferrari and they exchanged places several times before Phil Hill finally asserted himself. Further back Graham Hill battled with Moss and Ginther, but it was von Trips who emerged ahead for most of the race, and won it. On the last lap, however, Ginther went wide when his throttle stuck open and Moss was able to grab fourth.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 2: Netherlands
The 1961 Dutch Grand Prix has a remarkable place in F1 history: every starter finished the race and no-one went into the pits. Such reliability has never been achieved since, made even more remarkable by the fact that Formula One cars were far from reliable machines during a race.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 2: Netherlands
The London Trophy was held at the short, tight and twisty Crystal Palace circuit in London the day after the Dutch Grand Prix, and it was won by Salvadori driving a Yeoman Credit Cooper, whilst another English race, the Silver City Trophy at the undulating and twisty Brands Hatch circuit nearby Crystal Palace was held in wet conditions and was won by Moss in a Walker Lotus, but was marred by the death of 24 year old Welshman Shane Summers in a Cooper, who was killed almost instantly when he spun at the challenging, anti-cambered Paddock Hill Bend, went off and crashed into a concrete wall near an underground tunnel entrance.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 3: Belgium
A year after the traumatic 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, the F1 teams gathered again at the very fast and frighteningly daunting 8.7 mile Spa-Francorchamps public road circuit near Liège with a few changes from the Dutch Grand Prix three weeks previously. Innes Ireland, who had broken his leg at Monaco, was back in action for Team Lotus, which had new Lotus 21s for Ireland and Jim Clark.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 3: Belgium
Ferrari had a fourth car painted up in Belgian racing yellow for Olivier Gendebien, which was being run by Ecurie Nationale Belge, which also had a pair of Emeryson chassis for Lucien Bianchi and Willy Mairesse. These were both damaged in practice and so Bianchi and Mairesse took over the non-qualified Lotus 18's with Tony Marsh and Wolfgang Seidel. British Racing Partnership was also in trouble with only one Lotus 18 to be shared by Cliff Allison and Henry Taylor. The team decided that the fastest driver would race, and as a result Allison went too fast, crashed heavily at Blanchimont, rolled the car and suffered severe leg injuries which would end his F1 career.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 3: Belgium
Phil Hill took pole with von Trips alongside while Gendebien made the most of his local experience to take third despite using a less powerful engine than the factory Ferraris. Ginther's Ferrari shared the second row with Surtees in Reg Parnell's Cooper-Climax.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 3: Belgium
Phil Hill took the lead at the start but was then passed by Gendebien while von Trips and Ginther joined in. The four Ferrari cars, well suited to this power circuit thanks to the formidable performance of their 120 degree V6 engines dominated the race and the lead changed several times before Phil Hill took the lead from von Trips and Ginther. Gendebien was fourth giving Ferrari a straight 1-2-3-4 result- Phil Hill fought von Trips all the way and the Phil Hill finished 0.7 seconds ahead of von Trips. Surtees was fifth although he had to battle early in the race with Graham Hill's BRM which eventually went out with electrical trouble. Gurney finished sixth in his Porsche.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 4: France
A fortnight after the Belgian GP the F1 teams gathered at the very fast, straight dominated Reims public road circuit for the French Grand Prix in Champagne country. As the French did not bother with the restrictive invitations it was a large field of cars with a variety of unusual privateers. Ferrari had a fourth car, run in the colors of the Federazione Italiana Scuderie Automobilische and driven by Baghetti who arrived at Reims undefeated. There was a new De Tomaso-Osca which was run by Scuderia Serenissima for Giorgio Scarlatti but it was not competitive. It was an all-Ferrari front row with Phil Hill on pole from Wolfgang Von Trips and Ritchie Ginther with the second row being shared by Stirling Moss in his Rob Walker Lotus 18 and Jim Clark in one of the factory Lotus 21s.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 4: France
The race weekend was held in extremely hot conditions, and the track began to break up at the track's 2 hairpins. The ambient temperature on Sunday/race day was 102 degrees F (39 C), and the race turned out to be yet another classic. Hill led from the start with Ginther and Von Trips giving chase but when Ginther spun Moss was able to take third for a while before the American recovered.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 4: France
Further back there was an exciting slipstreaming battle between seven cars: the two Porsches of Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier, the factory Lotuses of Clark and Ireland, Graham Hill's BRM (Tony Brooks went out early in the other car with engine trouble), Bruce McLaren's Cooper and the fourth Ferrari of Baghetti. Eventually Ginther passed Moss and he dropped back into this fight because of brake trouble. Then the Ferrari team faltered. Von Trips, who had taken the lead under team orders, stopped with engine trouble on lap 18.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 4: France
Hill took over but spun on lap 38 and stalled his engine, rejoining a lap behind. Ginther lasted only three laps in the lead before he stopped with an engine problem and suddenly the seething battle for fourth place was a fight for the lead. Gradually the challengers dropped away leaving Gurney's Porsche against Baghetti's Ferrari. They changed places lap after lap and on the final lap Baghetti dived out of Gurney's slipstream to pass the American a couple of hundred yards before the finish line. Baghetti thus became the first and, to date, only man to win his first World Championship event.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 5: Britain
13 days later the British Grand Prix was held at the Aintree circuit in Liverpool, site of England's Grand National horse race. The field at Aintree was not very different from that which had been seen at Reims, although Rob Walker ran a four-wheel-drive Ferguson for Jack Fairman, although this was also driven by Stirling Moss during practice. There were four Ferraris again, with the unbeaten Giancarlo Baghetti joining the works trio. Qualifying saw Phil Hill, Ritchie Ginther, Jo Bonnier (Porsche) and Wolfgang Von Trips all set identical lap times, while Moss was alongside Von Trips on the second row in his Walker Lotus 18.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 5: Britain
The race began in heavy rain with Phil Hill, Von Trips and Ginther getting ahead at the start, chased by Moss and Bonnier. Von Trips took the lead after seven laps, passing Hill. Moss moved to third when Ginther ran wide at one point and then managed to get past Hill for second. He chased Von Trips but was never able to pass him. When the rain stopped Moss began to drop back and would retire with brake problems. This allowed the Ferraris to finish 1-2-3 with Von Trips winning over Hill and Ginther. Jack Brabham, Bonnier and Roy Salvadori (Reg Parnell Cooper) completed the top six. The unbeaten Baghetti crashed out early in the race. Moss took over Fairman's Ferguson after he had retired but was eventually called into the pits and disqualified for having received a push-start.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 5: Britain
The Solitude Grand Prix in Germany was held a week after the British Grand Prix on the very demanding and dangerous 7 mile Solitude circuit near Porsche and Mercedes-Benz's hometown of Stuttgart. This race was won by Briton Innes Ireland in a works Lotus.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 6: Germany
The German Grand Prix, held at the fearsome, twisty, very dangerous and extremely challenging 14.2 mile Nürburgring circuit for the first time since 1958 featured a huge field of cars with Ferrari turning up with four cars, Wolfgang Von Trips, Phil Hill and Ritchie Ginther being joined by Willy Mairesse, although the Belgian had an older engine in his car. Jack Brabham had the new Climax V8 FWMV engine for the first time in his factory Cooper, while Porsche had four cars, Edgar Barth joining Jo Bonnier, Dan Gurney and Hans Herrmann.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 6: Germany
Qualifying saw Hill record a remarkable lap of 8:55.2- the first time anyone had lapped the Nordschleife in under 9 minutes. This time which was nearly six seconds faster than Brabham's best, with Moss third quickest in his Rob Walker Lotus 18. Bonnier completed the front row in his Porsche. The second row featured Von Trips, Graham Hill in his BRM and Gurney.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 6: Germany
The race started in damp conditions and Brabham led the field away only to spin out and crash on that first lap. Phil Hill charged up and took the lead, but Moss passed the American before they reached the finish line to start the second lap. Moss would stay ahead for the rest of the race while Von Trips came up and overtook Hill for second after a long battle. Towards the end of the race it started to rain, but Moss never took off his intermediate tires, and this allowed Moss to extend his lead, and won a superb victory with a Lotus that had superior handling to the Ferrari- essential at the Nürburgring.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 6: Germany
There was a 3-week break between the German Grand Prix and the Swedish Kanonloppet, a non championship race near Stockholm, and a week after that, the Danish Grand Prix at Roskilde near Copenhagen and a week after that the Modena Grand Prix near Ferrari's headquarters was held- and all three of these races were won by Moss in the Walker Lotus.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
The penultimate race of the 1961 World Championship was to be a showdown between two Ferrari drivers. The team had already won the Constructors' title so it was a straight fight between Wolfgang Von Trips and Phil Hill for the Drivers' title although Moss still had a mathematical chance of victory if he won both races. The advantage lay with Wolfgang Von Trips who had 33 points to Phil Hill's 29.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
The Ferrari team had a new recruit at the Monza Autodrome near Milan- 19-year old Mexican Ricardo Rodriguez taking over the team's fourth car while Giancarlo Baghetti reappeared in a private Ferrari. Once again Jack Brabham was the only driver with the new Climax V8 engine. Stirling Moss ran his usual Lotus 18 but was not happy with it and Innes Ireland let him have his factory Lotus 21. The organizers, wanting to give the advantage to the Ferrari team decided to use the combined oval/road course again making this Monza the fastest circuit of the year.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
This circuit had been boycotted by the British teams last year because of the terrible quality of the extremely rough and bumpy concrete banking, which was of such poor quality and design that it even went as far as to badly affect the structural strength and reliability of the cars, particularly in regards to the cars' chassis and suspension- but the British teams relented and they all competed in this year's event. As expected the powerful Ferraris were impressive- Von Trips was on pole with Rodriguez second (becoming the youngest driver ever to start a World Championship Grand Prix) ahead of Ginther and Phil Hill with Graham Hill's BRM sharing the third row with Baghetti.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
This Italian Grand Prix was to be marred by one of the worst tragedies in the history of motor racing, and would cast a shadow over the Italian Grand Prix for years. At the start Phil Hill and Ginther managed to get into first and second places followed by Rodriguez, the fast-starting Jim Clark and Von Trips. Approaching the Parabolica the two cars collided. Clark crashed without injury but the Ferrari went through a spectator fence, went up an embankment on the left and was tossed into a roll, into where spectators were standing.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
Von Trips was thrown from the car, landed on the track, broke his neck and was killed along with 14 spectators. The race organizers decided not to stop the race and the Ferrari team put on a display until Rodriguez, Baghetti and Ginther all stopped with mechanical trouble. This left Phil Hill to win. Of the rest, Brabham went out with engine trouble while Surtees retired after running to the back of Bonnier who had slowed his Porsche at the site of Von Trips's accident.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 7: Italy
Moss went out with a broken wheel which left Dan Gurney second for Porsche and Bruce McLaren third for Cooper. Jack Lewis drove a marvelous race in his private Cooper to finish fourth ahead of Tony Brooks (BRM) and Roy Salvadori (Parnell Cooper). Von Trips's fatal retirement meant that Phil Hill became the first American to win the Formula 1 World Championship.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
The only non-European championship race of 1961 was the United States GP, which was being held at the 2.3 mile Watkins Glen circuit in upstate New York for the first time 4 weeks after the tragic Italian race. Having won both World Championships Ferrari decided not to bother crossing the Atlantic, denying Phil Hill the chance to race at the Glen.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
Not counting the famous Indianapolis 500, run to totally different regulations and not included again on the Grand Prix calendar from 1961 onwards, this was the 3rd time the US GP had been held since the international championship started in 1950, with one off-spells at Sebring in Florida and Riverside in southern California failing to achieve any success. Watkins Glen would continuously host the US GP up until 1980.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
Both Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss had the new Climax V8 engine on this occasion but Moss decided after practice not to race it. The field was joined by a number of local stars, notably Hap Sharp and Roger Penske in Coopers and Jim Hall and Ken Miles in Lotuses. Brabham took pole position with Graham Hill alongside while Moss shared the second row with Bruce McLaren in the second factory Cooper.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
A paid crowd of 28,000 (total around 60,000) on Sunday made the sponsors extremely happy and also boded well for the race's future. At the start, Brabham led the field off the grid and into the first corner, but before the end of the first lap, Moss had moved by into the lead. These two were followed by Ireland (up from eighth), Hill, Dan Gurney, Masten Gregory and McLaren. On lap three, McLaren moved up to third when Ireland spun on oil at the end of the straight. "I nearly went out of the race," he said. "I went into a whirl, a 360-degree spin, cars were whipping past." He recovered and continued in eleventh.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
By lap 10, Ireland had already stormed his way back to fourth, behind McLaren's Cooper, as Moss and Brabham continued to draw away at a second a lap, swapping the lead back and forth. At about one-third distance, on lap 34, Brabham's V8 began to leak water and overheat. With puffs of smoke appearing from the left-side exhaust, the Cooper dropped back from Moss and finally entered the pits on lap 45. After taking on water and returning to the race, Brabham completed only seven more laps before retiring.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
Leading now by over 40 seconds, Moss seemed on his way to a comfortable victory. Only he knew, however, that his oil pressure was dropping, and on lap 59, the dark blue Lotus peeled off and retired suddenly, handing the lead to Ireland. Hill was right on the tail of the Scot, hounding him for 15 laps, until he, too, suddenly coasted down the pit lane with a loose magneto wire. The next challenger was Roy Salvadori, who began trimming the lead from 20 seconds down to five with only five laps left. But it was Ireland's day. With just over three laps remaining, Salvadori's privately entered Cooper blew its engine, just as his teammate John Surtees' car had done on the first lap.


1961 Formula One season, Season Review, Race 8: United States
Ireland came home under the waving checkered flag of Tex Hopkins, less than five seconds ahead of American Dan Gurney, as Britain's Tony Brooks finished the last GP of his career in third. It was a race of milestones: Innes Ireland's only career win, the first win for Team Lotus, and the first American Grand Prix to turn a profit, ensuring its return in 1962. Unfortunately for Stirling Moss it would be his last World Championship race, as his career was ended by a heavy accident during the 1962 Glover Trophy race at Goodwood the following April.


1961 Formula One season, Results and standings, World Drivers' Championship standings
Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each race. However, only the best five results from the eight races were retained.


1961 Formula One season, Results and standings, International Cup for F1 Manufacturers standings
Points were awarded on an 8–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each race. However, a manufacturer only received points for its highest placed car and only the best five results from the eight races were retained.


1961 Formula One season, Non-championship races
Other Formula One races also held in 1961, which did not count towards the World Championship.


1961 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia
The 1961 France rugby union tour of Australasia was a series of matches of the France national rugby union team which toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961. France won an historical match with Australia, but was defeated (0–3) by All Black's led by Don Clarke. The French most notable players were the Camberaberò brothers, Guy e Lillian, and the captain Moncla.


1961 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia
French players were criticised for their anger: some matches were interrupted by brawls. In the match with South Canterbury, the referee sanctioned many French fouls and expelled the captain Michel Crauste, who had violently tackled Eddie Smith. It is said the old mother of the All Black's player came on the ground to slap the French player.


1961 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia, Touring party, Three-quarters
Henri Rancoule,Guy Boniface, Andre Boniface, Guy Calvo,Jean Pique, Jean-Vincent Dupuy


1961 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia, Touring party, Forwards
Pierre Cazals, Jean Laudouar, Amedee Domenech, Gerard Bouguyon, Jean-Pierre Saux, Michel Crauste, Francois Moncla (c), Michel Celaya, Roland Lefevre, Jacques Rollet, Marcel Cassiede


1961 French Championships (tennis)
The 1961 French Championships (now known as the French Open) was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 15 May until 28 May. It was the 65th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1961. Manuel Santana and Ann Haydon won the singles titles.


1961 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Men's Singles
Manuel Santana defeated  Nicola Pietrangeli 4–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0, 6–2


1961 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Men's Doubles
Roy Emerson /   Rod Laver defeated  Bob Howe /  Bob Mark  3–6, 6–1, 6–1, 6–4


1961 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Women's Doubles
Sandra Reynolds /  Renee Schuurman defeated  Maria Bueno / Darlene Hard walkover


1961 French Championships (tennis), Finals, Mixed Doubles
Darlene Hard /  Rod Laver defeated  Vera Suková /  Jirí Javorský  6–0, 2–6, 6–3


1961 French Championships – Men's Singles
Sixth-seeded Manuel Santana defeated Nicola Pietrangeli 4–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0, 6–2 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1961 French Championships.


1961 French Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Manuel Santana is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1961 French Championships – Women's Singles
Sixth-seeded Ann Haydon defeated Yola Ramírez 6–2, 6–1 in the final to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 1961 French Championships.


1961 French Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Ann Haydon is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1961 French Grand Prix
The 1961 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 July 1961 at Reims. It was race 4 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.


1961 French Grand Prix
By winning the race, Giancarlo Baghetti became only the third driver to win his first World Championship race, the other two being Nino Farina, who won the first World Championship race (the 1950 British Grand Prix) and Johnnie Parsons, who won the 1950 Indianapolis 500 (the Indianapolis 500 was part of the World Championship from 1950 to 1960), though both Farina and Parsons had competed at future World Championship races before the creation of the championship, while this was Baghetti's first start at a major Grand Prix. This was Baghetti's only World Championship race win. He would never finish in the top 3 again.


1961 French Grand Prix, Classification, Qualifying
† Bianchi was absent for the first day of qualifying. Taylor qualified on Day 1 with Bianchi's car, but French timekeepers only tied the laptimes of a given car to the driver listed alongside in the programme, and his laptime was attributed to Bianchi.


1961 French cantonal elections
Cantonale elections to renew canton general councillors were held in France on 4 and 11 June 1961.


1961 French cantonal elections, Electoral system
The cantonales elections use the same system as the regional or legislative elections. There is a 10% threshold (10% of registered voters) needed to proceed to the second round.


1961 French cantonal elections, Sources
Alain Lancelot, Les élections sous la Ve République, PUF, Paris, 1988


1961 French referendum on Algerian self-determination
A referendum on self-determination for Algeria was held in France on 8 January 1961. Self-determination was approved by 75.0% of voters overall and 69.5% in Algeria. The government reported voter turnout of 92.2%. The referendum question was worded as follows:


1961 French referendum on Algerian self-determination
"Do you approve the bill submitted to the French people by the President of the Republic and concerning the self-determination of the populations of Algeria and the organization of the public authorities in Algeria prior to self-determination?"


1961 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The 1961 Fresno State Bulldogs football team represented Fresno State College during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season.


1961 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The team was led by third-year head coach Cecil Coleman and played home games at Ratcliffe Stadium on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. They finished the season as champions of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) for the fourth consecutive year, with an unbeaten, untied record of ten wins and zero losses (10–0, 5–0 CCAA). This was the seventh conference title in eight years for the Bulldogs.


1961 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
At the end of the season, Fresno State took part in a charity bowl game, the 1961 Mercy Bowl against Bowling Green. The game was played as a special fundraiser in memory of sixteen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo football players killed in a plane crash following a game against Bowling Green a year earlier.


1961 Gabonese general election
General elections were held in Gabon on 12 February 1961 to elect a President and the National Assembly. It was the first time a president had been elected, with Prime Minister Léon M'ba of the Gabonese Democratic Bloc being the only candidate and was elected unopposed. In the National Assembly election the Gabonese Democratic Bloc and the Gabonese Democratic and Social Union put forward a joint list of candidates unopposed under the name "National Union". Voter turnout was 98.7%.


1961 Gator Bowl
The 1961 Gator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 30, 1961, at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The game pitted the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Penn State Nittany Lions.


1961 Gator Bowl, Background
The Yellow Jackets managed to have a winning season for the first time in two years, with highlights being a win over #7 ranked Rice and a four-game winning streak in the middle season, with losses to LSU, Tennessee, and Alabama compounding their season. This was the third straight bowl appearance in the Gator Bowl.


1961 Gator Bowl, Background
Penn State started the season ranked #7, though a loss to Miami early in the season dropped them out. Penn state had a three-game winning streak going into this bowl game, which was their third straight bowl appearance.


1961 Gator Bowl, Game summary
For Penn State, Galen Hall threw 12-of-22 for 175 yards and three touchdowns in an MVP effort. Joe Auer rushed for 98 yards on 10 carries for Georgia Tech in an MVP effort. Georgia Tech outrushed and outpassed Penn State (211 to 138 and 201 to 175, respectively), but the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over five times, while the Nittany Lions only turned it over once.


1961 Gator Bowl, Aftermath
The Nittany Lions went to three more bowl games in the decade, two of them being Gator Bowls. Georgia Tech went to three more bowl games in the decade (the latter being Dodd's last game as coach), with one being a Gator Bowl.


1961 Gent–Wevelgem
The 1961 Gent–Wevelgem was the 23rd edition of the Gent–Wevelgem cycle race and was held on 16 April 1961. The race started in Ghent and finished in Wevelgem. The race was won by Frans Aerenhouts of the Mercier team.


1961 George Washington Colonials football team
The 1961 George Washington Colonials football team was an American football team that represented George Washington University as part of the Southern Conference during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. In its first season under head coach Jim Camp, the team compiled a 3–6 record (3–4 in the SoCon).


1961 Georgia Bulldogs football team
The 1961 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. The Bulldogs completed the season with a 3–7 record.


1961 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team
The 1961 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. The Yellow Jackets were led by 17th-year head coach Bobby Dodd, and played their home games at Grant Field in Atlanta. Georgia Tech finished the regular season tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference, with a 4–3 SEC record and a 7–3 overall record. They were ranked 13th in both final polls, and were invited to the 1961 Gator Bowl, where they lost to Penn State.


1961 German Grand Prix
The 1961 German Grand Prix was the 23rd time the German Grand Prix (or Grosser Preis von Deutschland) motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 21st European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as race 6 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers It was held on 6 August 1961 over 15 laps of the giant 14.2 mile Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit for a race distance of almost 213 miles. The race also celebrated the 100th race since the establishment of the World Championship in 1950.


1961 German Grand Prix
The race was won by British driver Stirling Moss, driving a Lotus 18/21 for privateer outfit the Rob Walker Racing Team; it proved to be his 16th and last Grand Prix victory. Moss started from the second row of the grid and led every lap of the race. It was the first German Grand Prix victory for a rear-engined car since Bernd Rosemeyer's Auto Union Type C took victory in 1936. Moss finished just over 20 seconds ahead of Ferrari 156 drivers Wolfgang von Trips and Phil Hill, breaking a four-race consecutive run of Ferrari victories. The result pushed Moss into third place in the championship points race, becoming the only driver outside Ferrari's trio of von Trips, Hill and Richie Ginther still in contention to become the 1961 World Champion with two races left.


1961 German Grand Prix
Jack Brabham's Cooper took full advantage of the new Coventry-Climax V-8 in qualifying. Brabham qualified second, and shot to the lead by the first corner. However, Brabham crashed before the end of the first lap due to a sticking throttle. It was the last home country appearance for points leader von Trips before his death at the Italian Grand Prix five weeks later. His second-place finish saw Ferrari secure the constructors' championship. The remaining championship points scorers were all from British racing teams. Scottish driver Jim Clark (Lotus 21) was fourth for Team Lotus; former motorcycle World Champion John Surtees (Cooper T53) was fifth for Yeoman Credit Racing and young New Zealander Bruce McLaren was sixth in his factory-run Cooper T58.


1961 German Grand Prix
Of the race's 26 starters, 17 finished the race with 16 of them classified finishers. Bernard Collomb (Cooper T53) did not complete the 75% race distance in order to be classified as a finisher.


1961 German football championship
The 1961 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1960–61. 1. FC Nürnberg were crowned champions for a record eighth time after a group stage and a final, having previously won the title in 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1936 and 1948. It was the club's first appearance in the final since its 1948 title.


1961 German football championship
On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1961–62 European Cup, where 1. FCN lost to S.L. Benfica in the quarter finals.


1961 German football championship
Runners-up Borussia Dortmund made its fourth appearance in the national title game, having lost the championship in 1949 and won it in 1956 and 1957.


1961 German football championship
The format used to determine the German champion was the same as the one used in the 1960 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of Southwest and South having to play a qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round in two groups of four, with the two group winners entering the final.


1961 Giro d'Italia
The 1961 Giro d'Italia was the 44th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Turin, on 20 May, with a 115 km (71.5 mi) stage and concluded in Milan, on 11 June, with a 214 km (133.0 mi) leg. A total of 170 riders from 17 teams entered the 21-stage race, which was won by Italian Arnaldo Pambianco of the Fides team. The second and third places were taken by Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and Spaniard Antonio Suárez, respectively.


1961 Giro d'Italia, Teams
A total of 17 teams were invited to participate in the 1961 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 170 cyclists. Out of the 170 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 92 riders made it to the finish in Milan. Legnano initially threatened to not participate in the Giro.


1961 Giro d'Italia, Teams
The 17 teams that took part in the race were:


1961 Giro d'Italia, Pre-race favorites
There was initial belief that Charly Gaul would not race the Giro.


1961 Giro d'Italia, Classification leadership
One jersey was worn during the 1961 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.


1961 Giro d'Italia, Classification leadership
The mountains classification leader. The climbs were ranked in first and second categories. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. There were three categories of mountains. The first category awarded 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 points, the second distributed 40, 30, 20, and 10 points, and the third category gave 30, 20, and 10 points. Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the teams were awarded points for their rider's performance during the stages.


1961 Giro di Lombardia
The 1961 Giro di Lombardia was the 55th edition of the Giro di Lombardia cycle race and was held on 21 October 1961. The race started in Milan and finished in Como. The race was won by Vito Taccone of the Atala team.


1961 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election
There was a by-election for the Glasgow Bridgeton constituency on Thursday 16 November 1961.


1961 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election
The Labour Party candidate, James Bennett managed to retain the seat for his party, with a majority of 6,995 votes.


1961 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election
The by-election was significant, in that it was one of the first elections in which the Scottish National Party achieved a 19% share of the vote; only narrowly beaten by the Unionist candidate M.McNeill for second place. Although this was not exceptional and did not receive much attention at the time, it was the forerunner of more significant serious success for the SNP later in the 1960s.


1961 Glover Trophy
The 9th Glover Trophy was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 3 April 1961 at Goodwood Circuit, England. The race was run over 42 laps of the circuit, and was won by British driver John Surtees in a Cooper T53. The event was held on the same day as the 1961 Pau Grand Prix, which compromised the quality of the entry at both meetings.


1961 Golden Helmet (Poland)
The Golden Helmet (Polish: Turniej o Złoty Kask, ZK) is an annual motorcycle speedway event, and has been organized by the Polish Motor Union (PZM) since 1961. Currently the race is held in PC Team 3rd from last season (previously Wrocław), with the top twelve riders in the Extraleague and the top four riders in the First League.


1961 Golden Helmet (Poland)
1961 Golden Helmet season was the 1st since its establishment.


1961 Golden Helmet (Poland), Final classification
Note: Result from final score was subtracted with two the weakest events.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, on 23 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3–4-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process. The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely; another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash. Information declassified in 2013 showed that one of the bombs came very close to detonating.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Accident
The aircraft, a B-52G, was based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro. Around midnight on 23–24 January 1961, the bomber had a rendezvous with a tanker for aerial refueling. During the hook-up, the tanker crew advised the B-52 aircraft commander, Major Walter Scott Tulloch (grandfather of actress Elizabeth Tulloch), that his aircraft had a fuel leak in the right wing. The refueling was aborted, and ground control was notified of the problem. The aircraft was directed to assume a holding pattern off the coast until the majority of fuel was consumed. However, when the B-52 reached its assigned position, the pilot reported that the leak had worsened and that 37,000 pounds (17,000 kg) of fuel had been lost in three minutes. The aircraft was immediately directed to return and land at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Accident
As the aircraft descended through 10,000 feet (3,000 m) on its approach to the airfield, the pilots were no longer able to keep it in stable descent and lost control. The pilot in command ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft, which they did at 9,000 feet (2,700 m). Five men landed safely after ejecting or bailing out through a hatch, one did not survive his parachute landing, and two died in the crash.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Accident
The third pilot of the bomber, Lt. Adam Mattocks, is the only person known to have successfully bailed out of the top hatch of a B-52 without an ejection seat. The crew's final view of the aircraft was in an intact state with its payload of two 3-4-megaton Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs still on board; however, the bombs separated from the gyrating aircraft as it broke up between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m).


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Accident
The aircraft wreckage covered a 2-square-mile (5.2 km2) area of tobacco and cotton farmland at Faro, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Goldsboro. Three of the four arming mechanisms on one of the bombs activated after it separated, causing it to execute many of the steps needed to arm itself, such as charging the firing capacitors and deploying a 100-foot-diameter (30 m) parachute.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
The first bomb that descended by parachute was found intact and standing upright as a result of its parachute being caught in a tree. Lt . Jack ReVelle, the bomb-disposal expert responsible for disarming the device, stated that the arm/safe switch was still in the safe position, although it had completed the rest of the arming sequence. The Pentagon claimed at the time that there was no chance of an explosion and that two arming mechanisms had not activated. A United States Department of Defense spokesperson stated that the bomb was unarmed and could not explode.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
Former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg has claimed to have seen highly classified documents indicating that its safe/arm switch was the only one of the six arming devices on the bomb that prevented detonation. In 2013, information released as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request confirmed that a single switch out of four (not six) prevented detonation.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 miles per hour (310 m/s) and disintegrated without detonation of its conventional explosives. The tail was discovered about 20 feet (6.1 m) below ground. Pieces of the bomb were recovered. Although the bomb was partially armed when it left the aircraft, an unclosed high-voltage switch had prevented it from fully arming.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
In 2013, ReVelle recalled the moment the second bomb's switch was found:


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
Until my death I will never forget hearing my sergeant say, "Lieutenant, we found the arm/safe switch." And I said, "Great." He said, "Not great. It's on arm." That sergeant's name was Earl Smith, of Alabama, who had just graduated the Air Force EOD school nine months prior, and who was the EOD on call and was called to action even before the crash occurred, flown in to the site by helicopter from the base.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Bomb recovery
Excavation of the second bomb was abandoned as a result of uncontrollable ground-water flooding. Most of the thermonuclear stage, containing uranium and plutonium, was left in place, but the "pit", or core, of the bomb had been dislodged and was removed. The United States Army Corps of Engineers purchased a 400-foot (120 m) circular easement over the buried component. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill determined the buried depth of the secondary component to be 180 ± 10 feet (54.9 ± 3.0 m).


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Consequences to B-52 design
Wet wings with integral fuel tanks considerably increased the fuel capacity of B-52G and H models, but were found to be experiencing 60% more stress during flight than did the wings of older models. Wings and other areas susceptible to fatigue were modified in 1964 under Boeing engineering change proposal ECP 1050. This was followed by a fuselage skin and longeron replacement (ECP 1185) in 1966, and the B-52 Stability Augmentation and Flight Control program (ECP 1195) in 1967.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Later analysis of weapons recovery
Lt. Jack ReVelle, the bomb disposal expert responsible for disarming the device, claimed  "we came very close" to a nuclear detonation that would have completely changed much of eastern North Carolina. He also said the yield of each bomb was more than 250 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, large enough to create a 100% kill zone within a radius of 8.5 miles (13.7 km).


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Later analysis of weapons recovery
In a now-declassified 1969 report, titled "Goldsboro Revisited", written by Parker F. Jones, a supervisor of nuclear safety at Sandia National Laboratories, Jones said that "one simple, dynamo-technology, low voltage switch stood between the United States and a major catastrophe", and concluded that "[t]he MK 39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne alert role in the B-52", and that it "seems credible" that a short circuit in the Arm line during a mid-air breakup of the aircraft "could" have resulted in a nuclear explosion. In contrast The Orange County Register said in 2012 (before the 2013 declassification) that the switch was set to ARM, and that despite decades of debate "No one will ever know" why the bomb failed to explode.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Later analysis of weapons recovery
In 2008 and in March 2013 (before the above-mentioned September 2013 declassification), Michael H. Maggelet and James C. Oskins, authors of Broken Arrow: The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents, disputed the claim that a bomb was only one step away from detonation, citing a declassified report. They point out that the arm-ready switch was in the safe position, the high-voltage battery was not activated (which would preclude the charging of the firing circuit and neutron generator necessary for detonation), and the rotary safing switch was destroyed, preventing energisation of the X-Unit (which controlled the firing capacitors). The tritium reservoir used for fusion boosting was also full and had not been injected into the weapon primary. This would have resulted in a significantly reduced primary yield and would not have ignited the weapon's fusion secondary stage.


1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, Legacy
In July 2012, the State of North Carolina erected a historical road marker in the town of Eureka, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the crash site, commemorating the crash under the title "Nuclear Mishap".


1961 Gotham Bowl
The 1961 Gotham Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Utah State Aggies and the Baylor Bears.


1961 Gotham Bowl, Background
For the second straight year, the Aggies were champion of the Mountain States Conference. The Bears had finished tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference. Both teams were making bowl games for the 2nd straight year. This became the inaugural Gotham Bowl after attempts to invite schools such as Syracuse and Holy Cross to last year's game failed, leaving the bowl makers to cancel the game and wait for 1961.


1961 Gotham Bowl, Game summary
Ronnie Bull scored on a 14-yard run to give the Bears a 7–0 lead as the first quarter expired, all set up by an Aggie fumble. Carl Choate added in a field goal later in the 2nd to make it 10–3 with 5:28 remaining in the half, which turned out to be the halftime lead. The Aggies narrowed the lead with a 36-yard field goal with 8:47 in the 3rd, but Don Trull increased the lead on a touchdown sneak with 1:22 remaining in the quarter to make it 17–3.


1961 Gotham Bowl, Game summary
Ted Plumb caught a 38-yard pass from Trull to make it 24–3 with 9:48 to go in the game. Munson made the final score 24–9 on his touchdown run, but by then there was only five minutes remaining as Baylor won their first bowl game since 1956. The Aggies turned the ball over eight times, while Don Trull threw 11-of-16 for 116 yards for the Bears. Bull rushed for 61 yards on 13 carries and caught 4 passes for 25 yards.


1961 Gotham Bowl, Aftermath
The Aggies did not reach another bowl game again until 1993. As for the Bears, they next played in a bowl game two years later, in the Bluebonnet Bowl.


1961 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1961 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.


1961 Governor General's Awards, English Language
Fiction: Malcolm Lowry, Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place


1961 Grand National
The 1961 Grand National was the 115th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 25 March 1961.


1961 Grand National
The winner was 28/1 shot Nicolaus Silver who became the first grey winner for 90 years. He was ridden by jockey Bobby Beasley and trained by Fred Rimell. In second place was last year's winner Merryman II. O'Malley Point finished third, whilst Scottish Flight was fourth. The favourite, Jonjo, finished 7th.


1961 Grand National, Media coverage
David Coleman presented Grand National Grandstand on the BBC with commentators, Peter O'Sullevan and Peter Montague-Evans guiding them over the 30 fences. Peter Bromley had now moved over to BBC radio after featuring in the first televised National the year before.


1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 13th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of eleven Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 23 April, with Spanish Grand Prix and ended with Argentine Grand Prix on 15 October.


1961 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Standings, Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best of six races were counted in 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc championships, while in the Sidecars, the best of four were counted.


1961 Greek legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 29 October 1961 to elect members of the Hellenic Parliament. The result was a third consecutive victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical Union (ERE) party, which won 176 of the 300 seats.


1961 Greek legislative election, Aftermath
The elections were quickly denounced by both main opposition parties, the leftist United Democratic Left (campaigning as part of the All-Democratic Agricultural Front) and the Centre Union, who refused to recognise the result based on numerous cases of voter intimidation and irregularities, such as sudden massive increases in support for ERE against historical patterns, or the voting by deceased persons.


1961 Greek legislative election, Aftermath
The Centre Union alleged that the election result had been staged by the agents of the shadowy "para-state" (παρακράτος), including the army leadership, the Greek Central Intelligence Service, and the notoriously right-wing National Guard Defence Battalions, according to a prepared emergency plan code-named Pericles (Σχέδιο «Περικλής»). Although irregularities certainly occurred, the existence of Pericles was never proven, nor is it certain that the interference in the elections radically influenced the outcome. Nevertheless, Centre Union leader George Papandreou initiated an "unrelenting struggle" ("ανένδοτος αγών") until new and fair elections were held. Hence the elections of 1961 became known in the Greek political history as the "elections of violence and fraud" (εκλογές της βίας και νοθείας).


1961 Green Bay Packers season
The 1961 Green Bay Packers season was their 43rd season overall and their 41st season in the National Football League. The team finished with an 11–3 record under coach Vince Lombardi, earning them a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Packers ended the season by defeating the New York Giants 37–0 in the NFL Championship Game, the first title game ever played in Green Bay. This was the Packers 7th NFL league championship.


1961 Green Bay Packers season
The 1961 season was the first in which the Packers wore their trademark capital "G" logo on their helmets.


1961 Green Bay Packers season, Regular season
Despite being named NFL MVP, Paul Hornung was briefly lost to the military. In response to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Department of Defense activated thousands of reservists. Two dozen football players were activated, including Paul Hornung, Boyd Dowler, and Ray Nitschke. On November 14, Hornung was to report to Fort Riley in north central Kansas. Wisconsin residents were so upset that Republican senator Alexander Wiley and Democratic congressman Clement Zablocki requested deferments for the players. On October 18, the final word was that the players had to serve. Hornung missed the November 19 game in Green Bay against the Rams, but was flown from Fort Riley to Detroit for the November 23 Thanksgiving Day game against the Lions at Tiger Stadium. Hornung kicked a field goal and two extra points in the 17–9 victory.


1961 Green Bay Packers season, Regular season
Injured in late October, right guard Jerry Kramer was sidelined for the remainder of the season. Forrest Gregg moved in from right tackle to guard, and Norm Masters started at right tackle.


1961 Green Bay Packers season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Greenville 200
The 1961 Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 1, 1961, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina.


1961 Greenville 200, Race report
After nearly two hours of racing 200 laps, Emanuel Zervakis emerged as the winner as he managed to defeat Richard Petty by an unknown margin in front of a crowd of 5000 people. This would make the first of two career victories for Zervakis and the only time that a driver with the number 85 to have two career victories in NASCAR Cup Series history. All 21 of the drivers on the grid were American-born males. Doug Yates would receive the last-place finish due to a driveshaft issue on the eighth lap.


1961 Greenville 200, Race report
Other notable names who competed were: Junior Johnson, Roy Tyner, and Ned Jarrett. Johnson would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to 62.09 miles per hour (99.92 km/h) during the qualifying sessions. Four cautions slowed the race for 20 laps; there was only one crash during the entire race.


1961 Greenville 200, Race report
Bob Barron was a middle-aged rookie who started in 20th place and finished in 18th place. After the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season, Barron attempted to do only one more NASCAR Cup Series race while making attempts to look into it further.


1961 Greenville 200, Race report
Zervakis would make his first win in his NASCAR career at this racing event. Bud Allman was one of the notable crew chiefs at the race; he worked on Ned Jarrett's #11 Ford vehicle.


1961 Greenville 200, Race report
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.


1961 Grenadian general election
General elections were held in Grenada on 27 March 1961. Eric Gairy's Grenada United Labour Party won eight of the ten seats, his wife Cynthia Gairy becoming the first woman to be elected to the legislature. George E.D. Clyne of GULP became Chief Minister and served from March to August 1961 when, following the direct intervention of the British government, Gairy's political ban was lifted early, and Clyne resigned allowing Gairy to return in a by-election and become Chief Minister. Voter turnout was 55.5%.


1961 Grenadian general election, Background
Following the introduction of the new Constitution on 21 December 1959 real authority for governing the country was given to a Chief Minister and those from the majority party in the Legislative Council. Herbert Blaize was appointed the first Chief Minister from 1 January 1960 when the Legislative Council provisions took effect. The Constitution stipulated that at the next election the Legislature would consist of ten elected members and two nominated members. The Queen was represented by an Administrator with reduced powers. Grenada's Administrator at this time was James Lloyd, a Jamaican.


1961 Grenadian general election, Background
Gairy, the leader of GULP, had been banned from political activity for five years for disrupting an opponent's political meeting on 28 October 1957, by leading a steel band through it. He was not eligible to be a candidate in 1961. Administrator James Lloyd would not raise the ban early.


1961 Guatemalan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Guatemala on 3 December 1961, in order to elect half the seats in Congress. Following the election, the National Democratic Reconciliation Party-National Democratic Movement-Democratic Unity Party alliance held 50 of the 66 seats. Voter turnout was just 44.48%.


1961 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea for the first time on 15 January 1961. Incumbent Ahmed Sékou Touré, who had automatically become President when the country gained independence in 1958, was the only candidate (as the country as a one-party state with his Democratic Party of Guinea as the sole legal party at the time), and was re-elected unopposed.


1961 Haitian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Haiti on 30 April 1961. They followed the dissolution of Parliament by President François Duvalier and the abolition of the Senate, making the Chamber of Deputies a unicameral body. Duvalier's National Unity Party won all 67 seats in the elections, which were later re-interpreted as presidential elections in order to give Duvalier a six-year presidential term and avoid the need for scheduled presidential election in 1963.


1961 Haitian parliamentary election
For the first time in Haitian history, two women were elected as deputies: Madame Max Adolphe and Aviole Paul-Blanc.


1961 Haitian presidential referendum
A presidential referendum in Haiti was held on 30 April 1961 alongside parliamentary elections. Voters were asked whether President François Duvalier should remain in office for a further six years. The official count was 1,320,748 votes in favor of Duvalier and none against. The New York Times wrote that "Latin America has witnessed many fraudulent elections throughout its history but none has been more outrageous than the one which has just taken place in Haiti."


1961 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
The 1961 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the fourth season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 12th overall. The team finished in first place in the Eastern Football Conference with a 10–4 record and faced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Tiger-Cats lost the 49th Grey Cup game by a score of 21–14 and was the first Grey Cup game to be decided in overtime.


1961 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
Notably, this was the first season to introduce a regular season interlocking schedule with the Western Interprovincial Football Union teams. The Tiger-Cats had a 5–0 record in these games and therefore won the first regular season meeting against each of the CFL's Western teams. The club also played an exhibition game against the American Football League's Buffalo Bills where the Tiger-Cats won 38–21. It was the first meeting between a CFL team and an AFL team and it was the only time a CFL team had defeated a team from the present day's National Football League. This was also the last time that a CFL team played an NFL or an AFL team.


1961 Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football team
The 1961 Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football team was an American football team that represented Hardin–Simmons University in the Border Conference during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. In its second and final season under head coach Howard McChesney, the team compiled a 0–10 record (0–4 against conference opponents), finished in last place in the conference, and was outscored by a total of 377 to 43.


1961 Hardin–Simmons Cowboys football team
No Hardin-Simmons players were named to the 1961 All-Border Conference football team.


1961 Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke
The 1961 Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke was the fourth edition of the E3 Harelbeke cycle race and was held on 11 March 1961. The race started and finished in Harelbeke. The race was won by Arthur Decabooter.


1961 Harvard Crimson football team
The 1961 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Harvard was co-champion of the Ivy League.


1961 Harvard Crimson football team
In their fifth year under head coach John Yovicsin, the Crimson compiled a 6–3 record but and outscored opponents 160 to 97. Alex W. “Pete” Hart was the team captain.


1961 Harvard Crimson football team
The Crimson's 6–1 conference record tied for best in the Ivy League standings. Harvard shared the title though it had lost to the other co-champion, Columbia, during the season. The Crimson outscored Ivy opponents 143 to 60.


1961 Harvard Crimson football team
Harvard played its home games at Harvard Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.


1961 Hawthorn Football Club season
The 1961 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 37th season in the Victorian Football League and 60th overall. The season was a historic one for Hawthorn finishing top of the ladder and claiming the McClelland Trophy for the first time in their history, reaching the Grand Final for the first time in their history, and winning the Premiership for the first time in their history.


1961 High Peak by-election
The High Peak by-election was held on 16 March 1961. It was held due to the incumbent Conservative, Hugh Molson, being granted a Life Peerage. It was won by the Conservative David Walder.


1961 High Peak by-election, Candidates
The local Liberal association selected 31-year-old Dennis Wrigley as their candidate. He was an architect. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester Regional School of Architecture. He was President of the Lancashire, Cheshire and North Western Young Liberal Federation. He had contested Oldham East at the 1959 general election where he polled 15% of the vote and came third.


1961 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen football team
The 1961 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen football team was an American football team that represented Hofstra College during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. Hofstra had one of the better records in the Middle Atlantic Conference, College–Northern Division, but was ineligible for the championship.


1961 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen football team
In their 12th year under head coach Howard "Howdy" Myers Jr., the Flying Dutchmen compiled a 7–2 record, and outscored opponents 168 to 41. Pete Carew, Dick Cooney and Tim Gannon were the team captains.


1961 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen football team
Hofstra was one of three teams in the MAC Northern Division that finished the year undefeated in conference play. The other two, Susquehanna and Albright, finished in first and second place, but Hofstra was excluded from title contention. Conference rules required teams to play at least five games against opponents from the MAC's two "college" divisions, and Hofstra only played two. Three of its games were against MAC University Division members (Delaware, Gettysburg and Temple), but these did not count as conference games.


1961 Hofstra Flying Dutchmen football team
The Flying Dutchmen played their home games at Hofstra College Stadium in Hempstead on Long Island, New York.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash
The 1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash (Norwegian: Holtaheia-ulykken) was a controlled flight into terrain incident on 9 August 1961 at Holta in Strand, Norway. The Eagle Airways (later, British Eagle) Vickers 610 Viking 3B Lord Rodney was en route from London to Stavanger Airport, Sola on an AIR Tours charter flight taking a school group for a camping holiday. The aircraft was making an instrument landing when it crashed 54 km (34 mi) north east of Stavanger. The accident killed all 39 people on board.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Crash
The Viking left London at 13:29 on what was an estimated two and a half-hour charter flight. Between 16:24 and 16:30 it crashed 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) north-east of the airport on to Holteheia, a steep mountainside at an elevation of 1,600 feet (490 m). The crash site was 30 feet (9 m) below the summit.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Crash
The aircraft was destroyed and an intense fuel and oil fire followed the impact. The search for the aircraft included an RAF Shackleton and Royal Norwegian Navy ships investigating the fjords in the area. The wreckage was found fifteen hours after the crash by a Royal Norwegian Air Force helicopter, 15 miles (24 km) east from the ILS track.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Passengers
The 36 passengers were a school class of boys aged 13 to 16 and two teachers from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School for Boys. It was at the time the deadliest aviation incident in Norway.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Aircraft
The aircraft was a twin piston-engined Vickers 610 Viking 3B serial number 152 and registered in the United Kingdom as G-AHPM. It first flew on 2 January 1947 and was delivered new to British European Airways.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Investigation
The report into the crash put the cause down to "a deviation from the prescribed flight path for reasons unknown".


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Aftermath
33 of the boys and one teacher were buried together at a communal grave at Mitcham Road Cemetery in Croydon on 17 August 1961.


1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash, Aftermath
Ewan MacColl wrote a song, "The Young Birds," about the accident.


1961 Holy Cross Crusaders football team
The 1961 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross as an independent during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Eddie Anderson returned for the 12th consecutive year as head coach, his 18th year overall. The team compiled a record of 7–3.


1961 Holy Cross Crusaders football team
All home games were played at Fitton Field on the Holy Cross campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.


1961 Honduran Amateur League
The 1961 Honduran Amateur League was the 14th edition of the Honduran Amateur League. Club Deportivo Olimpia obtained its 4th national title. The season ran from 9 March 1961 to 19 November 1961.


1961 Honduran Amateur League, National championship round
Played in a double round-robin format between the regional champions. Also known as the Cuadrangular.


1961 Hong Kong municipal election
The 1961 Urban Council election was supposed to be held in March 1961 for the 4 of the 8 elected seats of the Urban Council of Hong Kong.


1961 Hong Kong municipal election
In 1960 the two major political groups in the Council, the Civic Association and Reform Club formed a four-year coalition for a further constitutional reform in Hong Kong. The Coalition met with the Colonial Office in London however their demands were rejected.


1961 Hong Kong municipal election
The Civic-Reform Coalition joined the election and no contest was seen that year. The four candidates, Civic's Hilton Cheong-Leen, Li Yiu-bor and Woo Pak-foo of the Civic Association and Reform's Brook Bernacchi were all re-elected.


1961 Houston Cougars football team
The 1961 Houston Cougars football team was an American football team that represented the University of Houston as an independent during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. In its fifth and final season under head coach Hal Lahar, the team compiled a 5–4–1 record. Ken Bolin, Bill Brown, and Joe Bob Isbell were the team captains. The team played its home games at Rice Stadium in Houston.


1961 Houston Oilers season
The 1961 Houston Oilers season was the second season for the Houston Oilers as a professional American football franchise; For the second consecutive season, the Oilers scored a triumph in the AFL championship game over the San Diego Chargers (12–2), the Western Division champions.


1961 Houston Oilers season
The Oilers started slowly in 1961, with a 1–3–1 record. After a tie on October 13 with the Boston Patriots, head coach Lou Rymkus was fired by owner Bud Adams. Wally Lemm was hired, and the team went undefeated for the remainder of the season, including the championship game, a winning streak of ten games.


1961 Houston Oilers season
The Oilers set the AFL record for points scored in 1961, with 513 (36.6 points per game). They also set an American Football League record with a +271 point differential, by allowing only 242 points. The 1961 Oilers are the only team in AFL or NFL history to score 45 points or more six times in a single season.


1961 Houston Oilers season, Offseason
On January 14, end Willard Dewveall played out his option with the Chicago Bears of the NFL and joined the Oilers. He became the first player to move deliberately from one league to another. Dewveall was the only one to move between leagues for five years, until placekicker Pete Gogolak moved from the Buffalo Bills to the New York Giants of the NFL in 1966.


1961 Houston Oilers season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1961 Humboldt State Lumberjacks football team
The 1961 Humboldt State Lumberjacks football team represented Humboldt State College during the 1961 NCAA College Division football season. Humboldt State competed in the Far Western Conference (FWC).


1961 Humboldt State Lumberjacks football team
The 1961 Lumberjacks were led by head coach Phil Sarboe in his eleventh year at the helm. They played home games at the Redwood Bowl in Arcata, California. Humboldt State finished ranked #16 in the UPI small college poll. They were co-champion of the FWC with a record of eight wins and two losses (8–2, 4–1 FWC). The Lumberjacks outscored their opponents 239–112 for the season.


1961 Humboldt State Lumberjacks football team, Team players in the NFL
No Humboldt State players were selected in the 1962 NFL Draft.


1961 Hurunui by-election
The Hurunui by-election 1961 was a by-election held in the Hurunui electorate in North Canterbury during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 10 June 1961.


1961 Hurunui by-election
The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP William Gillespie of the National Party on 23 April 1961.


1961 Hurunui by-election
The by-election was won by Lorrie Pickering, also of the National Party.


1961 IAAF World Race Walking Cup
The 1961 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held in Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland, on October 15–16, 1961. The event was also known as Lugano Trophy.


1961 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Results, Team
From this edition up to 1997, the team ranking was named Lugano Trophy and combined the results of the 20km and 50km races..


1961 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Qualifying Rounds
From 1961 to 1985 there were qualifying rounds with the winners proceeding to the final.


1961 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships
The 1961 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were held in Hainsberg, East Germany under the auspices of International Canoe Federation. It was the 7th edition. The women's folding K1 team event was not held at these championships after taking place in the previous one.


1961 Ice Hockey World Championships
The 1961 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 28th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland from 1 to 12 March 1961. The games were played outdoors on a frozen pool. A glare made it hard for players to see well, however photographers were able to get aerial pictures from the diving board. Canada, represented by the Trail Smoke Eaters, won their nineteenth international title. It would be the last championship for Canada in thirty-three years. By beating out the Soviets for the Silver, the Czechoslovaks won their tenth European title. The final day was marred by political controversy when Willi Daume, president of West Germany hockey, forbade his team to take the ice against East Germany to avoid the possibility of honouring the East German's new flag.


1961 Ice Hockey World Championships
A record twenty nations participated in three groups, with South Africa appearing for the first time. Teams were divided into the three tiers, roughly following the 1959 championships, and using qualification games, to establish an eight-team group A, a six-team group B, and a six-team group C.  The South African team did not have the minimum number of players so forty-five-year-old federation president Tom Durling played despite not actually being a citizen of the country. Promotion and relegation did not begin yet, but it was a big step towards formulating the process.


1961 Ice Hockey World Championships, Qualification matches for Group A and B
The nations who finished 1st through 6th in 1959 played in Group A. The nation ranked 7th played the hosts, and 8th played 9th to qualify the final two entries.


1961 Ice Hockey World Championships, Qualification matches for Group B and C.
The losers of the Group A qualifiers (Switzerland and Norway), were joined by the nations who finished 10th and 11th (Italy and Poland) in 1959. Remaining countries that wished to play at this level played qualification games.


1961 Ice Hockey World Championships, Ranking and statistics, European championships final standings
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:


1961 Icelandic Cup
The 1961 Icelandic Cup was the second edition of the National Football Cup.


1961 Icelandic Cup
It took place between 14 August 1961 and 22 October 1961, with the final played at Melavöllur in Reykjavik between KR Reykjavik and IA Akranes. Teams from the Úrvalsdeild karla (1st division) did not enter until the quarter finals. In prior rounds, teams from the 2. Deild (2nd division), as well as reserve teams, played in one-legged matches. In case of a draw, the match was replayed.


1961 Idaho Vandals football team
The 1961 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Skip Stahley, the Vandals were an independent in the NCAA's University Division and went 2–7. Two home games were played on campus at Neale Stadium in Moscow, with one in Boise at old Bronco Stadium at Boise Junior College.


1961 Idaho Vandals football team
The Vandals suffered a seventh straight loss in the Battle of the Palouse with neighbor Washington State, blanked 0–34 in Pullman in mid-October. In the rivalry game with Montana, the Vandals regained the Little Brown Stein with a 16–14 win in the season finale at Boise.


1961 Idaho Vandals football team
In Idaho's seven losses, they were outscored 319 to 22, with three shutouts; the worst was a 69–0 rout by Utah State in a blizzard at Logan. Since the disbanding of the Pacific Coast Conference in the spring of 1959, Idaho's football teams had a 4–25 (.138) record in three seasons as an independent. Stahley had taken on the dual role of athletic director in July 1960; he stepped down as head football coach in January 1962, and his successor was Dee Andros, the line coach at Illinois, hired in February 1962. Stahley continued as Idaho's AD until mid-1964, when he departed for a similar position at Portland State College.


1961 Idaho Vandals football team, All-Coast
Tight end Reggie Carolan was Idaho's only All-Coast selection, on the second team.


1961 Idaho Vandals football team, NFL Draft
One fifth-year senior from the 1961 Vandals was previously selected in the 1961 NFL Draft:


1961 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
The 1961 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Pete Elliott, the Illini compiled a 0–9 record and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference. Guard Tony Parrilli was selected as the team's most valuable player.


1961 Indian Rajya Sabha elections
Rajya Sabha elections were held on various dates in 1961, to elect members of the Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament's upper chamber.


1961 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Elections, Members elected
The following members are elected in the elections held in 1961. They are members for the term 1961-1967 and retire in year 1967, except in case of the resignation or death before the term. The list is incomplete.


1961 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Bye-elections
The following bye elections were held in the year 1961.


1961 Indiana Hoosiers football team
The 1961 Indiana Hoosiers football team represented the Indiana Hoosiers in the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. They participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers played their home games at Seventeenth Street Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. The team was coached by Phil Dickens, in his fourth year as head coach of the Hoosiers.


1961 Indianapolis 500
The 45th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Tuesday, May 30, 1961. For the first time since 1949, the Indianapolis 500 was not recognized on the World Championship calendar. The race celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Indy 500 in 1911.


1961 Indianapolis 500
Eddie Sachs and A. J. Foyt were battling for 1st-2nd in the latter stages of the race. On Foyt's final scheduled pit stop, his crew was unable to properly engage the fuel mechanism, and his car did not take on a full load of fuel. Foyt returned to the track, and was pulling away from Sachs. Foyt's car was running faster due to the light fuel load, but his crew signaled him that he would be unable to make it to the finish without another pit stop. The crew borrowed a fuel feed mechanism from Len Sutton's team, and signaled Foyt to the pits.


1961 Indianapolis 500
Foyt gave up the lead on lap 184 for a splash-and-go. That handed the lead to Sachs, who was now leading by 25 seconds. With three laps to go, the warning tread showed on Sachs' rear tire and Sachs decided to play it safe. Rather than nurse the car around, he pitted to replace the worn tire on lap 197. Foyt took the lead with three laps to go and won his first (of four) Indy 500 victories by a margin of 8.28 seconds.


1961 Indianapolis 500
A notable story included the appearance of two-time defending Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham from Australia, who drove the race in a low-slung, British built Cooper powered by a Coventry Climax engine. Dubbed the "British Invasion," it would be the first notable post-war appearance of a rear-engined car, and within five years the rear-engined revolution would take over the Speedway. The venerable front-engined roadsters with their larger and more powerful engines were much faster down the long straights, but the superior handling of Brabham's Cooper in the corners kept his car competitive.


1961 Indianapolis 500
Brabham qualified 17th at 145.144 mp/h and drove the car to a respectable 9th-place finish, completing all 200 laps. He had planned to run conservatively and make only two pit stops, but tire wear and fuel consumption forced him to make a 3rd stop, negating his strategy. Had he driven more aggressively with three pit stops, he might have been much closer to the lead serial.


1961 Indianapolis 500
Five months after the race in October 1961, the front straight of the track was paved over with asphalt, and thus the entire track was now paved in asphalt and only a single yard of bricks at the start/finish line was left exposed from the original 1909 brick surface. The remainder of the original 3,200,000 bricks now lie underneath the asphalt surface. This meant that the 1961 race was the last 500 in which cars raced on the original bricks other than those at the start/finish line.


1961 Indianapolis 500, Practice and time trials
Nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express," Tony Bettenhausen, Sr. was killed in a crash during a practice run on May 12. He was testing a car for Paul Russo. It was determined that an anchor bolt fell off the front radius rod support, permitting the front axle to twist and mis-align the front wheels when the brakes were applied. The car plunged into the outside wall, then rode along the top, snapping fence poles and tearing segments of the catch fence. The car came to rest upside-down on top of the outside wall, and Bettenhausen was killed instantly. Before the time trials Bettenhausen had been the favorite to become the first driver to break the 150 mph barrier at the Speedway.


1961 Indianapolis 500, Practice and time trials
Eddie Sachs sat on the pole with an average speed of 147.481 mph (237.348 km/h).


1961 Indianapolis 500, Track worker fatality
John Masariu, 38 father of 6, of Danville, Indiana was serving as a member of the fire/safety crew. On the 127th lap of the race, driver Eddie Johnson spun out in turn 4, but did not suffer significant damage and he was not injured. A small fire broke out on the car. A safety fire truck went to his aid. John Masariu, who was the principal of Ben Davis Junior High and was serving as a safety worker, fell or jumped off the back of the fire truck. A moment later, the truck driven by James (Johnny) Williams accidentally backed over him, and he was injured fatally.


1961 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer with Fred Agabashian serving as "driver expert" The broadcast represented the 10th anniversary of the network, which was formed in 1952. This was Mike Ahern's first year on the network. This was Ahern's only year in Turn 2.


1961 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
The broadcast was heard on over 450 affiliates, including Armed Forces Radio. The broadcast reached all 50 U.S. states. The race reached approximately 100 million listeners worldwide.


1961 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
Turn 1: Bill FroshTurn 2: Mike Ahern  R Backstretch: Bernie HermanTurn 3: Lou PalmerTurn 4: Jim Shelton


1961 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Television
The race itself was not televised in full. However, ABC Sports showed highlights of time trials and a few minutes of film clips of the race on Wide World of Sports.


1961 Indianapolis Raceway Park Grand Prix
The August 20, 1961, race at Indianapolis Raceway Park was the tenth racing event of the eleventh season of the Sports Car Club of America's 1961 Championship Racing Series.


1961 Individual Long Track European Championship
The 1961 Individual Long Track European Championship was the fifth edition of the Long Track European Championship. The final was held on 7 September 1961 in Oslo, Norway.


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 16th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship
The final was held outside of Wembley and England for the first time when on the 15 September Ove Fundin retained his title in his home country of Sweden. It was the first time a rider had won three titles and Sweden produced a clean sweep of podium places with Björn Knutsson and Göte Nordin finishing second and third.


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship, Second Round, Continental Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship, Third Round, European Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship, Third Round, British  Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


1961 Individual Speedway World Championship, World Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final
The 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was an association football match played over two legs between Roma of Italy and Birmingham City of England. The first leg was played in Birmingham on 27 September 1961, and the second leg was played on 11 October in Rome. It was the final of the third edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, an invitational competition open to teams representing host cities of industrial trade fairs. Birmingham had lost to Barcelona in the previous final; Roma were appearing for the first time.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final
Each club needed to progress through three rounds to reach the final. Matches were contested over two legs, with one leg at each team's home ground. Birmingham won all but one of their six legs, and beat Inter Milan home and away: no other English team was to defeat Inter in the San Siro stadium for another 40 years. Roma took a lengthier route to the final: they required a replay in both quarter-final and semi-final, although won each replay by a comfortable margin.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final
In the first leg of the final, played in front of a crowd of only 21,000 at St Andrew's, Pedro Manfredini scored twice for Roma, and goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini made several high-class saves, before Mike Hellawell and Bryan Orritt scored late in the game to equalise the scores.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final
In the second leg, watched by 60,000 spectators, Roma won by two goals to nil – an own goal when an attempted clearance rebounded off Brian Farmer's shin, and a shot from distance by Paolo Pestrin very late in the game while Birmingham's players were all upfield attacking – in the Stadio Olimpico to win their first and, as of 2020, only trophy in European competition.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Background
As friendly matches had often been played between teams from cities hosting international trade fairs, a cup competition was first proposed in 1950 to provide a structure for such matches and make a contribution towards post-war economic recovery. Entry to the competition, which began in 1955 and became known as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, was by invitation extended not to football clubs but to the host cities. Some cities entered a selection including players from more than one of that city's clubs, while others, including Birmingham and Rome, were represented by a single club.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Background
In an attempt to schedule matches alongside the associated trade fairs, the first two editions of the competition took three and two playing seasons respectively to complete. Although the organising committee had intended the third edition, of which this final was the culmination, to be completed within the 1960–61 playing season, the final match was not played until several weeks into the next.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Background
Birmingham City were one of the 12 original participants in the Fairs Cup, and were appearing in their second consecutive final, having lost 4–1 over two legs to Spanish champions Barcelona in 1960. In A.S. Roma's only prior appearance in European competition, they were eliminated by Union Saint-Gilloise at the quarter-final stage of the previous Fairs Cup.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Background
In the 1960–61 domestic season, Roma finished fifth in Serie A and lost to eventual winners Fiorentina in the quarter-final of the main national cup competition, the Coppa Italia. Pat Beasley, who led Birmingham to the 1960 final, was replaced as manager by the club's former goalkeeper and appearance-record holder, Gil Merrick. Birmingham finished 19th in the First Division, avoiding relegation by just two points (equivalent to one win), for the second season running, and reached the fifth round (last 16) of the FA Cup.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Roma
Roma began their campaign with a visit to Brussels to play Union Saint-Gilloise, who had eliminated them from the previous competition. Without both regular right-sided forwards, Alberto Orlando and Francisco Lojacono, and unbalanced further when full-back Alfio Fontana moved to the wing after sustaining an injury. Pedro Manfredini had a late goal ruled out for a clear offside, and the game finished goalless. The technically superior Roma team won the return leg comfortably; they scored three goals in the first half and each side converted a penalty kick in the second.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Roma
Their next opponents were the Cologne XI. Away from home, Roma took a 2–0 lead, through Manfredini and a second-half own goal. In Rome, they took advantage of their two-goal lead to play an experimental side, so that manager Alfredo Foni could decide on his lineup for the next league game, an awkward away fixture against Udinese. Giampaolo Menichelli and the 17-year-old Giancarlo De Sisti replaced the creative Juan Alberto Schiaffino and top scorer Manfredini, and Orlando was tried at centre-forward, with the intention of playing an attacking game. The experiment failed; the Roma team appeared to take the match too easily, and Cologne scored twice in the second half to tie the score on aggregate and force a replay. The replay took place in Rome, and the home side won comfortably, by four goals to one.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Roma
In the semi-final, they faced Hibernian of Scotland, who had created a shock by eliminating Barcelona to reach that stage. Roma had the better of the first leg, in Edinburgh; Lojacono scored twice, but they conceded a late equaliser. Rain fell throughout the second leg, and Joe Baker, subject of interest from Roma as well as other Italian clubs, helped Hibernian to a 3–1 lead after 65 minutes. Then Manfredini, with his second goal of the match, and Lojacono brought the scores level against a tiring Hibernian team. Again, a replay was needed, and again, it was played in Rome.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Roma
The scheduled date, at the end of May, was well after the Scottish domestic season had finished, whereas the Italian league was still in progress. Roma took full advantage of playing at home while still match-fit. Despite reports that "his own club officials say he is carrying too much weight and won't train", Lojacono was the creative force as Manfredini scored four times in a 6–0 win.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Birmingham City
Birmingham played Hungarians Újpesti Dózsa in the first round, with the first leg to be played at home. Újpest twice took the lead, equalised by a Johnny Gordon header and Gordon Astall's shot. Birmingham's repeated attacks broke down near goal, until after 83 minutes Gordon headed home an Astall corner. In the away leg, Újpest took a one-goal lead after an hour, that tied the scores on aggregate, before Gordon was sent off. This left Birmingham facing "tough opposition and downright one-sided refereeing" without their centre-forward. But Billy Rudd scored with three minutes left, then combined with debutant Ray Barlow in a "walking-pace attack" for Jimmy Singer to clinch the tie with a rising shot.


1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, Route to the final, Birmingham City
In Copenhagen, melted snow and rain left standing water on the pitch, and the kickoff had been moved to late afternoon so that the match against KB could be televised. This meant the attendance was very low, and the floodlighting was inadequate. Having twice taken a two-goal lead, Birmingham conceded two late goals and the game ended 4–4. Young goalkeeper Colin Withers had let in six goals in his first appearance as replacement for Johnny Schofield, who had fractured his skull, but made several saves to keep Birmingham from losing this match.