| 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:72 color:red shift:(20,-5) text:Chris Amon (Laps 1-72) from:72 till:end color:orange shift:(20,-5) text:Denny Hulme (Laps 73-90) The 1968 Canadian Grand Prix, officially advertised as the VIII Player's Grand Prix of Canada, was the tenth round of the 1968 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant on the 22nd of September, 1968. The race, which was the second World Championship Grand Prix staged in Canada, would be remembered for a late race retirement for a dominant Ferrari in the hands of Chris Amon, which denied the New Zealander his best chance at picking up a race win. Ferrari's woes had begun in qualifying, where Jacky Ickx suffered a huge accident caused by a sticking throttle, leaving the Belgian with a broken leg. Amon, meanwhile, would just miss out on pole to a flying Jochen Rindt, the pair setting identical lap times to the nearest tenth, with privateer Jo Siffert completing the front row. At the start it would be a perfect getaway from Amon to launch the sole scarlet Ferrari into the lead, with Siffert tucking neatly into his wake ahead of Rindt and the rest. The race order remained rather stable over the opening laps, the only significant change coming when John Surtees dropped out with a gearbox failure. So it continued, Amon beginning to stretch his legs out front while his competitors dropped out with mechanical problems. The only man who looked likely to challenge him was Graham Hill, Championship leader, as he made ground courtesy of retirements for Siffert and Rindt to leave him in third. Things were thrown even further in Amon's favour when Hill suddenly started losing pace, a vibration developing in the Lotus-Ford Cosworth that meant that the Englishman had to back off. With just seventeen laps to go Amon was left with a huge lead from the two McLaren-Ford Cosworths of Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren, but there was to be one final retirement to upset the race order. Head in his hands, Amon would be spotted crawling to a stop in the pits, his clutch so badly worn that he could no longer change gear. That left the two McLarens to pick up the lead, with Hulme ultimately taking his second win in a row to go level with Hill at the top of the Championship. McLaren came home second, a lap down from his teammate, with Pedro RodrÃguez in third, ahead of Hill, Vic Elford and an unusually quiet Jackie Stewart.
|
