Rothmans 50,000

The Rothmans 50,000 was a non-championship motor race held at the Brands Hatch circuit on 28 August 1972 with a prize fund of £50,000.

1972 Rothmans 50,000
Non-championship Formula Libre race
Race details
Date	28 August 1972 (1972-08-28)
Official name	Rothmans 50,000
Location	Brands Hatch, Kent, Great Britain
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.264 km (2.650 miles)
Distance	118 laps, 503.152 km (312.644 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth
Time	1:22.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth
Time	1:25.1
Podium
First	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth
Second	Brian Redman	McLaren-Cosworth
Third	Henri Pescarolo	March-Cosworth

The race was held to Formula Libre rules, but the top placing three cars were all Formula One cars - with Emerson Fittipaldi winning the race from pole in a Lotus 72, Brian Redman in a McLaren M19A taking second and Henri Pescarolo driving a March 711 finishing third.

The race was run over 118 laps of the full GP circuit and initial plans were for an entry of up to 100 cars with a race for the first thirty qualifiers and a secondary race for qualifiers in positions 30 to 60.[1] The entry list was ultimately lower than expected but a secondary race was still run. This was won by Dave Morgan (Brabham BT38), with Ian Ashley (Lola T191) and Tony Dean (Brabham BT30/36) second and third respectively.[1]