1968 South African Grand Prix

The 1968 South African Grand Prix, formally the 2nd AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Tweede AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on Monday 1 January 1968. It was race 1 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by two time World Drivers' Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Clark for Lotus-Ford after starting from pole position. The race is significant as not only the last Formula One race to be won by Clark, but also the last in which he ever competed, due to his fatal crash at the Hockenheimring in Germany three months later. At this race Team Gunston became the first Formula One team to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors instead of national colours when they entered a private Brabham for John Love[1] and an LDS for Sam Tingle.

1968 South African Grand Prix
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
The Kyalami Circuit (1967–1985)
Race details
Date 1 January 1968
Official name 2nd AA Grand Prix of South Africa
Location Kyalami, Midrand, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.104 km (2.550 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 328.320 km (204.009 miles)
Weather Very hot, dry
Pole position
Driver
Lotus-Ford
Time 1:21.6
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Ford
Time 1:23.7 on lap 73
Podium
First
Lotus-Ford
Second
Lotus-Ford
Third
Brabham-Repco
Lap leaders

This was also Mike Spence's final race, as he too was killed a few months later, while practising for the 1968 Indianapolis 500.

The first six slots on the grid were filled by either previous or future world champions. However the reigning champion, Denny Hulme, only started in ninth.

Clark broke many records during the weekend, such as leading the most Grands Prix (43), having the most laps led (1,943), having the most perfect weekends (11), achieving the most pole positions (33) and finally achieving 25 race wins, beating Juan Manuel Fangio's 11-year-old record.

Classification

Qualifying

The qualifying session was held on 31 December 1967.

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 4 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Ford 1:21.6 —
2 5 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:22.6 +1.0
3 16 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 1:22.7 +1.1
4 3 Austria Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 1:23.0 +1.4
5 2 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:23.2 +1.6
6 7 United Kingdom John Surtees Honda 1:23.5 +1.9
7 10 Italy Andrea de Adamich Ferrari 1:23.6 +2.0
8 8 New Zealand Chris Amon Ferrari 1:23.8 +2.2
9 1 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-BRM 1:24.0 +2.4
10 11 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez BRM 1:24.9 +3.3
11 9 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:24.9 +3.3
12 6 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake 1:25.6 +4.0
13 12 United Kingdom Mike Spence BRM 1:25.9 +4.3
14 22 South Africa Dave Charlton Brabham-Repco 1:26.2 +4.6
15 15 Italy Ludovico Scarfiotti Cooper-Maserati 1:26.3 +4.7
16 19 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 1:26.4 +4.8
17 17 Rhodesia John Love Brabham-Repco 1:27.0 +5.4
18 21 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 1:27.2 +5.6
19 20 Sweden Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 1:27.3 +5.7
20 25 South Africa Basil van Rooyen Cooper-Climax 1:27.8 +6.2
21 14 United Kingdom Brian Redman Cooper-Maserati 1:28.0 +6.4
22 18 Rhodesia Sam Tingle LDS-Repco 1:28.6 +7.0
23 23 South Africa Jackie Pretorius Brabham-Climax 1:29.0 +7.4

Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Ford 80 1:53:56.6 1 9
2 5 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 80 + 25.3 2 6
3 3 Austria Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 80 + 30.4 4 4
4 8 New Zealand Chris Amon Ferrari 78 + 2 Laps 8 3
5 1 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-BRM 78 + 2 Laps 9 2
6 21 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 77 + 3 Laps 18 1
7 19 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 77 + 3 Laps 16  
8 7 United Kingdom John Surtees Honda 75 + 5 Laps 6  
9 17 Rhodesia John Love Brabham-Repco 75 + 5 Laps 17  
NC 23 South Africa Jackie Pretorius Brabham-Climax 71 + 9 Laps 23  
Ret 6 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake 58 Oil Leak 12  
Ret 9 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 51 Oil Leak 11  
Ret 20 Sweden Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 46 Overheating 19  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart Matra-Ford 43 Engine 3  
Ret 18 Rhodesia Sam Tingle LDS-Repco 35 Overheating 22  
Ret 25 South Africa Basil van Rooyen Cooper-Climax 22 Engine 20  
Ret 11 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez BRM 20 Fuel System 10  
Ret 2 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 16 Engine 5  
Ret 10 Italy Andrea de Adamich Ferrari 13 Accident 7  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Mike Spence BRM 7 Fuel System 14  
Ret 14 United Kingdom Brian Redman Cooper-Maserati 4 Oil Leak 21  
Ret 22 South Africa Dave Charlton Brabham-Repco 3 Differential 14  
Ret 15 Italy Ludovico Scarfiotti Cooper-Maserati 2 Water Pipe 15  
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "'SA was ahead of the curve' – 50 years of sponsorship in F1". wheels24.co.za. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  2. "1968 South African Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. "South Africa 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

Further reading
  • Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 60–61. ISBN 0-85429-321-3.
  • Walthert, Matthew (7 April 2015). "Going Out on Top: The Story of Jim Clark's Final Formula 1 Race". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
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