| 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 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 January 1, 1968. It was the first round of the 1968 Formula One season. The race, contested over 73 laps, 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 the 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.
Jim Clark broke many records during the weekend, such as leading the most Grands Prix (43), having the most laps led (1943), having the most perfect weekends (11), achieving the most pole positions (33) and finally achieving 25 race wins, beating Juan Manuel Fangio's 14-year record. Although, this was Clark's final victory. This was race also marked Ludovico Scarfiotti's tenth race entry as a driver.[1]
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-BRM | 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-BRM | 2 | Water Pipe | 15 |
Standings after the race[]
Note, only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
|
|
References[]
- Lang, Mike (1982). Grand Prix! Vol 2. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 60–61.
- "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1968/549/. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
| Previous race: 1967 Mexican Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1968 season |
Next race: 1968 Spanish Grand Prix |
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South African Grand Prix | Next race: 1969 South African Grand Prix |
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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1968 South African Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |