1968 Grand Prix of South Africa

 1968 Grand Prix of South Africa

Racing data
1st of 12 races of the 1968 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XIV Grand Prix of South Africa
Date:	1st January 1968
Place:	Midrand
Course:	Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
Length:	327.52 km in 80 laps of 4.094 km
Weather:	hot
Spectator:	~ 80,000
Pole position
Driver:	Jim Clark	lotus
Time:	1: 21.6 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jim Clark	lotus
Time:	1: 23.7 min
Podium
First:	Jim Clark	lotus
Second:	Graham Hill	lotus
Third:	Jochen Rindt	Brabham

The 1968 South African Grand Prix took place on January 1st at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and was the first race of the 1968 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

On New Years Day 1968 the new season started and the Lotus team with the two drivers from the previous year, Jim Clark and Graham Hill , was the favorite to win the world title from the start. The reason for this assessment by experts was the team's victories in the last two races of the 1967 season .

Reigning world champion Denis Hulme had left Brabham and switched to McLaren . Jack Brabham then hired Jochen Rindt as the second driver in his team, which, because of the early appointment, started the season with the previous year's technique just like some other teams.

At Ferrari they kept Chris Amon and also undertook Jacky Ickx as the second regular driver. Andrea de Adamich got the chance to start the season as a guest starter in a third works car. Honda extended the collaboration with factory driver John Surtees .

BRM presented a new vehicle and used the Mexican Pedro Rodríguez as regular driver alongside last year's driver Mike Spence .

Jackie Stewart was of BRM in the directed by Ken Tyrrell An incoming Matra International changed team that unlike the French Matra works team for which Jean-Pierre Beltoise as a regular driver went to the start, for the entire season using the Ford -Cosworth Motors intended.

The Cooper Car Company had to undertake two new race drivers after the departure of the two factory riders last year. The choice was made for Ludovico Scarfiotti and Brian Redman . The private teams of Rob Walker and Joakim Bonnier also started the season with a Cooper. Team founder Dan Gurney remained the only driver in the Anglo American Racing team .

In addition, in South Africa, as usual, some guest starters competed in privately used vehicles, which increased the field to a total of 23 participants.

training

In practice, the assessment of the professional world was confirmed, as Jim Clark achieved pole position with a full second ahead of his team-mate Graham Hill in the favorite Lotus 49 . Jackie Stewart completed the front row, which consists of three vehicles. The second row was shared by the two Brabham works drivers Jochen Rindt and Jack Brabham, while John Surtees in the Honda qualified for the third row alongside Chris Amon's and Andrea de Adamich's two Ferraris.

run

Stewart took the lead ahead of Clark after a successful start, while Hill fell back to seventh place behind Rindt, Surtees, Brabham and Amon.

Clark took the lead on the second lap, while Brabham overtook Surtees and Hill passed Amon and Surtees into fifth place. Further down the field, Scarfiotti was eliminated when hot cooling water leaked from a leak and caused first-degree burns. He was then taken to the hospital.

On the seventh lap, Brabham overtook Rindt and thus briefly took third place, before he initially fell back and finally had to retire due to an engine problem. The then third-placed Rindt held this position until he was overtaken by Hill on lap 13. Another 14 laps later, he finally passed Stewart and took second place.

After Stewart dropped out on lap 43, Rindt took third place again. In the second half of the race nothing changed in the order of the first three. Lotus celebrated a sovereign one-two victory.

Jim Clark broadened several records that existed at the time this weekend, for example he achieved his 33rd pole position and his 25th GP victory. Without anyone knowing it, this was his last Grand Prix. He died before the next World Championship round during a Formula 2 race at the Hockenheimring . It was also the last Grand Prix for Mike Spence . He died on May 7, 1968 in a training accident in Indianapolis.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	1	Denis Hulme	McLaren M5A	BRM P142 3.0 V12	G
Brabham Racing Organization	2	Jack Brabham	Brabham BT24	Repco 740 3.0 V8	G
	3	Jochen Rindt
Team Lotus	4th	Jim Clark	Lotus 49	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F.
	5	Graham Hill
Anglo American Racers	6th	Dan Gurney	Eagle T1G	Weslake 58 3.0 V12	G
Honda Racing	7th	John Surtees	Honda RA300	Honda RA273E 3.0 V12	F.
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	8th	Chris Amon	Ferrari 312 (1967)	Ferrari 242 3.0 V12	F.
	9	Jacky Ickx
	10	Andrea de Adamich
Owen Racing Organization	11	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM P126	BRM P142 3.0 V12	G
	12	Mike Spence	BRM P115	BRM P75 3.0 H16
Cooper Car Company	14th	Brian Redman	Cooper T81B	Maserati 10 / F1 3.0 V12	F.
	15th	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Cooper T86
Matra International (Tyrrell)	16	Jackie Stewart	Matra MS9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D.
	26th		Matra MS7 1
Team Gunston	17th	John Love	Brabham BT20	Repco 620 3.0 V8	F.
	18th	Sam Tingle	LDS Mk3
Rob Walker Racing	19th	Jo Siffert	Cooper T81	Maserati 10 / F1 3.0 V12	F.
Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	20th	Joakim Bonnier			G
Matra Sports	21st	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra MS7	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	D.
Scuderia Scribante	22nd	Dave Charlton	Brabham BT11	Repco 620 3.0 V8	F.
Team Pretoria	23	Jackie Pretorius		Climax FPF 2.8 L4	F.
John Love	25th	Basil van Rooyen	Cooper T79		F.

¹ Jackie Stewart only drove the Matra MS7 with start number 26 in practice

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Ford	1: 21.6	180.618 km / h	01
02	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	1: 22.6	178.431 km / h	02
03	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	1: 22.7	178.215 km / h	03
04th	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	1: 23.0	177.571 km / h	04th
05	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	1: 23.2	177.144 km / h	05
06th	John Surtees	Honda	1: 23.5	176.508 km / h	06th
07th	Andrea de Adamich	Ferrari	1: 23.6	176.297 km / h	07th
08th	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1: 23.8	175.876 km / h	08th
09	Denis Hulme	McLaren BRM	1: 24.0	175.457 km / h	09
10	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1: 24.9	173.597 km / h	10
11	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1: 24.9	173.597 km / h	11
12	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Weslake	1: 25.6	172.178 km / h	12
13	Mike Spence	BRM	1: 25.9	171.576 km / h	13
14th	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Repco	1: 26.2	170.979 km / h	14th
15th	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Cooper Maserati	1: 26.3	170.781 km / h	15th
16	Jo Siffert	Cooper Maserati	1: 26.4	170.583 km / h	16
17th	John Love	Brabham-Repco	1: 27.0	169.407 km / h	17th
18th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	1: 27.2	169.018 km / h	18th
19th	Joakim Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	1: 27.3	168.825 km / h	19th
20th	Basil van Rooyen	Cooper-Climax	1: 27.8	167.863 km / h	20th
21st	Brian Redman	Cooper Maserati	1: 28.0	167.482 km / h	21st
22nd	Sam Tingle	LDS-Repco	1: 28.6	166.348 km / h	22nd
23	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Climax	1: 29.0	165.600 km / h	23

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Ford	80	0	1: 53: 56.6	01	1: 23.7
02	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	80	0	+ 25.3	02
03	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	80	0	+ 30.4	04th
04th	Chris Amon	Ferrari	78	1	+ 2 rounds	08th
05	Denis Hulme	McLaren BRM	78	0	+ 2 rounds	09
06th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	77	0	+ 3 rounds	18th
07th	Jo Siffert	Cooper Maserati	77	0	+ 3 rounds	16
08th	John Surtees	Honda	75	1	+ 5 rounds	06th
09	John Love	Brabham-Repco	75	0	+ 5 rounds	17th
-	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Climax	71	0	NC	23		Unrated
-	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Weslake	58	0	DNF	12		Oil loss
-	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	51	0	DNF	11		defective oil pump
-	Joakim Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	46	0	DNF	19th		overheated engine
-	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	43	0	DNF	03		Engine failure
-	Sam Tingle	LDS-Repco	35	1	DNF	22nd		overheated engine
-	Basil van Rooyen	Cooper-Climax	22nd	0	DNF	20th		Engine failure
-	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	20th	0	DNF	10		defective fuel supply
-	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	16	1	DNF	05		Engine failure
-	Andrea de Adamich	Ferrari	13	0	DNF	07th		accident
-	Mike Spence	BRM	07th	0	DNF	13		defective fuel supply
-	Brian Redman	Cooper Maserati	04th	0	DNF	21st		Oil loss
-	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Repco	03	0	DNF	14th		Differential damage
-	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Cooper-BRM	02	0	DNF	15th		defective cooling water pump

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Jim Clark lotus 9 02  Graham Hill lotus 6th 03  Jochen Rindt Brabham 4th

Item driver constructor Points 04th  Chris Amon Ferrari 3 05  Denis Hulme McLaren 2 06th  Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  lotus 9 02  Brabham 4th 03  Ferrari 3

Item constructor Points 04th  McLaren 2 05  Matra 1

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Training" ( Memento from March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 14, 2011)
2. ^ "Report" (accessed on August 14, 2011)
3. ^ "World Championship stands" ( Memento from March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on August 14, 2011)

Web links

• Race result on the official Formula 1 website