XIV LADY WIGRAM TROPHY
 Location - Wigram Aerodrome NZ  Laps - 44  Distance - 162.53 km  Date - 20/01/68  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
9 Bert Hawthorne H.W. Hawthorne Brabham BT21 Ford 1.5
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
23 Tony Batchelor Batchelor Motors Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
24 Bill Stone Bill Stone Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
29 Don Macdonald Don Macdonald Brabham BT10 Ford 1.5
33 Jim Kennedy Greymouth Motors Brabham BT22 Climax FPF
34 Les Jones Les Jones Lotus 20B Ford 1.5
36 Graham McRae Graham McRae Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
41 Jim Palmer Jim Palmer McLaren M4A Cosworth FVA
56 Graham Harvey Graham Harvey Brabham BT21A Ford 1.5
57 Bryan Faloon Bryan Faloon Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
91 Frank Radisich Frank Radisich Lotus 22 Ford 1.7
145 Barry Keen G.N. Begg Begg Ford 1.6
Jim Clark leads Chris AmonTaking the 2.5 Lotus Cosworth Ford V8 to its first Tasman Championship victory, Jim Clark won the Lady Wigram Trophy race on January 20 at a new record speed of 102.6 mph. Chris Amon's Ferrari V6, which was the only other car to complete the 44 lap, 101-mile race, finished less than eight seconds behind the winning Lotus and his presence made Clark's task a difficult one in the fastest race run in the South Island. Third and fourth were Denny Hulme and Piers Courage, just seven seconds apart in their reliable 1.6 Cosworth FVA powered Formula 2 cars, and a lap behind the two leaders.

This time both works BRMs finished, Bruce McLaren at the wheel of the fifth placed V12 and and Pedro Rodriguez not far behind in the spare 2.1 V8 BRM. But the Bourne cars weren't competitive, and Bruce took the chequers 41.5 seconds after Courage. Three laps behind the winner came Jim Palmer, who yet again secured first resident Kiwi position in his 1.6 McLaren Cosworth, and he finished a lap up on Roly Levis (1.5 Brabham), Red Dawson (2.5 Brabham) and Bill Stone (1.5 Brabham). Unlike the first two Tasman races, Wigram was remarkably free from retirements. The luckless Paul Bolton crashed on the opening lap (the only local who could challenge Palmer), while Frank Gardner had to retire his 2.5 Brabham Alfa in the early stages while lying fifth when he blew a head gasket.

Clark's Lotus arrived in its new and very gay red, gold and white colours of the new sponsor. Plastered withAn aviating Denny Hulme advertising decals and looking very much like an Indy machine, some people were already dubbing the car as the Lotus Ford Cosworth Gold Leaf Players Special! It certainly didn't look like the Team Lotus cars we have become accustomed to. The Alec Mildren team had been working hard on Frank Gardner's Brabham Alfa during the week following its biff into a bank at Levin. As a result of the excursion the chassis was damaged, and the front suspension and fuel tank also required attention.

Amon's Ferrari had its engine changed before Wigram, a new steering box was installed and the longer nose refitted after Levin. The day before practice, Denny Hulme's new untried 1.6 Brabham BT23 Cosworth arrived by plane from Auckland. This car was identical to the one he wrote off in the Grand Prix but using the same motor and gearbox from the wreck. The chassis had been flown out from England and the car put together in Auckland. Weather conditions couldn't have been worse for the start of practice and many were worried about the deep puddles around the 2.3-mile airfield circuit. However, the rain stopped and the track dried out although most took things easy in the first session.

Bruce McLaren in the big V12 BRMThe organisers only do a rough timekeeping system in practice as grid positions are determined by performances of entrants earlier in the season - a most unusual and criticised idea. Clark had the wet weather R106 Firestones on the works Lotus. and the Scot soon made it obvious that his car was quickest by returning 1m 25.5s and then 1m 23.7s with the track still wet in odd places. This made laughing stock of Jackie Stewart's outright record of 1m 23.8s set in ideal conditions with the 2.1 BRM V8 last year. As usual Manchester Car Sales were offering their award for the first car to break the 100 mph lap in the Trophy race, but this year they seemed sure to quit the $1000 prize. Courage soon had his McLaren down to 1m 24.4s, and both Hulme and Gardner broke 1m 26s. Clark sent the 100 mph average flying in the second session when he clocked 1m 21.3s (1m 22.8s represents the ton) and then returned 1m 20.0s or a speed bettering 103 mph. This was so much better than anyone else that the Scot didn't even run in the last session. Amon settled down to some fast lappery in the Ferrari and finally clocked an excellent 1m 20.7s and definitely second best.

The Brabham Alfa V8 sounded healthy and Gardner got down to 1m 20.9s, but Hulme latched on to the bigger Brabham near the end of practice and managed to pip Gardner's time with a fantastic 1m 20.8s. The crafty. world champion struck one of the new concrete markers while leaving the Hairpin which caused a surprising amount of damage to the radiator, a radius arm and part of the suspension so there was little sleep for the Hulme team the night before the race.

Paul Bolton, in the Rorstan 2.5 Brabham, had the distinction of being the fastest resident Kiwi and fifth overall with aPiers Courage 1m 23.6s lap, and Courage altered his top gearing to do 1m 23.7s in the final session. The regular callers to the pits were the BRMs with fuel injection and pump problems again. Since Levin they had shifted the fuel pumps up to the front and added more insulation around the fuel tank but the same problems seemed to exist. Pedro Rodriguez rushed out and bettered 1m 25s in the spare 2.1 BRM V8 before reverting to his troublesome V12, while Bruce McLaren wasn't having much joy, either. The Mexican driver's best time put him seventh on the list, while McLaren only returned 1m 26.6s or two seconds slower than Jim Palmer's 1.6 McLaren!

The Roly Levis Brabham BT18 led the 1500 cc brigade with a time of 1m 27.3s, and Graeme Lawrence was 0.1 of a second slower. Single-seater practice finished without many incidents except when Don Macdonald spun his Brabham into the hangars and damaged the nose section and steering which was rectified by Saturday. Before race day a fuel line was repositioned on the outside of McLaren's V12 BRM and it was decided that Rodriguez would drive the V8 car. A new exhaust system tried during the final part of practice on Hulme's Brabham was retained as it gave more torque down low and an improvement around the tight parts of the fast circuit.

Perfect weather conditions greeted the large crowd of 30,000 on race day. Graeme Lawrence took the lead at the start of the first preliminary, which' counted towards the NZ Formula 1.5-litre Championship. with Bill Stone, David Oxton and Roly Levis in hot pursuit. But valve gear trouble forced the Wanganui driver's retirement on the opening lap and he had to replace his cylinder head before the main race. Stone assumed the lead, while Levis displaced Oxton, as did Ken Smith in the Lotus 41B and Don Macdonald (Brabham) by the time the field finished the first lap.

The wreck of Paul Boltons BrabhamAfter three laps Stone's black Brabham had a two-second advantage on Levis, who was 4 seconds in front of Smith and a further four second time lapse to .Macdonald, Oxton and Graham McRae (Brabham). Levis closed in and took the lead on the fifth lap by which time the two leaders were seven seconds clear of Smith, while McRae passed Oxton on the next round. Macdonald lost his fourth spot when he spun on the fast corner into the back straight and Oxton regained fourth from McRae with three laps to go. Major positions remained the same with Levis and Stone finishing close together.

In the second preliminary Frank Gardner made a first-class start to lead Amon, Clark, Courage and McLaren into the first corner. Near the end of the long back straight Peter Yock had to alter his line to miss Vince Anderson's 2.5 Brabham, and the 2-litre Lotus BRM V8 left the track and hit some drums causing considerable suspension damage. Meantime Amon had grabbed the lead from the Brabham Alfa, while Denny Hulme was back in eighth place behind Palmer after making a bad start. On the second lap Clark took the Gold Leaf Lotus past Gardner, and Hulme now had sixth position after taking Palmer and then Rodriguez. The two leaders were lapping at well over 100 mph for the first time, and a battle ensued for fourth, position between Courage in the McLaren, Hulme's Brabham and Bruce McLaren (BRM V12).

On lap 4 Clark thundered into the lead, but the game Amon hung on to the Lotus and appeared to make ground under braking. After six laps the third placed Gardner lay nine seconds behind Amon and nearly five seconds in front of the close Hulme and Courage, who had broken free of McLaren. Then Rodriguez moved ahead of the slowing McLaren, who came into the pits on lap 7 with fuel troubles yet again. In eighth place Jim Palmer and Paul Bolton's 2.5 Brabham were fighting a private battle for first resident Kiwi and by the seventh round the big Brabham had moved ahead. Clark finished the 11lap 25-mile race exactly a second in front of the red Ferrari and then a 14-second margin to Gardner and Hulme.

It was the gaily coloured Lotus which nosed its way into the lead at the start, a position it was never to lose, followed by Amon's Ferrari, Courage's McLaren, Hulme (Brabham), Rodriguez (BRM V8), Gardner (Brabham Alfa), McLaren (BRM V12), Bolton (Brabham) and Dawson (Brabham). Only seconds after the race had been in progress there was drama at the hangars when Bolton lost his Brabham and slammed backwards into a weak part of an outer buildingMcLaren passes Boltons wreck attached to a hangar. The car smashed through two walls and remained inside the building. Although it took a while to remove Paul he suffered only minor injuries and shock. Dawson swerved to avoid Bolton's careering car and Graeme Lawrence became involved, the smaller Brabham striking some hay bales. Lawrence had to retire with a bent exhaust system, damaged nose cone and radiator.

The order of the first seven cars remained the same by the end of the first lap, and Palmer in eighth position already had a healthy margin on Dawson, Levis and Oxton. Hulme moved himself in front of Courage next time round, while Clark had put in a 1m 21.8s time on the second lap to win the $1000 prize. First visitor to the pits was Bryan Faloon, whose 2.5 Brabham suffered from lack of oil, petrol and water - apart from that there was nothing wrong! After three laps the close Clark and Amon were five seconds clear of Hulme, who had Courage for close company, while Gardner made determined efforts to take fifth place off the Rodriguez B.R.M.

The leading Lotus and Ferrari were clocking 164 mph on the back straight and Amon was obviously slip-streaming the more powerful Lotus to advantage. On lap 5 Gardner moved through to fifth, while Levis displaced Dawson in ninth place and second resident New Zealander slot. With just six laps completed the leaders were already commencing to lap the tail-enders, with Clark and Amon averaging more than 103 mph.

Hopes in the Mildren Team vanished on the eighth lap when Gardner came into the pits. Steam was pouring from the Alfa engine and the Australian filed his retirement with a blown head gasket. The leading cars were now well clear of the local boys, with the sixth placed McLaren running the V12 BRM more than half a minute ahead of Palmer who, in turn, lay 28 seconds clear of the dicing Levis and Dawson. After ten laps the two leaders were 19 seconds ahead of Hulme, Courage and Rodriguez. Shortly after David Oxton toured into the pits as his 1.5 Brabham BT18 had blown a head gasket.

Race Winner Jim ClarkAmon tucked in behind the Lotus and with 15 laps completed still lay just half a second in arrears, followed 33 seconds later by Hulme. who has a 2.2-second advantage on Courage and a 6-second break to Rodriguez. Don Macdonald pitted with clutch trouble and later returned to the fray albeit well out of the running. On lap 18 Rodriguez came into the pits with a broken throttle spring which was repaired rapidly and the Mexican lost only one place to McLaren before rejoining the field. After 20 laps Clark, Amon, Hulme, Courage, McLaren and Rodriguez were the only cars on the same lap, and Palmer was the only man to have done 19. The consistent Courage safely held fourth position, nearly 15 seconds in front of the BRM V12 which appeared to have no chance of catching the smaller F2 McLaren Cosworth.

On lap 27 Clark and Amon doubled McLaren to put only four cars on the same lap. Bruce was returning laps of 1m 24s but just didn't appear to have the power of the cars in front of him and continued to lose ground. In lapping back markers, Amon had lost his slip-streaming effect on Clark and by lap 34 the Ferrari had dropped 7 seconds behind. Clark lapped Courage on this tour and on lap 37 doubled Hulme, while the sixth placed Rodriguez lapped the seventh placed Palmer. Ken Smith called at the pits to top up his oil and returned to the race in front of McRae. Jim Clark continued to lap at around 1m 20.3s for the final few laps in which all placings remained the same, The only drama was in ninth place where Red Dawson's 2.5 Brabham was fast running out of gears and he lost ground rapidly to Stone but just managed to struggle over the line less than 1 second in front of the smaller Brabham.
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Clark 44 59'10.6 FL:1'19.6
2. Amon 44 59'18.5
3. Hulme 43 .
4. Courage 43 .
5. McLaren 43 .
6. Rodriguez 43 .
7. Palmer 41 .
8. Levis 40 .
9. Dawson 40 .
10. Stone 40 .
11. Smith 37 .
Oxton 11 DNF:Head Gasket
Gardner 8 DNF:Head Gasket
Faloon 2 DNF:?
Bolton 0 DNF:Accident
Lawrence 0 DNF:Accident
McRae 0 DNF:?
McDonald 0 DNS:Clutch
Written by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article submitted by Milan Fistonic

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