V LEVIN INTERNATIONAL
 Location - Levin NZ  Laps - 28  Distance - 49.56 km  Date - 04/01/64  Weather - Fine
ENTRY LIST
NO. DRIVER ENTRANT MAKE ENGINE
3 Denis Hulme Brabham Racing Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
6 Frank Matich Team Total Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
8 Andy Buchanan Wilson Motors Ltd. Brabham BT6 Ford 1.6
1 Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
2 Timmy Mayer Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
5 John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF
9 Bill Thomasen Corsair Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.0
10 David Young David Young Cooper T59 Ford 1.5
12 Graham Pierce Carlton Motors Cooper T45/51 Climax FPF 2.0
13 Bruce Abernethy Bruce Abernethy Cooper T41 Climax FWB 1.5
41 Jim Palmer Jim Palmer Cooper T53 Climax FPF
26 Dene Hollier Dene Hollier Ltd. Cooper T52 Ford 1.5
28 Neil Whittaker Neil Whittaker Cooper T43 Climax FPF 2.0
11 Bryan Thomas Bryan Thomas Gemini 3A Ford 1.3
4 Chris Amon Reg Parnell Racing Lola T4 Climax FPF
? Ken Smith M.J. Smith Lola Mk2 Ford 1.5
7 Ken Sager J.H. Sager Lotus 20 Ford 1.5
14 Peter Slocombe Peter Slocombe Lotus 18 Ford 1.3
17 Tony Shelly Shelly Motors Ltd. Lotus 18/21 Climax FPF
22 Roly Levis R.A. Levis Lotus 22 Ford 1.6
25 Rex Flowers Flowers Transport Lotus 20B Ford 1.5

The field goes into Lake BendDENIS HULME, the Te Puke driver fresh from a successful European season, driving a 2.5 Repco-Brabham, won the first round in the Tasman championship at Levin on January 4. He won the race comfortably from the new Coopers of McLaren and Mayer, breaking all lap and race records.

Practice on Friday almost set the pattern for the big day. Denis Hulme surprised a few people when he took the Brabham out for the first time and clocked 50.7 seconds, unofficially smashing the lap record, and making the best time. McLaren was second fastest man (51.4s), followed by Mayer (51.7) and Chris Amon (52.2).

Two heats were held for the Vic Hudson Memorial race, the big event of the day. Andy Buchanan's Brabham took off to lead at the start of the first preliminary, a lead which he held, but not without difficulty. By the end of the first lap the first four cars - Buchanan, Roly Levis (Lotus), Rex Flowers (Lotus) and Bruce Abernethy (Cooper) - were tightly bunched.

It wasn't until the sixth lap that Flowers was able to get by the Putaruru driver for second place, and Roly made determined efforts to get past again to no avail. The race was so good that somehow it ran on for 9 laps instead of 8 with no reason given.

The second heat saw McLaren away first followed by his Cooper team-mate Timmy Mayer and Denny Hulme, but the Te Puke driver soon had the Brabham past at the hairpin, and Jim Palmer took the young American for third position. However, by the end of lap 2 the order was McLaren, Hulme, Mayer, Chris Amon (Lola), Tony Shelly (Lotus) and Bill Thomasen (Cooper).

Lap 3 saw some dramatic changes. John Youl moved up to fourth place from nowhere, and was followed by Palmer, Amon and Shelly. Levin certainly provides quick changes! Young Chris took Jim Palmer on lap 4, while Hulme took the lead on lap 6. This heat was the correct length and the finishing order was Hulme, McLaren, Mayer, Youl, Amon and Palmer.

During the second heat Denis Hulme set up a new lap record of 50.3 seconds, breaking Brabham's '63 record of 51.9 handsomely.

At the start of the final Timmy Mayer's Cooper was first away followed by Hulme, Youl, Shelly and McLaren who had a poor start after being boxed in. Before the end of the first lap, the No. 1 Cooper driver had moved into third position, while Palmer passed Shelly. Lap 2 and Shelly regained his fourth position, followed by Palmer, Youl, Amon, Flowers, Buchanan, Levis and Thomasen.

Hulme began to close in on the leader who was clocking around 51 seconds per lap. A tough duel was being fought by Youl, Shelly and Palmer, their posi tions often changing. By the seventh lap the first three were the same and then there was a gap to Shelly, Palmer, Youl, Amon (having trouble with the Lola), and another gap to Flowers, Thomasen and Levis. Andy Buchanan had spun the Brabham outside the pits and lost almost three laps.

Bruce McLaren was also a victim outside the pits and spun the Cooper, almost losing his third position to Shelly. Yet another spin in the same place, this time by the leader Mayer, resulted in Hulme taking a lead he was never to lose on lap 9.The winner Denny Hulme visits the McLaren Team

Youl, a consistent and smooth driver, passed Palmer and tucked in behind Shelly before finally passing the Wellingtonian on lap 16. Smoke began to stream from the Thomasen Cooper on lap 10 and the car had to retire with a broken oil pipe.

On the 17th lap Chris Amon was in the pits with the Lola which had given trouble all day. Initially there had been gearbox selector trouble, and stones through the radiator finally wound things up for the unfortunate Bulls driver. Back in the minor placings Levis was seventh on lap 19 followed by Flowers, and one lap later Abernethy's Noddy car Cooper was out. The three-way dice between Youl, Shelly and Palmer continued throughout the race, and by the end of the 28-lap event McLaren had 25 seconds on Youl. The trend towards the end was an increased lead by Hulme, and McLaren's moving in on the second man Mayer. Youl was fourth, followed by Shelly, Palmer, Levis, Flowers, N. Whittaker (2-litre Cooper) and Buchanan.
 
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Hulme 28 24'36.8 FL:50.3
2. Mayer 28 24'52.2
3. McLaren 28 24'55.8
4. Youl 28 25'20.8
5. Shelly 28 25'22.4
6. Palmer 28 25'39.6
7. Flowers 26 .
8. Levis 25 .
9. Whittaker 25 .
10. Buchanan 24 .
11. Slocombe 24 .
Abernethy 19 DNF:Spin
Amon 17 DNF:Gearbox
Thomasen 11 DNF:Oil Line
Written by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article submitted by Milan Fistonic

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