Classic German Grand Prix 1968 – Stewart masters treacherous Nurburgring

Stewart masters treacherous Nurburgring

The 1968 Formula One season promised to be one of the most closely fought championships in years. With the resurgent Lotus team aiming to recapture the reliability that won them two world titles and an Indianapolis 500 crown in five years; and the emergence of new talent. Ferrari’s Jacky Ickx, Jochen Rindt for Brabham and reigning world champion Denny Hulme were proof that the season was evenly poised for a battle royal for the most coveted prize in motor racing. Tragically, this was not to be as Clark was killed in a Formula Two race at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany in between the South African and Spanish Grands Prix. This left a void in the sport and Lotus in which seasoned veteran Graham Hill was now in charge of somehow revitalising the team in a bid to take back the championship. It also cemented the emergence of young Scotsman Jackie Stewart who was driving in his first season for Matra after three years at BRM (two as team mate to Hill).

Stewart went into the German Grand Prix weekend ranked on seventeen points and one win to his name in the Netherlands, seven points behind leader Hill who had won twice and finished second to Jim Clark in South Africa. It had been a steady start to the season for Stewart, failing to finish the first three races. Though he felt he was robbed of a victory in Belgium when he ran out of fuel on the last tour, he made up for it two weeks later in Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. Not even the most reputable motorsport pundit at the time could have predicted such a weekend that was in store for the twenty drivers starting the Grand Prix, as this was truly one of Formula One’s greatest victories accomplished marvellously by Stewart in treacherous weather conditions.

In fact as Stewart recalls, the only time the circuit was at any stage dry was when he and Graham Hill arrived at the circuit on Thursday afternoon before practise the next day. Heavy fog and rain descended on the circuit on Friday and Stewart completed fifteen laps before team race control deemed the circuit too treacherous for the cars due to the adverse conditions. This meant that practise was limited to Saturday before qualifying thus giving the drivers more to worry about. Through the rain in qualifying, it was the Ferrari of Jacky Ickx who took pole position; brilliantly navigating his way through the Eifell Mountains and in such conditions; took pole position by ten seconds. Next up was his lightning quick but invariably unlucky team mate Chris Amon, while Rindt’s Brabham and Hill’s Lotus filled the second row in third and fourth respectively. Stewart would start sixth.

With cars suffering from the amount of water and Ickx making a poor start with wheelspin, it was Graham Hill and Chris Amon that led the way through the fog. Stewart managed to somehow squeeze past the New Zealander round the first lap on the stretch of road before Adenauer Bridge. From then on, he chased down Hill’s Lotus before getting past the Englishman at the corner before the back straight. This gave the Matra driver a clear drive down the straight to build an eight second lead, which he then increased to a thirty four second gap by the end of the second lap. The gap was made over the 14.1 mile circuit in the Eiffel Mountains thanks to the seemingly never ending wall of spray that engulfed the on going chasers and thus prevented them from building any respectable speed; but also Stewart’s courage and raw pace round the course. Both Hill and Stewart had spins in the wet conditions; the former miraculously being able to get out of his car, push it back onto the track and carry on still in front of the third placed car of Jochen Rindt. Chris Amon spun out on the same lap as Hill, however for the New Zealander; he was not able to continue the race. At the front, Jackie Stewart kept his cool and used the clear road ahead of him to dash away to win by just over four minutes from his nearest challenger Hill, the conditions almost disregarding the fact that the Scotsman had driven the race with a broken wrist; making this victory one of the greatest of Stewart’s illustrious career.

Results

1. Jackie Stewart – Matra Ford
2. Graham Hill – Lotus Ford
3. Jochen Rindt – Brabham Repco
4. Jacky Ickx – Ferrari
5. Jack Brabham – Brabham Repco
6. Pedro Rodriguez - BRM

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