The1968 Belgian Grand Prixwas aFormula Onemotor race held at theSpa-Francorchamps Circuiton 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the1968 World Championship of Driversand the1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.The 28-lap race was won byMcLarendriverBruce McLarenafter he started from sixth position.Pedro Rodríguezfinished second for theBRMteam andFerraridriverJacky Ickxcame in third.
| 1968 Belgian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 9 June 1968 | ||
| Official name | XXVIIIGrand Prix de Belgique | ||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps,Francorchamps,Spa,Belgium | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 14.100 km (8.761 miles) | ||
| Distance | 28 laps, 394.800 km (245.317 miles) | ||
| Weather | Overcast, Dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 3:28.6 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 John Surtees | Honda | |
| Time | 3:30.5 on lap 5 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | McLaren-Ford | ||
| Second | BRM | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
On the seventh lapBrian Redmanwent off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. HisCoopercaught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.
Background
editAfter the introduction of 'dive plane' wings on the nosecone on aFormula One carbyLotusat the previous race, the1968 Monaco Grand Prix,Ferrariadded a strut mounted negative incidence wing - to their lead driverChris Amon's car[1]and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car ofJackie Stewart,though Amon claimed to have performed similar lap times without the wings.[2]Amon's teammateJacky Ickxdid not have wings on his car.[3]TheBrabhamteam also fitted a rear wing toJack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift; he qualified 10th.[4]Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race, the1968 Dutch Grand PrixatZandvoort.As 1968 season progressed many F1 teams utilized strut mounted wings attached directly to suspension elements - copying Chaparral sports car practice - to increase cornering speeds, reducing lap times. Ferrari never utilized strut mounted wings attached to suspension, asEnzo Ferrariconsidered it far too dangerous,[5]continuing with strut mounted wings mounted directly to the chassis.
Classification
editQualifying
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |  Chris Amon
|
Ferrari | 3:28.6 | — |
| 2 | 7 | Jackie Stewart
|
Matra-Ford | 3:32.3 | +3.7 |
| 3 | 23 |  Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 3:34.3 | +5.7 |
| 4 | 20 | John Surtees
|
Honda | 3:35.0 | +6.4 |
| 5 | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | 3:35.4 | +6.8 |
| 6 | 5 | Bruce McLaren
|
McLaren-Ford | 3:37.1 | +8.5 |
| 7 | 14 | Piers Courage
|
BRM | 3:37.2 | +8.6 |
| 8 | 11 |  Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 3:37.8 | +9.2 |
| 9 | 3 |  Jo Siffert
|
Lotus-Ford | 3:39.0 | +10.4 |
| 10 | 16 | Brian Redman
|
Cooper-BRM | 3:41.4 | +12.8 |
| 11 | 12 | Richard Attwood
|
BRM | 3:45.2 | +16.6 |
| 12 | 15 | Lucien Bianchi
|
Cooper-BRM | 3:45.9 | +17.3 |
| 13 | 10 |  Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra | 3:52.9 | +24.3 |
| 14 | 1 | Graham Hill
|
Lotus-Ford | 4:06.1 | +37.5 |
| 15 | 2 | Jackie Oliver
|
Lotus-Ford | 4:30.8 | +1:02.2 |
| 16 | 17 |  Jo Bonnier
|
McLaren-BRM | 4:34.3 | +1:05.7 |
| 17 | 19 |  Jochen Rindt
|
Brabham-Repco | 4:46.7 | +1:18.1 |
| 18 | 18 |  Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Repco | ||
| Source:[6][7] | |||||
Race
edit| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Bruce McLaren
|
McLaren-Ford | 28 | 1:40:02.1 | 6 | 9 |
| 2 | 11 | Pedro Rodríguez
|
BRM | 28 | + 12.1 | 8 | 6 |
| 3 | 23 | Jacky Ickx
|
Ferrari | 28 | + 39.6 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 | Jackie Stewart
|
Matra-Ford | 27 | Out of fuel | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Jackie Oliver
|
Lotus-Ford | 26 | Transmission | 15 | 2 |
| 6 | 15 | Lucien Bianchi
|
Cooper-BRM | 26 | + 2 Laps | 12 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | Jo Siffert
|
Lotus-Ford | 25 | Oil pressure | 9 | |
| 8 | 10 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Matra | 25 | + 3 Laps | 13 | |
| Ret | 14 | Piers Courage
|
BRM | 22 | Engine | 7 | |
| Ret | 6 | Denny Hulme
|
McLaren-Ford | 18 | Halfshaft | 5 | |
| Ret | 20 | John Surtees
|
Honda | 11 | Suspension | 4 | |
| Ret | 22 | Chris Amon
|
Ferrari | 8 | Radiator | 1 | |
| Ret | 16 | Brian Redman
|
Cooper-BRM | 6 | Spun Off | 10 | |
| Ret | 12 | Richard Attwood
|
BRM | 6 | Oil Pipe | 11 | |
| Ret | 18 | Jack Brabham
|
Brabham-Repco | 6 | Throttle | 18 | |
| Ret | 1 | Graham Hill
|
Lotus-Ford | 5 | Halfshaft | 14 | |
| Ret | 19 | Jochen Rindt
|
Brabham-Repco | 5 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 17 | Jo Bonnier
|
McLaren-BRM | 1 | Wheel | 16 | |
Source:[8]
| |||||||
Notes
edit- This was the first of many Grand Prix wins forMcLaren.Also,Bruce McLarenwas the third driver to win in a car of his own making, afterJack BrabhamandDan Gurney.
Championship standings after the race
edit
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- Note:Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
edit- ^Roebuck, Nigel(October 1998)."Legends".Motor Sportmagazine archive.p. 18. Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2016.Retrieved9 August2016.
- ^"Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year".talkingaboutf1.23 August 2011.Retrieved8 July2020.
- ^Lawrence (1999) p.100
- ^Nye (1986) p.72
- ^"Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year".talkingaboutf1.23 August 2011.Retrieved8 July2020.
- ^"1966 ACF GP Qualification".chicanef1.Retrieved26 August2020.
- ^"1966 French Grand Prix".Motor Sport Magazine.Retrieved26 August2020.
- ^"1968 Belgian Grand Prix".formula1. Archived fromthe originalon 18 January 2015.Retrieved26 September2015.
- ^ab"Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1".statsf1.Retrieved12 March2019.
Further reading
edit- Lang, Mike (1982).Grand Prix! Vol 2.Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 66–67.ISBN0-85429-321-3.
- Lawrence, Mike (1999).Brabham+Ralt+Honda: The Ron Tauranac story.Motor Racing Publications.ISBN1-899870-35-0.
- Nye, Doug (1986).Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966–85.Hazleton publishing.ISBN0-905138-37-6.