1968 Tasman Series

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.

1968 Tasman Series
Champion
Jim Clark
Previous: 1967 Next: 1969

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

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 Jim Clark Lotus 49T Cosworth Ret Ret 1 2 1 1 1 5 44
2 Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania 1 1 2 4 Ret 4 2 7 36
3 Piers Courage McLaren M4A Cosworth 3 2 4 5 3 3 5 1 34
4 Graham Hill Lotus 49T Cosworth 2 2 3 6 17
= Frank Gardner Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo 2 Ret Ret 3 9 Ret 4 3 17
6 Bruce McLaren BRM P126 Ret Ret 5 1 11
7 Pedro Rodríguez BRM P126
BRM P261		 Ret Ret 6 Ret 10 6 Ret 2 8
= Denny Hulme Brabham BT23 Cosworth 3 6 6 5 9 DNS 8
9 Jim Palmer McLaren M4A Cosworth 4 3 7 8 3
10 Richard Attwood BRM P126 Ret Ret 6 4 4
11 Leo Geoghegan Lotus 39 Repco 4 Ret 7 DNS 3
= Roly Levis Brabham BT18 Ford 8 4 8 10 3
13 Kevin Bartlett Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax 5 Ret 8 DNS 2
= Red Dawson Brabham BT7A Coventry Climax Ret 5 9 DNS 2
= Paul Bolton Brabham BT22 Coventry Climax [4] 5 Ret Ret 2
16 Graeme Lawrence Brabham BT18 Ford 6 9 Ret 9 1
= Bill Stone Brabham BT6 Ford 10 6 10 Ret 0
— Bryan Faloon Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax 7 7 13 DNS 0
— David Oxton Brabham BT16 Ford Ret 10 Ret 7 0
— Glyn Scott Lotus 27 Ford 7 10 0
— Jack Brabham Brabham BT21E Repco 7 Ret 0
— John Harvey Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret Ret 8 0
— Frank Radisich Lotus 22 Ford 8 DNS 0
— Malcolm Aldred Lotus 22 Ford 8 0
— Alfredo Costanzo Elfin Mono Ford 8 0
— John Nicholson Lotus 27 Ford 9 DNS 0
— Ian Ferguson Lotus 27 Ford 9 0
— John McCormack Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax 9 0
— Ken Smith Lotus 41 Ford 12 DNS 11 Ret 0
— Don MacDonald Brabham BT10 Ford 11 12 DNQ 0
— Graham McRae Brabham BT6 Ford Ret 14 Ret 0
— Peter Yock Lotus 33 BRM Ret Ret DNQ Ret 0
— Vince Anderson Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret 0
— Grahame Harvey Brabham BT6 Ford Ret 0
— Greg Cusack Brabham BT23 Repco Ret Ret Ret DNS 0
— Brian Page Brabham BT6 Ford Ret Ret 0
— Max Stewart Rennmax Ford Ret 0
— Fred Gibson Brabham Coventry Climax Ret 0
— Mel McEwin Lotus 32B Coventry Climax Ret 0
— Tony Batchelor Brabham BT6 Ford DNS 0
Pos Driver Car Puk Lev Wig Ter Sur War San Lon Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References
  1. 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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