abstract
| - The 1965 German Grand Prix, officially advertised as the XXVII Großer Preis von Deutschland, was the seventh round of the 1965 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the legendary Nürburgring on the 1st of August. The race was the first chance for Championship leader Jim Clark to win the World Championship of 1965, on a weekend which would be dominated by the title contenders. Indeed, with the Scot having won five of the six races so far in 1965, many made Clark the favourite for victory in Germany and for the World Championship, although Graham Hill had an outside chance of defeating him. For that to happen, however, Hill would have to win every race to the end of the season, so when Clark claimed pole by over three seconds, the Championship battle was swung even more heavily in the Scot's favour. Off the line, it was still an advantage for Clark, with the Scot's Lotus roaring off to an early lead while Hill slotted into second, ahead of teammate Jackie Stewart and Ferrari's John Surtees. A series of increasingly quick laps saw Clark break the lap record several times as he disappeared up the road in search of a sixth win of the season. As Clark charged off for a likely sixth and decisive victory, the field behind was reduced by a series of accidents and retirements, the most notable involving Stewart when he broke his suspension by running wide at Wipperman. An increasingly tense battle for fourth saw Jochen Rindt, Bruce McLaren, Mike Spence and Denny Hulme fight right to the end, where a series of mechanical failures left Rindt as the last man standing. But, out front, no one could challenge Clark, and when the Scot crossed the line to complete the fifteenth and final lap, the Lotus lead driver was declared as World Champion for a second time. In a typically dominant display, the Scot earned an eighth career Grand Chelem in the process, with Hill and Dan Gurney completing the podium.
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