- German Grand Prix
Hulme extends lead with Nurburgring victory
Denny Hulme extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 12 points with victory at the German Grand Prix in front of 250,000 spectators. His team-mate Jack Brabham, who survived a serious crash on the previous day, took second with Chris Amon, a car length behind, completing an all Australasian podium.
The length of the circuit - 14 miles - meant the organisers decided to run a separate Formula Two race which was run concurrently with the main event. Nine cars took up the challenge.
Practice had a few incidents. The rear suspension collapsed on Brabham's car and he walked away shaken but unhurt, although he had to use his spare for the remainder of the weekend. Graham Hill ignored a warning from his mechanics his brakes were experimental and almost immediately had a big accident; he too escaped unhurt.
With minutes of practice remaining Hill's team suddenly realised he had only done four laps and not the required five; with one Lotus wrecked in the bushes and another in pieces in the paddock, he jumped into Jim Clark's far-from-ready car and completed the extra lap which gained him a place on the grid.
Jochen Rindt also only completed four laps after an accident, but with other events during the afternoon, it wasn't until early evening any of the abandoned cars could be retrieved. In view of that, the stewards decided Rindt would be allowed to compete the next day.
At the start the two Lotus drivers had very different fortunes with Clark racing into the lead while Hill was jostled off the track at the first corner and re-started in last place. Clark's domination of the race came to an end when his suspension collapsed as a result of a nail puncturing a rear tyre at one third distance. Hill, climbing back through the field, was then put out when his rear engine mounts failed.
Jackie Ickx, in a Formula Two Matra, had caused problems with the more powerful Formula One field, mixing it with Brabham and Amon before he was forced to retire on the 12th lap with suspension problems.
The Nürburgring continued to take a hefty toll. Bruce McLaren's Eagle expired in a cloud of smoke and Jackie Stewart's BRM suffered transmission failure.
Hulme had been trailing Dan Gurney by 22 seconds with three of the 15 laps remaining, when the engine on Gurney's Eagle expired, handing Hulme a sizeable lead into which Brabham could not make any real inroads.
Brabham, whose tyres were worn, himself was fighting grimly to keep Amon at bay, using all his experience to prevent the Ferrari from passing, much to the fury of Amon's team who actually protested to the stewards while the race was still running.
There was a rather odd post-race weigh in as a German sweet manufacturer had promised to give the winning driver's weight in chocolate to a local children's home. Hulme weighed in at 11 stone 6lbs.
It was the first grand prix since 1961 without a British driver on the podium, although some national pride was salvaged when Jackie Oliver won the Formula Two race.
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