Canadian GP 1968

Canadian GP, 1968

After the successful Canadian GP at Mosport Park the previous year, the event was given a date in the 1968 calendar but the race was moved to the exciting Mont Tremblant circuit at St Jovite, in Quebec. With the final three races being held in the Americas traveling was also reduced. Attention now centered on the battle for the World Championship with Graham Hill still ahead after his early season successes with 30 points by Jacky Ickx with 27, Jackie Stewart with 26 and Denny Hulme with 24. Lotus ran a third car for Canadian star Bill Brack, while Dan Gurney ran in a third McLaren (having given up with his Eagle-Weslake program). An old Eagle appeared in the hands of local driver Al Pease while BRM ran only one car for Pedro Rodriguez. Matra Sports expanded to a two-car operation Jean-Pierre Beltoise being joined by Henri Pescarolo and with Jackie Stewart running alongside Johnny Servoz-Gavin in the Matra International entries, there were four Matras in the field.

In qualifying Ickx's hopes of the World title ended when he crashed after his throttle stuck open. He suffered a broken leg.

Jochen Rindt took pole position for Brabham - the new Repco engine finally beginning to work - with Chris Amon's Ferrari and Jo Siffert's Rob Walker Lotus alongside on the front row. Gurney did well to qualify on the second row alongside Hill, while the third row featured Hulme (McLaren), John Surtees (Honda) and Bruce McLaren (McLaren).

At the start Amon took the lead with Siffert chasing him. Then came Rindt, Gurney and Hill. The order at the front remained stable with Surtees dropping out early from eighth place. On lap 14 Hill managed to pass Gurney and 12 laps later Gurney dropped away with a broken radiator. On lap 29 Siffert disappeared with an oil leak and so Rindt was second but he retired soon afterwards with an engine failure which promoted Hill to second place. That too was short-lived as Hill soon dropped behind Hulme and McLaren because of a serious vibration problem. Hill gradually fell back and was overtaken by Rodriguez and Servoz-Gavin. A few laps later the Frenchman spun out and so Hill moved back to fourth.

Amon seemed to have everything under control until the 73rd lap when his transmission failed. This gave McLaren a 1-2 victory with Rodriguez grabbing third for BRM. The result put Hulme and Hill on equal points in the World Championship with two races to go.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1 1 Denny Hulme McLaren-Cosworth M7A 90 2h27m11.200s  6 
2 2 Bruce McLaren McLaren-Cosworth M7A 89  8 
3 16 Pedro Rodriguez BRM P133 88  12 
4 3 Graham Hill Lotus-Cosworth 49B 86  5 
5 21 Vic Elford Cooper-BRM T86B 86  16 
6 14 Jackie Stewart Matra-Cosworth MS10 83  11 
r 18 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra MS11 77 Gearbox 15 
r 9 Chris Amon Ferrari 312 72 Transmission 2 
r 15 Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra-Cosworth MS10 71 Accident 13 
nc 20 Lucien Bianchi Cooper-BRM T86B 56  18 
r 19 Henri Pescarolo Matra MS11 54 Engine 19 
r 6 Jochen Rindt Brabham-Repco BT26 39 Overheating 1 
r 4 Jackie Oliver Lotus-Cosworth 49B 32 Transmission 9 
r 5 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco BT26 31 Suspension 10 
r 12 Jo Siffert Lotus-Cosworth 49B 29 Mechanical 3 
r 11 Dan Gurney McLaren-Cosworth M7A 29 Radiator 4 
r 24 Piers Courage BRM P126 22 Gearbox 14 
r 27 Bill Brack Lotus-Cosworth 49B 18 Drive Shaft 20 
r 8 John Surtees Honda RA301 10 Gearbox 7 
r 22 Jo Bonnier McLaren-BRM M5A 0 Mechanical 17 
ns 10 Jacky Ickx Ferrari 312  Accident/ Injury 21 
ns 25 Al Pease Eagle-Climax T1G  Engine 22