British Grand Prix - July 10 1965

THE racing calendar got very crowded in July, with the British GP on July 10 followed by the Dutch GP eight days later, and the German GP a fortnight after. And the day after Silverstone we were dicing Formula 2 cars at Rouen, so this meant four races in three weeks and a day.

So far as we were concerned. Silverstone was a bit of a shambles. We should have had three cars on the grid, but at the very last minute we found ourselves with only two, when Dan Gurney's 32-valve engine blew up on its warming-up lap. During the practice sessions Dan had used a rather tired 16-valver, and this had been showing signs of going up the spout. It was getting very oily, and looked as if it was pressurising in the crankcase. So it was necessary to change the engine anyway before the race.

In fact, we hadn't another 16-valver avail­able, and we knew that if we couldn't get the 32-valver we would have to scratch one of our three entries. But we got the 32-valve unit on the Friday night, and fitted it in Dan's chassis by working all through the night. The next morning we started it up in the paddock and it all sounded all right. But on the parade lap it dropped a valve. This did considerable damage inside, and part of the valve went up the intake and went down the number one intake on the other side. which helped to destroy the engine pretty completely.

When I realised what had happened I had a very quick decision to make. In fact there were only a few seconds to decide what to do.  Realising that Dan had come a very long way from California in order to take part in this race, and that he was dead keen to have a drive, I hopped out of my car and handed it over to him. Dan didn't fit my car very well; this is always a problem having drivers of different shapes and sizes, and Dan is mighty tall. It is impossible to make a car to fit Dan and myself.

Not only did Dan not fit the car. but the engine was far from being a good one. It must have taken him some time to get moderately comfortable in the cockpit, and get used to the way the car handled, but at least it finished the race, though only in sixth position. He had a pretty tough ride towards the finish, because he had an out-of-balance wheel-probably through losing a wheel weight.

Denny Hulme was in worse trouble. because his alternator drive belt broke and the battery went flat. This meant that I became interested in only one team car towards the end of the race. but I couldn't help but be excited by the fraught situation which developed when Jim Clark's engine ran desperately low on oil. He was a lucky boy to get home with it. I reckon he did a very good job to nurse that Lotus to the finish.