1965 Race of Champions

I Daily Mail Race of Champions
The Brands Hatch Grand Prix layout for 1965
Race details
Date	March 13, 1965
Official Name	I Daily Mail Race of Champions
Location	Brands Hatch Fawkham, Kent, England
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.265km (2.651mi)
Distance	2 x 40 laps, 341.181km (212.045 miles)
Pole Position
Driver	Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time	1:34.9
Fastest Lap
Driver	Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time	1:35.4 on lap -
Podium
First	Mike Spence Lotus-Climax
Second	Jackie Stewart BRM
Third	Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax
Lap Leaders
No data available

"Hell, it was the sort of mistake any of us could have made in those circumstances."

—Dan Gurney (on Jim Clark's accident), Motorsport Magazine

The 1965 Race of Champions was the first running of the Non-Championship race meeting known as the Race of Champions, held at Brands Hatch in Kent, England. The race was won by Mike Spence for Team Lotus over two heats, after Jim Clark crashed out in the second heat while under pressure from Dan Gurney in their battle for the lead. Neither Clark nor Gurney were classified as both retired from one of the heats.

The podium was completed by Scot Jackie Stewart and Swede Jo Bonnier, as both fended off a strong performance from Frank Gardner.

Background

Hosted during the long four month break between the South African and Monaco Grand Prix in 1965, various members of the Formula One paddock arrived at Brands Hatch for the non-championship meeting. Championship leader Jim Clark was the star name of the field, also entering in the supporting British Saloon Car Championship race held on the same day. Other big names entering the race included Graham Hill and future F1 legend Jackie Stewart for BRM, John Surtees for Ferrari and future Race of Champions winner Bruce McLaren.

The I Daily Mail Race of Champions was also the first time that the teams had run their cars competitively since the South African Grand Prix two months before, and also saw a drastically reduced entry list from the first race of the season. The race itself, it was decided, would be held over two heats, with the BSCC running in between the two battles. Numerous teams and drivers entered both events, with Team Lotus a prominent in both. Several teams also entered reserve drivers although none of them would be used, although three privateers did run in the second heat after disqualifications and withdrawals.

Entries

Below is the entry list for the 1965 Race of Champions.

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Type	Tyre
1	John Surtees	SEFAC Ferrari	Ferrari	158	Ferrari	205B 1.5 V8	D
2	Lorenzo Bandini	SEFAC Ferrari	Ferrari	158	Ferrari	205B 1.5 V8	D
3	Graham Hill	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P261	BRM	P60 1.5 V8	D
4	Jackie Stewart	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM	P261	BRM	P60 1.5 V8	D
5	Jim Clark	Team Lotus	Lotus	33	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
6	Mike Spence	Team Lotus	Lotus	33	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
7	Dan Gurney	Brabham Racing Organisation	Brabham	BT11	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	G
8	Jack Brabham	Brabham Racing Organisation	Brabham	BT11	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	G
9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T77	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Car Company	Cooper	T77	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
11	Jo Siffert	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham	BT11	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	G
12	Jo Bonnier	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham	BT7	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	G
14	Masten Gregory	Scuderia Centro Sud	BRM	P578	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
15	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Scuderia Centro Sud	BRM	P578	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
16	Richard Attwood	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus	25	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
17	Mike Hailwood	Reg Parnell Racing	Lotus	25	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
18	Frank Gardner	John Willment Automobiles	Brabham	BT11	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
19	Jo Schlesser	John Willment Automobiles	Lola	T55	Ford	109E 1.5 V8	D
20	Bob Anderson	DW Racing Enterprises	Brabham	BT11	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
21	Ian Raby	Ian Raby Racing	Brabham	BT3	BRM	P56 1.5 V8	D
22	John Taylor	Gerard Racing	Cooper	T60	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
23	Rodney Bloor	Sports Motors	Brabham	BT14	Ford	109E 1.5 V8	D
25	Paul Hawkins	DW Racing Enterprises	Lotus	33	Climax	FWMV 1.5 V8	D
26	John Rhodes	Gerard Racing	Cooper	T71	Ford	109E 1.5 V8	D

Qualifying

Pole position went to Clark in the as ever well prepared Lotus-Climax, with is time of 1:34.9 unbeaten in the session. Hill was next for BRM with Mike Spence taking third, while Jo Bonnier and Jack Brabham set the same time for fourth in the two Brabham-Climaxs.

Furtherdown, Surtees took seventh in the sole entered Ferrari, with McLaren in tenth. Frank Gardner, whom would also be competing in the BSCC race, took fifteenth in his Brabham-BRM, while Jo Schlesser in the only Lola-Ford Cosworth completed the qualifying grid in twentieth. 

Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	5	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1:34.9
2	3	Graham Hill	BRM	1:35.6	+0.7s
3	6	Mike Spence	Lotus-Climax	1:36.1	+1.2s
4	12	Jo Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	1:36.5	+1.6s
5	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	1:36.5	+1.6s
6	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	1:36.7	+1.8s
7	1	John Surtees	Ferrari	1:37.3	+2.4s
8	20	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	1:37.4	+2.5s
9	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Climax	1:37.7	+2.8s
10	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	1:38.0	+3.1s
11	16	Richard Attwood	Lotus-BRM	1:38.1	+3.2s
12	11	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	1:38.1	+3.2s
13	7	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	1:38.1	+3.2s
14	17	Mike Hailwood	Lotus-BRM	1:38.8	+3.9s
15	18	Frank Gardner	Brabham-BRM	1:39.0	+4.1s
16	21	Ian Raby	Brabham-BRM	1:40.4	+5.5s
17	22	John Taylor	Cooper-Climax	1:40.6	+5.7s
18	15	Ludovico Scarfiotti	BRM	1:41.3	+6.4s
19	14	Masten Gregory	BRM	1:41.4	+6.5s
20	19	Jo Schlesser	Lola-Ford Cosworth	1:44.0	+9.1s
Res	23	Rodney Bloor*	Brabham-Ford Cosworth	No TIme	-
Res	25	Paul Hawkins*	Lotus-Climax	No TIme	-
Res	26	John Rhodes*	Cooper-Ford	No TIme	-

* Bloor, Hawkins and Rhodes were reserve entries so did not set a time in qualifying.

Pos		Pos		Pos
Driver		Driver		Driver
				______________
		______________		1
______________		2		Jim Clark
3		Graham Hill
Mike Spence
			______________
	______________		4
	5		Jo Bonnier
	Jack Brabham
				______________
		______________		6
______________		7		Jackie Stewart
8		John Surtees
Bob Acnderson
			______________
	______________		9
	10		Jochen Rindt
	Bruce McLaren
				______________
		______________		11
______________		12		Richard Attwood
13		Jo Siffert
Dan Gurney
			______________
	______________		14
	15		Mike Hailwood
	Frank Gardner
				______________
		______________		16
______________		17		Ian Raby
18		John Taylor
Ludovico Scarfiotti
			______________
	______________		19
	20		Masten Gregory
	Jo Schlesser

Race

Before the race, Alan Rees withdrew his Roy Winkelmann prepared Brabham-Ford, as the car was not ready to take part in qualifying, and could not register as a reserve. Likewise, Ferrari's second car, that of Lorenzo Bandini, was withdrawn after the Italian driver failed to set a time in the qualifying session. Otherwise, the grid was unchanges, with the starting order the same for both heats, although a reserve entry would start from the slot allocated to the car it replaced if required.

Heat I

Heat I saw Jim Clark paint a dominant display over the Kent circuit, beating his closest competitor, Dan Gurney, by over 20 seconds. Gurney himself had had an intense race, battling his way past half the field to take second in the first 40 lap race. Off the line, Clark and Mike Spence had streaked ahead of second placed Graham Hill, as the two Lotus 33s set about taking a decisive lead in the first heat. But Spence had begun to fall off the pace of his legendary team mate, allowing John Surtees, having swung his way through the field, to take second.

Sadly for Surtees, his pace would also deteriorate as the race went on, dropping him back to sixth by the finish, splitting the BRMs of Hill and Jackie Stewart. This meant that Spence was promoted back to third, which he held until the end of the first Heat. Furtherdown, accidents claimed Bob Anderson and Mike Hailwood, while Jo Schlesser was disqualified for obtaining outside assistance in rejoining the race after a spin.

Heat II

After the chaos of the Saloon Car race had been cleared from the circuit, the Second Heat started, with the three reserve drivers stepping in. Rodney Bloor replaced the disqualifed Schlesser, Aussie Paul Hawkins stepped in forMasten Gregory after his retirement in Heat ! with a driveshaft failure, and John Rhodes entered instead of Ludovico Scarfotti, whom withdrew after the first heat. Otherwise, the order remained unchanged, with the grid lined up the same as it had been for the first heat.

Once again, the two Lotuses stole the show from the start line, with Spence and Clark pulling ahead of Hill in the centre slot, taking first and second on the road. Spence soon fell to Gurney, however, whose spirited performance meant he was soon challenging Clark for the lead. Furtherdown, John Taylor slid wide on the run out of Druids, rejoining after a bounce through the grass behind the pitlane.

After a spin for Jochen Rindt caused a stir (the Austrian running high in the order at the time), focus returned to Clark and Gurney at the front, with the American ace desperate to find a way past the super Scotsman. However, a rare mistake by Clark, under pressure from Gurney, caused him to run wide out of the final corner, sending the Lotus into the marshall post neaarby. Clark was unhurt after an accident that split the chassis of his car, with the former World Champion helping the clean up operation after the race.

Gurney should, therefore, have gone on to win the race, but fell to an ignition failure just moments after Clark's accident, handing victory to Spence in the second Team Lotus car. A relaxed race from the Englishman meant he took the first Race of Champions victory on aggregate, having finished third in the first heat and won the second. Jo Bonnier and Frank Gardner swept acorss the line after their own quiet races to take second and third in the heat, although they would ultimately slip to third and fourth respectively after Stewart finished fourth in heat II.

Aggregate Result

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	I/II
1	6	Mike Spence	Lotus-Climax	80	2:11:42.0	3	3rd/1st
2	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	80	+59.4s	6	7th/4th
3	12	Jo Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	79	+1 lap	4	8th/2nd
4	18	Frank Gardner	Brabham-BRM	79	+1 lap	15	9th/3rd
5	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	79	+1 lap	10	12th/5th
6	11	Jo Siffert	Brabham-BRM	79	+1 lap	12	11th/6th
7	10	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Climax	78	+2 laps	9	13th/7th
8	22	John Taylor	Cooper-Climax	77	+3 laps	17	14th/8th
9	21	Ian Raby	Brabham-BRM	75	+5 laps	16	15th/9th
10*	25	Paul Hawkins	Lotus-Climax	37	+43 laps	-	DNS/10th
11*	26	John Rhodes	Cooper-Ford	31	+49 laps	-	DNS/11th
Ret	8	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Climax	68	Oil leak	5	4th/Ret
Ret	16	Richard Attwood	Lotus-BRM	65	Water hose	11	10th/Ret
Ret	23	Rodney Bloor	Brabham-Ford	17	Steering	-	DNS/Ret
Ret	3	Graham Hill	BRM	54	Overheating	2	5th/Ret
Ret	7	Dan Gurney	Brabham-Climax	54	Ignition	13	2nd/Ret
Ret	5	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	51	Accident	1	1st/Ret
Ret	17	Mike Hailwood	Lotus-BRM	22	Accident	14	Ret/Ret
Ret	1	John Surtees	Ferrari	46	Fuel injector	7	6th/Ret
Ret	20	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	14	Accident	8	Ret/Ret
WD	15	Ludovico Scarfiotti	BRM	28	Withdrew	18	Ret/WD
DSQ†	19	Jo Schlesser	Lola-Ford Cosworth	18	Disqualified	20	DSQ/DNS
Ret	14	Masten Gregory	BRM	1	Driveshaft	19	Ret/DNS
WD	2	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	0	Withdrew	-	WD/WD

• The results are based on timing, with the times from the second heat taking precendence over those from the first.
• * Hawkins and Rhodes were classified as finishers on aggregate as they completed the race distance in the second heat, despite not starting the first.
• ^† Schlesser was disqualified from the first Heat after requiring outside assistance to rejoin the race. This meant he was unable to enter the second heat as well.

Milestones

• First Race of Champions.
• First win for Mike Spence in a Formula One car.
• Last entry for a Lola T55 at a Grand Prix of any sort.
• Debut for several drivers in a Formula One level race, including:
  • Jo Schlesser.
  • John Rhodes.
  • Rodney Bloor.

References

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