TASMAN SERIES ENDS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30389, 13 March 1964, Page 11

TASMAN SERIES ENDS

IBy

BRUCE McLAREN]

r J' , HE last race of the 1964 Tasman series at Longford, in Tasmania, was a sad week-end for all of us. After team - mate Tim Mayer crashed fatally in practice, the race was a secondary consideration. He had been really impressed with the 44mile, 114 miles an hour lap average circuit, and in the second practice session he was vying with Brabham for fastest time after only 14 laps. It would appear that he lost control of the car at a spot where the cars touch down again, having left the road over an undulation. It is necessary to brake immediately for a slow right hander at that point, and it is possible that Tim’s car landed slightly off line, when braking would have been very difficult It was a situation that would have been harmless on an aerodrome circuit but in this case the Cooper bit one of a number of stout trees lining the road at very high speed, and the car broke in two. Tim was killed instantly with a broken neck. Lakeside The week-end before at Lakeside, Tim was at his best The entry for the international meeting there was smaller than for the previous year, although one G. Hill was in Australia, apparently the finances of the Brisbane club were a bit tight and Graham spent the spare week learning to water-ski with one ski in Sydney harbour. With the sharks.

Frank Matich and John Youl were left to uphold the local reputation. Youl is

something of a specialist at Lakeside—last year he qualified faster than Surtees in the Lola or myself in the Cooper, and this year he was soon setting fast times, but it was Matich who ended up with fastest practice lap. Bad Luck My run of Australian bad luck was holding and a gearbox seal came apart just before the only dry practice session, so while this was replaced I sat chafing at my helmet strap and watching the gathering thunderstorms. Brisbane is hot and tropical with towering thunderclouds, scorching sun, warm rain, and thick lush vegetation with a lot of large lizards, snakes, and other assorted creepy-crawlies. Matich and team-mate Tim led the field away in the opening laps with Frank motoring in fine style until his engine blew to pieces on the seventh lap, letting Timmy take over in the Cooper. He was also flying and steadily drawing away from Jack until the engine in the Cooper also blew asunder. This left Jack leading, while Denny Hulme and I were trying hard to get past John Youl. Eventually we both slipped through and set off after Jack. Denny wanted to be second just as much as I did, and he got a bit overeager at one point, shunting me into a spin which stalled my engine. Re-start I was able to restart by rolling downhill, but poetic justice caught up with Denny and he retired with a puncture gained in the shunt. I carried on to finish third behind Brabham and Youl, and add enough points to my Tasman Cup score to be unbeatable.

The racing at Longford was on the Saturday and the Monday, but after Tim’s crash I didn’t feel at all like racing on Saturday and Brabhams driven by Jack and Bib Stillwell won both the qualifying races.

Because I didn’t run in the heats I had to start at the back of the grid in Monday’s race. Graham Hill, Matich, and Jack filled the front row with their Brabhams, and there were all the Australian 2.5’s as well as a gaggle of 1500 c.c. cars in front of me.

From the moment the flag dropped I really enjoyed the drive. I had wondered how I would feel, but I soon realised that I wanted to race, and more than anything wanted to catch Graham and Jack.

In the five years I have been GP racing I’ve seen quite a few accidents, but this one was different —Tim was my team-mate. On the other hand, Tim would have had a darn good go at winning and I felt like that, too.

But I didn’t manage to catch Graham and Jack. By the time I had passed the slower cars and edged past Davison, Stillwell, and Matich, the two boys out in front had a lOsec lead and try as I might I couldn’t whittle it down. Just when it appeared that Jack was about to make it four in a row in Australia, his crownwheel and pinion failed with just 20 miles to go. If I couldn’t win I Was glad to see Graham do so. It was his first win in Australasia; the car was owned by an Australian team and was immaculately prepared under the directorship of veteran driver, David McKay. All round it was a very popular victory. Graham said in Sydney that he had come out to put a stop to Jack and I winning all the races, and although he didn’t succeed after a torrid try at Warwick Farm, he managed to dip our wings in Tasmania.