1968 Spanish Grand Prix

F1 Spain 1945 Spanish 12 May 1968 Circuito Permanente del Jarama 1980.svg The Jarama Circuit (1967–1990) XIV Gran Premio de España Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid, Spain Permanent racing facility 2.115 3.404 90 190.363 306.360 Hot, Dry Chris Amon Ferrari 1:27.9 New Zealand Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 1:28.3 47 France Graham Hill Lotus-Ford United Kingdom Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford New Zealand Brian Redman Cooper-BRM United Kingdom ESP The 1968 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama Circuit on 12 May 1968. It was race 2 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the first race after the death of former double World Champion Jim Clark, who had died in a non-championship Formula Two event in Hockenheim, Germany the previous month. Clark had led the drivers' championship before this race, on 9 points, after he won in the first race in South Africa. Background Following Jim Clark's death in Germany, and the death of his replacement Mike Spence during practice for the Indianapolis 500 just five days before the race, team principal Colin Chapman opted not to come to Spain for the first championship Spanish Grand Prix since 1954, still being devastated by the losses.Hill victorious for mourning Lotus http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/56588.html ESPNf1.com ESPN 3 February 2015 Graham Hill was the only works Lotus driver; a second car was entered for Jackie Oliver but could not be set up in time.Grand Prix Results: Spanish GP, 1968 http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr163.html Grandprix.com 3 February 2015 The race saw the first appearance of Team Lotus in the red, gold and white colors of Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand as their title sponsor instead of the traditional British racing green, making them the first works team (second only to Team Gunston entering a private Brabham car at the 1968 South African Grand Prix) to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors. Jackie Stewart was absent due to a wrist injury he sustained while driving in a Formula Two race, so it was up to Jean-Pierre Beltoise to debut the new Matra MS10. Report During qualifying, Ferrari's Chris Amon took his first ever pole position with Graham Hill for the mourning Team Lotus down in sixth place. Lotus fate turned however during the race on Sunday, contested in searing heat. Pedro Rodríguez took the lead at the start in his BRM, followed by Beltoise, Amon and Hulme. The Frenchman moved into the lead on lap 12, only to drop back four laps later with engine troubles. Amon was now back in the lead, followed closely by Rodriguez until the Mexican spun and crashed on lap 28. While he waited for his mechanics to pick up the car, spectators "descended on the car like vultures and stripped off the mirrors, seat, windscreen and nose cowling". These retirements elevated Hill to second place behind Amon, who suffered a fuel pump failure on lap 58, handing Hill, who had been a mile behind, first place and victory. Hulme was close behind Hill, but when his McLaren lost second gear, he needed to back off and the Englishman cruised home. Beltoise recovered from his mechanical troubles and recorded the fastest lap of the race. Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 19 New Zealand Chris Amon Ferrari 1:27.9 — 2 9 Mexico 1934 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 1:28.1 +0.2 3 1 New Zealand Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 1:28.3 +0.4 4 2 New Zealand Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 1:28.3 +0.4 5 6 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 1:28.3 +0.4 6 10 UK Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:28.4 +0.5 7 7 United Kingdom John Surtees Honda 1:28.8 +0.9 8 21 Belgium Jacky Ickx Ferrari 1:29.6 +1.7 9 4 Austria Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 1:29.7 +1.8 10 16 Switzerland Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 1:29.7 +1.8 11 5 United Kingdom Piers Courage BRM 1:29.9 +2.0 12 15 Italy Ludovico Scarfiotti Cooper-BRM 1:30.8 +2.9 13 14 United Kingdom Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 1:31.0 +3.1 14 3 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:44.2 +16.3 thumb|right|Hill (pictured at the Dutch Grand Prix) won his first race in two-and-a-half years Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 10 UK Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 90 2:15:20.1 6 9 2 1 NZL Denny Hulme McLaren-Ford 90 + 15.9 3 6 3 14 UK Brian Redman Cooper-BRM 89 + 1 Lap 13 4 4 15 ITA Ludovico Scarfiotti Cooper-BRM 89 + 1 Lap 12 3 5 6 FRA Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford 81 + 9 Laps 5 2 Ret Retired 2 NZL Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 77 Oil Leak 4   Ret Retired 7 UK John Surtees Honda 74 Gearbox 7   Ret Retired 16 SUI Jo Siffert Lotus-Ford 62 Transmission 10   Ret Retired 19 NZL Chris Amon Ferrari 57 Fuel Pump 1   Ret Retired 5 UK Piers Courage BRM 52 Fuel Pump 11   Ret Retired 9 MEX 1934 Pedro Rodríguez BRM 27 Accident 2   Ret Retired 21 BEL Jacky Ickx Ferrari 13 Ignition 8   Ret Retired 4 AUT Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco 10 Oil Pressure 9   DNS Did not start 3 AUS Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco Engine  Source:1968 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Result https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1968/races/256/spain/race-result.html formula1.com Formula One World Championship Limited 13 October 2017 Notes This was the first of many podiums for the McLaren team. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 1 United Kingdom Graham Hill 15 10px 1 2 United Kingdom Jim Clark 9 10px 2 3 New Zealand Denny Hulme 8 10px 1 4 Austria Jochen Rindt 4 10px 6 5 United Kingdom Brian Redman 4Source:https://www.statsf1.com/en/1968/espagne/championnat.aspx Spain 1968 - Championship • STATS F1 www.statsf1.com 20 March 2019 Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 10px 1 UK Lotus-Ford 18 10px 12 2 UK McLaren-Ford 6 10px 1 3 UK Brabham-Repco 4 10px 5 4 UK Cooper-BRM 4 10px 2 5 Italy Ferrari 3Source: Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References 30em Further reading Lang Mike Grand Prix! Vol 2 Haynes Publishing Group 1982 62–63 0-85429-321-3 Spanish Grand Prix 1968 1968 South African Grand Prix 1968 Monaco Grand Prix 1967 Spanish Grand Prix 1969 Spanish Grand Prix Spanish Grand Prix Category:Spanish Grand Prix Category:1968 in Spanish motorsport Spanish