Brands Hatch Record Falls To Gurney

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31318, 14 March 1967, Page 19

Brands Hatch Record Falls To Gurney

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON? An American racing driver, D. Gurney, cut nearly three seconds off the Brands Hatch lap record, raising it to 103 m.pJi. in the first heat of the “Daily Mail” race-of-champions on Sunday.

Gurney, aged 35, won both heats and the final. In a race which gave most of the 1967 cars their first real outing, he put a new name at the head—“ Eagle.” This is the car which he designed with the help of British designers and enginebuilders. He shattered the lap record by clipping nearly three seconds off the time set by J. Clark in a l(-litre Lotus. The New Zealander, B. R. McLaren, was sixth in the heat The Australian world champion, J. Brabham, showed that he will not surrender his title easily, if at all this year. In spite of fuel troubles

in the heats, he came back strongly in the final. Before being forced to drop back, Brabham recorded the fastest race lap of 101.6 m.p.h. In the early stages of the final, Brabham climbed from eleventh to second place, and was nose to tail with Gurney for seven laps before two pit stops for ignition trouble dropped him to finish ninth. L. Bandini (Italy) in a Ferrari, was second, with J. Siffert (Switzerland), driving a Cooper-Maserati third. Ten nations were represented in the 19-car line-up of Formula I machines. The race was this year’s debut of the Japanese Honda grand prix car driven by the

former world champion, J. Surtees (Britain). Surtees finished second in the first heat and third in the second, but a sticking throttle in the final forced his retirement on the eighth lap. An Australian, F. Gardner, in a Ford Falcon, won the Lombank Trophy for saloon cars. His average speed was 86.03 m.p.h. Second was G. Hill (Britain) in a Lotus-Cor-tina. Results (1024 miles).—D. Gurney, Eagle-Gurney Weslake (U.S.), 1:4:3.0, 98.66 m.p.h., 1; L. Bandini, Ferrari (Italy), 1:4:31, 2: J. Siffert, CooperMaserati (Switzerland), 1:4:32.6, 3; P. Rodrlguez, CooperMaserati (Mexico), 1:4:33.4, 4; L. Scarfiotti, Ferrari (Italy), 1:4:34.8, 5. Fastest lap: J. Brabham, Brabham-Repco (Austra--11a), 1:34,4, 101,6 m.p.h.