The 1968 Tasman Championship for Drivers was a motor racing series contested over eight races during January, February and March 1968, with four races held in New Zealand and four in Australia.The Tasman Championship for Drivers – Season 1968, 1968 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 66 to 69 The championship was open to Racing Cars fitted with non-supercharged engines with a capacity equal or inferior to 2500cc. It was the fifth annual Tasman Championship.
The championship won by Jim Clark, driving a Lotus 49T. IX South Pacific Trophy, www.tasman-series.com, as archived at web.archive.org
It was the third and final Tasman Championship win for Clark who was killed in a Formula 2 crash on the ultra fast Hockenheim circuit in West Germany just over a month after the series concluded. Clark won the last of his fifteen career Tasman Series wins when he won the 1968 Australian Grand Prix at the Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, only 0.1 seconds in front of the Dino 246 Tasmania of Chris Amon after a famous duel between the pair.
Reigning Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme finished equal seventh in the series in his Formula 2 Brabham with a best finish of third in Round 3 for the Lady Wigram Trophy, his first race of the series.
Schedule Round Name Circuit Date Winning driver Winning car Winning team Report NewZealand 1 New Zealand Grand Prix Pukekohe 6 January Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania C.Amon Report 2 Levin International Levin 13 January Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania C.Amon Report 3 Lady Wigram Trophy Wigram 20 January Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus Report 4 Teretonga International Teretonga 27 January Bruce McLaren BRM P126 Owen Racing Organisation Report Australia 5 Surfers Paradise 100 Surfers Paradise 11 February Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus Report 6 Warwick Farm International Warwick Farm 18 February Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus Report 7 Australian Grand Prix Sandown 25 February Jim Clark Lotus 49T Team Lotus Report 8 South Pacific Trophy Longford 4 March Piers Courage McLaren M4A P.Courage Report
Points system Points were awarded at each race on the following basis: Position123456 Points 9 6 4 3 2 1
Championship placings were determined by the total number of points scored by a driver in all races.
Championship standings Pos Driver CarTasman Series 1968, www.sergent.com.au (linked round results pages) Retrieved 22 November 2017PukLevWigTerSurWarSanLon Pts 1 Jim ClarkLotus 49T Cosworth Ret Ret 1 2 1 1 1 5 44 2 Chris Amon Dino 246 Tasmania 1 1 2 4 Ret 4 2 7 36 3 Piers CourageMcLaren M4A Cosworth 3 2 4 5 3 3 5 1 34 4 Graham HillLotus 49T Cosworth 2 2 3 6 17 = Frank GardnerBrabham BT23D Alfa Romeo 2 Ret Ret 3 9 Ret 4 3 17 6 Bruce McLarenBRM P126 Ret Ret 5 1 11 7 Pedro RodríguezBRM P126 BRM P261 Ret Ret 6 Ret 10 6 Ret 2 8 = Denny HulmeBrabham BT23 Cosworth 3 6 6 5 9 DNS 8 9 Jim PalmerMcLaren M4A Cosworth 4 3 7 8 3 10 Richard AttwoodBRM P126 Ret Ret 6 4 4 11 Leo GeogheganLotus 39 Repco 4 Ret 7 DNS 3 = Roly LevisBrabham BT18 Ford 8 4 8 10 3 13 Kevin BartlettBrabham BT11A Coventry Climax 5 Ret 8 DNS 2 = Red DawsonBrabham BT7A Coventry Climax Ret 5 9 DNS 2 = Paul BoltonBrabham BT22 Coventry Climaxwww.oldracingcars.com Retrieved 22 November 2017 5 Ret Ret 2 16 Graeme LawrenceBrabham BT18 Ford 6 9 Ret 9 1 = Bill StoneBrabham BT6 Ford 10 6 10 Ret 0 — Bryan FaloonBrabham BT4 Coventry Climax 7 7 13 DNS 0 — David OxtonBrabham BT16 Ford Ret 10 Ret 7 0 — Glyn ScottLotus 27 Ford 7 10 0 — Jack BrabhamBrabham BT21E Repco 7 Ret 0 — John HarveyBrabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret Ret 8 0 — Frank RadisichLotus 22 Ford 8 DNS 0 — Malcolm AldredLotus 22 Ford 8 0 — Alfredo CostanzoElfin Mono Ford 8 0 — John NicholsonLotus 27 Ford 9 DNS 0 — Ian FergusonLotus 27 Ford 9 0 — John McCormackBrabham BT4 Coventry Climax 9 0 — Ken SmithLotus 41 Ford 12 DNS 11 Ret 0 — Don MacDonaldBrabham BT10 Ford 11 12 DNQ 0 — Graham McRaeBrabham BT6 Ford Ret 14 Ret 0 — Peter YockLotus 33 BRM Ret Ret DNQ Ret 0 — Vince AndersonBrabham BT11A Coventry Climax Ret 0 — Grahame HarveyBrabham BT6 Ford Ret 0 — Greg CusackBrabham BT23 Repco Ret Ret Ret DNS 0 — Brian PageBrabham BT6 Ford Ret Ret 0 — Max StewartRennmax Ford Ret 0 — Fred GibsonBrabham Coventry Climax Ret 0 — Mel McEwinLotus 32B Coventry Climax Ret 0 — Tony BatchelorBrabham BT6 Ford DNS 0 Pos DriverCarPukLevWigTerSurWarSanLon Pts
References