The 1968 RAC Tourist Trophy was a motor race which was held at the Oulton Park circuit, in Cheshire, England, on the 3 June. Although the 1967 race was part of the European Touring Car Championship, the 1968 and 33rd running of the RAC International Tourist Trophy Race saw a return to Group 7 sportscars. The world's oldest motor race was the fourth round of the 1968 British Sports Car Championship. [1] [2]
The event attracted a total of 33 sports cars, with every entrant taking part in qualifying. Amongst the entries was the reigning World Drivers Champion, Denny Hulme. [2]
Fresh from his second place in the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, Richard Attwood took pole position for the Alan Mann Racing team, in their Ford P68, averaging a speed of 103.500 mph, around 2.761 miles circuit. Alongside Attwood would be Jo Bonnier, in his self-entered Lola T70. [1] [2]
The race was held over 110 laps of the Oulton Park circuit. Denny Hulme took his Sid Taylor Racing prepared Lola T70 Mk.3 to his third TT win in four years, winning with an aggregated time of 3hrs 03:57.200mins., averaging a speed of 99.074 mph. Just 9.4 seconds behind in second place was David Piper, who shared his Ferrari 412 P with Richard Attwood. Attwood joined Piper following the demise of his pole winning Ford P68. Third place was attained by Paul Hawkins, in his Ford GT40, albeit one lap adrift. [1] [2]
Denis Clive Hulme was a New Zealand racing driver who won the 1967 Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his final race in the 1974 US Grand Prix, he started 112 Grands Prix, resulting in eight victories and 33 podiums. He also finished third in the overall standing in 1968 and 1972.
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts many British and International racing events. The venue is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation.
The 1968 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monza Autodrome on 8 September 1968. It was race 9 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 68-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after he started from seventh position. Johnny Servoz-Gavin finished second for the Matra team and Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx came in third.
The 1968 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant in St. Jovite, Quebec, Canada on September 22, 1968. It was race 10 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 90-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after starting from sixth position. Hulme's teammate Bruce McLaren finished second and BRM driver Pedro Rodríguez came in third.
The 1968 Formula One season was the 22nd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 19th FIA World Championship, which commenced on 1 January, and ended on 3 November after twelve races, and numerous non-championship races. Graham Hill won the second of his World Championship titles, with Lotus.
Robert Paul Hawkins was an Australian motor racing driver. The son of a racing motorcyclist-turned-church minister, Hawkins was a capable single-seater driver but really made his mark as an outstanding sports car competitor driving Ford GT40s and Lola T70s. In 1969 Hawkins was included in the FIA list of graded drivers, an elite group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world.
Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.
Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about 5-mile (8.0 km) from Winsford, 13-mile (21 km) from Chester city centre, 8-mile (13 km) from Northwich and 17-mile (27 km) from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection along the Mid-Cheshire Line. It occupies much of the area which was previously known as the Oulton Estate. The racing circuit is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation.
The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 14 and 15 June 1969. It was the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance and was the eighth round of the 1969 International Championship for Makes. The race was open to Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars.
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course was constructed for 1956, with a later extension forming a loop with a hairpin bend.
The Ford P68, also commonly known as the Ford 3L GT or F3L, is a sports prototype racing car model introduced in March 1968. It was designed by Len Bailey, a Ford research engineer, funded by Ford Europe and built by Alan Mann Racing at Weybridge, Surrey, UK. The first competition appearance of a Ford 3L prototype was at the BOAC 500 race at Brands Hatch in Kent. It delivered a good pace, but was criticized for instability at high speeds. It did not finish any of the races in which it was entered, due to mechanical and electrical failures.
Eric Harrison Broadley MBE was a British entrepreneur, engineer, and founder and chief designer of Lola Cars, the motor racing manufacturer and engineering company. He was arguably one of the most influential automobile designers of the post-war period, and over the years Lola was involved with many high-profile projects in Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Broadley sold Lola to Martin Birrane in 1997.
The 20th BRDC International Trophy was a non-championship Formula One race held at Silverstone on 25 April 1968.
The 19th International Gold Cup was a non-championship Formula One race, which was held on the Oulton Park circuit, located near Tarporley, Cheshire, England on 29 May 1972.
1965 saw the revival of the world’s oldest motor race when the Royal Automobile Club brought the 30th RAC International Tourist Trophy Race with the Senior Service Trophy to Oulton Park. The TT, was the fourth round of the International Championship for Manufacturers. In addition, it was also round three of the British Sports Car Championship. This was the held at the Oulton Park circuit, in Cheshire, England, on 1 May.
The 1966 RAC Tourist Trophy saw the world’s oldest motor race, organised by the Royal Automobile Club, return to Oulton Park on 29 April, for the 31st running of the RAC International Tourist Trophy Race sponsored by Daily Express. The TT, was the second round of the British Sports Car Championship.
The 14th Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts, was the third round of the 1966 Trophées de France. It was held on the Circuit de Rouen-les-Essarts, in Grand-Couronne, near Rouen, on the 10 July. This Formula Two race was only a week after the previous round at Reims, and the cars were brought over from there and assembled in time for opening qualifying on the Thursday. Qualifying was scheduled for Thursday and Friday. This allowed those drivers competing in the Martini Trophy race at Slverstone to practise and then fly to England for the sportscar race and return to Northern France in time for the race on Sunday.
The 6th Spring Trophy, was a non-championship race for Formula Two cars. It was held on the Oulton Park circuit, located near Tarporley, Cheshire, England, on 3 April 1965.
Anthony Gordon Dean was a British racing driver from England who competed in sports car racing, touring car racing, the Can-Am series and various single seat formulae, including non-championship Formula One, in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He is known for winning a round of the Can-Am championship in 1970 as a privateer entrant.
The Lola T100 is a Formula 2 single-seater entered by German BMW team for the 1967 German Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 1967 Formula One World Championship. Designed by British manufacturer Lola Cars, led by engineer Eric Broadley, the T100 was raced by Britons David Hobbs and Brian Redman. A version adapted to the technical regulations of Formula 1 was also driven by German Hubert Hahne.