24-1-59 FLOCKHART ON JOB AT START THERE was an air of te pleted their warm-up tions on the starling grid. By virtue of a practice took the B.R.M. to the pole job from the start. Outside Flockhart were Brab ham. McLaren, and Ross Jensen. In the second row there were Sid Jensen. with the 1500 Cooper. Tom Clark and Mansel. Behind them were Hoare. Gitbons. Gilbert, and the first of the sports racers. Cantwell's Tojeiro Jaguar. In all. there were eignt rows. But it was pretty obvious that the major place getters were go cing to come from the first three or four. Whipped Away The starter, Mr W. W. Laing, raised the flag and all eyes were on him. Down it came, and Flockhart whipped away from the grid well clear of everyone else. He cut across to the outside of the circuit to pick up his line for the hangar bend. McLaren showed out from the bunch at the start early, too, Brabham and Ross Jensen seemed a little slow. Pace a Cracker Tony Shelly was last away. It was obvious from the drop of the flag that the pace was going to be a cracker. Ihe bunch hurtled into the control tower bend and there was nothing much to pick between them. Down through the chicane and into the sweeping left-hander that leads down to the long back straight, Flockhart led the way, and Brabham came up to be close behind him. Flockhart was in front with one lap completed-and he had made it a sizzler, averaging just on 85 miles an hour for the standing lap. Then came Brabham, McLaren, Sid Jensen, Ross Jensen. Clark, and Cantwell, and a big bunch behind them. ension as the thirty cars comlap and came _into their posi- lap of 1min 21.6sec Flockhart position. And he was on the Two Well Ahead Next time round Flockhart had 1.8sec on Brabham and these two had opened up quite a gap on McLaren, who was followed by Sid Jensen, Ross Jersen, Clark, and Cantwell. The lead did not change next time round, but Ross Jensen, in the blue and yellow El Salador Maserati. slipped by Sid Jensen in the Cooper. Flockhart led into the fourth lap and had 1.26sec from Brab ham, and the major placings re mained unchanged. Next time round it looked as though Brab ham had settled himself and was ready to make the bid. And then came first drama. Bitter Blow Ross Jensen brought his out with transmission trouble. Maserati into the pits, and was It was a bitter blow, for he had shown a lot of promise in the practice sessions. Then Brabham took Floekhart. so the B.R.W. driver was in second place Brabham would and it looked for a time as if be a hard man to head. These two had already opened up a big gap on McLaren, who was lying third, and indeed were starting to lap the tail end of the field. The next man to go was Pat He made a pil stol Then Hoare in tenth place, changec some plugs and set off, only to retire in the next lap. About 85 m.p.h. With ten laps gone, Brabham was completing the circuit in fairly sedate Imin 29.6sec. about 85 miles an hour. and Flockhart was content to keep within haf a dosen car lengths of him in second place. Then came MeLaren, a long way back. Jensen. Tom Clark. Cantwell, Mansel, and This back bunch driving in close company. They had opened up a big gap on the rest of the field. A lap later Brabham and Flockhart were giving the crowd an indication of the rate they were travelling they began to lap such drivers us Cantrel! and Clark. The race settled down into & fairly well-established pattern, and it appeared that Brabham was having to clap on the pace a bit to head the B.R.M. Although there was seldom more than one hundred vards between the two cars. there were moments when it looked as though the Scotsman would take the Australian on the back straight. Whinned Through Really. there was nothing be tween them. Both used their dise brakes to full advantage and whipped through the chicane. being able to leave their braking points to the last second. The melting tar was making the track vert greasy, but the leaders and young McLaren did not seem to be having any worries at all. On the other hand, the local driver. Dick Campbell, with his old ‡CLT Maserati. was sliding fairly viciously. The crumpled nose of his car was testimony of contact with a solid object. But all eves mere Brabham and Flockhart. Ther started to clap on the pace and, with twenty laps the board, Flockhart slipped into the lead again. He passed Brabham in the pit straight, and to do so he had to put the right-hand wheels of the B.R.M. on to the outside grass verge. But if he thought he was going to clear out from Brabham he was mistaken. Hung On Both cars were going perfectly, and Brabham hung on. He appeared to slipstream the B.R.M. whenever he could and was obviously enjoying himself. McLaren seemed to realise that his 1960 c.c. Cooper could not foot it with the bigger cars. He drove steadily in third place, turning in laps consistentiy round the 85 to 86 miles an hour mark. Sid Jensen was going wonderfully well with the 1500 Cooper, but he, too, was outclassed. The Aucklander, Johnny Mansel, was up there also with the Parteen wiserator Cantwell, with Jaguar. In fact, he was putting on a magnificent performance. There were grians when the green sports racer retired with clutch trouble a little later. At thirty-nine laps Brabham flicked past Flockhart again. This time the crowd began to wonder just what would happen. Brabham took Flockhart in the pit straight and they rushed to the hangar bend together. But it was Brabham who showed out first. At this stage the leaders had two and three laps on the tailenders, and were well ahead of the third place man, Mclaren. Fiftieth Lap When the fiftieth lap came up, it was still Brabham by about three car lengths from Flockhart. with McLaren more than a lap back. Sid Jensen next, Mansel next, and then Bob Gib bons, with the Lycoming Special. He was followed by Merv Neill. Gilbert. with a Cooper Bristol, and Tom Clark, who had made a pit stop to remove a piece of paper which was blocking of his radiator. Then came Ken Harris, with a Monza Ferrari. Next time round, however, positions changed again. Flockhart went to the front and nor he was set for the rest of the race. Brabham tried as hard as he could, but he just could not take Flockhart. The lap speed started to climb. Never has a Trophy race crowd seen cars going faster. 93 m.p.h. In his sixty-seventh lap Brab ham went round in Imin 22.Isec, an average speed of nearly 93 miles an hour. In the sixtyninth lap Fiockhart turned in 1min 22.2sec. These times were not bettered. The race developed into a pro- cession. The major positions were Flockhart, Brabham, Me- Laren, Sid Jensen, Mansel, and Gibbons. At that stage five laps separ ated Flockhart from Gibbons. In the concluding stages and this was a thing that has never happened at Wigram before-the pace was still on Flockhart and Brabham were still lapping at more than 90 miles an hour. Still in Doubt Right to the end the issue was in doubt. Down came the chequered flag on Flockhart and, before people bad time to realise it. Brabham had flashed by, noo 2.7sec separated them Only Then McLaren was flagged off, having completed sixty-nine laps. Next came Sid Jensen, with the red Cooper, who completed sixty eight laps. Perhaps one of the most amazing features of the race was that of the thirty cars that started. twenty-one were still running at the end.