1965 French Grand Prix

 1965 French Grand Prix

Racing data
4th of 10 races of the 1965 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	LI Grand Prix de France
Date:	June 27, 1965
Place:	Clermont-Ferrand , France
Course:	Circuit de Charade
Length:	322.2 km in 40 laps of 8.055 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver:	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax
Time:	3: 18.3 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jim Clark (Round 34)	Lotus Climax
Time:	3: 18.9 min
Podium
First:	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax
Second:	Jackie Stewart	BRM
Third:	John Surtees	Ferrari

The 1965 French Grand Prix took place on June 27, 1965 on the Circuit de Charade near Clermont-Ferrand and was the fourth race of the 1965 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

Second Grand Slam of the season by Jim Clark

Between 1950 and 1964 the venue for the French Grand Prix changed irregularly between Reims-Gueux and Rouen-les-Essarts . In 1965 the race was held on a third French circuit, the Circuit de Charade . The track, located in the middle of France, has existed since 1958 and was initially used by various racing series, including Formula 2 and Formula 3 . With a length of eight kilometers, it was one of the very long routes, comparable to the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps . The route was built at the foot of a mountain range, which made the route very hilly. Security was poor, there were no curbs and no run-off zones. The automobile world championship did not return here until 1969 .

At Brabham, team owner Jack Brabham paused for a race and gave the free cockpit to Denis Hulme , who drove his second race in the automobile world championship. The reason for this was that Hulme already knew the circuit from Formula 2 and had driven several times, while Brabham did not yet know the Circuit de Charade. At Team Lotus , two new Lotus 33s were registered for Jim Clark and Mike Spence . An old Lotus 25 acted as a replacement car but had some new parts from the Lotus 33.

In the teams with customer vehicles, there was only a change in the driver pairing at Reg Parnell Racing . Mike Hailwood continued to compete in the Motorcycle World Championship and Richard Attwood was absent from the Belgian Grand Prix due to injury after his accident . Chris Amon was registered as a substitute driver, the team's second driver was Innes Ireland . For Amon it was the first of two races of the season. The Scuderia Centro Sud and John Willment Automobiles paused for a Grand Prix. Originally, John Willment Automobiles planned to register a car for Jo Schlesser . However, these plans were not implemented, so Bob Anderson got the free place on the registration list. Schlesser made his debut for Matra Sports in the automobile world championship a year later .

With Brabham, Clark and Dan Gurney , three former winners took part in the race, Ferrari had previously won six times among the constructors , Cooper , Lotus and Brabham were each successful once. Clark was ahead of Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in the drivers 'championship, and BRM was ahead of Lotus and Ferrari in the constructors' championship .

training

The first training session took place on Friday and lasted two hours. The suspension on Clarks Lotus broke, whereupon Clark let Surtees drive him back to the pits. After problems with the pedals, Hill had an accident with his BRM and damaged it. He also suffered a minor neck injury and ended the training early. The fastest lap times were achieved by the drivers who had already driven on the track in previous years as part of Formula 2 and Formula 3 races. Hulme was in first place with a time of 3: 22.0 minutes, Surtees was second and two seconds slower than Hulme. A curious scene occurred at the end of the training session when Ireland's car stopped with a gearbox failure. Ireland was first taken by Joakim Bonnier , whose car also failed a few meters later. Then Richie Ginther stopped with his Honda and took both drivers with him. This dangerous situation could not be resolved otherwise, as the track was the only way back to the pits, there were no other connections to the pit lane inside or outside the track area.

Before the second training session on Saturday, BRM changed the front of the cars. It has been shortened and the opening enlarged to better cool the engine. Hill's health was still impaired from the previous day's accident and turned off the track again. His teammate Jackie Stewart, however, dueled Gurney for first place. The fastest lap time was then continuously improved. Later in training, Lorenzo Bandini improved to first place and John Surtees also came close to the times of the top group. Clark's Lotus, whose suspension had been repaired, retired with engine failure, so Clark drove the rest of the practice and the race with the replacement vehicle. With this car he was the fastest driver and undercut Stewart's time by half a second. At the end of the second training session, Spence had an accident and damaged the suspension of his Lotus after a driving error.

Clark reached the second pole position of the season after starting the race from first place on the grid at the South African Grand Prix . Stewart finished second in front of the two Ferrari drivers Bandini and Surtees, who drove the same time. It was followed by the Brabham of Gurney and Hulme. Ginther was seventh on the grid, Amon was the best driver with a customer car in eighth. Cooper qualified ninth and twelve in midfield, more than five seconds slower than pole time.

run

It rained several times on race day. At the start, however, the track was dry and the clouds subsided. After the warm-up lap, the two BRMs had technical problems that were fixed before the start. Both vehicles of the Reg Parnell Racing Team had to be pushed to reach the starting grid. Clark took the lead from the first corner and built himself a lead over the competition on the first lap of the race, as Bandini improved to second and the other drivers were behind him. Stewart overtook Bandini on the second lap of the race and Gurney and Surtees also passed Bandini. In this short period of time, Clark expanded his lead to six seconds. Ginther, Spence, McLaren and Hulme battled for sixth in midfield. On lap three Jochen Rindt collided with Amon, spun off the track and retired. Amon initially continued the race, but later also retired. Both Honda retired on laps four and nine. The cause was ignition problems.

At the front, Clark increased his lead over Stewart continuously, while Stewart in turn moved away from the rest of the field. Gurney was in third place, but retired on lap 16 with engine failure, so Surtees took over that position. Gurney had previously had his engine repaired in the pits and then set the fastest race lap. Bandini lost more places and was sixth behind Spence and Hulme. Spence also lost several positions due to fuel problems. Another driver, Surtees, pitted with an engine malfunction. He continued the race in third place and was just ahead of Hulme. In the following laps, most of the field had technical problems, the first three drivers with their engines, and various other problems in the rear. After Ireland, Amon, Bonnier and McLaren were eliminated, only nine drivers remained in the race. Anderson spun off the track on lap 34, but was still classified in ninth place. Hill said after the race about the accident that he saw Anderson's car parked next to the road and was then followed by his bike, which he was able to avoid. Bandini finished eighth after losing a bike and having an accident two laps later. Only seven cars reached the destination.

Clark won the race with a 26 second lead over Stewart. It was his second win in a row and the third of the season after four races. He also led every lap of the Grand Prix and drove the fastest race lap. He achieved a Grand Slam with it . For Clark it was the second Grand Slam of the season. When asked about Clark's superiority with a two-year-old car, Lotus team boss Colin Chapman said after the race that Clark drove one of his typical races. He thinks Clark is the best racing driver the world has ever seen. It was Clark's second and final victory in the French Grand Prix.

Surtees crossed the finish line in third place, more than two minutes behind, while Hulme was fourth and achieved the first point placement of his career. Hill and Siffert got points for ranks five and six. Spence finished seventh. In the drivers' championship, the first five positions remained unchanged, with Clark extending his lead to ten points. In second place Hill and Stewart were tied. In the constructors' championship, Lotus overtook BRM and took the lead by two points. Ferrari remained third, eleven points behind.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	02	John Surtees	Ferrari 158	Ferrari 1.5 V8	D.
	04th	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 1512	Ferrari 1.5 V12
Team Lotus	06th	Jim Clark	Lotus 33	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
			Lotus 25
	18th	Mike Spence	Lotus 33
Owen Racing Organization	10	Graham Hill	BRM P261	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
	12	Jackie Stewart
Brabham Racing Organization	14th	Dan Gurney	Brabham BT11	Climax 1.5 V8	G
	16	Denis Hulme
Cooper Car Company	18th	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T77	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	20th	Jochen Rindt
Reg Parnell Racing	22nd	Innes Ireland	Lotus 25	BRM 1.5 V8	D.
	24	Chris Amon
Honda R&D Co.	26th	Richie Ginther	Honda RA272	Honda 1.5 V12	G
	28	Ronnie Bucknum
DW Racing Enterprises	30th	Bob Anderson	Brabham BT11	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
Rob Walker Racing Team	34	Joakim Bonnier	Brabham BT7	Climax 1.5 V8	D.
	36	Joseph Siffert	Brabham BT11	BRM 1.5 V8

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jim Clark drove both cars in training and the Lotus 25 with the number 6 in the race.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	3: 18.3	146.23 km / h	01
02	Jackie Stewart	BRM	3: 18.8	145.87 km / h	02
03	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	3: 19.1	145.65 km / h	03
04th	John Surtees	Ferrari	3: 19.1	145.65 km / h	04th
05	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	3: 19.8	145.14 km / h	05
06th	Denis Hulme	Brabham-Climax	3: 20.5	144.63 km / h	06th
07th	Richie Ginther	Honda	3: 21.4	143.98 km / h	07th
08th	Chris Amon	Lotus BRM	3: 23.0	142.85 km / h	08th
09	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	3: 23.2	142.71 km / h	09
10	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	3: 23.4	142.57 km / h	10
11	Joakim Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	3: 23.4	142.57 km / h	11
12	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Climax	3: 23.6	142.43 km / h	12
13	Graham Hill	BRM	3: 23.7	142.36 km / h	13
14th	Joseph Siffert	Brabham-BRM	3: 25.2	141.32 km / h	14th
15th	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	3: 26.0	140.77 km / h	15th
16	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	3: 26.3	140.56 km / h	16
17th	Innes Ireland	Lotus BRM	3: 30.5	137.76 km / h	17th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	40	0	2: 14: 38.4	01	3: 18.9
02	Jackie Stewart	BRM	40	0	+ 26.3	02
03	John Surtees	Ferrari	40	1	+ 2: 33.5	04th
04th	Denis Hulme	Brabham-Climax	40	0	+ 2: 35.1	06th
05	Graham Hill	BRM	39	0	+ 1 lap	13
06th	Joseph Siffert	Brabham-BRM	39	0	+ 1 lap	14th
07th	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	39	0	+ 1 lap	10
08th	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	36	0	+ 4 rounds	03
09	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	34	0	+ 6 rounds	15th
-	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	23	0	DNF	09		suspension
-	Joakim Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	21st	0	DNF	11		alternator
-	Chris Amon	Lotus BRM	20th	0	DNF	08th		Fuel system
-	Innes Ireland	Lotus BRM	18th	0	DNF	17th		transmission
-	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	16	1	DNF	05		Engine failure
-	Richie Ginther	Honda	09	0	DNF	07th		ignition
-	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	04th	0	DNF	16		ignition
-	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Climax	03	0	DNF	12		Collision with Chris Amon

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the six best results from ten races counted. In the constructors' championship, only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Jim Clark Lotus Climax 27 02  Graham Hill BRM 17th 03  Jackie Stewart BRM 17th 04th  John Surtees Ferrari 13 05  Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 8th 06th  Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 6th

Item driver constructor Points 07th  Mike Spence Lotus Climax 3 08th  Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax 3 09  Denis Hulme Brabham-Climax 3 10  Joseph Siffert Brabham-BRM 2 11  Richie Ginther Honda 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Lotus Climax 27 02  BRM 25th 03  Ferrari 16 04th  Cooper-Climax 8th 05  Brabham-Climax 6th 06th  Brabham-BRM 2 07th  Honda 1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} "51st Grand Prix de I'ACF - Those Scots again" (motorsportmagazine.com on July 30, 2015)
2. ^ ^{A b} "Clark wins in two-year-old reserve Lotus" (en.espnf1.com on July 29, 2015)

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Grand Prix Results: French GP, 1965 at grandprix.com
• 1965 French Grand Prix on youtube.com