abstract | - Having failed to score for the first time since the start of the 1963 season, Jim Clark arrived at Brands Hatch looking to bounce back straight away. The Scot was in dominant form during practice, claiming pole by two tenths of a second from Graham Hill, while French Grand Prix winner Dan Gurney completed the front row. There was also a successful demonstration of a four-wheel-drive BRM in the hands of Richard Attwood, although this was withdrawn before the start of the Grand Prix. Off the line, Clark managed to snatch the lead of the race from Gurney, who slithered inside of Hill before Paddock Hill Bend. After a brief battle, the Englishman managed to elbow his way into second to chase down a disappearing Clark, although they were together before the end of the second lap. As they began to exchange fastest lap times, Gurney dropped out of the race with ignition failure to leave a fairly big gap back to John Surtees in third. As Clark and Hill began to lap the back markers, Jack Brabham dragged his car into the pits to have his suspension examined, promoting Lorenzo Bandini into the top four. Yet, try as he might, Hill could not force his BRM far enough up the inside of the Team Lotus machine at the front of the field, with Clark also collecting fastest lap during his impressive defence. Come the end of the race, Clark was registered as the winner, and by leading every lap had ensured he collected a fifth Grand Chelem to go level at the top of the all time list with Alberto Ascari.
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