# 1968 South African Grand Prix

The 1968 South African Grand Prix, formally the 2nd AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: Tweede AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on Monday 1 January 1968. It was race 1 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by two time World Drivers' Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Clark for Lotus-Ford after starting from pole position. The race is significant as not only the last Formula One race to be won by Clark, but also the last in which he ever competed, due to his fatal crash at the Hockenheimring in Germany three months later. At this race Team Gunston became the first Formula One team to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors instead of national colours when they entered a private Brabham for John Love and an LDS for Sam Tingle.
This was also Mike Spence's final race, as he too was killed a few months later, while practising for the 1968 Indianapolis 500.
The first six slots on the grid were filled by either previous or future world champions. However the reigning champion, Denny Hulme, only started in ninth.
Clark broke many records during the weekend, such as leading the most Grands Prix (43), having the most laps led (1,943), having the most perfect weekends (11), achieving the most pole positions (33) and finally achieving 25 race wins, beating Juan Manuel Fangio's 11-year-old record.

## Classification
### Qualifying

The qualifying session was held on 31 December 1967.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 4 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Ford | 1:21.6 | — |
| 2 | 5 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 1:22.6 | +1.0 |
| 3 | 16 | Jackie Stewart | Matra-Ford | 1:22.7 | +1.1 |
| 4 | 3 | Jochen Rindt | Brabham-Repco | 1:23.0 | +1.4 |
| 5 | 2 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 1:23.2 | +1.6 |
| 6 | 7 | John Surtees | Honda | 1:23.5 | +1.9 |
| 7 | 10 | Andrea de Adamich | Ferrari | 1:23.6 | +2.0 |
| 8 | 8 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 1:23.8 | +2.2 |
| 9 | 1 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-BRM | 1:24.0 | +2.4 |
| 10 | 11 | Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 1:24.9 | +3.3 |
| 11 | 9 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 1:24.9 | +3.3 |
| 12 | 6 | Dan Gurney | Eagle-Weslake | 1:25.6 | +4.0 |
| 13 | 12 | Mike Spence | BRM | 1:25.9 | +4.3 |
| 14 | 22 | Dave Charlton | Brabham-Repco | 1:26.2 | +4.6 |
| 15 | 15 | Ludovico Scarfiotti | Cooper-Maserati | 1:26.3 | +4.7 |
| 16 | 19 | Jo Siffert | Cooper-Maserati | 1:26.4 | +4.8 |
| 17 | 17 | John Love | Brabham-Repco | 1:27.0 | +5.4 |
| 18 | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra-Ford | 1:27.2 | +5.6 |
| 19 | 20 | Jo Bonnier | Cooper-Maserati | 1:27.3 | +5.7 |
| 20 | 25 | Basil van Rooyen | Cooper-Climax | 1:27.8 | +6.2 |
| 21 | 14 | Brian Redman | Cooper-Maserati | 1:28.0 | +6.4 |
| 22 | 18 | Sam Tingle | LDS-Repco | 1:28.6 | +7.0 |
| 23 | 23 | Jackie Pretorius | Brabham-Climax | 1:29.0 | +7.4 |

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Ford | 80 | 1:53:56.6 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 5 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 80 | + 25.3 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Jochen Rindt | Brabham-Repco | 80 | + 30.4 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 78 | + 2 Laps | 8 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-BRM | 78 | + 2 Laps | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 21 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra-Ford | 77 | + 3 Laps | 18 | 1 |
| 7 | 19 | Jo Siffert | Cooper-Maserati | 77 | + 3 Laps | 16 | |
| 8 | 7 | John Surtees | Honda | 75 | + 5 Laps | 6 | |
| 9 | 17 | John Love | Brabham-Repco | 75 | + 5 Laps | 17 | |
| NC | 23 | Jackie Pretorius | Brabham-Climax | 71 | + 9 Laps | 23 | |
| Ret | 6 | Dan Gurney | Eagle-Weslake | 58 | Oil Leak | 12 | |
| Ret | 9 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 51 | Oil Leak | 11 | |
| Ret | 20 | Jo Bonnier | Cooper-Maserati | 46 | Overheating | 19 | |
| Ret | 16 | Jackie Stewart | Matra-Ford | 43 | Engine | 3 | |
| Ret | 18 | Sam Tingle | LDS-Repco | 35 | Overheating | 22 | |
| Ret | 25 | Basil van Rooyen | Cooper-Climax | 22 | Engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 11 | Pedro Rodríguez | BRM | 20 | Fuel System | 10 | |
| Ret | 2 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 16 | Engine | 5 | |
| Ret | 10 | Andrea de Adamich | Ferrari | 13 | Accident | 7 | |
| Ret | 12 | Mike Spence | BRM | 7 | Fuel System | 14 | |
| Ret | 14 | Brian Redman | Cooper-Maserati | 4 | Oil Leak | 21 | |
| Ret | 22 | Dave Charlton | Brabham-Repco | 3 | Differential | 14 | |
| Ret | 15 | Ludovico Scarfiotti | Cooper-Maserati | 2 | Water Pipe | 15 | |
| Source: ||||||||