Pedro Rodriguez wins the last old-Spa Belgian Grand Prix

The 1970 Belgian Grand Prix was the final Formula 1 World Championship race on the old Spa-Francorchamps road circuit. On 7 June 1970, Pedro Rodriguez won for BRM after a high-speed fight with Chris Amon’s March, giving the long, dangerous Belgian circuit one last grand prix worthy of its reputation.

Background

Old Spa was not the modern compact circuit with gravel traps, catch fencing and a carefully managed sense of danger. It was a 14-kilometre road course through places such as Burnenville, Masta and Stavelot, with houses, trees, ditches and weather all rather closer to the cars than later generations would consider sensible.

By 1970, that kind of circuit was becoming harder to justify. Driver safety campaigning, led publicly by figures including Jackie Stewart, had already changed expectations. Spa had been absent from the 1969 championship calendar after safety objections, then returned in 1970 with changes. Even so, the old layout still belonged to a disappearing world.

The race

Stewart took pole for Tyrrell, with Jochen Rindt alongside him on the front row. Rodriguez started sixth in the Yardley-liveried BRM, while Amon lined up third in the March. Over the race distance the fight settled around Rodriguez and Amon, two of the finest high-speed drivers of their era.

Rodriguez drove with the calm aggression that made him so effective in fast cars and difficult conditions. Amon, famously unlucky in Formula 1 despite his speed, kept the pressure on. After 28 laps Rodriguez won by 1.1 seconds. Amon was second, Jean-Pierre Beltoise third for Matra, and most of the rest were either far behind or out.

The result was Rodriguez’s second and final Formula 1 championship victory. He had already won the 1967 South African Grand Prix for Cooper, but Spa 1970 was the drive that best matched his broader reputation. He was outstanding in sports cars, especially in Porsche 917s, and Spa gave him the kind of vast, fast canvas on which that talent made obvious sense.

Aftermath and place in history

Formula 1 did not return to the old Spa road course. The Belgian Grand Prix moved elsewhere before the modern, shortened Spa-Francorchamps eventually became the race’s long-term home. That later circuit kept Eau Rouge and the Ardennes setting, but the old road course belonged to a different risk calculation.

For Rodriguez, the victory stands as a defining Formula 1 performance. For Amon, it became another near-miss in a career full of them. For Spa, it was a farewell that was too fast, too exposed and too good to ignore. Which is a neat summary of why it could not last.