1965 Lady Wigram Trophy

  1965 Lady Wigram Grand Prix

Race details
14th Lady Wigram Trophy
Date	23rd January 1965
Location	Wigram Airfield Circuit, Christchurch, New Zealand
Course	Temporary racing facility
Course length	3.731 km (2.318 mi)
Distance	44 laps, 164.14 km (101.99 mi)
Weather	Friday: Light Rain / Overcast Saturday: Fine
Pole position
Driver	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T79
Time	Determined by heats
Fastest lap
Driver	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T79
Time	1:25.9
Podium
First	Jim Clark	Lotus 32B
Second	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T79
Third	Jim Palmer	Brabham BT7A

The 1965 Lady Wigram Trophy was a motor race held at the Wigram Airfield Circuit on 23 January 1965. It was the fourteenth Lady Wigram Trophy to be held and was won by Jim Clark driving the Lotus 32B in what was the fastest race in the history of the Lady Wigram Trophy.

Report

Through light rain, the practice times on Friday morning were relatively slow, with Jim Clark setting the benchmark in the low 1:30's. However, in the qualifying trails later that day, conditions improved allowing for faster times. Clark posted the fastest lap of a 1:26.0, which was significantly faster than that of second-placed Jim Palmer who set a time of 1:28.6.

The qualifying process for the Trophy race was through two preliminary races, where the race times would determine the grid. In the first heat, Bruce McLaren took the win and subsequently pole position for the race with a race time of 16 minutes and 11.2 seconds. Clark won the second heat, with a time that put him in second place for the Trophy race.

Clark launched off the line, into the what would be a demanding lead. On lap four, Rex Flowers retired from the race due to a burst oil pipe as well as a collapsed piston. It only took Clark six laps to begin lapping backmarkers and by this stage, his lead over McLaren was up to a comfortable five seconds. By lap 26, only four cars had not been lapped - Clark (the leader), McLaren, Gardner and Palmer. Phil Hill retired on that lap as a result of a broken half-shaft and by this stage, Abernethy was laps away from retiring himself due to persistent overheating issues with his Cooper. Two more drivers would fail to finish the race - Riley due to a broken universal and Lawrence after he ran out of fuel. Clark almost joined the casualty list after experiencing oil pressure problems laps away from the conclusion of the race. This meant that Clark had to lift and nurse the car home, allowing McLaren to claw back the gap. By this stage however, the gap was far too big. Clark took the win in dominant fashion, a much better result for Clark than his last Lady Wigram Trophy outing where he stalled the car after having spun off in the wet conditions.^[1]

Classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Grid
1	1	Jim Clark	Lotus 32B-Climax	44	1hr 04min 19.3sec	3
2	47	Bruce McLaren	Cooper T79-Climax	44	+ 10.2 s	1
3	41	Jim Palmer	Brabham BT7A-Climax	44	+ 38.7 s	8
4	11	Frank Gardner	Brabham BT11A-Climax	44	+ 51.7 s	2
5	24	Kerry Grant	Brabham BT4-Climax	43	+ 1 Lap	4
6	12	Roly Levis	Brabham BT6-Ford	42	+ 2 Laps	14
7	8	Andy Buchanen	Brabham BT6-Ford	41	+ 3 Laps	5
8	9	Bill Thomasen	Brabham BT4-Climax	40	+ 4 Laps	7
9	7	Ken Sager	Brabham BT6-Ford	39	+ 5 Laps	16
10	49	Peter Gillum	Cooper T65-Ford	35	+ 9 Laps	12
Ret	14	Graeme Lawrence	Brabham BT6-Ford	39	Fuel	10
Ret	17	John Riley	Lotus 18/21-Climax	38	Universal	9
Ret	4	Bruce Abernethy	Cooper T66-Climax	30	Overheating	11
Ret	48	Phil Hill	Cooper T70-Climax	26	Half shaft	13
Ret	35	Red Dawson	Cooper T53-Climax	6	Crown Wheel	6
Ret	25	Rex Flowers	Lola T4-Climax	4	Engine	15
Source:[2]

References