Quote Originally Posted by D28 View Post
Harry Schell wangled an entry for the Monaco GP, but set no practice time. His Cooper-Jap starting from the back thus was the first Cooper to start a F1 WC race, as well as the first rear engined entry, even though the car was definitely not a F1 car. All for naught as he failed to complete a lap being involved in a 9 car pile up on lap 1. Because he had no practice time, it is difficult to assess his lap times, but he would have been quite a bit off the pace.
Formula 1 was actually started in 1946 without a defined championship and I believe the first rear engine car to compete in any Formula 1 race including Non-Championship events was a Tatra 602 Tatraplan Sport V8 driven by Bruno Sojka in the 1949 Czech Grand Prix. He finished 9th in a race won by Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari 125.

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