1967 Monaco Grand Prix

Coordinates: 43°44′4.74″N 7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E

Monaco  1967 Monaco Grand Prix
Race details
Race 2 of 11 in the 1967 Formula One season

Date May 7, 1967
Official name XXV Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course Street Circuit
3.145 km (1.954 mi)
Distance 100 laps, 314.500 km (195.400 mi)
Pole position
Driver Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco
Time 1:27.6
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax
Time 1:29.5
Podium
First New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco
Second United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-BRM
Third New Zealand Chris Amon Ferrari

The 1967 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 7, 1967. It was the second round of the 1967 Formula One season, albeit five months after Pedro Rodríguez's unexpected victory at Kyalami.

Between these races, the usual pre-season races had produced some unusual results, with Dan Gurney winning at Brands Hatch, in the Race of Champions in his Eagle-Weslake, and Mike Parkes taking the BRDC International Trophy for Ferrari.

The straight after the Gasworks hairpin was lengthened by moving the 'Start and Finish' closer to Ste-Devote.[1]

Report

Entry

A total of 17 Formula One cars were entered for the event. The field was bolstered by a pair of Formula Two Matras. The Monaco circuit with its tight layout, gave the 3-litre cars no advantage, thus many top teams entered their drivers in 2 or 2.5-litre cars. In fact the Formula Two Matras were powered by 1.6-litre Cosworth engines. Honda was back with John Surtees, with a V12 engine and the Anglo American Racers were at Monaco for the first time, with their Eagle-Weslake.[1]

Qualifying

Jack Brabham took pole position for Brabham Racing Organisation, in their Brabham-Climax BT19, averaging a speed of 80.779 mph, around the 1.954 miles (3.145 km) course. Brabham was joined on the front row by Ferrari's Lorenzo Bandini. The next row featured Surtees in the Honda and Denny Hulme in the second Brabham. The third row was an all Scottish affair, with Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax) ahead of Jackie Stewart's BRM.[2]

Race

The opening few laps were eventful – Bandini going into the lead. Brabham's Repco engine blew up almost immediately, at Spélugues cruve, and he spun in front of Bruce McLaren and Jo Siffert who collided taking avoiding action. Only Siffert damaged his car and had to pit for repairs. Brabham continued, but was losing oil from Mirabeau to the port, whilst Clark had to take to the escape road after slipping on Brabham's oil.[1][3][4]

On lap two Clark went off and dropped to the rear of the field, while Hulme and Stewart managed to pass Bandini into the lead after he too slipped on Brabham's oil. Hulme stayed in front until the sixth lap when Stewart swept past, until his crownwheel and pinion broke on lap 14. Hulme re-took the lead. The race settled down with Bandini second, McLaren third, after the departure of Surtees, with an engine failure. Clark's heroic battle from 14th up to fourth ended with broken shock absorber on lap 43.This promoted Chris Amon to fourth.[3][4]

In the second half of the race, Bandini began to close in on Hulme. McLaren was holding Amon at bay until he was forced into the pits to change a battery. This dropped him behind Amon and Graham Hill.[3][4]

On lap 82 disaster struck. Bandini's chase ended in horror when he clipped the chicane and hit a hidden mooring head, with the car turning over and exploded into flames amongst the straw bales. Bandini was trapped underneath his car. The rescue operation was hopelessly inadequate, the intervention was very slow and precious minutes passed before the fire was extinguished and Bandini was rescued and rushed to hospital. The rescue was not helped by a helicopter carrying a television camera crew, as it hovered at low level, the downdraught from the rotor blades fanned what remained of the fire, which reignited with a new ferocity.[1][3][4][5]

Meanwhile, Hulme continued to lead the race to the finished unchallenged. Just eight laps to go, Amon suffered a puncture and dropped to third, with second going to Hill.[3][4]

Post Script

Bandini suffered horrendous burns and died of these injuries three days later - the tragedy overshadowing Hulme's first victory on one of the world's most difficult circuits. When the news broke, many of the star drivers were travelling to the United States to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.[1][3][4][6] This was the last Monaco Grand Prix that was to run for 100 laps.

Following the sad events of this race, straw bales were banned from Grand Prix circuits. The development of fire-retardant fuel systems and flameproof clothing for drivers and marshals was accelerated, and never again would a TV camera crew be allowed to fly a helicopter low over a burning car.[5]

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 9 New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 100 2:34:34.3 4 9
2 14 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-BRM 99 + 1 Lap 8 6
3 20 New Zealand Chris Amon Ferrari 98 + 2 Laps 14 4
4 16 New Zealand Bruce McLaren McLaren-BRM 98 + 3 Laps 10 3
5 11 Mexico Pedro Rodriguez Cooper-Maserati 96 + 4 Laps 16 2
6 5 United Kingdom Mike Spence BRM 96 + 4 Laps 12 1
Ret 18 Italy Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 81 Fatal Accident 2  
Ret 6 United Kingdom Piers Courage BRM 64 Spun Off 13  
Ret 12 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 42 Suspension 5  
Ret 7 United Kingdom John Surtees Honda 32 Engine 3  
Ret 17 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 31 Oil Pressure 9  
Ret 4 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart BRM 14 Differential 6  
Ret 10 Austria Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 14 Gearbox 15  
Ret 23 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake 4 Fuel Pump 7  
Ret 2 France Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra-Ford 4 Injection 11  
Ret 8 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 0 Engine 1  
DNQ 15 United Kingdom Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax    
DNQ 1 France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford    
DNQ 22 United States Richie Ginther Eagle-Climax        

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
3 1 New Zealand Denny Hulme 12
1 2 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez 11
6 3 United Kingdom Graham Hill 6
2 4 Rhodesia John Love 6
2 5 United Kingdom John Surtees 4

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
3 1 United Kingdom Brabham-Repco 12
1 2 United Kingdom Cooper-Maserati 11
3 3 United Kingdom Lotus-BRM 6
2 4 United Kingdom Cooper-Climax 6
2 5 Japan Honda 4

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://monaco-grandprix.org/pagesE/1967.html
  2. "1967 Monaco GP". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website". Formula1.com. 1967-05-07. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "1967 Monaco Grand Prix - WOI Encyclopedia Italia". Wheelsofitaly.com. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Richard Williams, “Enzo Ferrari A Life" (Yellow Jersey Press, ISBN 0-224-05986-6, 2002)
  6. "Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | ESPN F1". Espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
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