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The 1965 United States Grand Prix was a
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
motor race held on October 3, 1965, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in
Watkins Glen, New York Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, Schuyler County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies between the ...
. It was race 9 of 10 in both the 1965 World Championship of Drivers and the 1965 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 110-lap race was won by BRM driver
Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles ...
after he started from pole position.
Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorspo ...
finished second for the
Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...
team and his teammate
Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , and , ...
came in third.


Summary

In the last year of the 1.5-liter formula,
Jim Clark James Clark (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the ...
had clinched his second Drivers' Championship (as well as winning the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
) before the teams arrived in North America for the season's last two races. Once again, however, it was
Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles ...
and BRM who reigned at The Glen, winning for the third year in a row. Hill took pole, win and fastest lap, finishing twelve seconds ahead of the
Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...
s of
Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorspo ...
and Sir Jack. The weekend was cold (), windy (30 mph), and often wet. In practice, Jim Clark—a Scot, no less—wore a sweater over his driving suit.
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
was missing the previous year's World Champion,
John Surtees John Norman Surtees (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One from to . Surtees was a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycl ...
, who had been injured in a sports car race in Canada the previous week. Hill's new BRM teammate,
Jackie Stewart Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Scottish people, Scot" ...
, who had broken Clark's string of five consecutive victories with his first Grand Prix win at
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
three weeks before, was running at The Glen for the first time, as was Austrian
Jochen Rindt Karl Jochen Rindt (; 18 April 1942 – 5 September 1970) was a racing driver, who competed under the Austrian flag in Formula One from to . Rindt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Lotus, and remains the only driver to ...
. American Bob Bondurant was making his Formula One debut. The track was shrouded in mist on Friday, as Clark switched back and forth between his Lotus, with a 32-valve Climax engine, and teammate Mike Spence's 16-valve model. After bending the suspension on Spence's car by hitting the curb in 'The 90', Clark got back in his car and did a 1:12.7, which was fastest of the day until Hill beat it by two-tenths. On Saturday, sunny but still cold, Clark and Hill continued their battle. Hill posted a 1:11.25 in the BRM, and Clark just failed to match him in his 32-valve Lotus, getting down to 1:11.35 before he sheared two teeth on a timing gear. Again, the Scot took teammate Spence's car, and he recorded a remarkable time of 1:11.16 to complete the duel. Overnight, however, the 32-valve engine was repaired, and when Clark decided to use it in the race, he would have to start from the second spot, alongside Hill. American
Richie Ginther Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther (5 August 1930 – 20 September 1989) was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ginther won the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix with Honda. Born in Hollywood, Ginther competed in Formula One f ...
used the spare
Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
to grab third spot, as the powerful V–12 made him the fastest car down the straight. The top six on the grid were Hill, Clark, Ginther, Spence,
Lorenzo Bandini Lorenzo Bandini (21 December 1935 – 10 May 1967) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Bandini won the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix with Ferrari. In endurance racing, Bandini won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in , as w ...
's Ferrari and Stewart. It rained on Sunday morning, but a strong wind dried the track in time for the start, and 60,000 fans watched with hoods and parkas against the changing conditions. Hill jumped into an early lead, trailed by Clark and Ginther. Stewart charged up from the third row and moved inside Ginther in the Esses, but the Honda pinched the gap closed, forcing Stewart into the curb and bending his suspension. Stewart continued, while the stunned Ginther dropped back to eighth, but the throttle cable on Stewart's car split and he limped around to the pits. By the time he rejoined the race, the rain had returned, making his bent suspension too big of a handicap, and he retired. On the second lap, Clark took the lead from Hill, as the two pulled away from Bandini, Spence, Gurney and Brabham. Three laps later, Hill regained the lead, and the two British World Champions dueled until lap 12, when Hill's BRM appeared alone, and Clark coasted into the pits with a broken piston. The group of four following the leaders had been battling hard, as Spence was twice forced off the road by Bandini, and retired on lap six with a broken timing chain. Hill now led Gurney by 14 seconds, followed by Bandini and Brabham. By lap 24, Hill led by almost half a lap. Then, a sudden shower soaked the track as the leader began lap 37. In 'The Loop' at the end of the back straight, Hill was caught out by the slippery surface and went straight on into the grass, then bounced along for 200 yards before regaining the track. Hill's Dunlop tires were two seconds per lap slower in the wet than the Brabham team's Goodyears, and, aided by the off-track excursion, Gurney and Jack Brabham were able to close the sizable gap. Gurney pulled right up on the BRM's tailpipes, but in his zeal, he overdid a corner and allowed teammate Brabham by into second. Now, it was team leader Brabham's turn to have a go, and he moved ahead of Hill on the outside of 'The 90,' right before the pits. Hill had been consistently taking corners with a late apex, then power-sliding the car around the outside of the turn's exit. Hill's wide line out of the corner again carried him to the edge of the track, and with Brabham on his left, he forced the two-time Champion off and into a slow 360 across the wet grass. Gurney was back in second, and Brabham rejoined, once again in third. Gurney may have been tempted to challenge for the lead again, but a slipping clutch caused him to think better of it. With the track almost completely dry near the end of the race, Hill put his foot down and set the fastest lap of the afternoon on lap 105. He came home twelve seconds ahead for his second win of the year and the completion of a remarkable three-year run at The Glen. After the season, the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation was awarded the Grand Prix Drivers Association's "Best Organized Race Award," the first of three times The Glen would receive the honor.


Classification


Qualifying


Race


Notes

* This was the Formula One World Championship debut race for American driver Bob Bondurant. * This race marked the 99th and 100th podium finish for a
Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British manufacturer of forklift trucks, fire pumps, racing engines, and other speciality engines. History Pre WWI The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, a joint venture by Jens Stroyer and Pelham Lee. In 1 ...
-powered car.


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only best 6 results counted toward the championship. Numbers without parentheses are championship points, numbers in parentheses are total points scored.


References


Further reading

* Doug Nye (1978). ''The United States Grand Prix and Grand Prize Races, 1908-1977.'' B. T. Batsford. * "Grand Prix of the United States" (January, 1966). ''Road & Track'', 36-38. {{F1GP 60-69
United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
United States Grand Prix
United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...
United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...