1965 Rounds 5-7
Australia

Round Five: WARWICK FARM

Sydney Grand Prix

Date: 14th February 1965

45 Laps of 3.621kms (162.945kms)

The first round in Australia, at Warwick Farm, opened with a sensational private practice session on the Friday in which Matich, Clark and Graham Hill all got below 1m 35s compared with the standing lap record of 1m 37.2s. McLaren and Phil Hill experimented with 13 inch tyres on the front, while Brabham found he was faster on Dunlops than the Goodyears on which he had to race. Levis shunted his black Brabham late in practice, and Leo Geoghegan battled on with what was thought to be influenza but which turned out to be pneumonia.

The start was dynamic, with Matich out-accelerating Clark and Hill, who passed him into Creek Corner. Clark lost third gear on lap 3, but stayed in second place with Matich third. Brabham passed Matich on lap 9, and by this time Davison, Phil Hill and McLaren had retired. Cusack, Geoghegan and Levis staged a fine fight back in the field, and Gardner retired on lap 26. This left Clark and Brabham chasing Hill, with Matich fourth and Stillwell fifth. Clark passed Hill on lap 34 as Brabham slowed markedly as his tyres wore down. Matich closed rapidly on Brabham, but was still eight seconds behind as the leaders started their last lap. Then Hill spun on Polo, and Brabham, Matich and Stillwell filed through to put Hill back into fifth place.


Frank Matich leading Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Bruce McLaren into the first corner at Warwick Farm.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

  Jim Clark              Graham Hill                Frank Matich*
             Bruce McLaren         Jack Brabham
Lex Davison            Bib Stillwell               Frank Gardner
                    Phil Hill                   Jim Palmer
 Kerry Grant              Roly Levis                 Greg Cusack
              Rocky Tresise         Leo Geoghegan
  Glyn Scott             David Walker          Geoff McClelland
             Barry Collerson

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 32B / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 11m 06.8s
2 Jack Brabham Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 08.1s
3 Frank Matich Aust Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 13.5s
4 Bib Stillwell Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 44.1s
5 Graham Hill UK Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 55.6s
6 Jim Palmer NZ Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 44  
7 Roly Levis NZ Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 43  
8 Leo Geoghegan Aust Lotus 32 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 43  
9 Rocky Tresise Aust Cooper T62 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 42  
10 Greg Cusack Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 42  
11 David Walker Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 41  
12 Glyn Scott Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 41  
Ret Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 Engine
Ret Kerry Grant NZ Brabham BT4 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 15 Oil Pressure
Ret Barry Collerson Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 12 Mechanical
Ret Bruce McLaren NZ Cooper T79 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 10 Piston
Ret Geoff McClelland Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 9 Overheating
Ret Phil Hill US Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 9 Suspension
Ret Lex Davison Aust Brabham BT4 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 4 Broken Steering

Fastest Lap: Jim Clark 1mk 33.7s (Record)

 

Round Six: SANDOWN

Sandown Park 100

Date: 21st February 1965

54 Laps of 3.103kms (167.562kms)

Sandown, tragically, was marred by the death of maestro Lex Davison in practice. Jack Brabham, with new "sticky" Goodyears hot from the moulds, took out his third Sandown Cup to the enormous enthusiasm of a partisan crowd. He won 50 bottles of champagne for putting up pole position lap of 1m 8.8s. The Gardner Brabham failed to arrive for practice after being damaged in a trailer accident on the trip down from Sydney.

Graham Hill's car had been fluffing badly with magneto trouble, but McLaren and Phil Hill were very happy with their new 13 inch hand-cut ultra-low profile Firestones. Matich got off the line ahead of Clark again, but the Scot nipped in front of him going into Shell Corner. Then Brabham, McLaren, Phil Hill and finally Graham Hill got by Matich, and on lap 7, Brabham shot by Clark on the back straight. Matich stopped on lap 8 with a broken rotor button, and the race settled into three distinct fights, Brabham and Clark for the lead, the two Hills, McLaren and Stillwell for another, and the third between Gardner and Palmer. Stillwell, driving exceptionally well, passed the two Coopers into fourth and moved into third when Graham Hill retired on lap 35. Clark had led for four brief laps before being pushed back to second place, and on lap 38 Stillwell's car started to misfire badly with magneto trouble. Phil Hill went up to third, McLaren slowed with heat fatigue, and Jack Brabham continued to lead, taking the race by 4.6 seconds.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

  Frank Matich               Jim Clark              Jack Brabham*
                      Bib Stillwell          Bruce McLaren
John McDonald          Graham Hill                   Phil Hill
                     Jim Palmer               Kerry Grant
 Keith Rilstone           Wally Mitchell               Roly Levis
                   Frank Gardner

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Jack Brabham Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 54 1hr 2m 57.7s
2 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 32B / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 54 1hr 3m 02.3s
3 Phil Hill US Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 53  
4 Bruce McLaren NZ Cooper T79 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 52  
5 Jim Palmer NZ Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 51  
6 Bib Stillwell Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 51  
7 Roly Levis NZ Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 49  
8 Wally Mitchell Aust Lotus 18 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 50  
9 Keith Rilstone Aust Elfin / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 44  
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 43 Engine
Ret Graham Hill UK Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 35 Overheating
Ret Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 32 Engine
Ret Kerry Grant NZ Brabham BT4 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 18 Engine
Ret Frank Matich Aust Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 10 Rotor Button
DNS Lex Davison Aust Brabham BT4 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl   Fatal Accident

Fastest Lap: Jack Brabham 1m 8.6s

 

 

Round Seven: LONGFORD     30th Australian Grand Prix

Date: 1st March 1965

26 Laps of 7.242kms (188.292kms)

Longford saw the McLaren cars come resoundingly into their own with good short-stroke engines and the small frontal area and shallow tread of the Firestones on this ultra-fast circuit. McLaren and Brabham staged a thrilling battle for pole position and 100 bottles of champagne on the Friday, with McLaren finally making it with a shattering 2m 18.5s lap. McLaren won the 10 lap qualifier on the Saturday from Brabham and Graham Hill and lap times from this set the grid for the Grand Prix.

From the start, McLaren was first away, joined by Graham Hill on the outside. Brabham came between them and soon edged ahead of Hill. Clark, Matich, Stillwell and Phil Hill all followed very closely behind. This group soon pulled away from Levis, Jane and Scott, with Tresise behind, beginning to get the Cooper-Climax wound up ready to find a way past the smaller cars. Jane moved past Levis, then, as they passed the pits, Tresise moved out to take Levis as well. As he did, the Cooper went out of control, crashing through a fence, killing the young driver immediately.

After three laps, McLaren led from Brabham, Hill and Clark, who was suffering from a miss-fire under full revs. This allowed Phil Hill to pass him. By the end of four laps, Grant, Jane and Archer were all out. Clark got back in front of Hill, only to be re-passed again. This occurrence was to take place numerous times throughout the race. Just before half distance, the front suspension collapsed on Matich's car and he was lucky to be able to keep the car under control until bringing it to a stop.

As Brabham was passing Levis, going into Mountford corner, Levis suffered a brake lock up and connected with Brabhams wheel. As a precautionary check, Brabham called into the pits, and returned to the race back in fifth position, just ahead of Stillwell, but behind McLaren, Graham Hill, Phil Hill and Clark.

Brabham began recording record shattering laps in his endeavour to regain his spot. McLaren responded and on lap 17 set a new record time of 2m 18.4s. With nine laps remaining, everyone sensed the urgency as Brabham began to appear in their mirrors. Jack passed Clark and was now right behind Phil Hill. Jack passed Phil, but was immediately re-passed by Phil, who set a new record lap of 2m 18.2s in doing so. Jack responded once more and passed Phil with a new lap record of 2m 18.0s, a time that was never ever beaten on the Longford track.

Meanwhile up at the front, McLaren was having clutch trouble and his lap times began to drop. Phil Hill wasn't finished yet and needing to help defend his team leaders position, he once again took Brabham and followed this by passing Graham Hill as well. Brabham also took Graham Hill and with three laps to go, McLaren was holding on, with Phil Hill trying to hold off Brabham. This he could not do and Brabham was now in second. McLaren was changing gears without a clutch and survived to win by only 3.3 seconds. This must surely go down as one of the best Australian Grand Prixs ever.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

Graham Hill             Jack Brabham            Bruce McLaren*
               Frank Gardner                Jim Clark
   Phil Hill                     Bib Stillwell                Frank Matich
               Rocky Tresise               Jim Palmer
 Bob Jane                 Jack Hobden             John McDonald
                 Mel McEwin                  Roly Levis
 Glyn Scott                  Kerry Grant                   Lyn Archer

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Bruce McLaren NZ Cooper T79 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 26 1hr 1m 10.9s
2 Jack Brabham Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 1m 14.2s
3 Phil Hill US Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 1m 15.8s
4 Graham Hill UK Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 1m 18.8s
5 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 32B / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 1m 19.3s
6 Bib Stillwell Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 2m 25.1s
7 Jim Palmer NZ Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26 1hr 2m 27.2s
8 Glyn Scott Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 23  
9 Roly Levis NZ Brabham BT6 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 23 Accident
10 Jack Hobden Aust Cooper / Climax 2200cc 4cyl 22  
11 Mel McEwin Aust Elfin / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 20  
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 21 Mechanical
Ret Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl    
Ret Frank Matich Aust Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 5 Suspension
Ret Lyn Archer Aust Elfin / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 4 Mechanical
Ret Bob Jane Aust Elfin / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 4 Gearbox
Ret Kerry Grant NZ Brabham BT4 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 3 Engine
Ret Rocky Tresise Aust Cooper T62 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 1 Fatal Accident

Fastest Lap: Jack Brabham 2m 18.0s (Record)

Images of driver styles under Longford Viaduct.
 
Bib Stillwell                                                                     Bruce McLaren

 
Frank Matich                                                                            Jack Brabham

 
Jim Clark                                                                                 Phil Hill

 

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