Sunday 9th February 1969
Jochen Rindt splashed to his second win of the ’69 Tasman Series season when he won a rainy 45 lap, 101.5 mile round 6 on the 2.25 mile Warwick Farm circuit, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The race also decided the Tasman championship as Chris Amon clinched the title when he and his lone challenger Piers Courage were eliminated in a first lap incident. Rindt continued to impress, winning his 5th pole in the 6 rounds, all on tracks he’d never seen before. Amon got the jump on the start, but Rindt moved past on the long Hume Straight to take the lead and a half lap into the race Rindt’s Lotus-Ford was 3 seconds ahead. Courage was pressing Amon hard as they came off the Causeway and moved past on the short straight leading to Polo Corner. However, Courage took Polo too quick and spun on the exit to the corner directly in front of Amon. Amon tried to avoid, but hit Courage’s spinning Frank Williams Brabham. Courage limped to the pits with a bent wishbone and Amon parked the Ferrari on the grass with a broken hub carrier. An angry Amon stomped back through the mud, but Courage’s retirement had clinched the title for Amon. Pressing on, Rindt was 15 seconds ahead of his Lotus teammate Graham Hill by lap 3. With Rindt well out front, attention turned to a battle for 2nd between Hill and Amon’s teammate Derek Bell. On lap 8, Bell pulled wide down the Hume Straight and pulled his Ferrari Dino inside of Hill as they braked for the hairpin. Hill had the power to hold him off and the battle continued another lap. This time, Bell took the Ferrari further outside of Hill under braking and Hill sportingly conceded the line. By this time, Rindt’s lead was 23 seconds, the Austrian driving brilliantly in the worst racing conditions seen at Warwick Farm and the first Tasman race run in the wet on the circuit. Hill pitted on lap 13, losing 10 laps with a wet ignition, but later returned to set fastest race lap. Positions remained unchanged over the final 28 laps and Rindt crossed the finish line 44.9 seconds ahead of Bell with Frank Gardner’s Mildren-Alfa finishing a lap down in 3rd.
