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1968 Belgian Grand Prix

FieldValue
TypeF1
CountryBelgium
Grand PrixBelgian
Date9 June
Year1968
ImageSpa 1950.jpg
Official nameXXVIII Grand Prix de Belgique
LocationCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
CoursePermanent racing facility
Course_mi8.761
Course_km14.100
Distance_laps28
Distance_mi245.317
Distance_km394.800
WeatherOvercast, Dry
Pole_DriverChris Amon
Pole_TeamFerrari
Pole_Time3:28.6
Pole_CountryNew Zealand
Fast_DriverJohn Surtees
Fast_TeamHonda
Fast_Time3:30.5
Fast_Lap5
Fast_CountryUnited Kingdom
First_DriverBruce McLaren
First_TeamMcLaren-Ford
First_CountryNew Zealand
Second_DriverPedro Rodríguez
Second_TeamBRM
Second_CountryMexico
Second_flag_suffix1934
Third_DriverJacky Ickx
Third_TeamFerrari
Third_CountryBelgium
Lapchart

The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on 9 June 1968. It was race 4 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race was won by McLaren driver Bruce McLaren after he started from sixth position. Pedro Rodríguez finished second for the BRM team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.

On the seventh lap Brian Redman went off the circuit when his suspension failed and he crashed into and over a concrete barrier and into a parked car. His Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a severely broken right arm and a few minor burns.

Background

After the introduction of 'dive plane' wings on the nosecone on a Formula One car by Lotus at the previous race, the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari added a strut mounted negative incidence wing - to their lead driver Chris Amon's car and he nabbed pole position, and was 4 seconds faster in qualifying than the next fastest car of Jackie Stewart, though Amon claimed to have performed similar lap times without the wings. Amon's teammate Jacky Ickx did not have wings on his car. The Brabham team also fitted a rear wing to Jack Brabham's car, paired with dive planes on the nose to counteract lift. Wings were added to Ickx's car (and many other teams copied the idea for their cars) for the next race, the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. 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, as Enzo Ferrari considered it far too dangerous, continuing with strut mounted wings mounted directly to the chassis.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap123456789101112131415161718Source:
22NZL Chris AmonFerrari3:28.6—
7UK Jackie StewartMatra-Ford3:32.3+3.7
23BEL Jacky IckxFerrari3:34.3+5.7
20UK John SurteesHonda3:35.0+6.4
6NZL Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford3:35.4+6.8
5NZL Bruce McLarenMcLaren-Ford3:37.1+8.5
14UK Piers CourageBRM3:37.2+8.6
11MEX Pedro RodríguezBRM3:37.8+9.2
3SUI Jo SiffertLotus-Ford3:39.0+10.4
16UK Brian RedmanCooper-BRM3:41.4+12.8
12UK Richard AttwoodBRM3:45.2+16.6
15BEL Lucien BianchiCooper-BRM3:45.9+17.3
10FRA Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra3:52.9+24.3
1UK Graham HillLotus-Ford4:06.1+37.5
2UK Jackie OliverLotus-Ford4:30.8+1:02.2
17SWE Jo BonnierMcLaren-BRM4:34.3+1:05.7
19AUT Jochen RindtBrabham-Repco4:46.7+1:18.1
18AUS Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints12345678RetRetRetRetRetRetRetRetRetRet
5NZL **Bruce McLaren****McLaren-Ford**281:40:02.16**9**
11MEX **Pedro Rodríguez****BRM**28+ 12.18**6**
23BEL **Jacky Ickx****Ferrari**28+ 39.63**4**
7UK **Jackie Stewart****Matra-Ford**27Out of fuel2**3**
2UK **Jackie Oliver****Lotus-Ford**26Transmission15**2**
15BEL **Lucien Bianchi****Cooper-BRM**26+ 2 Laps12**1**
3SUI Jo SiffertLotus-Ford25Oil pressure9
10FRA Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra25+ 3 Laps13
14UK Piers CourageBRM22Engine7
6NZL Denny HulmeMcLaren-Ford18Halfshaft5
20UK John SurteesHonda11Suspension4
22NZL Chris AmonFerrari8Radiator1
16UK Brian RedmanCooper-BRM6Spun Off10
12UK Richard AttwoodBRM6Oil Pipe11
18AUS Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco6Throttle18
1UK Graham HillLotus-Ford5Halfshaft14
19AUT Jochen RindtBrabham-Repco5Engine17
17SWE Jo BonnierMcLaren-BRM1Wheel16

Notes

  • This was the first of many Grand Prix wins for McLaren. Also, Bruce McLaren was the third driver to win in a car of his own making, after Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

PosDriverPointsSource:
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]1United Kingdom Graham Hill24
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]2New Zealand Denny Hulme10
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 143New Zealand Bruce McLaren9
[[File:1downarrow red.svg10px]] 14United Kingdom Jim Clark9
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 105Mexico Pedro Rodríguez6

;Constructors' Championship standings

PosConstructorPointsSource:
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]1UK Lotus-Ford29
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]2UK McLaren-Ford17
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 13UK BRM12
[[File:1downarrow red.svg10px]] 14UK Cooper-BRM9
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 15ITA Ferrari7
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

References

  1. (October 1998). "Legends".
  2. (23 August 2011). "Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year".
  3. Lawrence (1999) p.100
  4. (23 August 2011). "Looking back: 1968 - Chris Amon's unluckiest year".
  5. "1966 ACF GP Qualification".
  6. "1966 French Grand Prix". [[Motor Sport Magazine]].
  7. "1968 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com.
  8. "Belgium 1968 - Championship • STATS F1".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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