# 65 Years Ago Today: Innes Ireland and the First Team Lotus Grand Prix Win

On 8 October 1961 Innes Ireland won the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in a Lotus 21, the first championship victory for the works Lotus team.

Source: https://lotustrails.com/blog/2026-10-08-team-lotus-first-grand-prix-win/

Lotus had already won Grands Prix by the autumn of 1961, but not with its own team. Stirling Moss took the marque's first victory at Monaco in 1960 in a Lotus 18 entered by the privateer Rob Walker. The works cars, run by Colin Chapman as Team Lotus, were still waiting. The wait ended 65 years ago today, on 8 October 1961, at Watkins Glen in New York State.

## The race

It was the last round of the season and the first United States Grand Prix held at Watkins Glen: 100 laps of a 3.78 km course. Ferrari had already won both championships and stayed at home, following the death of Wolfgang von Trips at Monza a month earlier.

Jack Brabham took pole in his Cooper and led the early laps, with Moss close by. Neither finished. Brabham's engine overheated and he retired after 57 laps. Moss took over the lead, then stopped on lap 59 with falling oil pressure.

That left Innes Ireland in front in the works Lotus 21. Roy Salvadori closed on him in a privately entered Cooper until its engine failed with five laps to go. Ireland won by 4.3 seconds from Dan Gurney's Porsche, with Tony Brooks third for BRM. His team-mate Jim Clark finished seventh, four laps down.

## The car

The Lotus 21 was Chapman's 1961 design for the new 1.5 litre Formula 1. It was mid-engined, with a tubular space frame under glass fibre panels and a four-cylinder Coventry Climax FPF engine. It was a small and light car, which is the thread that runs from it to the [Elise](/models/elise-s1/) and everything since.

Its time at the front was short. For 1962 Lotus introduced the 24 and then the monocoque 25, the car that changed how racing cars were built. Both are covered in the guide to [famous Lotus cars](/guides/famous-lotus-cars/).

## The driver

Ireland was born in Yorkshire in 1930 and had driven for Team Lotus in Formula 1 since 1959. He was injured at Monaco in 1961 and came back to win at the Glen before the year was out.

It was his only championship Grand Prix victory, and his last race for the team. Chapman released him after the season and built Team Lotus around Clark, who went on to win the title in 1963 and 1965. Ireland raced on with private teams until 1966, then turned to writing. He was president of the British Racing Drivers' Club when he died in October 1993.

## Where it fits

Many more Team Lotus wins followed. Clark, Hill, Rindt, Fittipaldi, Andretti and Senna took most of them, and their stories are in the guide to [famous Lotus drivers](/guides/famous-lotus-drivers/). The first works win belongs to Ireland. For the wider story, see the [Lotus history guide](/guides/lotus-history/).

Sources: [1961 United States Grand Prix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_United_States_Grand_Prix), [Innes Ireland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innes_Ireland) and [Lotus 21](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_21) on Wikipedia.