Clark Trophy results: Stuart Dent ('Twin Window'): 34 (participation in 9 out of 11 photos)Vladimir Kovalenko ('Kvadrat'): 34 (participation in 7 photos)Rob Horton ('Ensign 14'): 34 (participation in 8 photos)Fred Gallagher: 33
(participation in 10 photos)David Shaw: 20
(participation in 4 photos)Patricia Valencia ('Flash'): 20
(participation in 8 photos)Robert Van der Plasken ('VDP'): 18
(participation in 3 photos)1.
Who?Briggs Cunningham/Dick Thompson
What?B. S. Cunningham Chevrolet Corvette
Where?Le Mans
When?09/04/1960; Le Mans Test Day
Why? Cunningham (1907-2003) was the son of a wealthy Cincinnati financier who made several fortunes in business, including being the initial backer of Proctor & Gamble. Briggs Jr inherited the fortune when he was seven and as a result enjoyed a highly privileged upbringing at Yale, where he developed a passion for sailing which would result in his later career as an owner and captain in the America's Cup yacht racing competitions. In 1930 he married Lucie Bedford, the grand-daughter of a co-founder of Standard Oil. On honeymoon in Europe they attended regattas and Cunningham saw his first motor race, the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix. For the next 32 years the couple lived on Long Island Sound. Cunningham sailed competitively at Cowes Week, but in 1941 he was rejected by the US Navy due to an asthmatic condition and because of his age. He therefore joined the Civil Air Patrol, flying aircraft he bought himself. "I was lucky," he said, "because I could stay at our home in Palm Beach when we patrolled the coastline down there." After marrying his second wife, Laura Cramer Elmer, Cunningham moved to Rancho Santa Fe, California.
He became interested in automobile racing in the 1930s and formed the Automobile Racing Club of America which promoted events. Cunningham did not himself drive as his mother did not wish to do so but in 1940 he began building his own cars, the first being a Buick fitted with a Mercedes body. He was a founding member of the Sports Car Club of America and in the post-war era began racing himself. And as an experienced and capable endurance racing driver, Briggs Cunningham competed internationally from 1950, finally retiring in 1966, at the age of 59.
After linkming up with Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti he mounted his first bid to win Le Mans in 1950 with the unlikely Healy-Cadillac. Then the team resumed the American season with Briggs having successes in his Healy Cadillac and Sam Collier campaigning the Ferrari 166. Tragedy struck at Watkins Glen when Collier was killed in the Ferrari in a race in which Briggs finished second in the Healy-Cadillac. In the end Cunningham decided that he had to build his own cars if he wanted to make any impact in Europe and he acquired a company to develop the first Cunningham racers. Although success in Europe eluded the team the cars did begin winning in America and in 1952 the company introduced the Cunningham C4R which led at Le Mans. Cunningham drove 20 of the 24 hours without relief when his co-driver Bill Spear was unwell and he was fourth overall in that Le Mans in 1952. Briggs Cunningham was above all a patriot. His Cunningham cars were designed with one purpose - To win Le Mans for America. His Cunningham team cars won the Sebring classic in 1953, and his Italian OSCA won there again in 1954, co-driven by Stirling Moss.
Cunningham Cars continued to be raced at Le Mans until 1955 when the company was closed down for tax reasons. His team later campaigned Jaguar, Lister-Jaguar, and Maserati GT and sports-racing cars. When he became a Jaguar importer he ran a US factory team with a trio of D-Types and enjoyed much success with driver Walt Hansgen. In the late 1950s Cunningham embarked on the task of winning the America's Cup for America and in 1958 defeated the British entry to win the Cup for the United States with his yacht Columbia.
Cunningham continued to run cars in both Europe and America, including running F1 drivers Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren in his Jaguars at Laguna Seca and Riverside in 1960. He became a Formula 1 entrant the following year when he entered a Cooper-Climax in the United States Grand Prix. The chassis was later sold to Roger Penske and it became the Zerex Special and ultimately was sold on to Bruce McLaren and was the first car raced by the McLaren team.
Cunningham's Jaguars continued to appear at Le Mans until 1963. As late as 1964 he had won his class in the Sebring 12-hour race, driving a Porsche 904; but his personal best as a driver remeined fourth place overall in 1952 Le Mans. He raced a few more times, his last race being at Sebring in 1966. Then he opened the Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa, California, to display his personal collection of automobiles. The museum closed remained open until 1985.
Briggs Swift Cunningham died on July 2, 2003 at the age of 95 at his home in Las Vegas from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Why? (by WINO) Dick Thompson was one of the very best amateur sportscar drivers in the US in the 50s and 60s. A Washington, DC, dentist by profession, he started racing at the relatively late age of 31. He stopped 16 years later. First race: Sebring 1952 with a MG-TD. Then he raced a Porsche, a Jaguar XK-120, a big Healey, Bill Mitchell's Sting Ray and Grady Davis' production Corvette in SCCA races. He wrote a Corvette book in 1958 called Corvette Guide.
In 1959 he joined the Cunningham team, with a Lister/Jag at Sebring that year and a Corvette at Le Mans in 1960, then numerous Maseratis until 1963. Apart from Mustangs in the TransAm, he drove Shelby's Cobra Daytona, NART's Ferrari GTO, the Essex Wire 427 Cobra, Corvette Grand Sport, 7 liter Ford GT Mk2, Gulf Mirage Ford and the turbine-powered Howmets.
Nicknamed "the flying dentist", he is retired now and lives in Florida, practicing his golf game and riding horses.
Why? (by Jean-Maurice Gigleux) Le Mans 1960 was the first time Corvettes raced at Le Mans (in fact the first time an american GT car raced at Le Mans). And it was the return of B.S.Cunningham after 1955 last appearance.
2.
Who?Gerhard Mitter
What?Lotus 18 - DKW
Where?Solitude
When?24/07/1960; X Internationales Solituderennen (Rd 6 of 1960 German FJ championship)
Why? An outstanding driver, Mitter was an infrequent Grand Prix competitor who surely deserved more opportunities at the highest level, as he showed with his fourth place in de Beaufort's old Porsche in the 1963 German GP. As it was, he had to be content with just the annual outing at the Nurburgring, mainly in the Formula 2 class.
Gerhard Mitter began his career with motor-cycles in 1952 and graduated by way of Germany's Formula Junior. Gerhard was a top Formula Junior driver in the early sixties with his DKW-engined Lotus. In 1960 he became the champion of German FJ championship driving Lotus 18 and and his own built front-engined front-wheel-drive car that had an ugly design but wasn't unsuccessful (it won 3 races in that championship). In the race on the photo Team Lotus decided to enter three their factory Lotus 18. And they easily won the race with help of Jim Clark while Trevor Taylor and Peter Arundell took 3rd and 4th places accordingly. That day Gerhard drove Lotus 18 and finished 6th. In 1962 Mitter had the same quantity of points as Kurt Ahrens Jr (both - 71pts) but the latter was declared as the champion while Mitter became vice-champion.
Mitter also was known as hill-climb king. Then he joined Porsche in 1964. He was to become a mainstay of the German company's endurance racing programme, winning the Austrian GP in 1966 and the Targa Florio in 1969 and gaining many other fine placings, also becoming three-times European mountain-climb champion between 1966 and 1968. He started to drive regularly in Formula 2 in 1969 where his technical knowledge and experience helped him out racing the BMW's. He was also involved in the development of the Dornier-built BMW F2 contender, but he crashed fatally during practice for that year's German GP. His car came off the road in practice at the Nurburgring at a point where even novices would have had no problems, leaving no tyre marks. It remains a mysterious accident, though there was some suggestion that the steering had either blocked or worked loose. Also, it was thought, a wheel may have come off the car.
3.
Who?Jan Fritzner
What?Focus Mk 3 - Peugeot
Where?Falkenberg, Sweden
When?05-06/08/1961; X Västkustloppet FJ race
Why? (by Rainer Nyberg) The Focus was a brief Swedish Formula Junior effort. It was produced by Lennart Sundin’s AB Sportscars in Stockholm. Here the car is seen during the 1961 Västkustloppet held at Falkenberg. Fritzner used a Sportscars tuned linered down 1098 cc Peugeot engine in his Focus. He finished third in the first heat and sixth in the second. Yngve Rosqvist won both heats in a Lotus 18. Five Mk3 were built.
4.
Who?John Surtees
What?Ferrari 158 '0005'
Where?Aspern Aerodrome, Zeltweg
When?23/08/1964; II Großer Preis von Osterreich
Why? The organizers of races at the Zeltweg airfield had been trying to get a World Championship Grand Prix since the late 1950s and after two non-championship races in 1961 (won by Innes Ireland in a Lotus) and 1963 (won by Jack Brabham) they finally got what they wanted. The teams arrived having heard that the track was extremely bumpy and practice confirmed that this was the case with various drivers suffering suspension failures as a result. After practice Graham Hill was fastest in his BRM and shared the front row of the 4-3-4 grid with John Surtees in his Ferrari, Jim Clark's Lotus and Dan Gurney's Brabham. Ritchie Ginther (BRM), Jack Brabham (Brabham) and Lorenzo Bandini in the second Ferrari shared the second row. There was one notable addition to the field, local rising star Jochen Rindt making his WDC debut in a Rob Walker Brabham at the age of 22.
At the start of the race both Clark and Graham Hill were left behind, Clark because of a gear selection problem and Hill with excessive wheelspin. Also in trouble was Jack Brabham who pitted with a fuel-feed problem. As a result Gurney was in the lead until Surtees got ahead on the second lap. Bandini was third and there was a lively battle for fourth. Clark joined this as he fought back but Graham Hill's race ended with an electrical problem soon afterwards. The next casualty was Surtees who rear suspension collapsed after receiving a pounding from the atrocious concrete-sectioned surface. It looked like his involvement in the race was over but he calmly walked back to the pits, collected a jack and some spanners before strolling back to the car to fix his suspension. By the time Surtees finally arrived back in the pits the leaders, Gurney and Bandini, were on lap 35, some 28 laps ahead of him. In the meantime Gurney was left alone in the lead a long way clear of Bandini with Clark soon up into third place. Clark chased after Bandini and took second on the ninth lap but he was unable to close the gap to Gurney by more than a tenth here and there. Mike Spence in the second Lotus made a good impression as he worked his way up to fifth but at almost the same time both he and Clark went out with broken driveshafts, leaving Gurney in a solid lead with Bandini second and Ginther third. On lap 47 Gurney suddenly slowed with a front suspension failure and so Bandini was left in the lead with only Ginther and Jo Bonnier (in his Rob Walker Brabham) on the same lap. Although Ginther pressed Bandini hard and so Surtees went back out to provide some rear-gunner action for his team-mate but soon he drove back in pits. And now Innes Ireland fourth in the BRP but then he was passed by Tony Maggs in BRM
There was a dramatic moment when Phil Hill crashed his Cooper on lap 59. The car caught fire and burned out. Bonnier's engine began to suffer from a misfire and he dropped back and so third place was inherited by Bob Anderson's private Brabham which was three laps behind the leaders. Bandini duly won his first (and only) World Championship victory with Ginther second and Anderson third.
Why? (by Rob Horton) The airport course for the first WC Austrian GP was a little bumpy and wrecked suspensions. At least more than 3 finished, unlike the trial run which came within one last retirement of a Scirocco winning a GP. The race saw the only WC win for Lorenzo Bandini, helped by team-mate Surtees’ retirement, seen here. Bandini had a number of 2nds, before his tragic death in the Monaco GP 1967…
5.
Who?David Preston
What?Lotus 47 Ford
Where?Le Mans
When?08-09/04/1967; Le Mans testdays
Why? When the Lotus Europa was introduced in 1966, it was obvious that its chassis could accept far more power than the Renault engine could produce. With a well-proven twincam racing engine, a formula 2 gearbox, revised rear suspension, and a lightweight bodyshell, the Lotus 47 GT was born. David Preston drove it in at least three events: here during Le Mans testdays, in 1967 in BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch (in pair with Trevor Taylor; 19th overall) and in 1967 Le Mans itself.
Why? (by Rainer Nyberg) This Lotus Mk47 is seen at Le Mans during 1967, it is driven by Britons David Preston and John Wagstaff. This picture however is not taken at the race, but at the test weekend where it sported number 46, which changed to 44 for the proper race. The Lotus 47 was the competition version of the Lotus Europa. They used Ford engines and a Hewland FT200 gearbox, whilst the roadcar used Renault components. This Lotus 47 expired during the fifth hour during the 1967 Le Mans due to overheating.
6.
Who?Dan Gurney
What?Brabham BT24-Repco
Where?Zandvoort
When?20-23/06/1968; XVII Grote Prijs van Nederland (practice)
Why? The first time when the full face helmet was used in Grand Prix. But it was in practice since in the race Gurney wore an open-face helmet. So in the F1 race the full face helmet was used for the first time at Nurburgring that year - and again by Dan.
The field was much as normal when the F1 circus gathered in Zandvoort. The Brabham team had its new Repco V8 engine ready and was running a third car for Dan Gurney who had no Weslake engines available for his Eagle. Cooper ran only one car for Lucien Bianchi following the death of Scarfiotti and Brian Redman's accident at Spa a fortnight earlier.
In qualifying Chris Amon was fastest in his Ferrari with Jochen Rindt's Brabham and Graham Hill's Lotus sharing the front row. Jack Brabham was on the second row with Jackie Stewart (Matra-Ford) while the third row featured Jacky Ickx (Ferrari), Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Bruce McLaren (McLaren), the last-named having won the team's first GP a fortnight earlier in Belgium.
The weather was bad all weekend and it was raining lightly at the start. Rindt took the lead but he was in third place by the end of the first lap, behind Hill and Stewart. The rain intensified and on lap four Stewart moved into the lead. He quickly built up a big lead while Hill came under pressure from Beltoise who had moved quickly through the midfield. On lap 23 Beltoise went off and had to pit to clear his throttle of sand and so he dropped back to seventh. When he rejoined he quickly moved up the field, passing Gurney, Ickx, Amon and Rodriguez to get to third place. On lap 50 he overtook Hill for second place. On lap 61 Hill had a spin and dropped to fourth behind Rodriguez. On lap 82 he did it again but this time had to retire.
Stewart led home Beltoise to give Matra chassis a 1-2 result with Rodriguez third for BRM. Ickx was fourth for Ferrari while Silvio Moser survived to finish fifth in his private Brabham, although he was three laps behind the winner. Gurney retired on 63th lap because of problem with throttle.
Why? (by Rob Horton) First appearance of a full-face helmet in F1. Dan was always at the forefront of developments, and team-mate and protégé, Swede Savage, had used a full-face helmet – a legacy of his motorcycling days.
Dan was winding down his F1 career at this time in favour of the Eagle operation, which was forced to miss this GP through a lack of cars. The last GP for AAR was at Italy that year – he bought a McLaren to race at the last 3 races, which should have seen his F1 farewell, but he temporarily drove for the Macs after Bruce died and Denny Hulme suffered burns at Indy.
Why? (by Stuart Dent) It was the first use of a Bell full face helmet in a GP. Only drive for Brabham that year.
7.
Who?Sam Tingle
What?Brabham-Repco BT24-2
Where?Kyalami
When?1968; South African Formula 1 Championship (probably Republic Trophy race on 01/06/1968)
Why? A great enthusiast, this Rhodesian began racing in his homeland in 1947, at the wheel of an old Bentley. This was replaced with a succession of cars, mainly MGs, before he acquired the ex-Claes, ex-Gibson Connaught which brought him the Rhodesian championship.
Sam contested the South African championship with great verve throughout the 1960s in one of Doug Serrurier's Cooper-based LDS-Alfas, scoring his first big win in the 1966 Border Trophy at East London, although he took many other good placings. In 1966, 1967, 1969 he became vice-champion of SA F1 championship (in 1966 and 1967 behind John Love and in 1969 behind John McNicol)
By 1968 Sam was perhaps past his prime, but still managed to stay competitive in his final seasons in the sport by getting his hands on an ex-works Brabham BT24-Repco entered by Team Gunston. In 1968 he was third overall (behind Love and Jackie Pretorius). In his last ever full season in South African championship he became 2nd again but only 2 points behind John McNicol. But he could become a champion that year. Before the last round of 1969 season - 1969 Rand Spring Trophy held at Kyalami Sam had 34 points while McNicol had 42. Sam almost have no chanses to win the championship. But suddenly on the 31th lap of the race, only 9 laps before the finish, the suspension on McNicol's Lola T142 broke, he spun off the track and crashed his car. Now the leader was John Love while Sam, his team partner, was second. To become a champion Tingle need to win this race, and as they both were on the same lap it seemed quite real. But... Love didn't let Tingle to overtake him and so John McNicol became the champion.
In the next season Sam drove his old Brabham for the last time. He raced only in the first race of 1970 season held at Killarney, but after DNF because of an accident he decided to finish his career.
Another interesting point is Gunston sponsorship. When Team Gunston entered LDS 3 chassis for Sam Tingle and Brabham BT20 for John Love in 1968 year South African Grand Prix, the first round of that year World Drivers Championship, they were painted in orange and brown Gunston colours, and so they became the first ever tobacco painted cars in WDC preceded the Lotus Gold Leaf livery by five months.
Why? (by Rob Horton) Gunston hedged their bets in ’68, Tingle’s team-mate and dominant driver John Love having a Lotus 49. His fellow Mancunian-born Rhodesian Tingle was competent enough although at this time he was pushing 48; his best result in a WC round was still to come, 8th (out of 8) in 1969 at the SA GP. Maybe if he had had a chance earlier???
8.
Who?Jim Clark
What?Lotus 49
Where?Kyalami
When?01/01/1968; XIVth South African Grand Prix
Why? At Kyalami New Year's Day and the 1968 season began with Team Lotus favorite for success following two end of season victories in 1967. In qualifying Jim Clark was fastest by a second with his Lotus teammate Graham Hill alongside him with Stewart in the Matra completing the front row. On the second row there were the two Brabham-Repcos of Rindt and Brabham while the third row featured Surtees in the Honda and the Ferraris of Andrea de Adamich (in a third car) and Amon. The race began with Stewart taking the lead from Clark while Hill dropped back to seventh behind Rindt, Surtees, Brabham and Amon. On the second lap Clark took the lead while Brabham overtook Surtees and Hill passed both Amon and Surtees to run fifth. Further back there was drama when Scarfiotti's Cooper suffered a water leak and the driver was scalded by the escaping hot water. He was taken to hospital with first degree burns. On the seventh lap Brabham overtook Rindt for third place but soon afterwards he ran into engine trouble and dropped back, leaving Rindt third again. He came under threat from Hill and on lap 13 the Englishman moved to third place. Amon moved into fifth place having overtaken Surtees on the same lap. The order remained stable as Hill chased and caught Stewart and on lap 27 he moved ahead. Stewart stayed with him until lap 43 when the Matra retired with a connecting rod failure. This moved Rindt to third once again and the order then remained unchanged all the way to the finish with Lotus scoring a dominant 1-2 finish with Rindt third.
This race became the last ever F1 race for Jimmy... It was for the last time Jimmy raised his hand winning in F1... But then, in January 1968, it was impossible to think about it... Lotus and Jimmy was in great form... It seemed that Lotus and Jimmy would win all championships in which they took part... And it would be so unreal, so unimaginable when everybody heard the nightmare news from the April F2 race at Hockenheimring...
Why? (by Rob Horton) The 1968 season was Jim’s greatest to date, a win at the first race followed by win after win after win as he decided to skip other formulae for once. After destroying the field to take a 3rd title, he took a 4th in 1969, and with the new 72 really suiting him a 5th (and 3rd on the trot) in 1970.
Fortunately he avoided being tainted by the disaster that was the Pratt & Whitney turbine, leaving it to young Brazilian Fittipaldi, and stuck with the 72. The combo was still the class of the field in 1971 and 1972, as the farmer from Edington Mains made it 7 titles in all and 57 Grand Prix wins.
It was getting a bit long in the tooth for 1973, but Chapman’s inventive mind had worked overtime for his greatest driver and the 76 developed ground effect for the first time. There was no stopping Clark once the car was in full use; he won every race in 1974 to rattle off his 7th consecutive title. 1975 saw the rise of Niki Lauda but Clark was good enough to see him off as ground effects overcame the Ferrari’s chassis limitations. After mopping up the ’76 and ’77 titles without breaking a sweat, and winning his 100th Grand Prix at Monaco in 1978, Jim decided to retire, leaving the Lotus – with new Cossie turbo coming along nicely – to Tom Pryce, a similarly unassuming character, who took Lotus into the 80s as the most successful team ever. A trait that is still continuing with the exciting combo of Button and Sato, 1st and 2nd in the 2004 title race.
Sorry - the Fantasy Thread came back to mind there…9.
Who?Jim Clark and Chris Amon
What?Lotus 49T and Ferrari 246T
Where?Sandown Park
When?25/02/1968; 33rd Australian Grand Prix
Why? (by M.G.P.A for Motoring News) After an incredible race long duel, Jim Clark beat Chris Amon in the sprint to the line to win the 33rd Australian Grand Prix by half a length. Amon was unrelenting in his pursuit of Clark, the gap only getting as large as one second at the start and later when Amon was held up while lapping Piers Courage. Clark and Amon thrilled the crowd after the disappointing early retirement of Jack Brabham, who after making a bad start chased the leaders for 21 laps.
The meeting was run in above century heat, giving the international teams a chance to apply lessons learned at Kyalami in January. During the week-end cars sprouted fuel radiators, open sides and external tubular water pipes.
Sandown Park was very hot for the opening of practice on Friday but the session was cut short when the stewards stopped practice to allow the promoters time to complete repairs to the circuit. The session proved little apart from the fact that the surface had deteriorated markedly since last year and that the high temperatures were going to cause overheating troubles to both cars and drivers.
After one-two's at Surfers Paradise and Warwick Farm the Lotus team were well pleased with the form of the Lotus 49s. The cars were brought to Sandown exactly as they had run at the Farm, and Clark and Hill's only task was to select the right gear ratios for the circuit.
Similarly Amon's Ferrari was in "Farm Trim". The 4-valve motor had performed satisfactorily at Warwick Farm after its post Surfers overhaul and Amon was most keen to use it on the fast Sandown Circuit. He now had two spares as the second 3-valve motor arrived from its factory rebuild in Italy.
Jack Brabham was all set to win his fourth Australian Grand Prix. Since Warwick Farm his new tyres and new motor had arrived. The motor was still the single overhead-cam type but the block was 11.4 inches shorter and was cast in magnesium. It made the Brabham look much neater as the exhaust system was of the "old fashioned" type, coming out low on the outside of the Vee.
Goodyear had finally got their latest rubber out of Australian Customs so Brabham was welcomed back to the fold after his defection to Firestone. The tyres were those used in the South African Grand Prix but were not quite as wide as the Lotus Firestones.
Pedro Rodriguez was another 'Goodyear man' to return to the fold. The BRM team brought three cars, two V12s and one V8 but Pedro very quickly proved the V8 was not competitive. The V12s were unchanged, Attwood's gearbox had been overhauled but the fuel system troubles seemed to be solved.
When Frank Gardner's Alfa V8 motor was examined after Warwick Farm it was found to be severely damaged so the replacement was fitted during the week.
Denny Hulme had continued his programme of chassis development in an effort to make the 1600cc Brabham as quick as Piers Courage's similarly powered McLaren. He had not been outstandingly successful as his equal slowest on Saturday morning showed.
Amon was quickest in the shortened Friday practice session. His best was 1m 6.9s, well outside the 1m 5.7s. record of Jack Brabham. After Amon were Clark, Harvey, Rodriguez and Frank Gardner. The condition of the circuit prevented fast laps and eventually practice.
On Saturday morning Clark improved to 1m 6.9s. but Amon was slower with 1m 7.2s. Despite not having run on Friday, Brabham got down to 1m 7.4s very quickly. Leo Geoghegan was far quicker than his local rivals with 1m 7.6s. Behind Geoghegan were Gardner, 1m 8.2s.; Rodriguez, 1m 8.8s.; Hill, 1m 9.2s.; Attwood, 1m 9.4s.; Courage, 1m 9.5s.; Harvey, 1m 9.6s.; and Hulme, Cusack and Bartlett with 1m 10.2s.
Brabham and Amon got going very quickly in the second session. Pole position was obviously going to be disputed between these two and Clark, but before the latter could get down to his morning times he had a tyre go down. Although Brabham could not equal his lap record of 1m 5.7s. he was quickest with 1m 6.7s. Amon was one-tenth slower but by the time Clark got going again the circuit was very slippery and he could not reply. Courage was able to knock one second off his previous best, getting down to 1m 8.5s.
Brabham did not go out during the last session, but Amon, Clark and Hill were all determined to bump him from pole.
The two Lotus Ford drivers attempted to tow each other around but the condition of the circuit beat them. All they could do was improve Graham Hill's best time to 1m 7.3s. Clark's best in this session was 1m 7.2s. while Amon's was 1m 7.4s.
Leo Geoghegan was surprisingly quickest during the last session. His most competitive 1m 7.0s put him ahead of Graham Hill on the pole side of the second row. When practice closed 0.3 seconds covered Brabham, Amon, Clark and Geoghegan.
As the start-finish line at Sandown is half-way along the main straight, the first quarter mile of the race becomes a drag race into Shell Corner. It is doubtful whether the man on pole has the better position, having the shorter ; run to the left-hander, or whether the man on the outside has the advantage, being closer to the right line.
After a briefing on the dummy grid the 13 drivers completed three-quarters of a lap to the grid proper. From the start Clark was marginally ahead of Amon, Hill overwhelmed Brabham. Amon followed Clark through Shell and was himself followed by Hill, Brabham, Gardner and Geoghegan.
Amon immediately gave warning to Clark that if he was going to win the 33rd Australian Grand Prix he would have to fight for it. As Clark led around the kink, called Mobil Corner, for the first time Amon put the Ferrari in the Lotus' slipstream. The cars roared up long hill at the back of the circuit nose to tail and as they neared the crest Amon pulled out to overhaul the Lotus. The cars were level at the top but Jim kept his foot down and forced Amon to drop back as they raced down toward Dandenong Road. Brabham was overtaken by Gardner on the first lap. Across the line for the first time the order was Clark, Amon, Hill, Gardner, Brabham, Geoghegan, Rodriguez, Cusack, Courage, Bartlett, Attwood, Hulme and Harvey.
Clark and Amon quickly detached themselves from Graham Hill, the gap between the Lotus-Ford and the Ferrari being almost non-existent as they completed lap two.
Frank Gardner pulled out of Hill's slipstream at the end of the straight for the second time and grabbed third. Graham replied immediately by using Gardner's slipstream to snatch back third as they raced up the hill.
After two laps Denny Hulme dropped to last when he pitted to have a loose spark plug refitted in the FVA Ford motor.
On the completion of two laps Clark's Lotus-Ford led by two cars' lengths from Chris Amon's Ferrari. Graham Hill's Lotus was five seconds behind Amon and was leading Gardner by one second and Brabham by two. Brabham really got going on the third lap and moved past Gardner and set out after Hill. He caught the Londoner and slipped by on the straight after four laps.
Cusack had moved by Rodriguez and got by Geoghegan into sixth on lap six. When Brabham took third he was five seconds behind Clark, by lap nine he was four seconds down. Amon was still in Clark's slipstream but the Lotus and Ferrari could not hold their lead on the Brabham-Repco. Brabham continued his chase and got to within 0.6 seconds of Amon on lap 16. He was unable to close this gap any further.
As Clark drove down the straight Amon followed directly behind but Brabham elected to keep to the inside of the circuit. He found that his motor was overheating and the trouble was aggravated by following Amon closely.
Much to the disappointment of the spectators it was the gap between Amon and Clark which began to close, not the gap between Brabham and the leaders.
Brabham began to lose ground on the 20th lap and pulled into the pits after 21. He decided it was not worth risking the motor to continue so the crowd saw yet another Brabham retirement.
By this stage the gap between Amon and Hill was half a minute. Clark and Amon were still in close company while Hill and Gardner were actively disputing the place vacated by Brabham.
Hill's Lotus-Ford led Gardner's yellow Alec Mildren Brabham Alfa from laps 5 to 18. Gardner got through but led only three laps until Hill went down the straight.
Amon became more daring with Brabham's retirement, and began to examine all the places on the circuit where he might get by. The Ferrari had more mid-range acceleration on the uphill back straight so Amon was repeatedly able to rush up in Clark's slipstream and pull out alongside as they neared the top. Each time the Lotus' top end power came in just soon enough to allow Clark to outspeed Amon over the crest.
The pattern was similar on the main straight. Amon's approach from behind was so rapid he gave the appearance Clark could not keep him behind. Each time the Ferrari would be alongside the Lotus, either a little ahead or a little behind, when the V8 Ford was able to take the Lotus ahead.
Amon tried to pull out early, as they crossed the start-finish line and as they approached the braking area but each time Clark was able to precariously hold his position.
On lap 33 the officials credited Amon with leading across the start-finish line but as ever, it was Clark who led into Peters.
The gap between Clark and Amon was not more than 0.3 seconds at any point of the circuit. Graham Hill's Lotus Ford trailed the Ferrari by 46 seconds while Gardner's Brabham Alfa was one second behind Hill. Piers Courage in the McLaren FVA was six seconds further behind and was leading Leo Geoghegan's Lotus Repco, by 11 seconds.
In very nearly heart-stopping performance, Chris Amon maintained this incredible pressure on Clark. Lap charts showed Clark's No. 6 monotonously holding first place, but they were of course incapable of telling the true story of the race.
Gardner got by Hill again on the back straight on lap 52 but Graham only followed him for one lap before retaking third.
As Clark led on to the straight for the last time, Amon was a few lengths behind. As they raced towards the line the Ferrari rushed up in the Lotus' slipstream. Amon pulled out and made his final bid for the race. He was alongside, about two feet behind and gaining rapidly when Clark was five lengths from the line.
In the last few yards the power from the Ford motor was able to check the advance of the Ferrari and open the lead of the Lotus to half a length. The officials gave Clark's margin as one-tenth of a second. Hill and Gardner were 50.2 behind, the Brabham being 0.2 behind the Lotus.
Piers Courage drove a lonely race into fifth place one lap behind Clark. Leo Geoghegan lost his sixth place to Dickie Attwood late in the race when he was slowed by his misfiring and a lack of fuel.
Why? (by David Shaw) Amon chasing Clark at the 1968 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown. Amon, in the Dino powered 246T was out powered by the Lotus 49T at this 'power' track, and went on to run second to Clark by about half a car length. It was probably Australia's closest motor race. Clark went on to win the Tasman Series, and the AGP was Clark's last Grand Prix win.
10.
Who?Ulf Norinder and David Piper
What?Lola T70 Mk.3 Chevrolet SL73/132 and Ferrari 330P3/4 0854
Where?Karlskoga
When?11/08/1968; Swedish GP
Why? (by Rainer Nyberg) Here we are at the Gälleråsen circuit at Karlskoga, Sweden. It is the Kanonloppet weekend and the sportscar race. Ulf Norinder in a five litre Chevy powered Lola T70 Mk3 is leading leading, eventual winner David Piper in his V12 powered Ferrari 330 P3/P4. Norinder ultimately failed to finish this race. Big and bearded Swede Ulf Norinder was a larger-than-life character, who raced big engined sportscars and F5000 as well. Aged 44 he died of cancer in 1978. David Piper is a well-known British sportscar driver. His career nearly came to an end when he lost his foot in an accident at Le Mans in 1970. He was doing film sequences for the upcoming Steve McQueen movie “Le Mans”. This did not stop him however and he is still racing today, aged 74.
11.
Who?Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver
What?Mirage M3/300 Ford 001/301
Where?Osterreichring
When?10/08/1969; Austrian GP, 1000 km Zeltweg
Why? It's hard to believe that Oliver was involved in motor sport for nearly forty years, having started with a Mini way back in 1961. He really came to prominence, however, driving a Lotus Elan, with which he embarrassed many a more powerful GT car in 1965, before moving into single-seaters the following year, when he showed much promise but achieved little success in Formula 3.
Jack's breakthrough year was 1967 when he drove the Lotus Components F2 car, doing himself a power of good in the eyes of Colin Chapman by taking fifth overall and the F2 class win in the German GP. With the death of Jim Clark at Hockenheim, Oliver was promoted into the Lotus team as number two to Graham Hill, but had something of a torrid baptism, crashing in both the Monaco and French GPs before redeeming himself with a splendid performance at Brands Hatch, where he led the British GP until engine failure. Seen as nothing more than a stop-gap by Chapman, who had set his heart on having Jochen Rindt in the team, Oliver bowed out with a fine third place in Mexico to take up a two-year contract with BRM.
The following season was a miserable one for BRM, but Oliver salvaged his year by racing for John Wyer's Gulf team. Paired with Ickx, he won at Sebring in Ford GT40, one of the beautiful car ever built, and they then scored a famous victory at Le Mans, Jack's contribution to which is often overlooked. In other races of 1969 WSCC season they drove Mirage chassis: Mirage M2 BRM (at Brands Hatch and at Spa - DNF); Mirage M2 Ford (at Nurburgring - DNF); Mirage M3 Ford (at Watkins Glen and at Osterreichring - DNF). The second year of his BRM deal brought scarcely more joy than the first, even though he had the excellent P153 to drive. Apart from a fifth place in Austria and a third in the Gold Cup at Oulton Park, the catalogue of retirements made depressing reading. Jack's sharp, young, Essex personality didn't sit well with Louis Stanley, who preferred drivers typical of a different era, so a parting of the ways was probably inevitable. The season was not completely lost, for Oliver ventured into Can-Am with the Autocast project and took three second places. He also raced at Brands Hatch WSCC race again with Icks but this time in Ferrari (they finished 8th overall and 6th in 5L class). Meanwhile in 1971 he returned to sports cars once more with Wyer, winning the Daytona 24 Hours and Monza 1000 Km, but was released after he preferred to take up an invitation to race Don Nichols' Shadow in Can-Am. Keen to keep his Formula 1 career afloat, Oliver arranged some drives in a third McLaren, and his versatility was proven when he stood in for Mark Donohue in Penske's Trans-Am Javelin to take third place at Riverside.
With the 1972 British GP being held at Brands Hatch (one of Jack's favourite circuits), he drove for BRM, but he spent most of the season testing Shadow's latest Can-Am car. He got on well with Don Nichols, and when Shadow entered Grand Prix racing the following year Oliver had one of the drives. It was a perplexing season, with the DN1 chassis proving difficult to sort, but a wet race in Canada saw Jack take third place - although many insist that in fact he won, as the lap charts were thrown into confusion by the use of a pace car. Oliver concentrated on Can-Am alone in 1974 and it paid off handsomely with him winning the series at the fourth attempt in Nichols' machines. Although increasingly involved in the management side of things, Oliver contested the 1975 and 1976 US F5000 series, before a Formula 1 swansong as a driver in 1977. He took the Shadow DN8 into fifth place at the Race of Champions, and later in the year raced in his final Grand Prix in Sweden, finishing ninth.
Along with Alan Rees and Tony Southgate, Oliver quit Shadow at the end of the year and unveiled the 1978 Arrows Formula 1 car, which was subsequently the subject of legal action from Nichols over design copyright. Jack then spent the next decade keeping Arrows on the F1 grid but in 1990 he sold out to the Japanese Footwork concern, whose name the team took. Oliver remained at the helm as a director, and regained control of the team at the end of 1993 when the parent company hit financial difficulties in Japan. The Arrows name was back soon.
In 1996 Oliver sold a major portion of the team to Tom Walkinshaw and was content to take a back-seat role as the new incumbent set about trying to end Arrows' winless streak, which has now lasted for more than two decades. At the start of 1999 Jack finally disposed of his remaining interest in the team he founded, walking away an exceedingly wealthy man after the reportedly massive buyout.
Why? (Robert Van der Plasken) At Zeltweg '69 it was for the first time that they led the field and took pole in Mirage.
And as I wrote in previous post, I give you an opportunity to send more answers but only before the overall results will be posted.
