1968 Tasman Series

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The 1968 Tasman Championship for Drivers was a motor racing series contested over eight races during January, February and March 1968, with four races held in New Zealand and four in Australia.[1] The championship was open to Racing Cars fitted with unsupercharged engines with a capacity equal or inferior to 2500cc.[1] It was the fifth annual Tasman Championship.

The championship won by Jim Clark, driving a Lotus 49T.[2]

It was the third and final Tasman Championship win for Clark who was killed in a Formula 2 crash on the ultra fast Hockenheim circuit in West Germany just over a month after the series concluded. Clark won the last of his twelve career Tasman Series wins when he won the 1968 Australian Grand Prix at the Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, only 0.1 seconds in front of the Dino 246 Tasmania of Chris Amon after a famous duel between the pair.

Reigning 1967 Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme finished equal seventh in the series in his Formula 2 Brabham with a best finish of third in Round 3 for the Lady Wigram Trophy, his first race of the series.

Schedule[]

Round Name Circuit Date Winning driver Winning car Winning team Report
New
Zealand 		1 New Zealand Grand Prix Pukekohe 6 January New Zealand Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania C.Amon Report
2 Levin International Levin 13 January New Zealand Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania C.Amon
3 Lady Wigram Trophy Wigram 20 January United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus
4 Teretonga International Teretonga 27 January New Zealand Bruce McLaren BRM P126 Owen Racing Organisation
Australia 5 Surfers Paradise 100 Surfers Paradise 11 February United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus
6 Warwick Farm International Warwick Farm 18 February United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus
7 Australian Grand Prix Sandown 25 February United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus Report
8 South Pacific Trophy Longford 4 March United Kingdom Piers Courage McLaren M4A P.Courage

Points system[]

Points were awarded at each race on the following basis:[1]

Position[1] 1 2 3 4 5 6
Points[1] 9 6 4 3 2 1

Championship placings were determined by the total number of points scored by a driver in all races.[1]

Championship standings[]

Pos Driver Car[3] Puk Lev Wig Ter Sur War San Lon Pts
1 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus 49T Cosworth Ret Ret 1 2 1 1 1 5 44
2 New Zealand Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania 1 1 2 4 Ret 4 2 7 36
3 United Kingdom Piers Courage McLaren M4A Cosworth 3 2 4 5 3 3 5 1 34
4 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus 49T Cosworth 2 2 3 6 17
= Australia Frank Gardner Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo 2 Ret Ret 3 9 Ret 4 3 17
6 New Zealand Bruce McLaren BRM P126 Ret Ret 5 1 11
7 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez BRM P126
BRM P261 		Ret Ret 6 Ret 10 6 Ret 2 8
= New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham BT23 Cosworth 3 6 6 5 9 DNS 8
9 New Zealand McLaren M4A Cosworth 4 3 7 8 3
10 United Kingdom Richard Attwood BRM P126 Ret Ret 6 4 4
11 Australia Leo Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco 4 Ret 7 DNS 3
= New Zealand Brabham BT18 Ford 8 4 8 10 3
13 Australia Kevin Bartlett Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax 5 Ret 8 DNS 2
= New Zealand Brabham BT7A Coventry Climax Ret 5 9 DNS 2
= Australia Brabham BT22 Coventry Climax[4] 5 Ret Ret 2
16 New Zealand Graeme Lawrence Brabham BT18 Ford 6 9 Ret 9 1
= New Zealand Brabham BT6 Ford 10 6 10 Ret 0
— New Zealand Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax 7 7 13 DNS 0
— New Zealand David Oxton Brabham BT16 Ford Ret 10 Ret 7 0
— Australia Lotus 27 Ford 7 10 0
— Australia Jack Brabham Brabham BT21E Repco 7 Ret 0
— Australia John Harvey Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret Ret 8 0
— New Zealand Lotus 22 Ford 8 DNS 0
— Australia Lotus 22 Ford 8 0
— Australia Alfredo Costanzo Elfin Mono Ford 8 0
— New Zealand John Nicholson Lotus 27 Ford 9 DNS 0
— Australia Lotus 27 Ford 9 0
— Australia John McCormack Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax 9 0
— New Zealand Ken Smith Lotus 41 Ford 12 DNS 11 Ret 0
— New Zealand Brabham BT10 Ford 11 12 DNQ 0
— New Zealand Graham McRae Brabham BT6 Ford Ret 14 Ret 0
— New Zealand Lotus 33 BRM Ret Ret DNQ Ret 0
— New Zealand Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret 0
— New Zealand Brabham BT6 Ford Ret 0
— Australia Brabham BT23 Repco Ret Ret Ret DNS 0
— Australia Brabham BT6 Ford Ret Ret 0
— Australia Max Stewart Rennmax Ford Ret 0
— Australia Fred Gibson Brabham Coventry Climax Ret 0
— Australia Lotus 32B Coventry Climax Ret 0
— New Zealand Brabham BT6 Ford DNS 0
Pos Driver Car Puk Lev Wig Ter Sur War San Lon Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f The Tasman Championship for Drivers - Season 1968, 1968 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 66 to 69
  2. ^ IX South Pacific Trophy, www.tasman-series.com, as archived at web.archive.org
  3. ^ Tasman Series 1968, www.sergent.com.au (linked round results pages) Retrieved 22 November 2017
  4. ^ www.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 22 November 2017
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