1965 Race of Champions

The 1965 Race of Champions was the first running of the Non-Championship race meeting known as the Race of Champions, held at Brands Hatch in Kent, England.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965_Race_of_Champions The race was won by Mike Spence for Team Lotus over two heats, after Jim Clark crashed out in the second heat while under pressure from Dan Gurney in their battle for the lead. Neither Clark nor Gurney were classified as both retired from one of the heats.
The podium was completed by Scot Jackie Stewart and Swede Jo Bonnier, as both fended off a strong performance from Frank Gardner. 
==Background==
Hosted during the long four month break between the South African and Monaco Grand Prix in 1965, various members of the Formula One paddock arrived at Brands Hatch for the non-championship meeting. Championship leader Jim Clark was the star name of the field, also entering in the supporting British Saloon Car Championship race held on the same day.http://btcc.wikia.com/wiki/1965_BSCC_Season Other big names entering the race included Graham Hill and future F1 legend Jackie Stewart for BRM, John Surtees for Ferrari and future Race of Champions winner Bruce McLaren.
The I Daily Mail Race of Champions was also the first time that the teams had run their cars competitively since the South African Grand Prix two months before, and also saw a drastically reduced entry list from the first race of the season. The race itself, it was decided, would be held over two heats, with the BSCC running in between the two battles. Numerous teams and drivers entered both events, with Team Lotus a prominent in both. Several teams also entered reserve drivers although none of them would be used, although three privateers did run in the second heat after disqualifications and withdrawals.
==Entries==
Below is the entry list for the 1965 Race of Champions.
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Type 	Tyre
1 	John Surtees 	SEFAC Ferrari 	 	158 	 	205B 1.5 V8	
2 	Lorenzo Bandini 	SEFAC Ferrari 	 	158 	 	205B 1.5 V8	
3 	Graham Hill 	Owen Racing Organisation 	 	P261 	 	P60 1.5 V8 	
4 	Jackie Stewart 	Owen Racing Organisation 	 	P261 	 	P60 1.5 V8 	
5 	Jim Clark 	Team Lotus 	 	33 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
6 	Mike Spence 	Team Lotus 	 	33 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
7 	Dan Gurney 	Brabham Racing Organisation	 	BT11 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
8 	Jack Brabham 	Brabham Racing Organisation	 	BT11 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
9 	Bruce McLaren 	Cooper Car Company 	 	T77 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
10 	Jochen Rindt 	Cooper Car Company 	 	T77 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
11 	Jo Siffert 	Rob Walker Racing Team 	 	BT11 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
12 	Jo Bonnier 	Rob Walker Racing Team 	 	BT7 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
14 	Masten Gregory 	Scuderia Centro Sud 	 	P578 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
15 	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Scuderia Centro Sud 	 	P578 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
16 	Richard Attwood 	Reg Parnell Racing 	 	25 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
17 	Mike Hailwood 	Reg Parnell Racing 	 	25 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
18 	Frank Gardner 	John Willment Automobiles 	 	BT11 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
19 	Jo Schlesser 	John Willment Automobiles 	 	T55 	 	109E 1.5 V8	
20 	Bob Anderson 	DW Racing Enterprises 	 	BT11 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
21 	Ian Raby 	Ian Raby Racing 	 	BT3 	 	P56 1.5 V8 	
22 	John Taylor 	Gerard Racing 	 	T60 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
23 	Rodney Bloor 	Sports Motors 	 	BT14 	 	109E 1.5 V8	
25 	Paul Hawkins 	DW Racing Enterprises 	 	33 	 	FWMV 1.5 V8	
26 	John Rhodes 	Gerard Racing 	 	T71 	 	109E 1.5 V8	
==Qualifying==
Pole position went to Clark in the as ever well prepared , with is time of 1:34.9 unbeaten in the session.http://www.chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1965&gp=Race%20of%20Champions&r=1&type=h1q Hill was next for BRM with Mike Spence taking third, while Jo Bonnier and Jack Brabham set the same time for fourth in the two s.
Furtherdown, Surtees took seventh in the sole entered Ferrari, with McLaren in tenth. Frank Gardner, whom would also be competing in the BSCC race, took fifteenth in his , while Jo Schlesser in the only completed the qualifying grid in twentieth. 
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Time 	Gap
1 	5 	Jim Clark 	 	1:34.9 	
2 	3 	Graham Hill 	 	1:35.6 	+0.7s
3 	6 	Mike Spence 	 	1:36.1 	+1.2s
4 	12 	Jo Bonnier 	 	1:36.5 	+1.6s
5 	8 	Jack Brabham 	 	1:36.5 	+1.6s
6 	4 	Jackie Stewart 	 	1:36.7 	+1.8s
7 	1 	John Surtees 	 	1:37.3 	+2.4s
8 	20 	Bob Anderson 	 	1:37.4 	+2.5s
9 	10 	Jochen Rindt 	 	1:37.7 	+2.8s
10 	9 	Bruce McLaren 	 	1:38.0 	+3.1s
11 	16 	Richard Attwood 	 	1:38.1 	+3.2s
12 	11 	Jo Siffert 	 	1:38.1 	+3.2s
13 	7 	Dan Gurney 	 	1:38.1 	+3.2s
14 	17 	Mike Hailwood 	 	1:38.8 	+3.9s
15 	18 	Frank Gardner 	 	1:39.0 	+4.1s
16 	21 	Ian Raby 	 	1:40.4 	+5.5s
17 	22 	John Taylor 	 	1:40.6 	+5.7s
18 	15 	Ludovico Scarfiotti	 	1:41.3 	+6.4s
19 	14 	Masten Gregory 	 	1:41.4 	+6.5s
20 	19 	Jo Schlesser 	 	1:44.0 	+9.1s
Res 	23 	Rodney Bloor* 	 	No TIme	-
Res 	25 	Paul Hawkins* 	 	No TIme	-
Res 	26 	John Rhodes* 	 	No TIme	-
* Bloor, Hawkins and Rhodes were reserve entries so did not set a time in qualifying.
==Race==
Before the race, Alan Rees withdrew his Roy Winkelmann prepared , as the car was not ready to take part in qualifying, and could not register as a reserve. Likewise, Ferrari's second car, that of Lorenzo Bandini, was withdrawn after the Italian driver failed to set a time in the qualifying session. Otherwise, the grid was unchanges, with the starting order the same for both heats, although a reserve entry would start from the slot allocated to the car it replaced if required.
===Heat I===
Heat I saw Jim Clark paint a dominant display over the Kent circuit, beating his closest competitor, Dan Gurney, by over 20 seconds. Gurney himself had had an intense race, battling his way past half the field to take second in the first 40 lap race.http://f1.wikia.com/wiki/File:Brands_Hatch_Race_Of_Champions_(1965) Off the line, Clark and Mike Spence had streaked ahead of second placed Graham Hill, as the two Lotus 33s set about taking a decisive lead in the first heat. But Spence had begun to fall off the pace of his legendary team mate, allowing John Surtees, having swung his way through the field, to take second.
Sadly for Surtees, his pace would also deteriorate as the race went on, dropping him back to sixth by the finish, splitting the BRMs of Hill and Jackie Stewart. This meant that Spence was promoted back to third, which he held until the end of the first Heat. Furtherdown, accidents claimed Bob Anderson and Mike Hailwood, while Jo Schlesser was disqualified for obtaining outside assistance in rejoining the race after a spin.
===Heat II===
After the chaos of the Saloon Car race had been cleared from the circuit, the Second Heat started, with the three reserve drivers stepping in. Rodney Bloor replaced the disqualifed Schlesser, Aussie Paul Hawkins stepped in for Masten Gregory after his retirement in Heat ! with a driveshaft failure, and John Rhodes entered instead of Ludovico Scarfotti, whom withdrew after the first heat. Otherwise, the order remained unchanged, with the grid lined up the same as it had been for the first heat.
Once again, the two Lotuses stole the show from the start line, with Spence and Clark pulling ahead of Hill in the centre slot, taking first and second on the road. Spence soon fell to Gurney, however, whose spirited performance meant he was soon challenging Clark for the lead. Furtherdown, John Taylor slid wide on the run out of Druids, rejoining after a bounce through the grass behind the pitlane.
After a spin for Jochen Rindt caused a stir (the Austrian running high in the order at the time), focus returned to Clark and Gurney at the front, with the American ace desperate to find a way past the super Scotsman. However, a rare mistake by Clark, under pressure from Gurney, caused him to run wide out of the final corner, sending the Lotus into the marshall post neaarby.http://atlasf1.autosport.com/99/bra/preview/horton.html Clark was unhurt after an accident that split the chassis of his car, with the former World Champion helping the clean up operation after the race.
Gurney should, therefore, have gone on to win the race, but fell to an ignition failure just moments after Clark's accident, handing victory to Spence in the second Team Lotus car. A relaxed race from the Englishman meant he took the first Race of Champions victory on aggregate, having finished third in the first heat and won the second. Jo Bonnier and Frank Gardner swept acorss the line after their own quiet races to take second and third in the heat, although they would ultimately slip to third and fourth respectively after Stewart finished fourth in heat II.
===Aggregate Result===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	I/II
1 	6 	Mike Spence 	 	80 	2:11:42.0 	3 	3rd/1st
2 	4 	Jackie Stewart 	 	80 	+59.4s 	6 	7th/4th
3 	12 	Jo Bonnier 	 	79 	+1 lap 	4 	8th/2nd
4 	18 	Frank Gardner 	 	79 	+1 lap 	15 	9th/3rd
5 	9 	Bruce McLaren 	 	79 	+1 lap 	10 	12th/5th
6 	11 	Jo Siffert 	 	79 	+1 lap 	12 	11th/6th
7 	10 	Jochen Rindt 	 	78 	+2 laps 	9 	13th/7th
8 	22 	John Taylor 	 	77 	+3 laps 	17 	14th/8th
9 	21 	Ian Raby 	 	75 	+5 laps 	16 	15th/9th
10* 	25 	Paul Hawkins 	 	37 	+43 laps 	- 	DNS/10th
11* 	26 	John Rhodes 	 	31 	+49 laps 	- 	DNS/11th
Ret 	8 	Jack Brabham 	 	68 	Oil leak 	5 	4th/Ret
Ret 	16 	Richard Attwood 	 	65 	Water hose 	11 	10th/Ret
Ret 	23 	Rodney Bloor 	 	17 	Steering 	- 	DNS/Ret
Ret 	3 	Graham Hill 	 	54 	Overheating 	2 	5th/Ret
Ret 	7 	Dan Gurney 	 	54 	Ignition 	13 	2nd/Ret
Ret 	5 	Jim Clark 	 	51 	Accident 	1 	1st/Ret
Ret 	17 	Mike Hailwood 	 	22 	Accident 	14 	Ret/Ret
Ret 	1 	John Surtees 	 	46 	Fuel injector	7 	6th/Ret
Ret 	20 	Bob Anderson 	 	14 	Accident 	8 	Ret/Ret
WD 	15 	Ludovico Scarfiotti	 	28 	Withdrew 	18 	Ret/WD
DSQ†	19 	Jo Schlesser 	 	18 	Disqualified 	20 	DSQ/DNS
Ret 	14 	Masten Gregory 	 	1 	Driveshaft 	19 	Ret/DNS
WD 	2 	Lorenzo Bandini 	 	0 	Withdrew 	- 	WD/WD
*The results are based on timing, with the times from the second heat taking precendence over those from the first.
** Hawkins and Rhodes were classified as finishers on aggregate as they completed the race distance in the second heat, despite not starting the first.
*† Schlesser was disqualified from the first Heat after requiring outside assistance to rejoin the race. This meant he was unable to enter the second heat as well.
==Milestones==
*First Race of Champions.
*First win for Mike Spence in a Formula One car.
*Last entry for a Lola T55 at a Grand Prix of any sort.
*Debut for several drivers in a Formula One level race, including:
**Jo Schlesser.
**John Rhodes.
**Rodney Bloor.
==References==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Race of Champions
Category:1965 Non-championship Grand Prix
Category:Non-Championship races
Category:Formula One races in the United Kingdom