1963 New Zealand Grand Prix

July 2020 CUST New Zealand Grand Prix New Zealand New Zealand Pukekohe_Park_Raceway_(1963-1966).png Pukekohe Park Raceway, Auckland, New Zealand 5 January 1963 Permanent racing facility 1.76 2.82 75 132 211.5 Sunny Bruce McLaren New Zealand Cooper T62 Bruce McLaren Cooper T62 1:29.5 New Zealand John Surtees United Kingdom Lola Mk4 Angus Hyslop New Zealand Cooper T53 Jim Palmer New Zealand Cooper T55 The 1963 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the newly-built Pukekohe Park Raceway on 5 January 1963. This was the first time the New Zealand Grand Prix had been held outside of the Ardmore Circuit since 1950. Local hero Bruce McLaren captured pole position and, after a sluggish start, was leading the marquee event in front of an estimated 43,000-strong hometown crowd. However, after encountering car problems, world motorcycling champion and factory Ferrari driver, John Surtees, assumed the lead and would ease to victory. Race report thumb|left|Aerial shot of Pukekohe Park during the meeting After nine years on the Ardmore Circuit, the New Zealand Grand Prix event would move to the Pukekohe Park Raceway. The recently-opened racetrack based 35 miles south of Auckland was built at a cost of £60,000 courtesy of the NZIGP, the W. Stevenson and Sons Ltd. contracting firm, and an assortment of well-wishers who contributed roughly £20,000. After eight weeks, construction of the circuit was completed and the handover was finalised just one week before the Grand Prix was scheduled to take place. An estimated 43,000 people would brave the sweltering heat to bear witness the debut race on the 2.21 mile circuit. Reigning Formula One World Drivers' Champion, Graham Hill, had been entered to drive in a Ferguson P99 which was deemed controversial due to its four-wheel-drive system. Three-time winner of the race, Jack Brabham, was the sole Australian entered into the race, driving in his in-house built BT4. Local hero, Bruce McLaren was touted as the favourite for the event, having just recently won the 1962 Australian Grand Prix at Caversham in Western Australia. McLaren set the pace early by way of recording the fastest lap in practice. Over a second behind him was Surtees, followed by Brabham, Tony Maggs and Hill. Aside from air travel connection issues coming from South Africa that almost curtailed their weekend, the international drivers were all experiencing problems. Hill was dissatisfied with the performance of his brakes, Surtees was encountering head gasket issues and the transmission on Maggs' car was less than optimal. Owing to the short nature of practice, most of these issues remained heading into the race. Starting on pole, McLaren made an uncharacteristically sloppy start and lost position to Surtees. Hill had moved up to fourth place by lap four but his clutch was failing to engage and his gearbox was beginning to falter. Maggs likewise was experiencing similar issues and was ultimately forced to retire on lap three with a seized engine. Brabham would retired a few laps later with a head gasket issue. Meanwhile, up the front, the battle between McLaren and Surtees was raging with the former surging past the Briton to retake the lead, to the adulation of the crowd. However, McLaren's engine would begin to develop a misfire and was forced to pit for ignition repairs as the speed of his Cooper had dropped critically. After rejoining the race in third place, he managed to pass Hill for second. But he was soon back into the pits where the source of the engine ailments were deemed to be with the magneto. Additionally, one of the fuel tanks had cracked and was leaking. The decision was made to retire from the race. Elsewhere in the field, Chris Amon, who had an impressive showing thus far, had also begun to develop a misfire. On lap 18, he pitted for ignition repairs and lost dozens of laps. From that point, Surtees was never challenged. He managed his pace until the end, lapping all bar one driver to win the race. Hill meanwhile endured the bitter disappointment of retiring from second place on the very last lap. This handed second place to local driver, Angus Hyslop, who was the sole unlapped driver in the field while 21-year-old Jim Palmer would round out the podium. Classification Pos No. Driver Car Laps Time Grid 1 2 GBR John Surtees Lola Mk4 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 75 1hr 54min 32.7sec 2 2 NZL Angus Hyslop Cooper T53 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 75 + 1:23.6 8 3 NZL Jim Palmer Cooper T55 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 74 + 1 lap 9 4 NZL John Histed Lola Mk2 / Ford 1340cc 4cyl 65 + 10 laps 13 5 NZL Rex Flowers Gemini Mk Illa FJ / Ford 1340cc 4cyl 50 + 25 laps 14 6 NZL Bill Thomasen Cooper T51 / Climax 1964cc 4cyl 46 + 29 laps 10 7 29 NZL Chris Amon Cooper T53 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 44 + 31 laps 6 Ret 1 GBR Graham Hill Ferguson P99 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 74 Gearbox 5 Ret 17 NZL Tony Shelly Lotus 18/21 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 62 Bearings 7 Ret NZL Lionel Bulcraig Aston Martin DBR1 / Aston 2996cc 6cyl 40 Retired 12 Ret NZL Barry Cottle Lola Mk1 / Climax 1220cc 4cyl 34 Retired 15 Ret 47 NZL Bruce McLaren Cooper T62 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 23 Magneto 1 Ret NZL Ian Green Cooper T45 / Climax 1964cc 4cyl 22 Retired 17 Ret NZL Forrest Cardon Lycoming Special / Lycoming 5239cc 4cyl 20 Ignition 16 Ret AUS Jack Brabham Brabham BT4 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 12 Head gasket 3 Ret NZL David Young Cooper T65 / Ford 1473cc 4cyl 6 Ignition 11 Ret ZAF 1928 Tony Maggs Lola Mk4 / Climax 2750cc 4cyl 3 Engine 4 DNS NZL Ken Sager Lotus 20 / Ford 1475cc 4cyl Did not start DNQ NZL Frank Turpie Lotus 20 / Ford 1475cc 4cyl Did not qualify DNQ NZL Bob Smith Ferrari Super Squalo 555 / Ferrari 3431cc 4cyl Did not qualify DNQ NZL Rod Coppins Tec Mec 1 / Chevrolet 4600cc V8 Did not qualify DNA NZL Roly Levis Cooper T52 / Ford 1475cc 4cyl Did Not Attend DNA NZL Bob Eade Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl Did Not Attend DNA NZL Brian Prescott Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl Did Not Attend DNA NZL Ian Young Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl Did Not Attend DNA AUS Arnold Glass BRM P48 / Buick 3917cc V8 Did Not Attend Source: https://www.sergent.com.au/motor/1963.html Tenth New Zealand International Grand Prix 1963 sergent.com.au 2015-10-26 References New Zealand Grand Prix 1962 New Zealand Grand Prix 1963 1964 New Zealand Grand Prix expanded Category:New Zealand Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:January 1963 sports events in Oceania