1965 New Zealand Grand Prix

The 1965 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway on 9 January 1965. The race was held over 50 laps of the 3.5 km (2.2 mi) combined circuit for a total distance of 175 km (110 mi). The Grand Prix was run for open wheel racing cars, specifically conforming to either the 2.5 litre Tasman Formula regulations or the 1.6 litre New Zealand National Formula regulations.

1965 New Zealand Grand Prix
Race 1 of 8 in 1965 Tasman Series
Race details
Date 9 January 1965
Location Pukekohe Park Raceway, Pukekohe, New Zealand
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 3.5 km (2.2 miles)
Distance 50 laps, 175 km (110 miles)
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Climax
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Graham Hill Brabham-Climax
Time 1'26.3
Podium
First Brabham-Climax
Second Brabham-Climax
Third
  • New Zealand Jim Palmer
Brabham-Climax

It was the 12th New Zealand Grand Prix, doubled as the opening round of the 1965 Tasman Series. The race attracted 19 starters, including several overseas based drivers and teams. A large contingent of cars from Australia competed, including Frank Gardner competing for Alec Mildren Racing. Lex Davison and Leo Geoghegan brought across their own teams, while 1962 Formula One world champion, British racer Graham Hill race a Brabham for David McKay's Scuderia Veloce team. Star attraction though was the appearance of Team Lotus with their lead driver, 1963 World Champion, Jim Clark. Local honour was upheld by Bruce McLaren, who in an early iteration of the later McLaren team brought a pair of factory supported Coopers to race with American racer, the 1961 World Champion Phil Hill as his number two. The race was won by Graham Hill, his first victory in the NZGP. Gardner finished second to be the first 'antipodean' while first New Zealander was domestic series racer Jim Palmer in a career highlight as Brabham racing cars clean swept the podium.

Classification edit

Results as follows:[1][2]

Pos No. Driver Team Car Laps Time Points
1 2   Graham Hill Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT11A / Climax FPF 2.5 50 1h 13m 43.4s 9
2 11   Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT11A / Climax FPF 2.5 50 1h 15m 06.3s 6
3 41   Jim Palmer George Palmer Brabham BT7A / Climax FPF 2.5 49 4
4 17   John Riley John Riley Lotus 18/21 / Climax FPF 2.5 47 3
5 25   Rex Flowers Rex Flowers Lola Mk4 / Climax FPF 2.5 47 2
6 16   Leo Geoghegan Team Total Lotus 32 / Ford 1.5 47 1
7 8   Andy Buchanan Andy Buchanan Brabham BT6 / Ford 1.5 46
8 15   Red Dawson Bruce McLaren Racing Cooper T53 / Climax FPF 2.5 46
9 14   Kerry Grant Lesco Racing Lotus 22 / Ford 1.5 46
10 9   Bill Thomasen Corsair Racing Team Brabham BT4 / Climax FPF 2.5 45
11 10   Dene Hollier Dene Hollier Ltd. Lotus 20B / Ford 1.5 43
12 20   Ken Smith Ken Smith Lotus 22 / Ford 1.5 41
13 12   Roly Levis Roly Levis Brabham BT6 / Ford 1.5 40
14   Bill Stone Bill Stone Cooper T52 / Ford 1.5 39
Ret 5   Lex Davison Ecurie Australie Brabham BT4 / Climax FPF 33
Ret 4   Bruce Abernethy Rothmans Driver Scheme Cooper T66 / Climax FPF 2.5 32
Ret 48   Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Racing Cooper T70/79 / Climax FPF 13
Ret 6   Arnold Glass Capitol Motors Cooper T55 / Climax FPF 2.5 3
Ret 1   Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus 32B / Climax FPF 2
DNS 48   Phil Hill Bruce McLaren Racing Cooper T70/79 / Climax FPF

Notes edit

References edit

  1. ^ Anderson, Don. "XII New Zealand Grand Prix". tasman-series.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  2. ^ Sergent, Bruce. "1965 Round 1 Pukekohe". Kia Ora. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
Preceded by Tasman Series
1965
Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand Grand Prix
1965
Succeeded by