1968 World Sportscar Championship season

The 1968 World Sportscar Championship season was the 16th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing and featured the 1968 International Championship for Makes and the 1968 International Cup for GT Cars.^[1] The former was contested by Group 6 Sports Prototypes, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars ^[2] and the later by Group 3 Grand Touring Cars only. The two titles were decided over a ten race series which ran from February 3, 1968 to September 29, 1968.

Schedule

Rnd	Race	Circuit or Location	Date
1	24 Hours of Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	February 3 February 4
2	12 Hours of Sebring	Sebring International Raceway	March 23
3	BOAC 500 (6 Hours)†	Brands Hatch	April 7
4	1000km Monza	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	April 25
5	Targa Florio	Palermo	May 5
6	1000km Nürburgring	Nürburgring	May 19
7	1000km Spa	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	May 26
8	Watkins Glen 6 Hours	Watkins Glen International	July 14
9	500km of Zeltweg†	Zeltweg Airfield	August 25
10	24 Hours of Le Mans	Circuit de la Sarthe	September 28 September 29‡

† - These races were contested by Sports Prototypes and Sports Cars only. GT cars did not participate.

‡ - The 24 Hours of Le Mans was originally scheduled to be run June 15 and 16, but was delayed due to a workers strike in France.

Season results

Races

Rnd	Circuit	Winning Team	GT Winning Team	Results
		Winning Drivers	GT Winning Drivers
1	Daytona	#54 Porsche Engineering	#31 Sunray DX Oil Company	Results
		Vic Elford Jochen Neerspasch	Jerry Grant Dave Morgan
2	Sebring	#49 Porsche Engineering	#3 Sunray DX Oil Company	Results
		Jo Siffert Hans Herrmann	Hap Sharp Dave Morgan
3	Brands Hatch	#4 John Wyer Automotive	None	Results
		Jacky Ickx Brian Redman
4	Monza	#40 John Wyer Automotive	#68 IGFA	Results
		Paul Hawkins David Hobbs	Dieter Glemser Helmut Kelleners
5	Palermo	#224 Porsche Engineering	#82 Ecurie Les Corsaires	Results
		Vic Elford Umberto Maglioli	Claude Haldi Pierre Greub Edgar Berney
6	Nürburgring	#2 Porsche Engineering	#110 Sepp Gregor	Results
		Jo Siffert Vic Elford	Sepp Gregor Malte Huth
7	Spa-Francorchamps	#33 John Wyer Automotive	#63 IGFA	Results
		Jacky Ickx Brian Redman	Dieter Glemser Helmut Kelleners
8	Watkins Glen	#5 John Wyer Automotive	#59 Brumos Porsche	Results
		Jacky Ickx Lucien Bianchi	Peter Gregg Bert Everett
9	Zeltweg	#1 Porsche Engineering	None	Results
		Jo Siffert
10	La Sarthe	#9 John Wyer Automotive	#43 Jean-Pierre Gaban	Results
		Pedro Rodriguez Lucien Bianchi	Jean-Pierre Gaban Roger van der Schrick

Manufacturers Championships

International Championship for Makes

Points were awarded for overall placings gained by the top 6 finishers from Groups 6, 4 & 3 at each round in the order of 9-6-4-3-2-1 ^†. Manufacturers were only given points for their highest finishing car; any other cars from that manufacturer were merely skipped in the points standings.

Cars from other than Groups 6, 4 & 3 were ignored in the awarding of points for the overall championship.

Only the best 5 round results for each make counted towards the championship, with any other points earned not included in the total. Relinquished points are shown within brackets.

Pos	Manufacturer	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9†	Rd 10	Total
1	Ford			9	9		(4)	9	9	(2)	9	45
2	Porsche	9	9	6	(6)	9	9	(6)	(3)	(4.5)	(6)	42
3	Alfa Romeo	3				6	2			1.5	3	15.5
4=	Chevrolet		4									4
4=	Howmet								4			4
4=	Alpine-Renault				4							4
7	Ferrari			2								2
8	Lola			1								1

† - Round 9 was awarded only half points due to its short distance.

International Cup for GT Cars

Points were awarded for Group placings gained by the top six GT finishers at each round in the order of 9-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only given points for their highest finishing car; any other cars from that manufacturer were merely skipped in the points standings.

Only the best 5 round results for each make counted towards the title, with any other points earned not included in the total. Relinquished points are shown within brackets.

The GT class did not participate in Rounds 3 and 9.

Pos	Manufacturer	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 10	Total
1	Porsche	(6)	(6)	9	9	9	9	9	(9)	45
2	Chevrolet	9	9					6		24
3	MG		1	2			6			9
4	Lancia				4					4
5	Fiat			1						1

Car Details

The following models contributed to the nett points totals of their respective manufacturers.

International Championship for Makes

• Ford GT40
• Porsche 907 & 908
• Alfa Romeo T33/2
• Alpine A211 Renault
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Howmet TX Continental
• Ferrari 250LM
• Lola T70 Mk3 Chevrolet

International Cup for GT Cars

• Porsche 911S & 911T
• Chevrolet Corvette
• MGB & MGBGT
• Lancia Fulvia Sport
• Fiat Dino

References

1. ^ FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 124 & 125
2. ^ Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 259

External links

• Points tables for the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from wspr-racing.com on 25 March 2009
• Round results for the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from wspr-racing.com on 25 March 2009
• Images from the 1968 International Championship for Makes Retrieved from www.racingsportscars.com on 25 March 2009