Jack Sears chases Graham Hill, #21 Dan Gurney, Denny Hulme and Mike Salmon in line astern; AC Shelby Cobra, Ferrari 330P, Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, Brabham BT8 Climax and Aston Martin DP214, 29 August 1964…
This group of cars is indicative of the quality of the field, Hill won the race of changing fortunes from David Piper’s Ferrari 250LM and Dan Gurney’s Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.
Entry…
The Tourist Trophy is a much coveted sportscar victory, the 29th running of the classic at Goodwood on 29 August 1964 was no exception to the strong field of entrants…
The drawcards were GeePee drivers Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark and Graham Hill in outright contenders: ex-Penske ‘Zerex Spl’ Cooper Olds, works Lotus 30 Ford and Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 330P respectively. Other potential frontrunners were David Piper’s Ferrari 250LM and five AC Shelby Cobras driven by Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Jack Sears, Bob Olthoff and Roy Salvadori.
Denny Hulme and Hugh Dibley raced Brabham BT8 Climaxes. John Surtees, Richie Ginther, Innes Ireland and Tony Maggs Ferrari GTOs. Most of the drivers elected to race the 132 miles solo, it was a typically spectacular international grid of sporties of the day.
Graham Hill ponders the speed of his Maranello Concessionaires entered 4-litre Ferrari 330P chassis #0818 during practice. It may not have been the quickest car in the race but it had the endurance the Group 7 sprinters lacked.
The Race…
Bruce popped the Zerex on pole from Clark, Hill and Dibley. Dan was the quickest of the GTs in his big, booming Cobra.
From the start McLaren led from a ‘very busy’ Clark, the Lotus much more of a handful than Bruce’s mongrel-Cooper T51 based special! Denny was third in his nimble Brabham with Trevor Taylor’s Elva BMW in fourth. Bruce’ clutch failed to transmit the power of his ally-Olds V8 and retired. The order was then Clark, Hulme, Taylor and Hill G. After 25 laps Piper and Salvadori were a lap back such was the pace of the frontrunners.
Graham Hill spun the Ferrari at Woodcote on lap 17, Tony Maggs whips past in David Piper’s Ferrari GTO, the South African finished tenth.
Graham started to push, coming up to third, then second. Clark pitted for fuel on lap 64 giving Hill the lead, more drama for Clark as the Lotus had been under-filled, another 15 gallons were added, and oil, then the hot motor wouldn’t fire; by this stage Hill was nearly a minute up the road.
Clark then treated the crowd to a superb demonstration of on the limit driving ‘… in a hurry, needing all the road. He would come out of Woodcote, dust rising as the tail of the Lotus 30 touched the verge, accelerate in a burst of power that lifted the nose, slip through the chicane and like as not use the kerb out of it to bounce the car straight. Stop watches were out, Clark might close on Hill a couple of laps from the end…’
But it was not to be, Clark made a third pitstop when the car felt odd, the diagnosis was a bottom wishbone locking ring had slackened off and was contacting a front wheel, so Graham Hill’s 330P Ferrari won from Piper’s 250LM, then came the AC Cobras of Gurney, Sears and Olthoff in coupe, sports and hardtop respectively! Hills average speed was 97.13mph and Bruce McLaren set a new sportscr car lap record of 1:23.8 in the Zerex Cooper Olds before his retirement early in the race.
Etcetera…
Credits…
MotorSport October 1964, Sutton Images, LAT
Tailpiece…
The TT would have been a nice win for the Lotus 30 Ford, not Chapman’s greatest bit of work. Clark at speed…
Finito…
primotipo... 
Actually, far from Chapman’s greatest bit of work. In fact, a sad commentary on his “middle period” where he missed numerous chances to dominate certain areas of racing but instead dropped the ball. The Lotus 19 was a masterwork – it was what Penske did with his Cooper F1 car but from the manufacturer instead. Smart, right? The Lotus 30/40 was a major, major setback/embarassment, as was the Lotus 70. All were ideas/machines quickly dropped by him but remembered by others.
Norman,
He had more hits than failures mind you…many more.
I haven’t looked at my books, but Len Terry warned Chapman about the probably failure of the 30 chassis to do the job, if my memory is working today.
I think the Lotus 70 won a race or three in the US. If a few Chevs found their way into the back of those cars the record book may be happier?
Mark
“More hits than failures” still leaves lots of failures, and we won’t address the Lotus street-driven rolling debacles. What surprised me was going from a dominating racing sports car (Lotus 19) to the 30 and doing so little to correct the rather obvious design problems (changing transmission gear ratios? Working on the master cylinders without removing the body?) through the 40. If Chapman was who so many think he was, why wsn’t the 40 a monocoque car? Eric Broadley swamped him on that AND the Ford GT40. As for the Lotus 70, people tried. That’s it. Not sure if an engine change would have done much for a car Colin so obviosly just kicked out the door…
Lotus 30 pit photo – it’s Jim Endruweit behind the car.
[…] Clark wrestles with the gorgeous but recalcitrant 350bhp machine above, and with the ‘ten more mistakes’ – as Richie Ginther described it – aboard the Lotus 40 Ford in the LA Times GP at Riverside in October 1965; he was second to Hap Sharp’s Chaparral 2A Chev in a marvellous drive. One of Clark’s many attributes was to get the best out of a car, even a sub-optimal one. A bit more Lotus 30 here:https://primotipo.com/2016/08/30/rac-tourist-trophy-goodwood-1964/ […]