In one of the most dramatic Grands Prix for years Chris Amon brought the 2.4L V6 Ferrari home to a popular victory at an average speed of 102.5 mph in the 15th New Zealand International Grand Prix at Pukekohe on January 6, the first round in the 1968 Tasman Championship. It was a race of incidents, predominently with the retirement of Jim Clark’s Lotus Ford V8 while leading and the serious accident in the final stages to World Champion Denny Hulme and Laurence Brownlie. Amon became the second Kiwi ever to win the NZGP and finished well ahead of Frank Gardner’s impressive 2.5L Brabham Alfa V8, while no other cars completed the full distance.
In third and fourth positions came the identical Formula 2 McLaren M4A Cosworths of Englishman Piers Courage and Jim Palmer, the former finishing one lap behind the winner and the first resident New Zealander home two laps in arrears. Paul Bolton, in the new Rorstan 2.5L Brabham Climax, having his first drive since his Levin accident in November, ran consistently into fifth on the same lap as Palmer, with Graeme Lawrence in the first 1500cc car home next another two laps down.
All the overseas drivers and cars arrived safely in time for Pukekohe. Jim Clark’s Lotus Ford, fitted with the 2.5L Tasman version of the F1 V8 engine, headed the entry list. This was the same chassis Clark used at Zandvoort, but with the latest strengthened suspension mods.
Marking the first ever appearance of a works Ferrari in Australasia, the Italian concern flew their 2.4L V6 car for Chris
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Amon to NZ with a spare engine. Although down on power when compared to the Lotus and BRMs (Ferrari had detuned the motor to less than 300BHP) the Amon machine was lighter than its rivals. The Owen Organisation arrived with four cars – two brand new BRM “126” V12s and two 2.1 V8s. Robbie Francevic was scheduled to drive one of the V8s but negotiations failed between the local entrant and BRM.
World Champion Denny Hulme’s F2 Brabham Cosworth FVA, the same Winkelmann car used by Jochen Rindt last season in Europe, did not appear to be competitive on paper, but the New Zealander figured that he would be able to have a good chance, particularly on the tighter circuits. Frank Gardner’s 2.5L Brabham Alfa V8 arrived as the dark horse of the race. The 280BHP Alfa motor in the Alec Mildren entered car looked most impressive, and the Brabham had completed a successful winning debut at Warwick Farm during December.
In the first practice session on Thursday it became rapidly apparent that Clark and Amon held most of the straws. A big consignment of Firestone tyres had been flown to the wrong part of the world causing headaches for those running on this make. Firestone couldn’t supply Amon so he ran Goodyears and recorded 61.7s in the first spell, only to be beaten by Clarke’s Lotus in 61.0s. Hulme was most spectacular in the little 1.6L Brabham and returned 62.5s or the same as Piers Courage, who had his McLaren M4A on the new compound Dunlops. Frank Gardner’s
Brabham Alfa sounded well and he did 62.7s. Bruce McLaren and Pedro Rodriguez were having fuel injection and other problems with the V12s, and both clocked 62.5s, but the B.R.M. camp remained far from happy.
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Clark swapped his Firestones for the new low profile Dunlops with hand-cut tread for the afternoon session. These covers had been used only once before on Jackie Stewart’s Matra Ford in the South African GP a few days previous. The Lotus looked great and recorded the best time of one minute flat, beating his lap record of 60.5s established in last year’s G.P. The Ferrari returned the second best time (60.4s), while Rodriguez in the BRM V12 and Gardner’s Alfa both clocked 61.5s. Hulme circulated in 62.0s, or fifth best, and 62.5s laps were recorded by both McLaren and Courage. Jim Palmer had changed from Firestones to Goodyears because of the shortage, resulting in a number of last-minute suspension alterations but managed 64.2s. A rear chassis cross member broke on Laurence Brownlie’s 1.5L Brabham BT23C but not before the West Otago driver had greatly impressed everyone with a 65.5s lap. Peter Yock had the 2-litre Lotus BRM V8 going better than ever after BRM Team Manager Tim Parnell gave him a new “black box” and Yock returned 66.5s. Graeme Lawrence had considerable trouble with the fuel injection on his 1.5L Brabham and decided to revert to carbs for Friday’s practice.
The weather remained perfect for the Friday practice period. Lotus and BRM did not appear for the first session, and fastest lap went to Amon, whose Ferrari equalled Clark’s Thursday best of 60.0s. Jim Clark arrived with the Lotus Ford on Firestones and soon returned a cracking 59.6s, the first time the minute has been broken at Pukekohe. He then changed to the new Dunlops and set the final best of 59.1s, which earned him pole position, the Technical Books Trophy and 50 bottles of champers. But Team Lotus did not decide whether they would be running Firestone or the slightly superior Dunlops until race morning. The only other car to beat the minute was the Amon Ferrari (59.9s), while the third best time went to Rodriguez in the V8 BRM (60.9s), and it was decided that the Mexican driver would drive the smaller car in preference to the V12. McLaren also had a run in the V8, but recorded his best time of 61.0s (the same as Gardner) in the V12. However neither drivers were happy with the Bourne cars. Courage got a little too enthusiastic with his McLaren at Castrol and finished up a bank, with considerable rear suspension damage. The team shot away immediately and worked hard to have the car ready on race morning.
Australian Paul Bolton had the Rorstan Brabham Climax out for its first airing. This chassis is the one that Hulme
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used in the 1967 Tasman series and the Climax engine from the wrecked Levin Brabham has been installed. The organisers decided to set a sensible ten second difference between the fastest and slowest cars for Grand Prix qualification, and this resulted in a 21-car grid being formed. The Dunlop people were delighted that Clark opted to run their covers, while the Ferrari used Goodyears instead of the usual Firestones.
Race day, perfect weather, and a large crowd of 40,000 to watch the country’s premier motor race. The red Ferrari streaked into the lead at the start to head off Clark, Gardner and Rodriguez into Champion Curve for the first time. Amon still cracked the whip down the back straight, but Clark slipped into the lead before the Lion Hairpin. The bunched field started their second lap with Clark narrowly holding off Amon, Gardner, Rodriguez, Hulme, McLaren, Courage, Bolton, Levis, Lawrence and Brownlie. Right at the back of the field was poor Jim Palmer. His FVA engine had flooded on the starting line and the McLaren had to be push started after the field departed.
Clark and Amon drew out a four-second lead on Gardner with three laps gone, and Amon clung to the Scot as he roared through the speed traps on the back straight at 153 mph. After, five laps the first seven cars were 14 seconds ahead of Bolton, and ten seconds later came a frantic battle for the lead in the 1.5 litre class between the Brabhams of Brownlie, Levis and Lawrence. Red Dawson’s 2.5L Brabham was nine seconds behind this trio and he wasn’t far ahead of Palmer, who had already caught and passed eight cars! An early visitor to the pits was the Vince Anderson 2.5L Brabham with plug trouble, and the car eventually retired with a broken driveshaft. Hulme closed in on the BRM V8 of Rodriguez, while McLaren, in sixth place, held a two-second advantage on the Courage McLaren.
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On lap 6 Lawrence took Levis, but most interest was centred on Hulme, who gave a fantastic display of driving as he flung the little 1.6L Brabham Cosworth about like a toy. Even at this early stage the leaders were well into lapping the tailenders. Peter Yock, lying in 14th position, took to the earth banks in his Lotus BRM. He got going again but damaged one of the wheels on the Levis Brabham after a minor biff, and then retired with leaking oil. Levis had to pit, which dropped him back five placing’s. At the nine-lap mark Bruce McLaren had fallen back nine seconds behind Hulme, the BRM V12 starting to have problems with the clutch as well as the fuel injection system.
On the eighth lap Palmer took Lawrence and next time round lay in front of Brownlie in ninth place. By now Clark had a 5 second lead on the consistent Amon, but his advantage did not grow much greater than this at any time during the race. Rodriquez lost his fourth position when he pitted on lap 11 with suspected front suspension damage after being involved in a bingle with one of the slower cars. His stop was only a brief one, but it put him back from fourth to eleventh position. Next time around McLaren drew into the pits for adjustments, went out and did another couple of laps before retiring the ailing BRM after no improvement could be effected. David Oxton made his first pit stop in the white and blue Brabham with suspect oil pressure, and he did a few more laps before an axle broke.
So with 15 laps completed the order read Clark, Amon and a ten-second gap to the steady Gardner. Hulme, Courage and another gap to Bolton, Palmer, Brownlie and Lawrence, the last named being challenged by the bigger 2.5L Dawson Brabham. Denny was closing the gap slightly on Frank, while the Courage McLaren maintained a comfortable fifth position 25 seconds behind the World Champion. The order at lap 20 was: Clark, Amon, Gardner, Hulme. Courage, Bolton, Palmer, Brownlie, Dawson, Lawrence and Faloon. Rodriguez had rejoined the race and was slowly moving back through the field occupying ninth position by lap 22. However, eight laps later the car began to suffer from severe clutch disorders and was making some alarming noises so the second BRM retired.
By now it was obvious that Palmer was closing the gap on Bolton slowly but surely. Paul Bolton lead the resident
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Kiwi field, but Palmer was obviously out to get the $1600 prize. The leading Lotus and Ferrari were 15 seconds in front of Gardner after 23 laps, but the Brabham Alfa’s third place was a little precarious as Hulme now ran only four seconds in arrears. Thirty-five seconds later came Courage and a further gap to Bolton, Palmer, while Brownlie led the 1500cc brigade in eighth position. Clark had lapped all but Amon, Gardner and Hulme after 26 laps but the Scot wasn’t shaking off the works Ferrari. On lap 31 Amon equalled Clark’s 1967 record of 60.5s (104 mph), and on the next circulation set a fantastic new record of 59.3s as he moved a little closer to the green and yellow Lotus Ford.
On lap 37 Dawson got his 2.5 Brabham past Brownlie into eighth place, and seemed to be going very well. However, his position as third resident New Zealander lasted only until lap 45 when he retired with, of all things, a flat battery. On the 44th round Hulme was only three seconds behind Gardner, while a similar margin separated Bolton and Palmer. All did not sound well with the Lotus as Jim Clark commenced the 45th lap and the leader came to a sudden stop before the back straight. The valve gear had got itself caught up with the pistons causing a disturbing internal haemorrhage and seizure. A despondent Clark climbed from the car and walked back to the pits, continuing his run of bad luck at Pukekohe.
Amon came round in the lead, more than 30 seconds in front of the yellow Brabham Alfa, but most attention was directed towards the 2.5L Brabham of Bolton and Palmer’s 1.6L McLaren, locked in battle for fifth place. Palmer got the Brabham on lap 46, but Bolton tried all he knew to hang on to the tail of the McLaren. The electrical system on Gardner’s car was starting to give trouble with the battery slowly going flat, and Hulme narrowed the gap to not much more than two seconds. Courage was all out on his own in fourth place, more than a lap in front of Palmer, Bolton
and another gap to Brownlie who had a 3 second advantage on Lawrence. Palmer put in his best lap time of 62.8s but Bolton kept in tow of the McLaren.
The scene looked set for an exciting finish for second place as Hulme looked intent on catching Gardner whose Brabham Alfa wasn’t running as well as it had been during the early stages. Hulme commenced lap 56 (with only two to go) right on the tail of Brownlie. Both drivers were trying hard – Hulme trying to catch Gardner while Brownlie, a
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couple of laps in arrears, was intent of keeping ahead of Graeme Lawrence, who ran little more than two seconds behind. Denny had a fist in the air and tried to pass Laurence, with the former hitting the back of the Brabham as the two came out of Castrol Corner. It wasn’t until well down the back straight when they were doing well over 130 mph the World Champion pulled alongside Brownlie. No one knows just what happened for the two Brabhams touched wheels and Hulme’s car climbed up the back of Brownlie’s machine.
Hulme’s Brabham went to the right, overturned and hit a safety fence with the driver being thrown out while the car was high in the air. The other Brabham spun to the left and disintegrated after striking a post, with Brownlie staying with the car. It was a miracle that both drivers weren’t killed for Brownlie’s car was demolished and Hulme’s virtually written off. Both drivers were admitted to hospital, Denny with concussion and lacerations and Laurence with a broken leg and foot, but their injuries were not serious. This unfortunate accident put a pall on the final stages of the race, but at least it was thankful that the consequences were not worse.
Chris Amon completed the last two laps safely to complete the Grand Prix in a record average speed and finished 37.8s ahead of Frank Gardner. The Bulls driver has the satisfaction of being only the second New Zealander to win the NZGP since it started 15 years ago and his win was a very popular one with the patriotic crowd. Courage came in an unexpected third, while special-mention must be made of the great drive by Jim Palmer from the back of the field. Certain victory for Jim Clark was swept away by a cruel engine failure, while the BRMs were disappointing. For Denny Hulme, the race marked his first major accident in a long career in motor racing, while poor Brownlie lost any chance of winning the NZ National Formula Championship.