German GP 1965

German GP, 1965

Jim Clark had won the Belgian, French, British and Dutch GPs and arrived at the Nurburgring looking for a fifth consecutive victory. Having won in South Africa at the start of the year Clark knew that a sixth win would give him maximum points in the World Championship as only six events counted for the title. And with three races to go after Germany Clark could not be caught if he could win at the Nurburgring.

In qualifying he was over three seconds a lap a lap faster than his nearest challenger, Jackie Stewart in the second BRM. Sharing the front row with the two Scotsmen were Graham Hill (BRM) and John Surtees (Ferrari). The second row featured Dan Gurney's Brabham, Mike Spence in the second Lotus and Lorenzo Bandini in the second Ferrari, while the third row saw Jochen Rindt's Cooper ahead of Jo Bonnier (Rob Walker Brabham), Rindt's Cooper team mate Bruce McLaren and and Jos Siffert in the second Rob Walker Lotus. Gerhard Mitter appeared in a third Lotus while the increasingly competitive Honda team decided to miss the German race and make modifications before the Italian GP in mid-September.

Clark went into the lead at the start with Hill chasing and Stewart third. Clark was completely dominant however and repeatedly broke the lap record as he disappeared into the distance. Hill tried to keep up but Stewart pushed too hard and went off at Wipperman and had to retire with a damaged suspension. This left Gurney in third. The three front-runners would remain unchanged for the rest of the race while the battle for fourth place ebbed and flowed in the course of the first 10 laps. Eventually Rindt took the position but only after McLaren, Spence and Hulme had all gone out with mechanical trouble.

Clark duly won his sixth victory of the year and the World Championship.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 1 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 33 15 2h07m52.400s  1 
2 9 Graham Hill BRM P261 15 2h08m08.300s  3 
3 5 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax BT11 15 2h08m13.800s  5 
4 12 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Climax T77 15 2h11m22.000s  8 
5 4 Jack Brabham Brabham-Climax BT11 15 2h12m33.600s  14 
6 8 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 158 15 2h13m01.000s  7 
7 16 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax BT7 15 2h13m50.900s  9 
8 24 Masten Gregory BRM P57 14  18 
r 7 John Surtees Ferrari 1512 11 Gearbox 4 
r 17 Jo Siffert Brabham-BRM BT11 9 Engine 11 
r 3 Gerhard Mitter Lotus-Climax 25 8 Water Leak 12 
r 2 Mike Spence Lotus-Climax 33 8 Drive Shaft 6 
r 20 Richard Attwood Lotus-BRM 25 7 Water Leak 16 
r 11 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T77 7 Gearbox 10 
r 6 Denny Hulme Brabham-Climax BT7 5 Fuel Leak 13 
r 22 Paul Hawkins Lotus-Climax 33 4 Mechanical 19 
r 19 Chris Amon Lotus-BRM 25 3 Ignition 15 
r 10 Jackie Stewart BRM P261 2 Suspension 2 
r 21 Frank Gardner Brabham-BRM BT11 0 Gearbox 17 
ns 18 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax BT11  Accident 20 
nq 25 Roberto Bussinello BRM P57   21 
nq 23 Ian Raby Brabham-BRM BT3   22