25th February 1968: The Victory That Became Clark’s Last

On 25th February 1968, the Tasman Series arrived at Sandown Park for the Australian Grand Prix — Round 7 of a championship that had become a summer proving ground for the world’s best drivers.At its centre stood Jim Clark.Already a multiple Tasman champion and just weeks removed from victory at the 1968 South African Grand Prix, Clark was locked in a fierce battle with Chris Amon for supremacy in Australasia. Amon had opened the season with victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix — a triumph he would never replicate in the Formula One World Championship — and the duel between the two had defined the summer.At Sandown, the contest reached its peak.Clark prevailed by just a tenth of a second, securing what appeared at the time to be another masterclass in precision and control. The Tasman Series would continue to Longford the following week. The championship would be decided there.But history would cast Sandown in a different light.Six weeks later, Clark would lose his life at Hockenheim. The Australian Grand Prix of 1968 would stand as the final Grand Prix victory of his career — in any category.In this episode of Chequered Past, we revisit the full arc of that Tasman season — from Amon’s New Zealand triumph to the rain-soaked finale at Longford — and reflect on the afternoon that quietly became the last great victory of one of motor racing’s greatest champions.Send us Fan MailMusic by #Mubert Music Rendering