VI LEVIN INTERNATIONAL
 Gold Leaf International Trophy
 Location - Levin NZ  Laps - 28  Distance - 49.56 km  Date - 16/01/65  Weather - Fine
ENTRY LIST
No. DRIVER ENTRANT MAKE ENGINE
11 Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT11A Climax FPF
41 Jim Palmer George Palmer Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
9 Bill Thomasen Corsair Racing Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
14 Kerry Grant Lesco Racing Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
12 Roly Levis Roly Levis Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
8 Andy Buchanan Andy Buchanan Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
21 Graeme Lawrence Graeme Lawrence Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
7 Ken Sager J.H. Sager Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
47 Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Racing Cooper T79 Climax FPF
48 Phil Hill Bruce McLaren Racing Cooper T70/79 Climax FPF
13 Bruce Abernethy Rothmans Driver Scheme Cooper T66 Climax FPF
15 Red Dawson Red Dawson Cooper T53 Climax FPF
25 Rex Flowers Rex Flowers Lola T4 Climax FPF
1 Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus 32B Climax FPF
17 John Riley John Riley Lotus 18/21 Climax FPF
20 Ken Smith Ken Smith Lotus 22 Ford 1.5
10 Dene Hollier Dene Hollier Lotus 20B Ford 1.5
18 Bryan Thomas Bryan Thomas Lotus 27 Ford 1.5

A large crowd was treated to an exciting day's motor racing at Levin on January 16 for the second round of the 1965 Tasman Championship. Jim Clark had an easy victory in the Gold Leaf International event, with his green and yellow Lotus never looking like being troubled.

Practice was held on the Friday afternoon, with most of the major competitors attending. Jim Clark quickly got down to business, and said afterwards that he thought the little circuit was a little bumpy, but he enjoyed it. By the end of the session he had reduced the lap record unofficially to 49.4 seconds, while the two McLaren Coopers were both 50 dead. Perhaps the most outstanding of all was that of Roly Levis in the little Brabham. He was fourth fastest with 51.1, followed by Jim Palmer's 2.5 Brabham (51.7s), Kerry Grant's similar car (51.9s), Andy Buchanan's 1.5 Brabham (52s) and Bruce Abernethy (2.5 Cooper-52.2s). Some of the boys had a short run on race morning, including Graeme Lawrence making his first appearance in the attractive white and blue 1.5 Brabham.

The first preliminary event for the Tasman Cup race featured most of the big cars, with Jim Clark jumping immediately into the lead from Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Kerry Grant and Frank Gardner. The order remained the same at the end of the first lap but soon after Gardner pulled out with a collapsed battery. By lap three the former world champion had pulled a 4.5 second lead on the next three cars-Hill, McLaren and Grant-who were still tightly bunched. Later Jim Palmer moved in on Grant and by lap 7 had assumed fourth position which he held until the end.
Gardner started on the back row of the grid for the second preliminary heat for the main race which saw Roly Levis off to a flying start, leading Buchanan, Dawson, Riley and Gardner at the end of the first circulation. The Australian driver soon moved into third position, and on lap 4 was 2.4 seconds behind Levis in second spot. One lap later the yellow Brabham took the lead which he held until the end but, because of an agreement with the organisers, he was not officially placed, leaving Levis the winner.

The view from the rear of the gridGear selector trouble caused Bruce Abernethy to be a non-starter in the final. The start of the 28-lap final saw Clark, as usual, spring into the lead ahead of Hill, McLaren and Grant. Young Kerry was making a very determined effort and passed the McLaren Cooper for third position. The patriotic crowd roared as the field came around on completion of lap one with the Wellingtonian now in second position, and by the end of the next round the order was Clark, Grant, Hill, McLaren, Palmer, Gardner, Levis and then a gap to Buchanan and Riley. Clark was lapping in 51.6 seconds and had a three second lead on Grant, with the next four cars running close together.

One lap 4 Jim Palmer was getting into stride and had the blue Brabham past McLaren who did not look particularly happy in the white Cooper. One lap later McLaren was relegated to sixth place with Frank Gardner moving up the field into fifth. The local boys were putting on a brilliant display, and on lap six Palmer had taken over third place from Phil Hill. On the seventh circulation Clark recorded his fastest lap of 49.9, a new lap record, as he commenced lapping the tailenders. Levis was still seventh, with a gap. then to Buchanan, Riley and Graeme Lawrence who was driving Clark breaks his Tasman Series Duck consistently well in the little 1.5 Brabham. There was a gasp of disappointment from most spectators on lap 9 when Kerry spun at Cabbage Tree and lost his second position after such a fine showing. Now Palmer lay second, Gardner third and the next three cars were bunched. Roly was right up with Hill and McLaren with his smaller engined car.

Jim Clark had seven seconds on Palmer and Gardner who were hard at it by lap 12, and the leader's margin was slowly being increased lap by lap. Then on lap 14 Flowers was out of the race with the troublesome Lola, while Frank Gardner had by this time assumed second position ahead of Palmer. By this time the race had settled into a pattern. As the event drew to a close it was remarkable to see Roly Levis still up with the big fellows, and he finished the race in sixth position only 4.6 seconds behind McLaren.
 
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Clark 28 24'05.9 FL:49.9
2. Gardner 28 24'17.2
3. Palmer 28 24'21.9
4. Hill 28 24'23.0
5. McLaren 28 24'26.9
6. Levis 28 24'31.5
7. Buchanan 27 .
8. Lawrence 26 .
9. Riley 26 .
10. Dawson 26 .
11. Smith 25 .
12. Grant 25 .
Flowers 14 DNF:Transmission
Hollier 05 DNF:?
Thomasen 03 DNF:Bearings
Abernethy 0 DNS:Gearbox
Written by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article submitted by Milan Fistonic

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