1968 World Sportscar Championship

Racing tournament 1968 World Sportscar Championship 1967 1969 The 1968 World Sportscar Championship season was the 16th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing and featured the 1968 International Championship for Makes and the 1968 International Cup for GT Cars.FIA Yearbook 1974, Grey section, Previous International Championship winners, pages 124 & 125 The former was contested by Group 6 Sports Prototypes, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring CarsPeter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 259 and the later by Group 3 Grand Touring Cars only. The two titles were decided over a ten race series which ran from 3 February 1968 to 29 September 1968, but one race was only worth half points, and only the five best results were counted. Following a very fast 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, the engine size of prototypes from 1968 onwards was limited to 3 litres, forcing the retirement of Ford's 7-litre prototypes as well as Ferrari's 4-litre P series. Even though the engine size was the same as in Formula 1 since 1966, the F1 engines did not last 1000km or 24 hours, while downsized engines lacked power and torque, causing a problem for the prototype class. Ferrari stayed absent in protest, while old 5-litre Ford GT40 as well as Lola and some others makes could still enter as sportscars if at least 50 cars had been built. thumb|Replica of the Gulf-sponsored 1964 Ford GT40 4,5-litre which was successful in 1968 due to being a sportscar of which at least 50 had been made thumb|Porsche 907 prototypes like this, with undersized 2200cc engines, provided most of Porsche results in 1968 thumb|Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 named Daytona Coupe due to winning the 2-litre-class there in 1968. Alfa came 2nd at the Targa and 3rd in the championship thumb|Porsche 908 longtail at Cité de l'Automobile. This Chassis 908-013http://www.traumautoarchiv.de/html/8350.html Porsche 908.01 Langheck (VIN 908-013) 1968 has finished 3rd in Le Mans in 1972, like it did already in 1968 thumb|Ford P68 was fast only for short times Up to 1966, Porsche had only entered in the two-litre class, and for 1968 developed the 3-litre Porsche 908 which had teething problems, just like the Ford P68, so most wins for Zuffenhausen came with the underpowered 2.2-litre Porsche 907. Also, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 in early 1968 had only 2000cc, not enough to win races. As a result, and with only 5 of 10 races counting towards the championship, the 1968 International Championship for Makes was won by JWAE (John Willment Automotive Engineering) in conjunction with Gulf Oil. Although records state it is Ford, as the Ford GT40, which was introduced in 1964, was the main basis for the cars construction. For the 1968 season, three "lightweight" GT40's were built to compete for the 1968 season using information, and materials learned from their first internally built race car, the Mirage M1, including a reconfigured front bulkhead, wider wheel arches front and rear, and carbon fiber. After being uncompetitive in the early rounds in the USA at Daytona and Sebring, they would win five races including its most prestigious and also last round, Le Mans, which had been postponed from the usual mid-June date to late September due to political unrest. Porsche also scored five wins, but the 500km "short" race at Zeltweg was only awarded half points, and with only four full-point wins and four second places in nine full-point events, Porsche came second in the WSC with 42 points to Fords 45, as 25.5 points were discarded, compared to Fords 6, scored with 3rd places at Nürburgring and Zeltweg. Porsche's only non-top-two-finish came at the third-to-last round, 6h at Watkins Glen, where no less than four factory 908 were entered in an all-in attempt to secure the championship ahead of the insignificant half-point Zeltweg and the all-important Le Mans. Siffert took pole position ahead of Ickx, but after three 908 were out and the fourth limped to 6th place, two private old 906E were ahead of the factory, behind two GT40 and even a gasturbine-powered Howmet TX which was rated at 2960 cm3 and thus allowed as a prototype. The International Cup for GT Cars was won by Porsche entering the Porsche 911. Schedule Rnd Race Circuit or Location Date 1 USA 24 Hours of Daytona Daytona International Speedway 3 February4 February 2 USA 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway 23 March 3 GBR BOAC 500 (6 Hours)† Brands Hatch 7 April 4 ITA 1000km Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 25 April 5 ITA Targa Florio Circuito delle Madonie 5 May 6 DEU 1000km Nürburgring Nürburgring 19 May 7 BEL 1000km Spa Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 26 May 8 USA Watkins Glen 6 Hours Watkins Glen International 14 July 9 AUT 500km of Zeltweg† Zeltweg Airfield 25 August 10 FRA 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 28 September29 September‡ † - These races were contested by Sports Prototypes and Sports Cars only. GT cars did not participate. ‡ - The 24 Hours of Le Mans was originally scheduled to be run 15 June and 16, but was delayed due to a workers strike in France. Season results Races Rnd Circuit Winning team GT Winning Team Results Winning drivers GT Winning Drivers 1 Daytona DEU #54 Porsche Engineering USA #31 Sunray DX Oil Company Results GBR Vic ElfordDEU Jochen Neerpasch USA Jerry GrantUSA Dave Morgan 2 Sebring DEU #49 Porsche Engineering USA #3 Sunray DX Oil Company Results CHE Jo SiffertDEU Hans Herrmann USA Hap SharpUSA Dave Morgan 3 Brands Hatch GBR #4 J.W. Automotive None Results BEL Jacky IckxGBR Brian Redman 4 Monza GBR #40 J.W. Automotive DEU #68 IGFA Results AUS Paul HawkinsGBR David Hobbs DEU Dieter GlemserDEU Helmut Kelleners 5 Targa Florio DEU #224 Porsche Engineering CHE #82 Ecurie Les Corsaires Results GBR Vic ElfordITA Umberto Maglioli CHE Claude HaldiCHE Pierre GreubCHE Edgar Berney 6 Nürburgring DEU #2 Porsche Engineering DEU #110 Sepp Greger https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/sepp-greger/ Sepp Greger • Career & Character Info Motorsport Database Results CHE Jo SiffertGBR Vic Elford DEU Sepp GregerDEU Malte Huth 7 Spa-Francorchamps GBR #33 J.W. Automotive DEU #63 IGFA Results BEL Jacky IckxGBR Brian Redman DEU Dieter GlemserDEU Helmut Kelleners 8 Watkins Glen GBR #5 J.W. Automotive USA #59 Brumos Porsche Results BEL Jacky IckxBEL Lucien Bianchi USA Peter GreggUSA Bert Everett 9 Zeltweg DEU #1 Porsche Engineering None Results CHE Jo Siffert 10 Le Mans GBR #9 J.W. Automotive BEL #43 Jean-Pierre Gaban Results MEX Pedro RodriguezBEL Lucien Bianchi BEL Jean-Pierre GabanBEL Roger van der Schrick Manufacturers Championships International Championship for Makes As Round 9 Zeltweg 500km was awarded only half points due to its short distance, and only the best 5 round results for each make counted towards the championship, only 9 of 10 rounds were actually significant. Only the best 5 round results for each make counted towards the championship, with any other points earned Points were awarded for overall placings gained by the top 6 finishers from Groups 6, 4 & 3 at each round in the order of 9-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only given points for their highest finishing car; any other cars from that manufacturer were skipped in the points standings, but could prevent other manufacturers from scoring these points. Cars from other than Groups 6, 4 & 3 were ignored in the awarding of points for the overall championship. Relinquished points are shown within brackets, they are not included in the total. Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9† Rd 10 Total 1 USA Ford 9 9 (4) 9 9 (2) 9 45 2 DEU Porsche 9 9 6 (6) 9 9 (6) (3) (4.5) (6) 42 3 ITA Alfa Romeo 3 6 2 1.5 3 15.5 4= USA Chevrolet 4 4 4= USA Howmet 4 4 4= FRA Alpine-Renault 4 4 7 ITA Ferrari 2 2 8 GBR Lola 1 1 International Cup for GT Cars Points were awarded for Group placings gained by the top six GT finishers at each round in the order of 9-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only given points for their highest finishing car; any other cars from that manufacturer were merely skipped in the points standings. Only the best 5 round results for each make counted towards the title, with any other points earned not included in the total. Relinquished points are shown within brackets. The GT class did not participate in Rounds 3 and 9. Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 10 Total 1 DEU Porsche (6) (6) 9 9 9 9 9 (9) 45 2 USA Chevrolet 9 9 6 24 3 GBR MG 1 2 6 9 4 ITA Lancia 4 4 5 ITA Fiat 1 1 Car Details The following models contributed to the nett points totals of their respective manufacturers. International Championship for Makes Ford GT40 Porsche 907 & 908 Alfa Romeo T33/2 Alpine A211 Renault Chevrolet Corvette Howmet TX Continental Ferrari 250LM Lola T70 Mk3 Chevrolet International Cup for GT Cars Porsche 911S & 911T Chevrolet Corvette MGB & MGBGT Lancia Fulvia Sport Fiat Dino References External links Points tables for the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from wspr-racing.com on 25 March 2009 Round results for the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from wspr-racing.com on 25 March 2009 Images from the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from www.racingsportscars.com on 25 March 2009 Category:World Sportscar Championship seasons World Sportscar Championship season