Pukekohe. Jan. 9 th 1965
( I do not have a programme from this event or from 1966, 1967, 1968 due to many factors including; they had been lost, spilt beer damage, gave them away, travelled overseas etc,etc...so if anyone has one and wants to fill in the different event entries etc please feel free. )
After the grand event of the previous year we were anxious to see Bruce McLaren beat the opposition once again. He had Phil Hill for a team mate and their Coopers were trying to be competitive on new 15 inch Firestone tyres which Bruce had to use when the cars had been designed to run on 13 inch tyres. They struggled in the morning heat races when Hill's Cooper went off approaching the hairpin and Bruce was lucky when his car spun, clipped an ambulance and ended in the creek at the esses. For the Grand Prix, Bruce borrowed Phil Hill's Cooper # 48.(His previous year winning car). He started well and was behind Jim Clark as we watched come round the Elbow Corner on lap 2 and I remember the track announcer saying " I see why they call Jimmy Clark the Flying Scotsman " as they went down the back straight and then there was silence as I think Bruce's Cooper had the same problem as Phil had earlier and did not stop as it should have and ran into the back of Jim Clark's Lotus at the entrance to the hairpin. It was such a shame to have the two top drivers out before the race had barely begun. Later my friend and I were standing opposite the pits and just as the photo shows, Colin Chapman was not looking pleased. They had come a long way and wanted to put on a good show for the crowd. Graham Hill took advantage of the situation and drove his Brabham to win the race.
(Photos from the Bruce Sergent collection )
( Ken Hyndman )
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