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) | |||
| 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 |
 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 edit
Qualifying edit
The qualifying session was held on 31 December 1967.
Race edit
| 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 | + 9 Laps | 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:[2]
| |||||||
Championship standings after the race edit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References edit
- ^ "'SA was ahead of the curve' – 50 years of sponsorship in F1". wheels24.co.za. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ "1968 South African Grand Prix". Formula One. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ a b "South Africa 1968 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
Further reading edit
- 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.