Strategy and luck pay off at Nurburgring.
Hahne, Andretti, and Rindt bolted off the starting line taking an incredible early lead. During the first two laps, BMW and Lotus battled. Hahne crossed the finish line ahead of Rindt and Andretti on both laps, but started the last lap with one wear point.
During the early stages of the race, the Matra drivers worked as a team and drove conservatively saving their tires. Near the end of the second lap Beltoise began to make his run against the leaders. He began the last lap with relatively fresh tires.
On the last lap, because of their deteriorating tires, Hahne, Andretti and Rindt slowed and were unable to exceed corner speed limits. Meanwhile Beltoise exceeded most corners by at least 40mph (spending one wear and rolling on the chance table) and exceeded his top speed on the straights. As a result he caught and passed the leaders on the back stretch, getting ahead of Hahne before the last corner. Beltoise won the race followed by Hahne. Andretti and Gavin raced side by side. Andretti made it through the last corner first, but left the inside lane open. As a result of Andretti mistake, Gavin crossed the finish line ahead of him securing 3rd place.
Race Results:
1st Den (J. Beltoise) 80/40/40/140/6
2nd Ray G. (H. Hauhne) 80/40/40/140/6**
3rd Den (J. Gavin) 40/40/40/140/6
4th Steve (M. Andretti) 80/40/20/140/6
5th Steve (J. Rindt) 80/40/20/160/6
6th Ray G. (J. Biden) 60/40/40/140/5
The win puts Beltoise in a commanding lead in the driver’s championship followed by Hahne and Andretti. Matra holds onto the lead in the constructors championship while BMW threaten to take second place from Lotus.