| ATLAS F1 Volume 6, Issue 30 | |||
| A Race to Remember | |||
| by Marcel Schot, Netherlands | |||
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Every Grand Prix Venue has its most remembered race; that race where the mighty gods of Formula One diced and dodged to achieve eternal greatness and set the record books straight. But every Grand Prix venue also has remarkable races that were pushed aside in the history books, for no good reason. Atlas F1 writer Marcel Schot reviews, ahead of every Grand Prix this season, one race which should be memorised and valued; that one round in history which makes a Race to Remember
Despite the fact that it hasn't been on the calendar since 1977, one circuit is synonymous with the German Grand Prix: the Nurburgring. Of all the circuits that have been on the Grand Prix calendar, this is the one every fan and every driver knowns. In the Eifel mountains in the west of Germany, 22 kilometers of fearsome asphalt lay twisted around 174 corners, the living nightmare of every driver in the first 30 years of Formula One.
The 'Ring stands head and shoulders above the other tracks that have hosted the German Grand Prix. In fact, make that head, shoulders, torso and legs above the AVUS Ring (2 straights and 2 hairpins), the Hockenheimring (2 straights, a couple of chicanes and a Silverstone like stadium section) and the new Nurburgring (short and soulless). So it comes as no surprise that this week's race to remember is one of the old Nurburgring Grands Prix.
Only the best of the best could master the 'Ring. Juan Manuel Fangio drove the best race of his life and probably one of the most tremendous performances ever recorded in Formula One history in the 1957 German Grand Prix. Jim Clark regarded the 1962 race at the 'Ring as his best ever, finishing fourth despite stalling at the start and nearly spinning after two-thirds of the race. Both are masters of the 'Ring, but there's one other who certainly deserves that title: Jackie Stewart. Together with Fangio, Stewart is the only driver to have won at the 'Ring three times. The first of those three wins came in 1968 and it's this race we remember.
Before the race
The season had just passed the halfway point when the Formula One circus headed to the Eifel region of Germany to visit the Nurburgring. After a strong start to the season, Graham Hill was still in the lead of the championship, despite failing to score in four consecutive races. The Briton had collected 24 points over the first seven races, four more than Ferrari driver Jackie Ickx, who in turn had a bad start of the season and had been driving well throughout the middle of the season.
Just three points behind Ickx was Jackie Stewart, who - like Ickx - had only scored in the last four races. Prior to the German Grand Prix these two were the ones to beat. In fourth place in the championship was Denny Hulme, the McLaren driver, who was two points behind Stewart. These four were the main contenders for the title, but there were others on the prowl. In the British Grand Prix, Jo Siffert had scored his first career victory, giving him nine points, while Chris Amon had finished second, bringing him to 10 points, equal to Pedro Rodriguez. One man was missed very much in the championship battle. On the seventh of April, Jim Clark had been killed in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim. Less than four months after his death in Germany, his colleagues returned to the central European country to race the circuit which he had mastered.
In qualifying Jackie Ickx showed he meant business. Commonly known as a rain master, Ickx took the maximum out of his Ferrari and in quite heavy rain set a time of 9:04.0. Only his teammate Chris Amon could follow, but he was ten seconds back nonetheless. Brabham driver Jochen Rindt completed the front row, no less than 28 seconds behind the pole sitter. Championship leader Graham Hill put his Lotus on the second row behind the two Ferraris, 42 seconds behind Ickx. Next to Hill was surprisingly Vic Elford in the Cooper.
Jackie Stewart, after his accident in 1966 at Spa a fierce fighter for safety in the sport, didn't go flat out, posting a 9:54.2 to claim 6th on the grid. The third row was completed by John Surtees in the Honda and BRM pilot Piers Courage, who was the first driver with a time of more than 10 minutes. All others were a minute or more behind Ickx, including race winners Siffert and McLaren and World Champions Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme. Two cars didn't make the grid. Silvio Moser's private Brabham suffered an oil problem before practice and wasn't able to complete a lap all weekend. Johnny Servoz-Gavin, in a Matra, was the other driver who failed to register a time in qualifying.
The race
As the time of departure approached the weather conditions became worse every minute. After the practice sessions were marred by rain, now the mountains were covered in thick fog with nasty winds blowing across the track. The organizers of the race delayed the start and then delayed it again, but in the end it was decided to let the drivers go. Jackie Stewart was one of the drivers not in favor of starting this race as he thought that driving through the green hell was dangerous enough on its own, let alone in these horrible circumstances. Matra team boss Ken Tyrrell persuaded Stewart to drive and had the Scot's tyres hand cut to make it possible for the water to flow away easier.
Every driver was well aware of the importance of the start in these conditions for the spray would take away most of whatever visibility was left once they were down the field. As the race was started, close to three o'clock that afternoon, twenty cars sprinted towards the first corner. Once out of Hatzenbach, it was twice red and then blue in the lead. However, the two reds weren't the two Ferraris. Ickx, despite being a rain master, messed up his start, handing the lead to teammate Amon and letting both Hill, in the red and gold Lotus, and Stewart in the blue Matra past.
After about 13 kilometers, at the Karussel hairpin section, Jackie Stewart had passed both Hill and Amon. Through Hohe Acht, Plantzgarten and onto the 3 kilometer straight back to the start-finish line, Stewart put his rivals in spray and mist and that's all they ever saw of him.
By the time the cars ended their first lap, one car was already out of the race. Vic Elford saw his good grid position rewarded with a crash. As Stewart moved away fast, everyone was surprised by the lack of crashes in the early stages of the race. Except for Elford everybody had completed the first lap without losing their cars, which was a minor miracle in the circumstances. Next victim was John Surtees, who managed to overheat his engine in the cold and wet conditions. Behind Stewart, the battle was open, while the vision was all but open. Amon, Rindt and Hill battled for second with Ickx following.
When the race was halfway, with no sign of the weather improving, two more cars dropped out with technical difficulties. Jo Siffert had to sideline his Rob Walker Racing Lotus with an ignition problem, while Lucien Bianchi ran out of fuel because of a leak, ending the Cooper team's weekend early. Meanwhile, as the conditions got even worse, Stewart showed no sign of easing off even though his lead warranted such action. Stewart completed lap eight in 9:36.0, nearly 20 seconds faster than his own qualifying time! However, while Stewart flew across the Eifel mountains like one of Wagner's valkyries, his teammate Jean Pierre Beltoise had less luck and spun out of the race.
In lap 12 the battle for second was reduced to a two way battle as Chris Amon, probably the unluckiest of all Grand Prix drivers, crashed out. Hill and Rindt were running a close battle with little fear of Jackie Ickx. The Ferrari driver was running faster, but he was over a minute behind the others. By now everyone had settled with the thought Jackie Stewart would win the race. With 2 laps remaining, the only battling apart from the one for second was the one among numbers five, six and seven, fought by Brabham, Rodriguez and Hulme.
With backmarkers approaching, Stewart finally eased off. However, no less than four drivers got lapped by the Briton, among them Bruce McLaren, winner of the Belgian Grand Prix two months earlier. In the end Stewart's victory margin stood at an amazing four minutes and three seconds, almost half a lap. In the final lap, Graham Hill secured second, with Jochen Rindt completing the podium. Ickx finished a lonely fourth, nearly two minutes behind Rindt and over 30 seconds ahead of Jack Brabham. Behind Brabham, Pedro Rodriguez in the BRM secured the final point, some six seconds ahead of reigning champion Denny Hulme in the McLaren.
Honorary mention should go to local driver Hubert Hahne. In his Lola-BMW, the driver from the nearby city of Moers finished 10 minutes behind Stewart in his second of three tries at the German Grand Prix. However, the privateer managed to stay in the same lap as the master of the green hell, which is by any means an accomplishment, as every driver who was there that day will acknowledge.
Conclusion
This race was Jackie Stewart at his finest. In the most dangerous conditions ever seen in Formula One, this advocate of safety steered his car through the 2436 corners that the 1968 German Grand Prix consisted of. If there's one race that justifies Stewart's three world titles, this is it. Given he was a bit lucky Ickx didn't get off the grid very well or he might well have had a tough battle with the brave Belgian, but on the other hand he took maximum profit and still had to overtake two drivers, both of whom were World Champions, on a track where overtaking isn't easy in the dry and nearly impossible in the wet.
The World Championship also didn't lose interest because of this race. Hill was still leading, thanks to his second place, but Stewart was now second, just four points behind, with Ickx third another three points behind Stewart.
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| Marcel Schot | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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