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XV NEW
ZEALAND GRAND PRIX
Location -
Pukekohe
NZ
Laps -
58
Distance -
163.34 km
Date -
06/01/68
Weather -
Fine |
|
ENTRY LIST |
|
No. |
DRIVER |
ENTRANT |
MAKE |
ENGINE |
|
1 |
Bruce McLaren |
Owen
Racing Org. |
BRM
P126 |
BRM
V12 2.5 |
|
2 |
Pedro Rodriguez |
Owen
Racing Org. |
BRM
P126 |
BRM
V12 2.5 |
|
3 |
Denny Hulme |
Racing Team S.A. |
Brabham BT23 |
Cosworth FVA |
|
4 |
Chris Amon |
C.
Amon |
Ferrari 246T |
Ferrari V6 2.4 |
|
5 |
Red
Dawson |
Red
Dawson |
Brabham BT7A |
Climax FPF |
|
6 |
Jim
Clark |
Team
Lotus |
Lotus 49T |
Cosworth DFV 2.5 |
|
7 |
Frank Gardner |
Alec
Mildren Racing |
Brabham BT23D |
Alfa
Romeo V8 2.5 |
|
8 |
Piers Courage |
Piers Courage |
McLaren M4A |
Cosworth FVA |
|
10 |
Peter Yock |
Peter Yock |
Lotus 33 |
BRM
V8 2.0 |
|
11 |
Ken
Smith |
Ken
Smith |
Lotus 41B |
Ford
1.5 |
|
12 |
Roly
Levis |
Shaw
Motors |
Brabham BT18 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
14 |
Graeme Lawrence |
Lawrence Racing |
Brabham BT18 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
15 |
Paul
Bolton |
Rorstan Motor Racing |
Brabham BT22 |
Climax FPF |
|
17 |
Vince Anderson |
Vince Anderson |
Brabham BT11A |
Climax FPF |
|
18 |
David Oxton |
S.
Oxton |
Brabham BT16 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
19 |
John
Nicholson |
John
Nicholson |
Lotus 27 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
20 |
Laurence Brownlie |
Laurence Brownlie |
Brabham BT18/21 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
24 |
Bill
Stone |
Bill
Stone |
Brabham BT6 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
29 |
Don
Macdonald |
Don
Macdonald |
Brabham BT10 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
36 |
Graham McRae |
Graham McRae |
Brabham BT6 |
Ford
1.5 |
|
41 |
Jim
Palmer |
Jim
Palmer |
McLaren M4A |
Cosworth FVA |
|
57 |
Bryan Faloon |
Bryan Faloon |
Brabham BT4 |
Climax FPF |
|
91 |
Frank Radisich |
Frank Radisich |
Lotus 22 |
Ford
1.6 |
|
 In one
of the most dramatic Grands Prix for years Chris
Amon brought the 2.4L V6 Ferrari home to a popular
victory at an average speed of 102.5 mph in the 15th
New Zealand International Grand Prix at Pukekohe on
January 6, the first round in the 1968 Tasman
Championship. It was a race of incidents,
predominently with the retirement of Jim Clark's
Lotus Ford V8 while leading and the serious accident
in the final stages to World Champion Denny Hulme
and Laurence Brownlie. Amon became the second Kiwi
ever to win the NZGP and finished well ahead of
Frank Gardner's impressive 2.5L Brabham Alfa V8,
while no other cars completed the full distance.
In third and fourth positions came the identical
Formula 2 McLaren M4A Cosworths of Englishman Piers
Courage and Jim Palmer, the former finishing one lap
behind the winner and the first resident New
Zealander home two laps in arrears. Paul Bolton, in
the new Rorstan 2.5L Brabham Climax, having his
first drive since his Levin accident in November,
ran consistently into fifth on the same lap as
Palmer, with Graeme Lawrence in the first 1500cc car
home next another two laps down.
All the overseas drivers and cars arrived safely in
time for Pukekohe. Jim Clark's Lotus Ford, fitted
with the 2.5L Tasman version of the F1 V8 engine,
headed the entry list. This was the same chassis
Clark used at Zandvoort, but with the latest
strengthened suspension mods.
Marking the first ever appearance of a works Ferrari
in Australasia, the Italian concern flew their 2.4L
V6 car for Chris Amon to NZ with a spare engine.
Although down on power when compared to the Lotus
and BRMs (Ferrari had detuned the motor to less than
300BHP) the Amon machine was lighter than its
rivals. The Owen Organisation arrived with four cars
- two brand new BRM "126" V12s and two 2.1 V8s.
Robbie Francevic was scheduled to drive one of the
V8s but negotiations failed between the local
entrant and BRM.
World Champion Denny Hulme's F2 Brabham Cosworth
FVA, the same Winkelmann car used by Jochen Rindt
last season in Europe, did not appear to be
competitive on paper, but the New Zealander figured
that he would be able to have a good chance,
particularly on the tighter circuits. Frank
Gardner's 2.5L Brabham Alfa V8 arrived as the dark
horse of the race. The 280BHP Alfa motor in the Alec
Mildren entered car looked most impressive, and the
Brabham had completed a successful winning debut at
Warwick Farm during December.
In the first practice session on Thursday it became
rapidly apparent that Clark and Amon held most of
the straws. A big consignment of Firestone tyres had
been flown to the wrong part of the world causing
headaches for those running on this make. Firestone
couldn't supply Amon so he ran Goodyears and
recorded 61.7s in the first spell, only to be beaten
by Clarke's Lotus in 61.0s. Hulme was most
spectacular in the little 1.6L Brabham and returned
62.5s or the same as Piers Courage, who had his
McLaren M4A on the new compound Dunlops. Frank
Gardner's
Brabham Alfa sounded well and he did 62.7s. Bruce
McLaren and Pedro Rodriguez were having fuel
injection and other problems with the V12s, and both
clocked 62.5s, but the B.R.M. camp remained far from
happy.
 Clark swapped his Firestones for the new low profile
Dunlops with hand-cut tread for the afternoon
session. These covers had been used only once before
on Jackie Stewart's Matra Ford in the South African
GP a few days previous. The Lotus looked great and
recorded the best time of one minute flat, beating
his lap record of 60.5s established in last year's
G.P. The Ferrari returned the second best time
(60.4s), while Rodriguez in the BRM V12 and
Gardner's Alfa both clocked 61.5s. Hulme circulated
in 62.0s, or fifth best, and 62.5s laps were
recorded by both McLaren and Courage. Jim Palmer had
changed from Firestones to Goodyears because of the
shortage, resulting in a number of last-minute
suspension alterations but managed 64.2s. A rear
chassis cross member broke on Laurence Brownlie's
1.5L Brabham BT23C but not before the West Otago
driver had greatly impressed everyone with a 65.5s
lap. Peter Yock had the 2-litre Lotus BRM V8 going
better than ever after BRM Team Manager Tim Parnell
gave him a new "black box" and Yock returned 66.5s.
Graeme Lawrence had considerable trouble with the
fuel injection on his 1.5L Brabham and decided to
revert to carbs for Friday's practice.
The weather remained perfect for the Friday practice
period. Lotus and BRM did not appear for the first
session, and fastest lap went to Amon, whose Ferrari
equalled Clark's Thursday best of 60.0s. Jim Clark
arrived with the Lotus Ford on Firestones and soon
returned a cracking 59.6s, the first time the minute
has been broken at Pukekohe. He then changed to the
new Dunlops and set the final best of 59.1s, which
earned him pole position, the Technical Books Trophy
and 50 bottles of champers. But Team Lotus did not
decide whether they would be running Firestone
or the slightly superior Dunlops until race morning.
The only other car to beat the minute was the Amon
Ferrari (59.9s), while the third best time went to
Rodriguez in the V8 BRM (60.9s), and it was decided
that the Mexican driver would drive the smaller car
in preference to the V12. McLaren also had a run in
the V8, but recorded his best time of 61.0s (the
same as Gardner) in the V12. However neither drivers
were happy with the Bourne cars. Courage got a
little too enthusiastic with his McLaren at Castrol
and finished up a bank, with considerable
rear
suspension
damage. The team shot away immediately and worked
hard to have the car ready on race morning.
Australian Paul Bolton had the Rorstan Brabham
Climax out for its first airing. This chassis is the
one that Hulme used in the 1967 Tasman series and
the Climax engine from the wrecked Levin Brabham has
been installed. The organisers decided to set a
sensible ten second difference between the fastest
and slowest cars for Grand Prix qualification, and
this resulted in a 21-car grid being formed. The
Dunlop people were delighted that Clark opted to run
their covers, while the Ferrari used Goodyears
instead of the usual Firestones.
Race day, perfect weather, and a large crowd of
40,000 to watch the country's premier motor race.
The red Ferrari streaked into the lead at the start
to head off Clark, Gardner and Rodriguez into
Champion Curve for the first time. Amon still
cracked the whip down the back straight, but Clark
slipped into the lead before the Lion Hairpin. The
bunched field started their second lap with Clark
narrowly holding off Amon, Gardner, Rodriguez,
Hulme, McLaren, Courage, Bolton, Levis, Lawrence and
Brownlie. Right at the back of the field was poor
Jim Palmer. His FVA engine had flooded on the
starting line and the McLaren had to be push started
after the field departed.
Clark and Amon drew out a four-second lead on
Gardner with three laps gone, and Amon clung to the
Scot as he roared through the speed traps on the
back straight at 153 mph. After, five laps the first
seven cars were 14 seconds ahead of Bolton, and ten
seconds later came a frantic battle for the lead in
the 1.5 litre class between the Brabhams of
Brownlie, Levis and Lawrence. Red Dawson's 2.5L
Brabham was nine seconds behind this trio and he
wasn't far ahead of Palmer, who had already caught
and passed eight cars! An early visitor to the pits
was the Vince Anderson 2.5L Brabham with plug
trouble, and the car eventually retired with a
broken driveshaft. Hulme closed in on the BRM V8 of
Rodriguez, while McLaren, in sixth place, held a
two-second advantage on the Courage McLaren.
 On lap 6 Lawrence took Levis, but most interest was
centred on Hulme, who gave a fantastic display of
driving as he flung the little 1.6L Brabham Cosworth
about like a toy. Even at this early stage the
leaders were well into lapping the tailenders. Peter
Yock, lying in 14th position, took to the earth
banks in his Lotus BRM. He got going again but
damaged one of the wheels on the Levis Brabham after
a minor biff, and then retired with leaking oil.
Levis had to pit, which dropped him back five
placing's. At the nine-lap mark Bruce McLaren had
fallen back nine seconds behind Hulme, the BRM V12
starting to have problems with the clutch as well as
the fuel injection system.
On the eighth lap Palmer took Lawrence and next time
round lay in front of Brownlie in ninth place. By
now Clark had a 5 second lead on the consistent
Amon, but his advantage did not grow much greater
than this at any time during the race. Rodriquez
lost his fourth position when he pitted on lap 11
with suspected front suspension damage after being
involved in a bingle with one of the slower cars.
His stop was only a brief one, but it put him back
from fourth to eleventh position. Next time around
McLaren drew into the pits for adjustments, went out
and did another couple of laps before retiring the
ailing BRM after no improvement could be effected.
David Oxton made his first pit stop in the white and
blue Brabham with suspect oil pressure, and he did a
few more laps before an axle broke.
So with 15 laps completed the order read Clark, Amon
and a ten-second gap to the steady Gardner. Hulme,
Courage and another gap to Bolton, Palmer, Brownlie
and Lawrence, the last named being challenged by the
bigger 2.5L Dawson Brabham. Denny was closing the
gap slightly on Frank, while the Courage McLaren
maintained a comfortable fifth position 25 seconds
behind the World Champion. The order at lap 20 was:
Clark, Amon, Gardner, Hulme. Courage, Bolton,
Palmer, Brownlie, Dawson, Lawrence and Faloon.
Rodriguez had rejoined the race and was slowly
moving back through the field occupying ninth
position by lap 22. However, eight laps later the
car began to suffer from severe clutch disorders and
was making some alarming noises so the second BRM
retired.
By now it was obvious that Palmer was closing the
gap on Bolton slowly but surely. Paul Bolton lead
the resident Kiwi field, but Palmer was obviously
out to get the $1600 prize. The leading Lotus and
Ferrari were 15 seconds in front of Gardner after 23
laps, but the Brabham Alfa's third place was a
little precarious as Hulme now ran only four seconds
in arrears. Thirty-five seconds later came Courage
and a further gap to Bolton, Palmer, while Brownlie
led the 1500cc brigade in eighth position. Clark had
lapped all but Amon, Gardner and Hulme after 26 laps
but the Scot wasn't shaking off the works Ferrari.
On lap 31 Amon equalled Clark's 1967 record of 60.5s
(104 mph), and on the next circulation set a
fantastic new record of 59.3s as he moved a little
closer to the green and yellow Lotus Ford.
On lap 37 Dawson got his 2.5 Brabham past Brownlie
into eighth place, and seemed to be going very well.
However, his position as third resident New
Zealander lasted only until lap 45 when he retired
with, of all things, a flat battery. On the 44th
round Hulme was only three seconds behind Gardner,
while a similar margin separated Bolton and Palmer.
All did not sound well with the Lotus as Jim Clark
commenced the 45th lap and the leader came to a
sudden stop before the back straight. The valve gear
had got itself caught up with the pistons causing a
disturbing internal haemorrhage and seizure. A
despondent Clark climbed from the car and walked
back to the pits, continuing his run of bad luck at
Pukekohe.
Amon came round in the lead, more than 30 seconds in
front of the yellow Brabham Alfa, but most attention
was directed towards the 2.5L Brabham of Bolton and
Palmer's 1.6L McLaren, locked in battle for fifth
place. Palmer got the Brabham on lap 46, but Bolton
tried all he knew to hang on to the tail of the
McLaren. The electrical system on Gardner's car was
starting to give trouble with the battery slowly
going flat, and Hulme narrowed the gap to not much
more than two seconds. Courage was all out on his
own in fourth place, more than a lap in front of
Palmer, Bolton
and another gap to Brownlie who had a 3 second
advantage on Lawrence. Palmer put in his best lap
time of 62.8s but Bolton kept in tow of the McLaren.
The scene looked set for an exciting finish for
second place as Hulme looked intent on catching
Gardner whose Brabham Alfa wasn't running as well as
it had been during the early stages. Hulme commenced
lap 56 (with only two to go) right on the tail of
Brownlie. Both drivers were trying hard - Hulme
trying to catch Gardner while Brownlie, a
 couple of
laps in arrears, was intent of keeping ahead of
Graeme Lawrence, who ran little more than two
seconds behind. Denny had a fist in the air and
tried to pass Laurence, with the former hitting the
back of the Brabham as the two came out of Castrol
Corner. It wasn't until well down the back straight
when they were doing well over 130 mph the World
Champion pulled alongside Brownlie. No one knows
just what happened for the two Brabhams touched
wheels and Hulme's car climbed up the back of
Brownlie's machine.
Hulme's Brabham went to the right, overturned and
hit a safety fence with the driver being thrown out
while the car was high in the air. The other Brabham
spun to the left and disintegrated after striking a
post, with Brownlie staying with the car. It was a
miracle that both drivers weren't killed for
Brownlie's car was demolished and Hulme's virtually
written off. Both drivers were admitted to hospital,
Denny with concussion and lacerations and Laurence
with a broken leg and foot, but their injuries were
not serious. This unfortunate accident put a pall on
the final stages of the race, but at least it was
thankful that the consequences were not worse.
Chris Amon completed the last two laps safely to
complete the Grand Prix in a record average speed
and finished 37.8s ahead of Frank Gardner. The Bulls
driver has the satisfaction of being only the second
New Zealander to win the NZGP since it started 15
years ago and his win was a very popular one with
the patriotic crowd. Courage came in an unexpected
third, while special-mention must be made of the
great drive by Jim Palmer from the back of the
field. Certain victory for Jim Clark was swept away
by a cruel engine failure, while the BRMs were
disappointing. For Denny Hulme, the race marked his
first major accident in a long career in motor
racing, while poor Brownlie lost any chance of
winning the NZ National Formula Championship. |
|
RACE RESULTS |
|
POSITION |
LAPS |
TIME |
|
1.
Amon |
58 |
59'20.1 FL:59.3 |
|
2.
Gardner |
58 |
59'57.8 |
|
3.
Courage |
57 |
. |
|
Hulme |
56 |
Accident |
|
4.
Palmer |
55 |
. |
|
5.
Bolton |
55 |
. |
|
Brownlie |
53 |
Accident |
|
6.
Lawrence |
53 |
. |
|
7.
Faloon |
52 |
. |
|
8.
Levis |
51 |
. |
|
9.
Nicholson |
50 |
. |
|
10.
Stone |
50 |
. |
|
11.
McDonald |
49 |
. |
|
12.
Smith |
49 |
. |
|
Dawson |
45 |
DNF:Electrics |
|
Clark |
45 |
DNF:Engine |
|
Rodriguez |
30 |
DNF:Clutch |
|
Oxton |
15 |
DNF:Oil Pressure |
|
McLaren |
15 |
DNF:Fuel Injection |
|
Anderson |
9 |
DNF:Plugs |
|
Yock |
8 |
DNF:Accident |
|
Written
by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article
submitted by Milan Fistonic
Every
effort has been made to trace the owners of
copyright and we apologise to any we have been
unable to contact |
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