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Jim Palmer had a guest drive in the Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT11A at Bathurst Easter 1966. Copyright John Ellacott 2008. Used with permission.

Tasman Champions

Back in the days when motor racing was for fun, a driver's idea of a close-season holiday was to run in the races in New Zealand and Australia. Once these races were formalised into a championship, the top drivers of the day competed for the Tasman Cup. Everyone to win the World Championship from 1959 to 1971 took part at some point.

As the F1 season expanded and the winter break shrank, the Tasman series reduced in importance at the end of the 1960s and was competed by local drivers during the F5000 period of the 1970s.

Tasman Cup Champions (2.5-litre era)
1964 Bruce McLaren Cooper T70 (both FL-2-64 and FL-1-64)
1965 Jim Clark Lotus 32B [8]
1966 Jackie Stewart BRM P261 [2617]
1967 Jim Clark Lotus 33 [R14]
1968 Jim Clark Lotus 49T [R2]
1969 Chris Amon Ferrari 246T/69 [008]
Tasman Cup Champions (F5000 era)
1970 Graeme Lawrence Ferrari 246T/69 [008]
1971 Graham McRae McLaren M10B [400-11S]
1972 Graham McRae McRae GM1 [LT27 GM1]
1973 Graham McRae McRae GM1 [005]
1974 Peter Gethin Chevron B24 [B24-73-07]
1975 Warwick Brown Lola T332[HU27]

Driver stats: 2.5-litre era 1964-1969

Race wins
Jim Clark 14
Chris Amon 6
Jack Brabham 5
Bruce McLaren 5
Jackie Stewart 5
Graham Hill 4
Jochen Rindt 2
Piers Courage 2
Denny Hulme 1
Most starts
Frank Gardner 38
Jim Clark 29
Roly Levis 28
Jim Palmer 28
Graham Hill 23
Denny Hulme 21
Jack Brabham 20
Chris Amon 19
Bruce McLaren 19
Graeme Lawrence 19
Most points*
Jim Clark 185
Frank Gardner 95
Graham Hill 93
Bruce McLaren 84
Chris Amon 80
Jack Brabham 80
Jackie Stewart 69
Jim Palmer 65
Piers Courage 56
Richard Attwood 39

The statistics above only include the 44 races that were official rounds of the Tasman Cup. Three other races, Lakeside in March 1965, Levin in Jan 1967 and Teretonga also in Jan 1967 were full Internationals with major fields and are included in the results section.

Driver stats: Tasman Cup 1964-1975

Race wins
Jim Clark 14
Graham McRae 13
Chris Amon 7
Jack Brabham 5
Frank Matich 5
Bruce McLaren 5
Jackie Stewart 5
Graham Hill 4
Niel Allen 3
Warwick Brown 3
Graeme Lawrence 3
John McCormack 3
Most starts
Graeme Lawrence 54
Kevin Bartlett 54
Graham McRae 49
Frank Gardner 49
Max Stewart 43
Frank Matich 40
Ken Smith 34
John McCormack 33
Chris Amon 32
Jim Clark 29
David Oxton 29
Most points*
Jim Clark 185
Graham McRae 158
Frank Gardner 140
Frank Matich 120
Chris Amon 112
Graham Hill 93
Graeme Lawrence 86
Bruce McLaren 84
Jack Brabham 80
Max Stewart 79

Of the regulars, Jim Palmer gained an impressive 65 points from his 28 starts but never placed higher than third. Kenny Smith only gained 14 pts from his 34 starts but that's still better than Frank Radisich's single point from 26 starts.

The statistics above only include the 44 races from the previous section plus the official rounds of the 1970-1975 Formula 5000 Tasman Cup.

*Points are based on the traditional 9-6-4-3-2-1 system.