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1968 Australian Grand Prix

Field	Value
Type	CUST
Description	Race 7 of 8 in [1968 Tasman Series](1968-tasman-series)
Grand Prix	Australian
Country	Australia
Location	Sandown Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date	25 February
Year	1968
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course_mi	1.92
Course_km	3.1
Distance_laps	55
Distance_mi	105.6
Distance_km	170.5
Weather	Sunny
Pole_Driver	Jack Brabham
Pole_Country	Australia
Pole_Team	Repco Brabham
Pole_Time	1'06.7
Fast_Driver	Chris Amon
Fast_Team	Ferrari
Fast_Time	1'07.0 (166.7 km/h, 103.6 mph)
Fast_Country	New Zealand
First_Driver	Jim Clark
First_Country	UK
First_Team	Lotus-Ford Cosworth
Second_Driver	Chris Amon
Second_Country	New Zealand
Second_Team	Ferrari
Third_Driver	Graham Hill
Third_Country	UK
Third_Team	Lotus-Ford Cosworth

The 1968 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Sandown Park in Victoria, Australia on 25 February 1968. The race was open to Racing Cars complying with the Australian National Formula or the Australian 1½ Litre Formula. It was the thirty third Australian Grand Prix and was also round seven of the 1968 Tasman Series. The race was staged by the Light Car Club of Australia and was sponsored by the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria.

Jim Clark, driving a Lotus 49T, won by 0.1 seconds from Chris Amon (Ferrari Dino 246T/68), with whom he battled for the lead throughout the race. Clark's victory was rewarded with the Lex Davison Trophy and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria Trophy. It proved to be the last major victory for the Scotsman. Twice winner of the World Championship of Drivers, three-time Tasman Series champion and the winner of the 1965 Indianapolis 500, Clark was killed in a Formula 2 crash at the Hockenheim circuit in West Germany six weeks after the race.

In his last drive in an Australian Grand Prix, Jack Brabham started the race from pole position but retired with engine failure. Chris Amon set the fastest race lap.

Leo Geoghegan (Lotus 39 Repco) was the first Australian resident driver to finish, an achievement which was rewarded with the Langridge Cup.

Classification

Results as follows:

Pos	No.	Driver	Entrant	Car	Laps	Time /
Comment	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS
6	UK Jim Clark	Gold Leaf Team Lotus with Ford Australia	Lotus 49T / Cosworth DFW 2.5L V8	55	1h 02m 40.3s
4	New Zealand Chris Amon	Chris Amon	Ferrari Dino 246T/68 / Ferrari 2.4L V6	55	1h 02m 40.4s
5	UK Graham Hill	Gold Leaf Team Lotus with Ford Australia	Lotus 49T / Cosworth DFW 2.5L V8	55	1h 03m 39.6s
8	Australia Frank Gardner	Alec Mildren Racing Pty. Ltd.	Brabham BT23D / Alfa Romeo 2.5L V8	55	1h 03m 39.8s
18	UK Piers Courage	P. Courage	McLaren M4A / Cosworth FVA 1.6L I4	54
12	UK Richard Attwood	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P126 / BRM 2.5L V12	53
10	Australia Leo Geoghegan	Geoghegan Racing Division	Lotus 39 / Repco 2.5L V8	53
9	Australia Kevin Bartlett	Alec Mildren Racing Pty. Ltd.	Brabham BT11A / Coventry Climax FPF 2.5L I4	53
1	New Zealand Denny Hulme	Racing Team S.A.	Repco Brabham BT23A / Cosworth FVA	50
2	Australia Jack Brabham	Ecurie Vitesse S.A.	Repco Brabham BT23E / Repco 2.5L V8	21	Engine
7	Australia Greg Cusack	Scuderia Veloce	Repco Brabham BT23A / Repco 2.5L V8	21	??
3	Australia John Harvey	Bob Jane Racing Team	Repco Brabham BT11A / Repco 2.5L V8	16	Gearbox
11	Mexico Pedro Rodriguez	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P126 / BRM 2.5L V12	10	Engine
11	Australia Geoff Vercoe	D. G. Fraser	Cicada BRM	-	Practice accident

Notes

Attendance: 12,000
Winner's average speed: 101.5 mph (163.3 km/h)

References

Official Programme, 33rd Australian Grand Prix, Sandown, 25 February (1968)
Conditions for Australian Titles, 1968 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, p. 70
Tasman Cliff-Hanger!, Sports Car World, April 1968, pages 20 & 21
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080723204626/http://www.tasman-series.com/races/1968/round7/round7.asp XXXIII Australian Grand Prix, www.tasman-series.com, as archived at web.archive.org]
(1986). "The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix". R & T Publishing.
[http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=AU68 Australian Grand Prix, Sandown Park, 25 Feb 1968, www.oldracingcars.com] Retrieved 19 November 2017
Amon's car was entered in the Official Programme as a Ferrari V6.
The Sports Car World race report lists the Courage car as a McLaren Ford.
The car of Hulme was entered in the Official Programme as a "Repco Brabham Ford".
The cars of Brabham, Cusack & Harvey were in each case entered in the Official Programme as a "Repco Brabham".
Adrian Ryan, Mighty Clark / Amon G.P. Duel, Racing Car News, April 1968, pages 36-39
The official history of the Australian Grand Prix – 80 Races, p. 245

Info: Wikipedia Source

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