XXIX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
 Location - Sandown Park Aust  Laps - 63  Distance - 194.69 km  Date - 09/02/64  Weather - Fine
ENTRY LIST
NO. DRIVER ENTRANT MAKE ENGINE
1 Jack Brabham Ecurie Vitesse Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
2 Denis Hulme Ecurie Vitesse Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
3 Greg Cusack Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
6 Bib Stillwell B.S. Stillwell Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
11 Frank Matich Team Total Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
21 Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
26 David Walker David Walker Brabham BT2 Ford 1.5
4 Lex Davison Ecurie Australia Cooper T62 Climax FPF
5 John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF
7 Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
8 Timmy Mayer Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
9 Bill Patterson Bill Patterson Motors Cooper T53 Climax FPF
10 Doug Whiteford Bill Patterson Motors Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.2
12 Jim Palmer George Palmer Cooper T53 Climax FPF
15 Tony Osborne Tony Osborne Cooper T53 Climax FPF
16 Charlie Smith Charlie Smith Elfin FJ Ford 1.5
18 Keith Rilstone K. Rilstone Elfin FJ Ford 1.5
23 Jack Hunnam Jack Hunnam Motors Elfin FJ Ford 1.5
24 Mel McEwin Mel McEwin Elfin FJ Ford 1.5
14 Tony Shelly Shelly Motors Ltd. Lola T4 Climax FPF
22 David Fletcher David Fletcher Lola Ford 1.5
17 Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Lotus 27 Ford 1.5
20 Glyn Scott Glyn Scott Motors Lotus 27 Ford 1.5
25 Leo Geoghegan Total Team Lotus 27 Ford 1.5
19 Wally Mitchell East Burwood Motors MRD BT1 Ford 1.5

Take Australia's top circuit, several overseas drivers, the world's fastest racing cars and some 70,000 eager fans, stir them all together and allow to boil for 63 laps and you have the recipe for a perfect Grand Prix.

At Sandown Park on Sunday, February 9, we had the utmost pleasure in cheering Jack Brabham over the line for his third A.G.P. win. Bruce McLaren had the misfortune to explode his motor on the 38th lap after one of the most exciting and thrilling dices these two have ever staged. During practice, when Jack won the 100 bottles of champagne donated by Seppelts for the fastest lap, and Bruce was only 1/10 sec. slower, we realized that these two would be the ones to watch in the big race. Frank Matich was the quickest local and shared the front row with the two overseas drivers. Behind them we had the two "second string" drivers in Denny Hulme (Brabham) and Tim Mayer (Cooper). Three Melbournians were on the third row, Davo, Bib and Patto, with John Youl and Tony Shelly behind them. The fifth row saw Jim Palmer's Cooper beside Doug Whiteford in one of the Bill Patterson cars. Completing the top class field we had Frank Gardner, David Walker and Wally Mitchell on Brabhams, Arnold Glass on Lotus 27, Keith Rilstone, Charlie Smith, and Mel McEwin with Elfins, Tony Osborne-Cooper and David Fletcher on Lola.

Seconds after the flag had dropped and the field was streaming. into Shell corner, Lex Davison spun on the apex of the corner when lying in third place. Brab dodged around him and, luckily, every one else followed suit. Bruce McLaren had nipped into the lead with Frank Matich on his tail and Jack a few yards away in third spot. Then came Mayer, Stillwell, Patterson and Hulme. At the end of the first lap, Jack slipped past Frank Matich as they braked for Shell and took over second place. John Youl was fifth just behind Mayer and Stillwell and the rest of the field were not very far behind. Tim Mayer challenged Matich as they went up Leighton's Hill on lap 2 but he just couldn't outfox the New South Welshman out of his third position. This duel continued for the next few laps until a broken crown wheel and pinion put paid to Frank's gallant drive.

The final result could well have been quite different had Matich's car lasted the distance. This let Mayer into third and Bib Stillwell up to fourth. Next lap saw Patterson take Youl on Leighton's Hill to come into fifth. About this time the terrific pace started to take toll of the cars as firstly Charlie Smith (bent valve) and then Tony Shelly (fuel leak) pitted their cars. Brab pushed the pace even harder for the next eight laps and, on lap 13, was rewarded with a 1'10.4" lap. McLaren equalled this on the succeeding lap but Jack replied by clipping a tenth off this time.

Tony Osborne was the next casualty and was out at the Esses with a broken gear box. By lap 18 Brabham was down to 1'09.9" and just about on McLaren's tail. The Cooper was faster up the back straight but the Brabham seemed to be quicker through the corners. Lap 21 and Bill Patterson shot into the pits for a quick look at the engine department, then out again into the fray. On the same lap Tony Shelly spun the Lola right smack in front of McLaren and Brabham as they tore into Shell corner. Shortly afterwards Whiteford blew the Cooper's engine, pitted, took over Patterson's car when Bill became ill and promptly rammed the lowline Cooper into the fence at Peter's Corner. Two laps later and the crowd was on its toes as Jack drew alongside Bruce as they roared past the grandstand and ran into first place as they braked for Shell. Bruce caught him at the Lukey Bridge and went round the outside to regain the lead into the Esses.

For the next five or six laps we were treated to a wonderful spectacle of high speed precision driving as Jack gradually whittled down McLaren's advantage and, repeating his previous trick, shot past again at Shell.

Side by side the two cars went over Leighton's Hill but Jack held his lead and McLaren was forced to drop back. Again and again Bruce tried to regain the lead but to no avail. The lap times were getting faster, too, as the two rivals fought for the lead. Brabham was the eventual fastest with a 1'09.5", Bruce McLaren being a fifth of a second slower.

Then disaster struck the McLaren equippe. Braking for Peter's Corner on the 38th lap, Bruce McLaren's Cooper threw a rod and was out of the race. By this stage Jack was a long way in front of Stillwell and Mayer who were fighting it out for second place and he was able to reduce speed, save his motor and virtually coast home for an easy win. Denny Hulme was in and out of the pits with heating troubles and lost a lap along the way.

Bib drove magnificently and so did John Youl. Tim Mayer was dogged with fuel trouble; one of the inter-connecting lines between the reserve tanks evidently was blocked and caused some fuel starvation. This helped to drop him down to fourth place ahead of Hulme, who actually finished three laps in arrears by the end of the race.

Arnold Glass, having one of his first drives in the new Lotus 27 Ford, was rewarded with first spot in the 1.5 Litre class after Frank Gardner's Brabham expired with gearbox trouble on the main straight on lap 54 when he was over a lap ahead in the class. David Walker was going extremely well but a couple of excursions into the scrub put him back behind Glass in the final result. One of his spins, namely at Dandenong Road corner, was a beauty! He started to go at about half way mark in the Esses and after a long slow motion spin, finished up backed up to the trees beside the track. Pulling himself together, he selected low gear, let out the clutch and erupted back into the race in a great cloud of dust.

And so the 29th Australian Grand Prix was run and won. Certainly it was a very popular win and, even more so for us Victorians was the double victory of having our own Bib Stillwell come home as first resident Australian.

 
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Brabham 63 1:15'19.2 FL:1'09.5
2. Stillwell 63 1:15'31.1
3. Youl 63 1:15'34.1
4. Mayer 63 1:16'06.5
5. Hulme 60 .
6. Palmer 60 .
7. Glass 57 .
8. Shelly 57 .
9. Walker 54 .
10. Gardner 49 .
Patterson/Whiteford 42 DNF:Accident
McLaren 37 DNF:Engine FL:1'09.5
Whiteford 36 DNF:Engine
Davison 29 DNF:Piston
McEwin 24 DNF:Gearbox
Rilstone 5 DNF:Electrics
Matich 4 DNF:Differential
Smith 2 DNF:Timing Gear
Osborne 2 DNF:Differential
Geoghegan 0 DNS
Scott 0 DNS
Hunnam 0 DNS
Article Submitted by Ray Bell

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