For Bruce McLaren the Teretonga circuit and good luck are synonymous. A fast moving series of incidents in the Eleventh Teretonga International race on January 28 resulted in the New Zealander scoring the first win for the 2.5 BRM V12 and rounding the Kiwi side of the 1968 Tasman Championship off with a surprise result. McLaren took the front just eight laps before the end when a spectacular accident lost a comfortable lead for Jim Clark's 2.5 Lotus Ford V8, and the winning BRM averaged 85 mph on a wet and slippery circuit. Clark came home 10.5 seconds later and more than half a minute behind the Lotus was Frank Gardner's 2.5 Brabham Alfa V8.

Chris Amon and Gardner occupied second and third positions for most of the distance, until they both spun on the same lap, causing some confusion among many of the lap-scorers. The Ferrari driver finished fourth, one lap behind the leaders and on the same lap as the 1.6 McLaren Ford Cosworth of Piers Courage. In sixth place came Denny Hulme (1.6 Brabham Ford Cosworth) who had some suspension trouble and eventually finished two laps down. First resident Kiwi home and seventh overall was Aucklander David Oxton who put up a great performance in his 1.5 Brabham and beat Jim Palmer's more powerful 1.6 McLaren Ford Cosworth.

Following requests in previous years, the Southland: Sports Car Club decided to run an extra day's unofficial practice but then most people decided they didn't want it anyway. Weather for both practice days was hot and fine, with the track surface becoming slippery towards the end of both sessions. On Thursday morning it soon became obvious that the pace was going to be fast and furious when Frank Gardner bettered Clark's 1967 record of 63.3s (92.07 mph) after just a few laps in the Brabham Alfa V8. The BRM, Ferrari and Lotus Ford entries were conspicuous by their absence in the first part of Thursday's practice. Clark arrived in the afternoon but did only a few laps in the Lotus, recording 61.8s before going home, while Gardner bettered his early morning times and did 61.4s, or best overall.

Although Chris Amon returned a 62.2s time before the first day was out, the Ferrari's cooling system was pressurising. After practice the engine was replaced by the identical unit which powered the Ferrari to victory in the Grand Prix, and the Wigram/Teretonga motor went back to the Ferrari works in Italy the day after the race for reconditioning. Don Macdonald left the track while exiting from the Loop in his 1.5 Brabham and struck a marshal point which tweaked the chassis and bent part of the suspension. As luck would have it, there was no marshal on duty at the demolished point.

The tight Teretonga circuit is well suited to the small Formula 2 cars, and Hulme put in many laps in his Brabham. Although suffering from fuel mixture problems, the World Champion still got down to 62.7s but wasn't happy. Piers Courage had his 1.6 McLaren Ford Cosworth in the groove and returned a 63.0s. The BRMs did not arrive until late, but Bruce McLaren was able to give advice to both Courage and Jim Palmer and drove both 1.6 McLarens. When the V12 BRMs did arrive Pedro Rodriguez was no longer at the circuit so Graeme Lawrence put in a few laps in the Mexican's car. McLaren got down to 63.0s before calling it a day.

Jim Clark had the 12.5 inch Firestone 122 tyres on the rear 13-inch rims of the Lotus 49T in place of the 10'-inch wide covers for Friday's practice. It was the first time that these wide tyres had been used since the Lotus made its first appearance in the Dutch Grand Prix last year. The Scot equalled the impressive best time of 60.1s (95.9 mph) before losing it while negotiating the tight Elbow corner. The Lotus Ford went off into the sandy scrub and although the damage was only of a minor nature, the car did no further laps. Practice had come to a brief halt earlier on when Bryan Faloon's Brabham dropped a sump full of oil on Control Tower bend. This caused a shambles for a few seconds as cars went everywhere, including Jim Palmer, who made a trip into the fernery.

The V12 BRMs were running better than they had been after more fiddling with the fuel systems. At Wigram they had used two main pumps and a further unit which fed the catch tank. For Teretonga one of the bigger pumps was replaced with a smaller pump and both Bruce and Pedro were running reasonably well. The New Zealander did a respectable 61.0s time which made him third fastest, Gardner did 61.2s and Rodriguez returned 61.6s. Although they didn't have the go of the Lotus or Ferrari, at least they were putting on a better showing. After practice twin electrical pumps replaced the mechanical units on both BRMs.

Denny Hulme spent more time in the pits than out on the circuit with the persistent fuel mixture troubles, further complicated by maladies in the braking department. The world champion didn't get many flying laps and his best time of 64.0s (seventh overall) put him well behind the flying Piers Courage, whose 1.6 McLaren M4A romped around in an excellent 61.6s, and Rodriguez who also did 61.6s. Top of the resident Kiwi field came Jim Palmer's McLaren, showing no signs of the earlier off-circuit excursion, with a 65.0s lap, followed by Graeme Lawrence (1.5 Brabham), 66.2s; Ken Smith (1.5 Lotus 41B), 66.3s; David Oxton (1.5 Brabham BT18), 66.6s, and Red Dawson (2.5 Brabham), 66.8s. All in all a rapid practice session in which no fewer than six drivers bettered the outright record.

Race morning dawned wet and grey in complete contrast to the day before, and tyre tactics became the most popular activity in the damp pits. Some tired faces showed the strain of late night work, including the Hulme team after making an engine change and repairing a crack in the Brabham's chassis. The skies really opened up as the field for the first preliminary did a couple of warm-up laps and the start was delayed 15 minutes because drivers considered conditions too dangerous. Suddenly pole position became vacant as Amon's rough running Ferrari was wheeled away with water in the ignition system. Moments later only two cars were left on the front row when Gardner removed his Brabham from the grid. Frank had found things just a little too slippery on the Goodyears and it was decided that he try and fit Firestone 106 covers for the wet. The Mildren Team didn't have the correct sized rims and by this stage the preliminary was about to start.

Clark led Courage, Rodriguez, McLaren and Hulme away from the grid, but everyone took matters extremely cautiously in the arduous conditions. After one lap Clark and Courage were already well clear of the two BRMs, while Jim Palmer (1.6 McLaren), Red Dawson (2.5 Brabham Climax) and Bryan Faloon (2.5 Brabham Climax) all pitted as they thought their feet were getting just a little too wet for comfort! The leader was averaging a slow 73 mph after lapping at 95 mph in the dry practice conditions and with three laps gone had 9 seconds on Courage. After five laps Courage ran 28 seconds ahead of Rodriguez, who was less than three seconds in front of his team mate, but there was no point in anyone risking things in the dismal conditions.

The race took a change next time round when grit jammed open the fuel injection slides on McLaren's BRM, and Bruce went straight off into a ditch, damaging the right front suspension and nose section of the car. Winner Clark completed the ten-lap heat more than 20 seconds ahead of the game Courage. Well behind the Formula 2 McLaren Ford but only a second apart were Rodriguez and Hulme in one of the dampest single-seater races seen in this country for some time. The BRM team began work on McLaren's car immediately after the race in a successful attempt to repair the damage before the final.

The front row of the grid for the second preliminary consisted of the 1.5 Brabhams of Graeme Lawrence, David Oxton and Bill Stone, with Ken Smith's 1.5 Lotus 41B, but the last named did not come out until the field had departed after the twin-cam engine jumped its timing. The rain eased off in this race but conditions were still difficult and Oxton's Brabham made best of the start to head Stone, Lawrence and the 1.5 Brabhams of Graham McRae and Tony Batchelor into the sweeping Loop for the first time.

Leader Oxton had the advantage of a clear track and no spray, and his 3.5 second lead on Stone after one lap almost doubled next time round. Meantime Roly Levis, who had started from the back of the grid in his 1.5 Brabham BT18 spun off on the back of the circuit and didn't appear to be enjoying the event at all. Oxton was driving an extremely good race and had the advantage of the narrower 970 compound Dunlop R7 tyres which were first class on the slippery track compared to the newer, wider Dunlop and Firestone covers on his rivals' cars.

After six laps the leader had 12 seconds on Stone who was being chased less than four seconds later by Lawrence and then a 12-second delay to McRae. No further changes occurred and Oxton scored his first win in a 1.5-litre N.Z. Formula Championship race. It was intended that both heats determine the grid positions for the Tasman race. but after the races the promoters announced that because of he weather and drop-outs, practice times only would count. Both Clark and Courage were unhappy about this as they felt they needn't have run in the heat at all and the Lotus driver considered that pole position was his. "It would make it easier for me to win," quipped the Scot, but how wrong he turned out to be!

Some criticism was aimed at the four-three-four grid layout at Teretonga as it put cars very close together with the likelihood of starting line shunts. Although the track was still wet in places, the weather improved for the start of the 96 mile race and even a little sun peeked its way through the clouds.

Frank Gardner left the grid first but the Gold Leaf Lotus Ford led the Brabham Alfa, McLaren's BRM, Courage (McLaren), Amon (Ferrari). Rodriguez (BRM), Hulme (Brabham) and Palmer (McLaren) into the sweeping Loop for the first time. Before the first lap was over Amon had moved into fourth place, while poor Ken Smith already had overheating ailments in his Lotus 41B. While Clark had pulled out two seconds on Gardner after two laps, McLaren and Amon were locked in a battle for third and the Ferrari nipped ahead of the BRM in the Loop.

Rodriguez moved from sixth to fifth ahead of Courage, and with just two laps completed Hulme had a ten-second advantage on Palmer, the two 1.5 Brabhams of Graeme Lawrence and David Oxton, with a gap to Red Dawson's 2.5 Brabham. By lap 5 Gardner and Amon were battling out second place, the two BRMs were running together and Courage and Hulme were disputing sixth position. Retirements were already evident, with Peter Yock's Lotus BRM fouling plugs and Graham Harvey having valve gear trouble in his 1.5 Brabham. The world champion passed Piers Courage on lap 6 and two laps later had a six-second advantage on the Englishman. Then Amon moved the Ferrari into second place, but after 10 laps Clark made it clear that he was out to win with a ten second advantage on Chris. By this time McLaren and Rodriguez were running six seconds behind Gardner.

After 12 laps Clark lapped the eighth placed Palmer and set a new lap record of 62.0s (92.98 mph), which was well outside his rapid practice times on a dry circuit. Graham McRae, running as sixth best resident Kiwi, came abruptly to a halt with a broken crankshaft and rod out the side in his 1.5 Brabham. Dawson moved ahead of Oxton, but the smaller Brabham stayed with Red for a ten-lap dice. Grey clouds were becoming more ominous with 20 laps gone and light rain began to fall. Jim Clark had his Lotus positioned 18 seconds clear of Amon's Ferrari with a third of the distance gone, and Chris ran six seconds ahead of Gardner. Lap 21 and the Rodriguez BRM began to sound terrible. The Mexican driver retired one lap later with oil pouring from a blown V12 engine and that was that.

The leader doubled Palmer on the 23rd lap once again. Although leading the local contingent, Palmer had only a ten-second lead on the less powerful Brabhams of Lawrence and Oxton and there seemed nothing the McLaren driver could do about it. On lap 24 Hulme made a one-minute pit stop to tighten a top link on the rear suspension which lost him fifth place. This put Courage 55 seconds behind McLaren, and on lap 27 Piers lapped the sixth man Palmer to give an idea of how well spaced the field was. Denny rejoined the race but his car still wasn't running as sweetly as it should have been, and he was well out of reach of Courage. Bill Stone retired his Brabham on the 31st lap with a broken camshaft, while the resident NZ field became interesting when Oxton moved into second place and eighth overall after Lawrence nonsensed his Brabham. Clark looked unruffled and calm, maintaining a 26-second lead on Amon after 35 laps. The Ferrari ran 14 seconds clear of Gardner and 24 seconds later came McLaren, Courage and Hulme, who were all well spaced. Oxton moved right in on Palmer, and the Hamilton driver spun in the Loop on lap 37, which let the white Brabham through to lead the local contingent. Spins were certainly the order of the day and Amon spun in the tricky Esses on lap 39, followed almost immediately by Gardner only yards away. It took both drivers just on a lap to get going again and in this time McLaren had moved from fourth to second place.

Clark led McLaren by a country mile at the two-thirds distance, followed by Amon, Gardner, Courage, Hulme, Oxton, Palmer, Lawrence and Levis. The Ferrari began to sound off-tune and it became obvious that the five-second gap between Amon and Gardner was dwindling. On lap 45 Chris spun on the tricky exit from Control Tower bend which cost him third place to the Australian. Red Dawson retired his 2.5 Brabham with a broken halfshaft. Although Courage and Hulme were now running together, the two cars were actually a lap apart and Courage was making sure that he kept his burgandy coloured McLaren on the wet island.

By lap 49 Gardner ran 23 seconds clear of Amon, and if there hadn't been enough drama, there was more to come. Leader Jim Clark began to have spark plug trouble but he found he could clear the engine by burying his foot on the loud pedal wherever possible. A bump halfway down the main straight where the concrete grid meets with the bitumen track proved to be the Scot's downfall. Clark came up to complete the 52nd lap with the Lotus under full acceleration and doing an estimated 130 mph when the car either aquaplaned on a puddle or was thrown off line by the bump.

The crowd screamed as the Lotus slewed sideways at the fastest point on the 1.6 mile circuit and shot backwards off on to the grass at high speed. The Lotus went up on two wheels and spun 200 yards on the grass before coming to rest with only a damaged nose section. Following a quick investigation Clark leapt back into the Lotus and roared off. Meanwhile an amazed Bruce McLaren had just taken the lead with Clark right behind him. However the black flag went out to the Scot as the nose was dragging precariously. Clark romped down the pit road at an estimated 80 mph in story-book fashion. Lotus mechanics pulled the nose off the car and Clark left the pits under full acceleration after losing just 15 seconds!

But the delay gave McLaren the advantage he needed, and the BRM crossed the finish line 10.6 seconds before the barelooking Lotus. A rather unsure McLaren stepped into the Teretonga victory circle for the fifth time (he won there first in 1959), but delighted to have finished his New Zealand tour so successfully after disappointing early races. In his victory speech Bruce said: "Teretonga has always been kind to me, but this is ridiculous!" It did consolidate the theory, however, that motor racing is certainly unpredictable.