A Race To Remember — Photo Finish!
The drivers championship hinged on the final race of the season. Bandini held a 5 point lead over Brabham for first. Ginther held a 2 point lead over Hill for 3rd. Only 7 points separated the next 7 contenders. As a result of the close standings, drivers battled for every position.
Although the winner of the last race, Tyrrell driver Hahne, started on pole, he fell back to third half way through the first lap. Hahne had been leap frogged by Brabham and Bell. Hill and Ginther were right behind him. The Ferrari drivers were side by side in hot pursuit.
But Hahne did not back off and slipped by Bell and Brabham to take the first lap bonus point.
Most of the drivers are burning through wear and skill points at an alarming rate. Bell attempted to take the lead back from Hahne while Brabham positions himself for a series of bold moves. Ginther pulled ahead of Hill. Bandini moved up to fourth (he only needed to finish third to win the championship).
Brabham pushed his car to the limit and made what some might call foolhardy maneuvers, but his luck paid off. Brabham started the third lap with a formidable lead and a depleted car. Farrari fell back. Honda stayed ahead of Eagle. The second Tyrrell driver moved up to fourth.
During the third and final lap, Bandini passed Ginther and Ickx, but was stymied by Hill. Hahne dashed away from Bell and caught Brabham on the back straight. Hahne and Brabham were side by side. Hahne won the shootout, late braked, and then spun on the inside of the last corner.
Hahne recovered from the spin and managed to cross the finish line ahead of Brabham to take the win!
It was Hahne’s second win in a row and team Tyrrell’s third win in 5 races. Congratulations Travis!
Several position changes occurred as the rest of the racers finished. Race results follow:
1st Travis (H. Hahne) 80/20/20/160/6*
2nd Den (J. Brabham) 80/40/20/160/6*
3rd John H. (Bell) 80/40/40/160/5
4th Ray G. (R. Ginther) 60/60/60/140/5
5th Terry (P. Hill) 80/40/40/140/5
6th Steve (L. Bandini) 80/40/20/160/6
7th Travis (Jacky Ickx) 60/40/20/160/6
8th Terry (D. Gurney) 60/40/40/140/6
9th Steve (M. Parkes) 60/40/20/160/5
10th Den (D. Hulme) 40/40/40/160/5
11th Ray G. (R. Bucknum) 60/40/40/140/5
12th John H. (B. McLaren) 40/40/40/160/5
Brabham 2 points ahead of Bandini to take the Driver’s Championship. Ginther finished the season 3 points ahead of Hill to finish third in the Driver’s Championship.
Ferrari finished 21 points ahead of Brabham to secure the Constructor’s Championship. Eagle took third place.
Special thanks goes out to Steve for creating 5 superb tacks for us to race on this season.
Also thank you all for participating this year, even if you only had a chance to race a couple of times. I hope you had as much fun as I did and I look forward seeing you all compete next year for our 10th season!
Note: Season 10 is planned to start in Jan 2020. We will be using teams from the 1970s season. The first race is at Kyalami South Africa.