| abstract | - Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.937,0.937,0.937) id:linemark value:gray(0.8) id:linemark2 value:gray(0.9) BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas PlotData = mark:(line,linemark) from:start till:3 color:green shift:(20,-5) text:Graham Hill (Laps 1-3) from:3 till:end color:purple shift:(20,-5) text:Jackie Stewart (Laps 3-90) The 1968 Dutch Grand Prix, otherwise known as the XVI Grote Prijs van Nederland, was the fifth round of the 1968 FIA Formula One Championship, held at Zandvoort on the 23rd of June, 1968. A damp weekend among the dunes preceded a wet race on Sunday, where the two Matras of Jackie Stewart and Jean-Pierre Beltoise put together one of the most dominant performances of the season. Qualifying had seen both sessions threatened by rain, with Saturday's running severely restricted by downpours. Pole therefore went, once again, to Chris Amon in the lead Ferrari, the New Zealander having been the first of eight drivers to set a time below the old circuit record. He would share the front row with Jochen Rindt and Championship leader Graham Hill. Light rain was falling when the flag dropped on Sunday, with Rindt slithering off the line the fastest to take an early lead. Unfortunately that meant that the Austrian would be first to experience the track surface, and by the end of the opening lap Rindt was back down to third after running wide, allowing Hill and Stewart to get past. By lap four the rain was starting to fall harder, with the Scottish Stewart taking full advantage of the increasing wetness to take the lead. His teammate Beltoise was also making progress, moving into the wake of Hill as Stewart began to pull out a huge lead. The Frenchman would harass the Englishman for several laps, until a mistake on lap 23 saw Beltoise pit to have sand removed from his throttle. The rest of the race would see Beltoise put together an excellent recovery drive to rise from seventh to second, before joining Stewart in the sprint away from the field. They remained unchallenged for the rest of the race to earn Matra their first one-two, which would also be the first victory for a French manufacturer. Hill had to retire after a series of spins, leaving Pedro RodrÃguez to claim third as the best of the rest.
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