French GP 1965

French GP, 1965

The Circuit Louis Rosier at Charade was first used in 1958 although there had been races in the Auvergne region as early as 1908. The track had hosted the Trophee d'Auvergne Formula 2 race in July 1964 (which had been won by Denny Hulme) and in 1965 the Automobile Club de France agreed that it should replace Reims as the venue for the French GP. Jack Brabham decided to stand down to let Hulme drive and Denny was fastest on the first day of practice. In the end, however, Jim Clark reasserted his dominance and took pole with Jackie Stewart's BRM and Lorenzo Bandini's Ferrari sharing the front row. John Surtees (Ferrari) and Dan Gurney (Brabham) were on row two with Hulme ahead of Ritchie Ginther's Honda and Chris Amon's Reg Parnell Racing Lotus on the third row. Graham Hill had a terrible time, with a big accident when his throttle stuck open, and he was down in 13th position on the grid.

In the race Clark took the lead at the start and led from flag to flag. During the second lap Stewart was able to get ahead of Bandini and he chased Clark for the rest of the afternoon. Gurney and Surtees soon overtook Bandini and then Surtees overtook Gurney for third place but by then Clark and Stewart were too far ahead to be caught. The order settled down with Gurney running fourth until he had to pit for a plug change on lap 14. This moved Hulme up to fourth place. The order remained unchanged for the rest of the race.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 25 40 2h14m38.400s  
12 Jackie Stewart BRM P261 40 2h15m04.700s  
John Surtees Ferrari 158 40 2h17m11.900s  
16 Denny Hulme Brabham-Climax BT11 40 2h17m31.500s  
10 Graham Hill BRM P261 39  13 
36 Jo Siffert Brabham-BRM BT11 39  14 
Mike Spence Lotus-Climax 33 39  10 
8r Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 1512 36 Wheel Lost/ Accident 
9r 30 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax BT11 34 Electrics 15 
18 Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax T77 23 Suspension 
34 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax BT7 21 Mechanical 11 
24 Chris Amon Lotus-BRM 25 20 Fuel Injection 
22 Innes Ireland Lotus-BRM 25 18 Gearbox 17 
14 Dan Gurney Brabham-Climax BT11 16 Engine 
26 Richie Ginther Honda RA272 Ignition 
28 Ronnie Bucknum Honda RA272 Ignition 16 
20 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Climax T77 Accident 12