John Surtees, the reigning World F1 Champ, aboard his Cooper T75 BRM P80 during the ‘London Trophy’ weeekend at Crystal Palace in June 1965…
He was a busy boy that year, fitting in F2 races around his primary programs for Ferrari in F1 and Endurance events.
Ken Tyrrell entered two Coopers that weekend, the other for Jackie Stewart, above, very much on his career ascent- he scored his first GP win with BRM that season at Monza in September aboard a P261 after a great dice with his teammate Graham Hill.
Surtees, Cooper T75 BRM
The London Trophy comprised two heats of 25 laps, the top four in each race were the same, Jim Clark, Lotus 35 Cosworth SCA, Graham Hill, Brabham BT16 BRM, Richard Attwood, Lola T60 SCA and Jochen Rindt, Brabham BT16 SCA.
(Getty)
The off, Heat 1.
Stewart at left and Clark right, Brabham on the inside of row 2.
Clark won both heats, the Tyrrell Coopers had problems in this heat which were fatal for their chances of a start in the second race- Stewart had half-shaft failure after completing 16 laps and a rod let go in the BRM engine after 21 of the 25 laps in Surtees case.
There was plenty of depth on the grid, other starters included Mike Spence, Trevor Taylor, Chris Amon, Denny Hulme, Jack Brabham and Peter Revson with the DNQ list including Jo Siffert, David Hobbs and Chris Irwin.
Credits…
Getty Images
Tailpiece: Jim Clark, Lotus 35…
Jim Clark aboard his Lotus 35 SCA, final chat to his mechanic who has a tyre pressure gauge at the ready. I’m not sure this is Crystal Palace, if it is, the car behind is Bill Bradley’s Brabham BT10 SCA.
Finito…
Mark,
I don’t think that John Surtees was “fitting in …. Can-Am races” in 1965, as the series was not introduced until the following year.
Cheers,
Rob
Indeed, and in the 1965 USRRC sports car series dominated by Jim Hall and Hap Sharp in the Chaparral 2As, Surtees does not appear in the entries.
Thanks Rob, Glenn,
Should not have relied on memory, he won in 1966 of course.
Regards,
Mark
Your part of the world – for a few days!
Sent from my mobile phone
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Yes indeed Simon.
I’m not in a big hurry to go home either! The catalyst for the trip was my god-daughters wedding in Marlow/Bourne End a week ago. Since than have been to Mulhouse, Zermatt and rode the Glacier and Bernina Express across the Swiss and Italian Alps to Tirano- now in Varenna on Lake Como- if the weather remains this good the Alfa Museum ain’t lookin good!
Mark