1968 South African Grand Prix

  1968 South African Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 12 in the 1968 Formula One season
The Kyalami Circuit (1967-1985)
Date	1 January 1968
Official name	XIV South African Grand Prix
Location	Kyalami, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.104 km (2.550 mi)
Distance	80 laps, 328.320 km (204.009 mi)
Weather	Very hot, dry
Pole position
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:21.6
Fastest lap
Driver	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:23.7 on lap 73
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford
Second	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford
Third	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco

The 1968 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on Monday 1 January 1968. It was the first round of the 1968 Formula One season. 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 Jim Clark, but also the last in which he ever competed, due to his fatal crash at the Hockenheimring in Germany three months later.

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

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

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

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Jim Clark	Lotus-Ford	80	1:53:56.6	1	9
2	5	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	80	+ 25.3	2	6
3	3	Jochen Rindt	Brabham-Repco	80	+ 30.4	4	4
4	8	Chris Amon	Ferrari	78	+ 2 Laps	8	3
5	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren-BRM	78	+ 2 Laps	9	2
6	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Ford	77	+ 3 Laps	18	1
7	19	Jo Siffert	Cooper-Maserati	77	+ 3 Laps	16
8	7	John Surtees	Honda	75	+ 5 Laps	6
9	17	John Love	Brabham-Repco	75	+ 5 Laps	17
NC	23	Jackie Pretorius	Brabham-Climax	71	Not Classified	23
Ret	6	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Weslake	58	Oil Leak	12
Ret	9	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	51	Oil Leak	11
Ret	20	Jo Bonnier	Cooper-Maserati	46	Overheating	19
Ret	16	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	43	Engine	3
Ret	18	Sam Tingle	LDS-Repco	35	Overheating	22
Ret	25	Basil van Rooyen	Cooper-Climax	22	Engine	20
Ret	11	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	20	Fuel system	10
Ret	2	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	16	Engine	5
Ret	10	Andrea de Adamich	Ferrari	13	Accident	7
Ret	12	Mike Spence	BRM	7	Fuel System	14
Ret	14	Brian Redman	Cooper-Maserati	4	Oil Leak	21
Ret	22	Dave Charlton	Brabham-Repco	3	Differential	14
Ret	15	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Cooper-Maserati	2	Water Pipe	15
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jim Clark 9 2 Graham Hill 6 3 Jochen Rindt 4 4 Chris Amon 3 5 Denny Hulme 2

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Lotus-Ford 9 2 Brabham-Repco 4 3 Ferrari 3 4 McLaren-BRM 2 5 Matra-Ford 1

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

Notes

Last race: Brabham BT11

References

Further reading

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