This year the R.A.C. sold the rights of the British Grand Prix to the British Racing Drivers’ Club and they enlisted the support of the Daily Express to organise the event at Silverstone. While the circuit is not the best of places for a grand prix, it has been the scene of many British GP events, as well as being the traditional home of British motor racing for years.

Clark and Hill are always expected in the front row of a starting grid and we are becoming used to Stewart joining them, but the appearance of Ginther and the Honda VI2 was very much a ‘cat among the pigeons’.

The flag fell and it was a magnificent start, with the Lotus of Clark and Ginther’s Honda surging ahead. As they went under the bridge at the end of the pits the Honda was two lengths in front of the Lotus. They went into Copse corner with the Lotus squeezed against the wall on the inside. Ginther held his place and for once Clark did not get the lead on the first corner, and it was not until Hangar Straight that Clark got ahead. Once in front he gave it all he had and finished the opening lap in the lead. Hill and Surtees got by the Honda on the second lap and the BRM driver was practically holding the leading Lotus, but Surtees could not keep up.

Hill was doing his best to hold Clark, but the Lotus was getting away. For once Hill did not have the support of his ‘Scottish apprentice’ for Stewart was finding his BRM not handling perfectly and he could only manage fifth, but the pressure on Spence, McLaren and Hulme was causing all four to close up on Surtees and Ginther, these two having the sort of scrap that slows cars. As laps went by the Honda lost power, so that Stewart and Spence passed it, and then Ginther stopped at the pits. For no obvious reason the power was falling off and though the plugs were changed and Ginther tried a few more laps, his race was run.

At 20 laps, Clark and Hill had outdistanced everyone else, but the Lotus was firmly in the lead and all Hill could do was keep going and hope the Lotus might fail. The leaders settled into routine lapping of the circuit, Clark keeping up the pace and Hill beginning to ease off, but Spence and Stewart were worrying Surtees and threatening to take third from him. Hulme suddenly retired when the belt drive to the alternator on his engine broke and his battery gave out. Towards half-distance the race settled into one of endurance, with Hill still losing ground to Clark.

When Clark lapped Bonnier and Gurney on lap 50 the American took the opportunity of the disturbance to get in front of the Swede, but neither of them could get a ‘tow’ from the Scot. Hill was having trouble lapping Rindt and when he got by, the Cooper driver made the most of the BRM’s slipstream and hung on for a number of laps.

Shortly, Clark’s Climax engine began to develop a small misfire, which developed into a ‘ploppling’. All eyes were on the sick-sounding Lotus and the healthy sounding BRM, but there was nearly half a lap between them. Slowly the gap closed and Hill drove harder.

Clark had lapped all the cars he was going to, and the situation between the Lotus and the BRM began to get tense, for in addition to the misfiring, the engine had been losing oil. Crafty Clark was coasting round the corners and only using the power on the straights while he had pressure in the oil gauge.

With ten laps to go Clark was slowing and BRM supporters were urging Hill on his way. In the last five laps Clark was driving as hard as he dare without risking the engine. As he started his last lap Hill had him in sight, and as the Lotus went into Copse corner Clark could see the BRM in his mirrors, but he had command of the situation for when he finished the 80th lap he was the same distance ahead of the BRM.

It had been close and had Clark not driven with such determination in the first half of the race he might not have been able to nurse the Lotus to the finish ahead of Hill to record his fourth consecutive British GP victory, for Hill had got well and truly wound up and set a new lap record on the last lap.