1965 Lady Wigram Trophy

The 1965 Lady Wigram Trophy was a motor race held at the Wigram Airfield Circuit on 23 January 1965. It was the fourteenth Lady Wigram Trophy to be held and was won by Jim Clark driving the Lotus 32B in what was the fastest race in the history of the Lady Wigram Trophy.

1965 Lady Wigram Grand Prix
14th Lady Wigram Trophy
Race details
Date 23 January 1965
Location Wigram Airfield Circuit, Christchurch, New Zealand
Course Temporary racing facility
Course length 3.731 km (2.318 miles)
Distance 44 laps, 164.14 km (101.99 miles)
Weather Friday: Light Rain / Overcast
Saturday: Fine
Pole position
Driver Cooper T79
Time Determined by heats
Fastest lap
Driver New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper T79
Time 1:25.9
Podium
First Lotus 32B
Second Cooper T79
Third
  • New Zealand Jim Palmer
Brabham BT7A

Report

Through light rain, the practice times on Friday morning were relatively slow, with Jim Clark setting the benchmark in the low 1:30's. However, in the qualifying trails later that day, conditions improved allowing for faster times. Clark posted the fastest lap of a 1:26.0, which was significantly faster than that of second-placed Jim Palmer who set a time of 1:28.6.

The qualifying process for the Trophy race was through two preliminary races, where the race times would determine the grid. In the first heat, Bruce McLaren took the win and subsequently pole position for the race with a race time of 16 minutes and 11.2 seconds. Clark won the second heat, with a time that put him in second place for the Trophy race.

Clark launched off the line, into what would be a demanding lead. On lap four, Rex Flowers retired from the race due to a burst oil pipe as well as a collapsed piston. It only took Clark six laps to begin lapping backmarkers and by this stage, his lead over McLaren was up to a comfortable five seconds. By lap 26, only four cars had not been lapped - Clark (the leader), McLaren, Gardner and Palmer. Phil Hill retired on that lap as a result of a broken half-shaft and by this stage, Abernethy was laps away from retiring himself due to persistent overheating issues with his Cooper. Two more drivers would fail to finish the race - Riley due to a broken universal and Lawrence after he ran out of fuel. Clark almost joined the casualty list after experiencing oil pressure problems laps away from the conclusion of the race. This meant that Clark had to lift and nurse the car home, allowing McLaren to claw back the gap. By this stage however, the gap was far too big. Clark took the win in dominant fashion, a much better result for Clark than his last Lady Wigram Trophy outing where he stalled the car after having spun off in the wet conditions.[1]

Classification

PosNo.DriverCarLapsTimeGrid
1 1 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 32B-Climax 44 1hr 04min 19.3sec 3
2 47 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper T79-Climax 44 + 10.2 s 1
3 41 New Zealand Jim Palmer Brabham BT7A-Climax 44 + 38.7 s 8
4 11 Australia Frank Gardner Brabham BT11A-Climax 44 + 51.7 s 2
5 24 New Zealand Kerry Grant Brabham BT4-Climax 43 + 1 Lap 4
6 12 New Zealand Roly Levis Brabham BT6-Ford 42 + 2 Laps 14
7 8 New Zealand Andy Buchanen Brabham BT6-Ford 41 + 3 Laps 5
8 9 New Zealand Bill Thomasen Brabham BT4-Climax 40 + 4 Laps 7
9 7 New Zealand Ken Sager Brabham BT6-Ford 39 + 5 Laps 16
10 49 New Zealand Peter Gillum Cooper T65-Ford 35 + 9 Laps 12
Ret 14 New Zealand Graeme Lawrence Brabham BT6-Ford 39 Fuel 10
Ret 17 New Zealand John Riley Lotus 18/21-Climax 38 Universal 9
Ret 4 New Zealand Bruce Abernethy Cooper T66-Climax 30 Overheating 11
Ret 48 United States Phil Hill Cooper T70-Climax 26 Half shaft 13
Ret 35 New Zealand Red Dawson Cooper T53-Climax 6 Crown Wheel 6
Ret 25 New Zealand Rex Flowers Lola T4-Climax 4 Engine 15
Source:[2]

References

  1. "1965 Round 3 - Wigram". sergent.com.au. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  2. "Wigram, 23 Jan 1965". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
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