1968 European Badminton Championships
The 1st European Badminton Championships were held in Bochum (Germany), between 19  and 21 April 1968, and hosted by the European Badminton Union and the Deutscher Badminton-Verband e.V..


1968 European Cup Final
The 1968 European Cup Final was the final match of the 1967–68 European Cup, the premier club football competition in Europe. It was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 29 May 1968, and contested by Benfica of Portugal and Manchester United of England in front of a crowd of 92,225. Both teams had to go through four rounds of two-legged knockout ties to reach the final; it was Benfica's fifth European Cup final, two of which they had won, and Manchester United's first.


1968 European Cup Final
Both sides went close in a goalless first half, before Manchester United took the lead from Bobby Charlton's header eight minutes into the second; however, Jaime Graça's 79th-minute equaliser meant the match went into extra time. Manchester United then scored three times in seven minutes in the extra period; the first was a solo goal from George Best, followed by a header from Brian Kidd on his 19th birthday. Charlton scored his second in the 99th minute, as Manchester United triumphed 4–1 to become the first English club to win the European Cup.


1968 European Cup Final, Background
The European Cup, now known as the UEFA Champions League, is a club football tournament, contested by the best teams across Europe. The competition was first played in 1955–56. Neither Benfica nor Manchester United participated in the inaugural tournament, which was by invitation only; although Benfica had won the 1954–55 Primeira Divisão title, Sporting CP had already been invited. In 1968, only the league champion from each country qualified. Benfica reached the European Cup final for the first time in 1961, when they beat Barcelona 3–2. The following year, Benfica defended their title, coming from behind to beat Real Madrid 5–3 in the final. Benfica were losing finalists twice more over the next three years, losing to Milan in 1963 and Inter Milan in 1965.


1968 European Cup Final, Background
Manchester United had never previously reached the European Cup final. They had been losing semi-finalists in both the 1956–57 and 1957–58 competitions. In February 1958, the team were returning from Belgrade having eliminated Red Star Belgrade in the quarter-finals when eight of their players were killed and two more suffered career-ending injuries in the Munich air disaster. Despite not qualifying, they were invited by UEFA to play in the following season's European Cup, but were forced to withdraw by the English Football Association. They returned to the competition in 1965–66, when they faced Benfica for the first time in the quarter-finals. Manchester United won 8–3 on aggregate, but were eliminated in the semi-final.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Benfica
Benfica entered the tournament as champions of Portugal, having won the 1966–67 Primeira Divisão. They faced Glentoran of Northern Ireland in the first round, travelling to Belfast for the first leg. Glentoran took the lead from a John Colrain penalty in the 10th minute, before Eusébio equalised in the 86th minute, and it finished 1–1. In the second leg, the two sides played out a goalless draw, which resulted in Benfica qualifying for the second round on the away goals rule. In the next round, they were drawn against Saint-Étienne of France.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Benfica
A goal from José Augusto in the 29th minute and a penalty from Eusébio in the 60th helped Benfica to a 2–0 home victory in the first leg. In France, Saint-Étienne won the second leg 1–0 via a 10th-minute goal from Georges Bereta. Despite losing the match, Benfica progressed 2–1 on aggregate.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Benfica
In the quarter-finals, Benfica played out a goalless draw with Hungarian side Vasas in their away leg. Returning to Portugal for the second leg, the first half also remained goalless, before two goals from Eusébio and another from José Torres made it 3–0 to Benfica, and secured their place in the semi-final, where they faced Juventus of Italy. Benfica played the first leg at home, and once again strikes from Eusébio and Torres helped them to victory; each scored during the second half to give their team a 2–0 lead in the tie. In the second leg, The Guardian reported that Benfica were "technically superior, although Juventus maintained aggressive play." A Eusébio goal in 66th minute extended Benfica's advantage in the tie to 3–0, and secured them a place in the final.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester United
Manchester United qualified for the competition as champions of England, having won the 1966–67 Football League First Division. They faced Maltese side Hibernians in the first round and won 4–0 in the home first leg; David Sadler and Denis Law scored two goals each. Despite the wide margin of victory, Brian Crowther of The Guardian described their play as disappointing. In the second leg, United suffered a "sad succession of near misses", according to a correspondent for The Guardian, as they struggled to adapt to the sandy pitch and the match finished as a goalless draw.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester United
They were drawn against Sarajevo of Yugoslavia in the second round, who were appearing in the competition for the first time. Playing the first leg away from home, Manchester United narrowly avoided going behind in the 27th minute, needing a goal-line save to prevent a shot from Vahidin Musemić going in. Despite playing against 10 men for most of the match after Boško Prodanović had to go off injured, United were not able to score, and it finished 0–0. John Aston gave United an early lead in the second leg, which was extended by George Best in the second half. Despite a late goal for Sarajevo from Salih Delalić, United held on to win 2–1 and progress to the quarter-finals.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester United
United played the first leg of their quarter-final against Polish champions Górnik Zabrze at home. In the 60th minute, a shot by Best was deflected into his own net by Górnik defender Stefan Florenski. In the dying minutes of the game, Jimmy Ryan shot into a melee of players in the penalty area, including Brian Kidd, who backheeled the ball into the goal to make it 2–0. Playing on a snow-covered pitch in the second leg, Manchester United were forced to defend for most of the match, but only conceded once, when Włodzimierz Lubański scored in the 72nd minute.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester United
Despite losing the match 1–0, Manchester United progressed 2–1 on aggregate. United faced six-time European Cup winners Real Madrid in the semi-final. Despite dominating the first leg at home, a single goal from Best in the 36th minute separated the sides, and they took a 1–0 lead into the second leg. In Madrid, the hosts took the lead in the 32nd minute, with a headed goal from Pirri.


1968 European Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester United
In the last few minutes of the first half, three more goals were scored; Francisco Gento made it 2–0 to Madrid, then an own goal from Ignacio Zoco brought the gap back to one goal, before Amancio scored to make it 3–1 at half-time. Sustained pressure from United in the second half brought a goal for Sadler in the 73rd minute, which brought the aggregate score level. Five minutes later, Bill Foulkes added a third for Manchester United. The match finished 3–3; United won the tie 4–3 on aggregate to reach the European Cup final for the first time.


1968 European Cup Final, Pre-match
The press rated Manchester United as favourites for the final. In The Guardian, Albert Barham suggested that Benfica were an aging team, and that "the old skills seem to be declining". He rated them as less dangerous than they had been when United beat them two years previous. Hugh McIlvanney of The Observer noted that although he believed United should be rated as favourites, some of their team were "undeniably ordinary players", and they had "an alarming vulnerability in defence" and "an excessive dependence on one or two men in attack." The Lisbon-based newspaper A Bola reported after United's semi-final victory that "a meeting with Manchester is the worst thing that could have happened."


1968 European Cup Final, Pre-match
Manchester United had fitness concerns regarding Nobby Stiles, who had been suffering from a bruised knee, but he recovered in time to be included in the squad. Law underwent surgery on his knee on the Saturday preceding the final, and remained in hospital for the match. Manchester United stayed in Surrey for two nights before the match, and the day before, United named an unchanged team from their semi-final second leg victory over Real Madrid. Benfica stayed at the Saxon Inn in Harlow, Essex, and also named an unchanged team from their semi-final win over Juventus.


1968 European Cup Final, Pre-match
The two teams had uneven allocations of tickets; Benfica requested 10,000, compared to the 30,000 for which Manchester United asked. The demand for tickets far outstripped the supply. The Benfica management estimated that a further 1,000 of their fans travelled to London without a ticket, while 10,000 Manchester United fans had bought tickets on general sale before the quarter-finals. On the Monday prior to the match, standing tickets originally priced at 10 shillings were selling on the black market for £7, while seats which had been £2 were £20.


1968 European Cup Final, Match, Summary
The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 29 May 1968 and kicked off at 19:45 BST in front of a crowd of 92,225; in addition, there was an estimated European television audience of 250 million. The referee was Concetto Lo Bello of Italy. Manchester United had the best of the play in the first half, but aggressive defence from Benfica prevented them from making a breakthrough.


1968 European Cup Final, Match, Summary
According to Eric Todd of The Guardian, Best was knocked down six times in the first half; three each by Fernando Cruz and Humberto, the latter of whom was cautioned in the 20th minute. In the 28th minute, Kidd passed the ball to Sadler, 10 yards from goal, but he shot wide. Benfica's three best chances on goal in the first half all came from Eusébio; the first was from a free kick, which deflected off the wall and drew a save from United goalkeeper Alex Stepney. Another free kick was struck high over the goal, before he hit the crossbar, having beaten Stepney with what Todd described as "the best shot of the first half".


1968 European Cup Final, Match, Summary
Aston had two shots early in the second half, both saved by the Benfica goalkeeper, José Henrique. Eight minutes into the second half, Tony Dunne passed the ball to Sadler, who lobbed the ball into the Benfica area; Bobby Charlton jumped and headed the ball into the goal to give United a 1–0 lead. In the 79th minute, Augusto and Torres set up a goal for Jaime Graça, levelling the score at 1–1. In the last five minutes of normal time, Eusébio had two chances on goal, drawing saves from Stepney, who was applauded for his efforts by the Portuguese forward.


1968 European Cup Final, Match, Summary
The score remained at 1–1 until the end of normal time, forcing the match into extra time. In the third minute of the additional period, Stepney took a long goal kick, which was headed on by Kidd, and collected by Best; he dribbled the ball past the defence, and then around the goalkeeper, before rolling the ball into an empty net. Two minutes later, a header from Sadler was saved by Henrique, but the rebound came to Kidd, who headed it in to give United a 3–1 lead. United continued to dominate play, and had another shot that hit the bar. Charlton completed the scoring in the ninth minute of extra time, converting a pass from Kidd to make it 4–1.


1968 European Cup Final, Post-match
United's win meant that they became the first English team to win the European Cup, a year after Celtic had become the first British team to do so. The win also marked the culmination of Manchester United's 10 years of rebuilding after the Munich air disaster; two of the team, Charlton and Foulkes, were survivors of the crash. As European Cup champions, Manchester United contested the 1968 Intercontinental Cup against Estudiantes, winners of the 1968 Copa Libertadores. Manchester United lost the tie, 2–1 on aggregate. Both Benfica and Manchester United competed in the European Cup again in 1968–69: Benfica were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ajax, while Manchester United reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Milan.


1968 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was the final football match of the 1967–68 European Cup Winners' Cup and the eighth European Cup Winners' Cup final. It was contested between Milan of Italy and Hamburg of West Germany, and was held at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Milan won the match 2–0 thanks to two goals by Kurt Hamrin.


1968 European Figure Skating Championships
The 1968 European Figure Skating Championships were held in Västerås, Sweden from January 23 to 27. Elite senior-level figure skaters from European ISU member nations competed for the title of European Champion in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


1968 European Formula Two Championship
The 1968 European Formula Two season was contested over nine rounds. Jean Pierre Beltoise won the championship in Pergusa-Enna. Although Jochen Rindt won 5 races, he was a graded driver and was therefore not allowed to score championship points.


1968 European Formula Two Championship
In this season, Jim Clark died at Hockenheimring, first race of the year.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Calendar
Race 1, 5 and 9 were held in two heats, with results shown in aggregate.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Calendar
Race 2, 4 and 6 were held with two semi-final heats and the final run, with time only shown for the final.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Calendar
Race 2, 4, 5 and 7 was won by a graded driver, all graded drivers are shown in Italics.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Final point standings
For every race points were awarded: 9 points to the winner, 6 for runner-up, 4 for third place, 3 for fourth place, 2 for fifth place and 1 for sixth place. No additional points were awarded. The best 7 results count (some sources count the best 6 results). No drivers scored in more than 7 races and just one scored in more than 6. If the best 6 scores are taken Henri Pescarolo would drop his 1 point score, dropping his total to 30.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Final point standings
Only drivers which were not graded were able to score points.


1968 European Formula Two Championship, Final point standings
At Crystal Palace not all points were awarded as there were not enough finishers.


1968 European Indoor Games
The 3rd European Indoor Games were held between 9–10 March 1968 at Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, the capital of Spain.


1968 European Indoor Games
The track used for the championships was 182 metres long.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 1500 metres
The men's 1500 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 3 × 1000 metres relay
The men's 3 × 1000 metres relay event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 3000 metres
The men's 3000 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 4 × 364 metres relay
The men's 4 × 364 metres relay event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid. Each athlete ran two laps of the 182 metres track.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 400 metres, Results, Heats
The winner of each heat (Q) and the next 1 fastest (q) qualified for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres
The men's 50 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres, Results, Semifinals
First 3 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres hurdles
The men's 50 metres hurdles event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres hurdles, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 50 metres hurdles, Results, Semifinals
First 3 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 800 metres
The men's 800 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's 800 metres, Results, Heats
First 3 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's high jump
The men's high jump event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's long jump
The men's long jump event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's medley relay
The men's 182 + 364 + 546 + 728 medley relay event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid. The first athlete ran one lap of the 182-metre track, the second two, the third three and the anchor four, thus 10 laps or 1820 metres in total.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's pole vault
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Sol1 (talk | contribs) at 21:24, 17 November 2019 (→Results). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's pole vault
The men's pole vault event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's shot put
The men's shot put event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Men's triple jump
The men's triple jump event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 4 × 182 metres relay
The women's 4 × 182 metres relay event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid. Each athlete ran one lap of the 182 metres track.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 400 metres
The women's 400 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 400 metres, Results, Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 50 metres
The women's 50 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 50 metres, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 50 metres hurdles
The women's 50 metres hurdles event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 50 metres hurdles, Results, Heats
First 4 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 50 metres hurdles, Results, Semifinals
First 3 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's 800 metres
The women's 800 metres event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's high jump
The women's high jump event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's long jump
The women's long jump event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's medley relay
The women's 182 + 364 + 546 + 728 medley relay event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 9 March in Madrid. The first athlete ran one lap of the 182-metre track, the second two, the third three and the anchor four, thus 10 laps or 1820 metres in total.


1968 European Indoor Games – Women's shot put
The women's shot put event at the 1968 European Indoor Games was held on 10 March in Madrid.


1968 European Judo Championships
The 1968 European Judo Championships were the 17th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Lausanne, Switzerland in May 1968. Championships were subdivided into six individual competitions, and a separate team competition.


1968 European Junior Games
The 1968 European Junior Games was the third edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was the final edition of the competition under that name and was succeeded by the European Athletics Junior Championships in 1970. The event was held in Leipzig, East Germany, between 23 and 25 August. The competition was mainly between Eastern European countries, with Belgium, Austria, Netherlands and Greece being present from the west.


1968 European Karate Championships
The 1968 European Karate Championships, the 3rd edition, was held in the sports complex of Coubertine Hall in Paris, France from May 2 to 4, 1968.


1968 European Rowing Championships
The 1968 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Grünau Regatta Course in the East Berlin suburb of Grünau. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was for women only and was held from 16 to 18 August. Twelve or fifteen countries (sources vary) contested five boat classes (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+), and 39 teams competed. Despite the European label of the event, it was open to any country and was regarded as unofficial world championships, but all contesting countries in 1968 were from Europe. The men would meet in Mexico City in mid-October at the 1968 Summer Olympics.


1968 European Rowing Championships, Background
The International Rowing Federation (FISA) had trouble finding a willing host for the 1968 Championships. The matter had been discussed at the FISA congress held in conjunction with the 1967 European Rowing Championships in Vichy. At that same meeting, East Germany had its membership status elevated from associate to ordinary. Delighted with the new status, the president of the East German rowing association, Alfred Bruno Neumann, volunteered to check whether his country could host the championships, and the eventual answer was positive. The chosen venue was the Grünau Regatta Course, which had previously been used for the 1936 Summer Olympics, and later for the 1962 European Rowing Championships. Grünau was confirmed by FISA in early March 1968.


1968 European Rowing Championships, Background
In early June, the Deutsche Post of the GDR issued three stamps depicting notable sporting events in East Germany that year. One of the designs by graphic designer Joachim Rieß shows a single sculling woman with reference to the upcoming European Championships.


1968 European Rowing Championships, Background
The 15 countries reported to compete (another source mentions 12 countries only, but does not list them) were the Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, England, Austria, Denmark, France, West Germany, and the host country East Germany. Of those, only the Soviet Union, Romania, and East Germany had boats in all five classes.


1968 European Rowing Championships, Medal summary – women's events
The regatta started with an opening event on the evening of 15 August. The heats were rowed the next day. Any semi-finals were held on 17 August, and the finals were held on Sunday, 18 August. Gisela Jäger and Rita Schmidt surprisingly won gold in the double sculls after just four weeks of training together. The long-standing double sculling partners Monika Sommer and Ursula Pankraths were to represent East Germany, but Sommer fell ill and new sculling teams were formed, of which Jäger and Schmidt were chosen for the European Championships.


1968 European Rowing Championships, Medal summary – women's events
In the eight event, only five boats were listed, hence the final was the first competition for these boats. East Germany surprisingly won over the favourite team from Romania. Initially, the Soviet Union was awarded second place, but was disqualified later due to having caused two false starts. Czechoslovakia came fourth.


1968 European Wrestling Championships
The 1968 European Wrestling Championships were held in the Greco-Romane style and  in Västerås 14 – 16 June 1968; the men's Freestyle style  in Skopje 02 – 04 July 1968.


1968 FA Charity Shield
The 1968 FA Charity Shield was a football match played on 3 August 1968 between Football League champions Manchester City and FA Cup winners West Bromwich Albion. It was the 46th Charity Shield match and was played at City's home ground, Maine Road. Manchester City won 6–1.


1968 FA Cup Final
The 1968 FA Cup Final was the 87th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 18 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Bromwich Albion and Everton.


1968 FA Cup Final
West Brom won 1–0 after extra time. Jeff Astle scored the winning goal, thus achieving the feat of scoring in every round of that season's competition. It was the fifth time that West Brom had won the FA Cup; they have not reached the final since.


1968 FA Cup Final
This was the first FA Cup Final to be televised live on BBC2 in colour. Both teams wore their away strips, West Brom wearing white shirts and shorts with red socks, and Everton wearing gold shirts and blue shorts. This was also the first FA Cup Final in which a substitute was used, when West Brom's Dennis Clarke came on for an injured John Kaye.


1968 FA Cup Final
The referee was Leo Callaghan from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.


1968 FA Cup Final, Background
Both clubs were members of the First Division, Everton having finished fifth during the 1967–68 league season and West Bromwich Albion eighth. Everton were victorious in both league matches between the two sides, winning 2–1 at Goodison Park and 6–2 at The Hawthorns. The teams had met on four previous occasions in the FA Cup. Everton had won three of those ties, including the 1906–07 semi-final, while Albion's sole victory was in the semi-final of 1930–31. Both teams were renowned for their attacking styles at the time so an exciting match was expected. Instead a tense rather drab affair ensued before Astle struck in extra time. Despite taking part in what was then a record 10th final Albion have failed since to win the competition or indeed reach the final.


1968 FA Cup Final, Background
Albion's journey to the final began at lower league Colchester United in Round 3. Albion took the game to a replay thanks to an equalising Tony Brown penalty, though they were second best for large periods. They had no problem in the replay however, winning 4–0 in front of near 40,000 at home. Round 4 saw Albion draw at home against Southampton before prevailing in a replay 3–2 at the Dell. Next came second Division Portsmouth in Round 5 at a packed Fratton Park.


1968 FA Cup Final, Background
Albion triumphed thanks to goals from Astle and Clark though a Portsmouth goal made for a tense finish. Albion were then drawn at home against Bill Shankly's Liverpool side in the quarter-final. Demand for the game was huge with eager fans queuing for hours on end. However, despite being roared on by a crowd of 53,052, Albion's largest for six years, the Baggies could only manage a goalless draw, meaning a replay at Anfield, where Albion had been beaten 4–1 earlier in the league season.


1968 FA Cup Final, Background
Albion went behind, but an Astle header took the game to yet another replay, this time at Maine Road. Despite it being a wet midweek night, a crowd of 56,000 watched the game, 20,000 of them Albion fans who had made the journey north. Despite being underdogs Albion won 2–1 with goals from Clark and Astle.


1968 FA Cup Final, Background
The semi-final saw Albion drawn against local rivals Birmingham City, who were chasing promotion from the second division at the time. The clubs had met in a final back in 1931, which Albion had won, and the match was staged at the neutral venue of Villa Park. In front of a crowd of over 60,000 goals from Brown and Astle saw Albion through to a record tenth final.


1968 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, West Bromwich Albion
R3 = Colchester United (A) 1-1 (16,981)R = Colchester United (H) 4-0 (40,448)R4 = Southampton (H) 1-1 (30,987)R = Southampton (A) 3-2* (26,036)R5 = Portsmouth (A) 2-1 (43,642)R6 = Liverpool (H) 0-0 (53,062)R = Liverpool (A) 1-1* (54,273)R = Liverpool (Maine Road) 2-1 (56,189)SF = Birmingham City (Villa Park) 2-0 (60,831)


1968 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Everton
R3 = Southport (A) 1-0 (18,795)R4 = Carlisle United (A) 2-0 (25,000)R5 = Tranmere Rovers (H) 2-0 (62,634)R6 = Leicester City (A) 3-1 (43,519)SF = Leeds United (Old Trafford) 1-0 (63,000)


1968 FAMAS Awards
The 16th Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards Night was held in 1968 for the Outstanding Achievements for the year 1967.


1968 FAMAS Awards
Kapag Puso'y nasugatan of Virgo Film Productions won 8 FAMAS Awards including the FAMAS Award for Best Picture and Best actress for Marlene Dauden.


1968 FIBA Africa Championship for Women
The 1968 FIBA Africa Championship for Women was the 2nd FIBA Africa Championship for Women, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. The tournament was hosted by the United Arab Republic from September 9 to 15, 1968.


1968 FIBA Africa Championship for Women
The United Arab Republic ended the round-robin tournament with a 4–0 unbeaten record to win their second title.


1968 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
The 1968 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball  competition held in Spain in 1968.


1968 FIBA Intercontinental Cup
The 1968 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup for men's basketball clubs. It took place at Palestra and Spectrum, Philadelphia. From the FIBA European Champions Cup participated Real Madrid and Simmenthal Milano, from the South American Club Championship participated Botafogo, and from the NABL participated the Akron Wingfoots.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
The 2nd World Cup season began in January in West Germany and concluded in April in the US Jean-Claude Killy of France repeated as the overall champion, and announced his retirement from World Cup competition. Nancy Greene of Canada repeated as the women's World Cup overall champion.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
For the only time, the results of the Winter Olympics were included in the season standings. Future Olympic results were not included as World Cup races, nor were World Championship results after 1970. However, the inclusion of the Olympics was irrelevant to the final outcome, as both Killy and Greene would have won the season titles had the Olympics been excluded.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Calendar, Men
Note: Race 7, 8 and 9 were the Olympic events at Grenoble, which count also for the World Cup. See also 1968 Winter Olympics and Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Race 10 and 11 were held on the same day.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Calendar, Ladies
Note: Race 9, 10 and 11 were the Olympic events at Grenoble, which count also for the World Cup. See also 1968 Winter Olympics and Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Overall
In Men's Overall World Cup 1967/68 the best three downhills, best three giant slaloms and best three slaloms count. 12 racers had a point deduction.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Downhill
In Men's Downhill World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Four racers had a point deduction, which are given in (). Gerhard Nenning won the cup with maximum points.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Giant slalom
In Men's Giant Slalom World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Five racers had a point deduction, which are given in (). Jean-Claude Killy won the cup with maximum points.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Men, Slalom
In Men's Slalom World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Five racers had a point deduction, which are given in ().


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Ladies, Overall
In Women's Overall World Cup 1967/68 the best three downhills, best three giant slaloms and best three slaloms count. 13 racers had a point deduction.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Ladies, Downhill
In Women's Giant Slalom World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Four racers had a point deduction, which are given in ().


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Ladies, Giant slalom
In Women's Giant Slalom World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Nine racers had a point deduction, which are given in (). Nancy Greene won the cup with maximum points.


1968 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Ladies, Slalom
In Women's Slalom World Cup 1967/68 the best 3 results count. Ten racers had a point deduction, which are given in (). Marielle Goitschel won the cup with maximum points.


1968 Falkland Islands general election
The Falkland Islands general election of 1968 was held on 13–15 March 1968 to elect members to the Legislative Council. Four out of the ten Councillors were elected through universal suffrage, two from Stanley and one each from East Falkland and West Falkland.


1968 Falkland Islands general election, Results
Candidates in bold were elected. Candidates in italic were incumbents.


1968 Federation Cup (tennis)
The 1968 Federation Cup was the sixth edition of what is now known as the Fed Cup. 23 nations participated in the tournament, which was held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 21–26 May. Australia defeated the Netherlands in the final, in what was the first final not featuring United States, giving Australia their third title.


1968 Federation Cup (tennis), Draw
All ties were played at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on clay courts.


1968 Fijian by-elections
By-elections for the nine Indo-Fijian seats in the Legislative Council were held in Fiji between 31 August and 7 September 1968. The seats had previously been held by the Federation Party, but their members had resigned in protest at the introduction of ministerial government and failure to reform the electoral system.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Background
In the 1966 elections, the multiracial Alliance Party won 23 seats (all nine Fijian seats, all nine cross-voting seats, and five of the seven general seats) and the Indo-Fijian dominated Federation Party 9 (all of which were Indo-Fijian seats), with independents winning the remaining two. Following the elections, a ministerial system of government was introduced, with Kamisese Mara of the Alliance Party as Chief Minister. Federation Party leader A. D. Patel became Leader of the Opposition.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Background
Under the previous membership system, Patel had held a portfolio. However, under the new system, the government was able to make unilateral decisions. When the Government made no effort to reform Fiji's electoral system, Patel moved a motion on 1 September 1967, calling for a new constitutional conference. When it became clear that the Government would use its majority to vote down the motion, the Federation members walked out of the Legislative Council.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Background
After the nine Federation Party members missed three consecutive sittings of the Legislative Council, their seats were declared vacant and new elections called.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Campaign
A total of 18 candidates contested the nine seats. The Alliance Party and the Federation Party putting forward a full slate of nine, with no independents or other parties running. In the 1966 elections the Alliance had only contested three of the nine seats.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Campaign
All but one of the incumbent Federation Party MPs stood for the party again; the exception was M. T. Khan, who switched to the Alliance. He was replaced as the Federation Party candidate by Ujagar Singh, a teacher. Most of the Federation Party candidates were well-known and respected within the Indo-Fijian community.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Campaign
The Federation Party platform called for immediate independence (as a republic with an ethnic Fijian as president), a common roll electoral system, a bill of rights, the introduction of free education, free healthcare, a minimum wage, pensions and unemployment benefits, as well as nationalising key industries and providing subsidies for food.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Campaign
In addition to Khan, the Alliance candidates consisted of three lawyers, three teachers, a businessman and a travel agent. None of them had run in the 1966 elections and there was little respect for most of them from much of the Indo-Fijian population. Patel accused the Alliance of being "white colonialist dominated" and party spokesmen referred to Alliance candidates stooges for foreign companies. The Alliance campaign included a continued move towards self-government, move devolved decision making and better roads and communications.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Results
The Federation Party candidates won all nine seats, with an increased majority in every one, whilst the Alliance candidates lost their deposits in two seats. Across the nine seats, the Federation Party received 46,960 votes (78.5%) and the Alliance Party 12,826 (21.5%). Voter turnout was 81%, a decrease from the turnout in the constituencies in the 1966 elections.


1968 Fijian by-elections, Aftermath
Although the victory proved the support for the Federation Party within the Info-Fijian community, it also exacerbated ethnic tensions. Following the elections, ethnic Fijians rioted (with 21 arrested and charged in one area) and mass meetings were held in several locations at which calls were made for Indo-Fijians to be deported.


1968 Finnish presidential election
Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1968. On 15 and 16 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college. They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won on the first ballot. The turnout for the popular vote was 70.2.


1968 Finnish presidential election
Kekkonen's two opponents, the centre-right National Coalition Party's candidate Director of the National Commercial Bank Matti Virkkunen and the populist Finnish Rural Party's leader Veikko Vennamo, criticized him for governing Finland in a too autocratic way.


1968 Finnish presidential election
Vennamo in particular accused Kekkonen of pursuing a too dependent and servile foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. Since almost thirty per cent of the eligible Finnish voters abstained from voting, there was some underlying discontent with the presidential candidates, or Kekkonen's wide lead over his two opponents. Notably, the National Coalitioners and Ruralists - both opposition parties at the time - gained clearly higher percentages of the popular vote than in the 1966 Finnish parliamentary elections. This foreshadowed their major gains in the 1970 Finnish parliamentary elections.


1968 Finnish presidential election
Although during this presidential campaign, Kekkonen promised not to run for president again (see, for example, Timo Vihavainen, "The Welfare Finland" (Hyvinvointi-Suomi), pp. 859–861 in Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen. Helsinki:  WSOY, 2003;  Pentti Virrankoski, A History of Finland / Suomen historia, volumes 1&2. Helsinki:  Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura), 2009, p. 961;  Martti Häikiö, The Election of President / Presidentin valinta, p. 96. Porvoo:  WSOY, 1993;  What-Where-When:  A Citizen's Yearbook (Mitä-Missä-Milloin - Kansalaisen vuosikirja) 1969, p. 140. Helsinki:  Otava Ltd., 1968), however, he extended his presidential term in 1973 and ran nearly unopposed in 1978.


1968 Fireball 300
The 1968 Fireball 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 5, 1968, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in Weaverville, North Carolina.


1968 Fireball 300
It had twenty-seven American competitors and one Canadian competitor (Frog Fagan). The entire race spanned a distance of 150 miles (240 km); the "300" portion of the race's name simply referred to the number of laps that were expected to be completed.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
This event lasted one hour and fifty-nine minutes over a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km).


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Richard Petty, James Hylton, Elmo Langley, Clyde Lynn, Jabe Thomas, Frog Fagan, Henley Gray, and Stan Meserve were amongst the drivers who finished in the top ten. There were six cautions for forty-five laps and the margin of victory was more than two laps. The average speed of the race was 75.167 miles per hour (120.970 km/h) per hour while the pole speed was 89.708 miles per hour (144.371 km/h) per hour. Pearson was responsible for leading almost all the laps in the race.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
After this race, David Pearson moved past Roberts for 8th on the all-time wins list. A crowd of 7,800 people attended this racing event that took place on May 5, 1968, at the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in the American community of Weaverville, North Carolina. Out of twenty-eight competitors, only ten managed to finish all 300 laps of the event.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
Total winnings for this racing event was $6,900 ($50,730 when adjusted for inflation). making him the dominant driver in the event.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
A bumper crop of multi-car "corporate" teams participated in the race because racing expenses have started to become prohibitively expensive for individuals to burden during the late 1960s. Few of the remaining independent teams included Margo Hamm's team, Neil Castles' team and the driver-owner Gene Black; whose day on the race track came to an abrupt end on the fourth lap due to a problem with his stock car engine.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
Notable crew chiefs at this race were Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Frankie Scott, Jake Elder, and Ray Hicks.


1968 Fireball 300, Race report
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.


1968 Fireball 300, Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race † signifies that the driver is known to be deceased


1968 Five Nations Championship
The 1968 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-ninth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the seventy-fourth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 13 January and 23 March. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It marked the first Grand Slam victory for France.


1968 Five Nations Championship squads, Wales
*captain in the second and fourth games**captain in the third game


1968 Florida Gators football team
The 1968 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. The season was Ray Graves' ninth of ten years as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. The Gators offense was led by senior tailback Larry Smith, a first-team All-American. Among the season's highlights were the Gators' conference wins over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (31–14), Tulane Green Wave (24–7) and Kentucky Wildcats (16–14), and victories over the in-state rival Florida State Seminoles (9–3) and Miami Hurricanes (14–10). The Gators also suffered their worst loss since 1942—a 51–0 blowout by the Georgia Bulldogs. Graves' 1968 Florida Gators finished 6–3–1 overall and 3–2–1 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for sixth among the ten teams of the SEC.


1968 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 1968 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. This was Bill Peterson's ninth year as head coach, and he led the team to an 8–3 record.


1968 Football League Cup Final
The 1968 Football League Cup Final took place on 2 March 1968 at Wembley Stadium. It was the eighth final and the second to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Leeds United.


1968 Football League Cup Final
Leeds had been Inter-Cities Fairs Cup finalists the previous season, while Arsenal had been a mid-table side of late, and it was their first Wembley appearance since the 1952 FA Cup Final. For both clubs, it was their first League Cup Final. Leeds had conceded just three goals in six matches in their run-up to the final and their defence were on top again in a drab battle for the trophy against Arsenal. Terry Cooper scored the only goal of the game, hammering home a long range goal after 20 minutes. After that, Leeds shut up shop and a defensive performance saw them out for the rest of the match.


1968 Football League Cup Final
It was the first major trophy of Don Revie's reign at Elland Road and started the most successful period in the club's history. Arsenal reached the League Cup Final the following year, only to lose again (this time to Swindon Town), but went on to win both domestic and European trophies in the following seasons.


1968 Football League Cup Final, Match facts
Team:  Gary Sprake (GK)  Paul Reaney  Terry Cooper  Billy Bremner (c)  Jack Charlton  Norman Hunter  Jimmy Greenhoff  Peter Lorimer  Paul Madeley  Johnny Giles  Eddie Gray  Substitute:  Rod Belfitt Scorer:Cooper  20'


1968 Football League Cup Final, Match facts
Match rules:90 minutes.30 minutes extra-time if necessary. Match replayed if scores still level. One named substitute.


1968 Football League Cup Final, Match facts
Team:  Jim Furnell (GK)   Peter Storey  Bob McNab  Frank McLintock (c)  Ian Ure  Peter Simpson  John Radford  David Jenkins   George Graham  Jon Sammels  George Armstrong Substitute:  Terry Neill


1968 Formula One season
The 1968 Formula One season was the 22nd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 19th FIA World Championship, which commenced on 1 January, and ended on 3 November after twelve races, and numerous non-championship races.


1968 Formula One season, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1968 FIA World Championship.


1968 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The Spanish Grand Prix returned after a fourteen year absence, hosted at Jarama on 12 May.


1968 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The French Grand Prix returned to Rouen-Les-Essarts after a four year absence replacing the Bugatti version of the Circuit de la Sarthe for 1968.


1968 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.


1968 Formula One season, Calendar, Calendar changes
The Canadian Grand Prix was moved from Mosport Park to a new venue called Circuit Mont-Tremblant, the two tracks were alternating to have it keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits. The date was moved from Late August to mid September.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Although they had failed to win the title in 1967, by the end of the season the Lotus 49 and the DFV engine were mature enough to make the Lotus team dominant again. For 1968, Lotus lost its exclusive right to use the DFV. McLaren built a new DFV-powered car and a new force appeared on the scene when Ken Tyrrell entered his own team using a Cosworth-powered car built by French aeronautics company Matra and driven by ex-BRM driver Jackie Stewart.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Unsurprisingly, the season-opening 1968 South African Grand Prix confirmed Lotus' superiority, with Jim Clark and Graham Hill finishing 1–2. It would be Clark's last win. On 7 April 1968 Clark, one of the most successful and popular drivers of all time, was killed at Hockenheim in West Germany at a non-championship Formula Two event. The Scotsman had gone off the track caused by what was believed to be a deflating rear tire; 90% of the Hockenheim circuit was made up of two long, slightly curving straights running through thick forests. And because there was no protection from the solid trees lining the circuit on both sides, Clark's Lotus smashed into a wall of trees, breaking the Scotsman's neck and killing him instantly; the car was totally destroyed.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
The season saw three significant innovations. The first was the arrival of unrestricted sponsorship, which the FIA decided to permit that year after the withdrawal of support from automobile related firms like BP, Shell and Firestone. Team Gunston, a South African privateer team, was the first Formula One team to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors when they entered a private Brabham for John Love, painted in the colours of Gunston cigarettes, in the 1968 South African Grand Prix.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
In the next round at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix, Lotus became the first works team to follow this example, with Graham Hill's Lotus 49B entered in the Red, Gold and White colours of Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand. The second innovation was the introduction of wings as seen previously on various cars including the Chaparral 2F sports car. Colin Chapman introduced modest front wings and a spoiler on Graham Hill's Lotus 49B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Brabham and Ferrari went one better at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix with full-width wings mounted on struts high above the driver. Lotus replied with a full width wing directly connected to the rear suspension that required a re-design of suspension wishbones and transmission shafts. Matra then produced a high mounted front wing connected to the front suspension. This last innovation was mostly used during practice as it required a lot of effort from the driver. By the end of the season most teams were using sophisticated wings.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Lastly, the third innovation was the introduction of a full-face helmet for drivers, with Dan Gurney becoming the first driver to wear such helmet at the 1968 German Grand Prix. He had helped to invent it with the Bell Helmets company and he had already used it at the  Indy 500 race same year. Within some years, it became the obvious and later even mandatory choice among F1 drivers.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Despite the death of Jim Clark, Lotus won both titles in 1968 with Graham Hill, but Stewart was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run Matra MS10. Stewart's winning drive during the rain and fog of the 1968 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, where he won by a margin of four minutes, is considered as one of the finest ever, even though his rain tires were probably better than those of the competition. The car's most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
These allowed the chassis to be around 15 kg lighter, while still being stronger than its competitors. The FIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for 1970, insisting on rubber bag-tanks (Which meant the effective end of spaceframe chassis in F1). Safety had become a major issue in Formula One.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
McLaren fielded a pair of Cosworth powered M7s for reigning Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme and team founder Bruce McLaren. McLaren won the non-championship Brands Hatch Race of Champions, then the Belgian Grand Prix was the scene of the team's first championship race win. In doing so, McLaren became only the third driver to win a race in a car manufactured by his own team – Jack Brabham having done it in 1966 and Dan Gurney in 1967 at Spa-Francorchamps. Hulme won the Italian Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix later in the year.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Repco produced a more powerful version of their V8 to maintain competitiveness against Ford's new Cosworth DFV, but it proved very unreliable. The Brabhams were fast — Rindt set pole position twice during the season — but Brabham and Rindt finished only three races between them, and ended the year having scored just ten points.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
The 1968 season turned out to be a turning point in the history of Formula One, in terms of technicalities and safety.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
Wings were used on Formula One cars and aerodynamics really played a part in terms of the cars' performance, and five Grand Prix drivers were killed in this year – including Jim Clark, Mike Spence, Jo Schlesser and Ludovico Scarfiotti – Clark at a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in a Lotus in April, Spence during practice for the Indianapolis 500 in a Lotus in May, Scarfiotti during a hill climb event in Germany driving a Porsche sportscar in June, and Schlesser during the French Grand Prix driving a Honda in July.


1968 Formula One season, Season summary
It was the last year where all the races were run on tracks with almost no safety modifications. The rather dubious events of the season included Schlesser's almost recklessly caused fatal accident at Rouen Les Essarts and the German Grand Prix run in atrocious rain and thick fog at the dangerous and long Nürburgring, a race that was even questioned at the start to be run in the almost intolerable conditions.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Round 1: South Africa
The fast and flowing Kyalami circuit between Johannesburg and Pretoria played host to the South African Grand Prix for the second time on New Year's Day 1968. Briton Jim Clark was fastest by a second with his Lotus-Ford/Cosworth teammate Graham Hill alongside him with Jackie Stewart in the new Matra-Ford/Cosworth completing the front row. On the second row there were the two Brabham-Repcos of Austrian Jochen Rindt and Australian Jack Brabham while the third row featured Briton John Surtees in the Honda and the Ferraris of Italian Andrea de Adamich (in a third car) and New Zealander Chris Amon.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Round 1: South Africa
The race began with Stewart taking the lead from Clark while Hill dropped back to seventh behind Rindt, Surtees, Brabham and Amon. On the second lap, Clark took the lead while Brabham overtook Surtees and Hill passed both Amon and Surtees to run fifth. Further back there was drama when Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti's Cooper-Maserati suffered a water leak and the driver was scalded by the escaping hot water. He was taken to hospital with first degree burns.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Round 1: South Africa
On the seventh lap, Brabham overtook Rindt for third place but soon afterwards he ran into engine trouble and dropped back, leaving Rindt third again. He came under threat from Hill and on lap 13 the Englishman moved to third place. Amon moved into fifth place having overtaken Surtees on the same lap. The order remained stable as Hill chased and caught Stewart and on lap 27 he moved ahead. Stewart stayed with him until Lap 43 of 80 when the Matra retired with a connecting rod failure.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Round 1: South Africa
This moved Rindt to third once again and the order then remained unchanged all the way to the finish with Lotus scoring a dominant 1–2 finish with Rindt third. Clark won his 25th and last championship Grand Prix from teammate Graham Hill and Austrian Jochen Rindt in a Brabham. Clark broke Juan Manuel Fangio's 10 1/2 year record of 24 Grand Prix victories, and would go on to hold this record until his countryman and friend Jackie Stewart broke the record in 1973.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Gap between Rounds 1 and 2
Many F1 drivers in the 1960s went to compete in the Tasman series in New Zealand and Australia during the European winter and the Southern Hemisphere summer, which was a nine-week, eight-race series that started in early January and ended in late February/early March, with respective races every week in open wheel racing cars that were very similar to F1 cars of the time, with exactly the same chassis- only these variants had 2.5 litre engines, as opposed to Formula One world championship cars, which had 3 litre engines.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Gap between Rounds 1 and 2
The non-championship Race of Champions at the English Brands Hatch circuit near London in March was won by Bruce McLaren in his own McLaren car, ahead of Mexican Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM and McLaren's teammate and countryman Denny Hulme.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, Early season, Gap between Rounds 1 and 2
The BRDC International Trophy race at the Silverstone circuit in England was another non-championship race held 5 weeks after the Race of Champions. The race was won by Hulme in a McLaren, ahead of fellow New Zealanders McLaren and Chris Amon in a Ferrari.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Round 2: Spain
There was a four-month gap between the South African Grand Prix in January and the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Formula One had lost yet another driver: Briton Mike Spence died four days after a practice accident at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while running one of Andy Granatelli's Lotus turbines when he hit the wall at Turn One and one of the wheels came back into his cockpit and hit him on the head.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Round 2: Spain
The first Spanish Grand Prix since 1954 was held at the brand-new, ultra-modern Jarama circuit just north of the Spanish capital city of Madrid, having held a non-championship race in 1967, which Jim Clark won. Jackie Stewart had to miss this race due to a wrist injury; Amon took pole. In the race, Rodriguez took the lead from Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Amon and Hulme. The top three remained unchanged in the early laps but on lap 12 Beltoise took the lead in his Matra-Ford.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Round 2: Spain
As he did so the Frenchman's car began smoking and on lap 16 he dropped out, leaving Amon (who had overtaken Rodriguez) in the lead. For the next 30 laps, the New Zealander was ahead while Rodriguez shadowed him until he lost control on lap 28 and crashed. This put Hill into second place with Hulme third and Surtees fourth. On lap 58, Amon's fuel pump failed and so Hill took the lead and went on to win from Hulme  and his promising countryman Brian Redman in a Cooper-BRM.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 3: Monaco
It was only a year since Lorenzo Bandini had been killed at Monaco, so the chicane was tightened and the race was shortened by 20 laps. Ferrari did not attend amid reports that the team was not happy with the safety standards at the circuit. Team Lotus was there, however, and Graham Hill and Jackie Oliver ran in the new red and gold livery of Gold Leaf and the cars featured the first hints of aerodynamic front and rear wings.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 3: Monaco
BRM had been planning to run Briton Chris Irwin as Mike Spence's replacement but in practice for the Nürburgring 1000 km sportscar race the previous weekend Irwin had flipped an Alan Mann Ford F3L sportscar at the Flugplatz section and had suffered serious head injuries, Irwin never raced again. So, Reg Parnell Racing's Richard Attwood was promoted to the works team. Jackie Stewart was still out of action with a wrist injury from the Jarama F2 race a month earlier and so his place in the Matra International team was taken by F1 debutant Johnny Servoz-Gavin.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 3: Monaco
Jean-Pierre Beltoise appeared with the new Matra V12 engine in the back of his Matra Sports entry. Brian Redman was busy racing for the Gulf John Wyer team at the Spa 1000 km sportscar race and his place with Cooper was taken by Belgian Lucien Bianchi. Denny Hulme was also being kept busy as he jetted backwards and forwards to Indianapolis qualifying. Qualifying at Monaco resulted in pole position by 0.6 seconds for Hill with an impressive Frenchman Johnny Servoz-Gavin alongside him on the front row.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 3: Monaco
The second row featured Jo Siffert (in Rob Walker's Lotus) and John Surtees in the Honda with Brabham's Jochen Rindt and Attwood on the third row. Then came Bruce McLaren and Beltoise, Pedro Rodriguez (BRM) and Hulme. At the start Servoz-Gavin took the lead but after three laps he suffered a driveshaft failure and crashed. This left Hill in the lead and there he stayed for the rest of the afternoon.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 3: Monaco
The first few laps saw a number of accident with Oliver and McLaren colliding on the first lap, Jochen Rindt (Brabham) crashing on lap nine while trying to pass Surtees. Brabham, Dan Gurney and Siffert all went out with mechanical trouble while Beltoise broke his suspension running over a curb and Piers Courage (Reg Parnell Racing BRM) stopped because his car was handling so badly. Surtees then disappeared with a gearbox failure and on the same lap Rodriguez crashed and so only five cars were left by the end of lap 16. As a result, the excitement was limited although third placed Hulme stopped in the mid-race to have a driveshaft replaced and dropped to fifth, leaving Bianchi to finish third behind Hill and Attwood with Lodovico Scarfiotti fourth in the second Cooper-BRM.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 4: Belgium
Formula One arrived at the fastest circuit of the year: the notoriously dangerous and challenging 14 km (8.7 mi) Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Amon took pole at an average speed of more than 150 mph around this unprotected rural road circuit, an incredible average speed by even today's standards. The appearance of wings on the Lotus at Monaco did not go unnoticed and for this race, various teams arrived with experimental wings on their cars. Ferrari was back in action having missed Monaco and entered two cars for Chris Amon and Jacky Ickx.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 4: Belgium
Jackie Stewart was back in action for Ken Tyrrell's Matra International team and Lucien Bianchi stayed with the Cooper-BRM team, replacing Lodovico Scarfiotti, as the Italian was committed to racing in the European Hillclimb Championship event at Rossfeld in southern Germany in a Porsche 908. American Dan Gurney and Kiwi Denny Hulme had flown back from Indianapolis having finished second and fourth in the race. Amon was fastest in practice on Friday with Stewart and Ickx alongside him on the front row.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 4: Belgium
Then came John Surtees in the Honda and Hulme with Bruce McLaren, Piers Courage (Reg Parnell Racing BRM) and Pedro Rodriguez (BRM) sharing the third row. Both Lotus drivers had trouble and were on the penultimate row of the grid. Saturday was completely ruined by rain and by the news from Rossfeld that Scarfiotti had been killed. The Italian Scarfiotti was the third Grand Prix driver to die in 2 months, this was turning into the bloodiest year in the history of Grand Prix racing since its origins in the 1900s.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 4: Belgium
Race day was dull and overcast and at the start Amon took the lead with Ickx, Surtees and Hulme chasing him. By the end of the second lap Surtees had taken the lead. There were a rash of retirements early on with Hill, Richard Attwood (BRM), Brabham and Rindt all going out with mechanical trouble. On the seventh lap, Briton Brian Redman (Cooper-BRM) went out when his suspension failed near Les Combes and he crashed violently into a concrete barrier, then went over the barrier and into a parked Ford Cortina road car.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 4: Belgium
The Cooper caught fire but Redman escaped with a badly broken right arm and a few minor burns- he did not race for most of that year. Soon afterwards Amon went out with a radiator problem and then the leader Surtees disappeared when his suspension failed. This left Hulme in the lead but he was quickly overtaken by Stewart and the two diced until Hulme slowed with a driveshaft problem. This left Stewart half a minute clear of McLaren but on the penultimate lap the Matra-Ford driver ran out of petrol and dropped behind McLaren, Rodriguez and Ickx. This was the McLaren team's first ever F1 victory, and Bruce McLaren's first championship Grand Prix victory since the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 5: The Netherlands
The traditional home for the Dutch Grand Prix was the fast beach-side Zandvoort circuit near Amsterdam. The Brabham team had its new Repco V8 engine ready and was running a third car for Dan Gurney who had no Weslake engines available for his Eagle. Cooper ran only one car for Lucien Bianchi following the death of Scarfiotti and Brian Redman's accident at Spa a fortnight earlier. In qualifying Chris Amon was fastest in his Ferrari with Jochen Rindt's Brabham and Graham Hill's Lotus sharing the front row.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 5: The Netherlands
Jack Brabham was on the second row with Jackie Stewart, while the third row featured Belgian Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari, Hulme, and McLaren. The weather was bad all weekend and it was raining lightly at the start. Rindt took the lead but he was in third place by the end of the first lap, behind Hill and Stewart. The rain intensified and on lap four Stewart moved into the lead. He quickly built up a big lead while Hill came under pressure from Beltoise who had moved quickly through the midfield.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 5: The Netherlands
On lap 23, Beltoise went off and had to pit to clear his throttle of sand and so he dropped back to seventh. When he re-joined he quickly moved up the field, passing Gurney, Ickx, Amon and Rodriguez to get to third place. On lap 50, he overtook Hill for second place. On lap 61, Hill had a spin and dropped to fourth behind Rodriguez. On lap 82, he did it again but this time had to retire.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 5: The Netherlands
Stewart won his first Grand Prix for more than two years from Beltoise to give Matra chassis a 1–2 result with Rodriguez third for BRM. Ickx was fourth for Ferrari while the Swiss Silvio Moser survived to finish fifth in his private Brabham, although he was three laps behind the winner.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
After races at Clermont-Ferrand, Reims and the short Le Mans circuit in 1965, 1966 and 1967 respectively, the French GP returned to the spectacular and dangerous 4-mile (6.4-km) Rouen-Les-Essarts rural road circuit in a forested and hilly area of northern France. This circuit was very fast, narrow and was littered with high-speed sweepers, including a section of fast, anti-banked downhill curves; and two brick-surfaced hairpins at the ends of the track.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
A all-French team in the form of an Alpine-Renault Grand Prix car was expected to make its debut at its home race, but never materialised, due to its engine lacking 100 brake horsepower compared to the opposition, leading to Renault killing the project. The entry was little changed from the field which had raced in the wet at Zandvoort two weeks earlier with the one exception being the new Honda RA302 car with an air-cooled V8 engine- this new Honda was an experimental research and development car.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
This had been tested by John Surtees who declined to race it, as he felt it was not suitable for racing. The company founder, Soichiro Honda, was visiting France to try to boost European sales and so it was decided that the car should be entered by Honda France for the popular 40-year-old French racer Jo Schlesser, who had competed in two previous GPs in F2 Matras.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
Cooper fielded Briton Vic Elford and Matra's Johnny Servoz-Gavin to replace the late Ludovico Scarfiotti and the injured Brian Redman while Dan Gurney was missing because of a lack of engines for his Eagle. Qualifying saw Jackie Oliver walk away from a 125 mph (201 km/h) accident which heavily damaged his Lotus. The car could not be repaired in time and so Oliver was forced to miss the rest of the meeting. Jochen Rindt set the fastest time in qualifying in his Brabham with Jackie Stewart's Matra-Ford and Jacky Ickx's Ferrari sharing the front row of the grid.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
Hulme and Amon shared the second row while Bruce McLaren (McLaren), Surtees (Honda) and Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra) made up row three. Championship leader Graham Hill was ninth. Light rain was falling when the race began but most of the drivers decided to start on intermediate tires. The exception was Ickx who chose full wets. As a result, the Belgian was in the lead at the end of the first lap. Stewart and Rindt were battling over second place with Surtees fourth.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
On the third lap at the notorious Six-Frere's corner, which was one of the anti-banked sweepers after the start Schlesser lost control of the R&D Honda and crashed. The car went up the embankment there, overturned and caught fire. The full fuel tank and magnesium chassis burned so intensely that nothing could be done to save Schlesser. The fire burned all over the track, and the drivers were forced to take evasive action at such a high speed part of the circuit. He became the fourth F1 driver to die that season (after Jim Clark, Mike Spence and Lodovico Scarfiotti).


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
But the race went on anyway. Rindt suffered a puncture from wreckage at the scene of the crash and had to pit, dropping to the back of the field. Surtees has moved ahead of Stewart and so ran second until he was overtaken by Rodriguez on lap seven. Further back, Hill overtook Stewart for fourth place but then retired with a driveshaft failure.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 6: France
Ickx went off on lap 19 and dropped behind Rodriguez and Surtees but he caught and repassed both men within two laps and stayed ahead for the rest of the afternoon to score his first ever victory, in only his ninth Grand Prix. Rodriguez had to pit with gearbox problems and he dropped away, leaving Surtees second (although the Honda driver also stopped to replace broken goggles). Third place went to Stewart with Cooper-BRM driver Vic Elford fourth on his Grand Prix debut.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 7: Britain
The dreadful 1968 season continued on as Graham Hill arrived at Brands Hatch with a big lead in the World Championship and with seven other British drivers in the 20-car field, there was plenty for the fans to cheer. The only major change from the miserable French GP (where Honda driver Jo Schlesser had been killed) was the arrival in the Cooper-BRM team of Robin Widdows. The cars had sprouted increasingly dramatic rear wings in an effort to get as much downforce as possible.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 7: Britain
Qualifying showed that Team Lotus was dominant with Hill fastest by half a second and Jackie Oliver alongside him. Chris Amon completed the front row in his Ferrari. On the second row, Jo Siffert (Rob Walker Lotus) lined up alongside Jochen Rindt's Brabham while the third row featured Dan Gurney (back in action after missing several races in his Eagle-Weslake because of engine problems), Jackie Stewart in Ken Tyrrell's Matra-Ford and Jack Brabham's Brabham. There was light rain at the start (for the third consecutive race) and Oliver took the lead from Hill and Siffert.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 7: Britain
The leading Lotus was trailing smoke and on the fourth lap Oliver was overtaken by Hill. Despite the smoke trail, Oliver remained second. However, on the 27th lap, Hill went out with a rear suspension failure and so Oliver went back into the lead. Behind him, Siffert fought for second place with Amon but gradually the Lotus driver moved away. On lap 44, Oliver came to a halt with a transmission failure and so Siffert inherited the lead and went on to win his first ever Grand Prix and Rob Walker's first victory in seven years. The Ferraris of Amon and Ickx came home second and third.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 8: Germany
After Jo Siffert's unexpected victory for Rob Walker at Brands Hatch, the F1 teams headed off to the most challenging circuit of the year: the 14.2 mi (22.9 km) Nürburgring and more bad weather, the previous four races having all been affected by rain. The field was much as normal with the only major additions being German Kurt Ahrens, driving a third Brabham and German Hubert Hahne entered in a BMW-entered Lola-BMW Formula 2 car, the Munich manufacturer having a look at the state of competitiveness in F1.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 8: Germany
It rained throughout practice and Jacky Ickx took pole position in his Ferrari by a full 10 seconds with Chris Amon (Ferrari) second and Jochen Rindt third in his Brabham. Graham Hill was on the second row in his Lotus, alongside the Cooper-BRM of Vic Elford. The third row featured Jackie Stewart's Matra-Ford, John Surtees in the Honda and Piers Courage in a Reg Parnell Racing BRM. At the start of the race–in pouring rain—Hill took the lead from Amon, Rindt and Stewart.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 8: Germany
In the course of the first lap however, Stewart moved to the front and built a nine-second lead, using his Dunlop wet tires to maximum effect. By the end of the second lap, his lead was out to 34 seconds and after 14 laps he was over four minutes ahead of second-placed Graham Hill, who spun at one point but was able to get out of the car, push it back into the right direction and get it restarted before Rindt arrived, third-placed Amon having spun off earlier on the same lap. Hill managed to keep Rindt behind him third, while fourth place fell to Ickx. Stewart later referred to this race as his greatest Grand Prix victory.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 8: Germany
The Gold Cup non-championship race at the Oulton Park circuit near Manchester, England attracted some of the big names and victory went to Jackie Stewart in his Matra-Ford.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 9: Italy
There was a five-week gap in the World Championship calendar between the German and Italian Grands Prix and after a season of rainfall and tragedy the F1 circus was able to take a break. The entry at the Monza Autodrome near Milan was the biggest of the season with American driver Mario Andretti entered in a third Lotus and his USAC rival Bobby Unser replacing Richard Attwood in the BRM team. Ken Tyrrell's Matra International has expanded to run two cars the second being driven by Johnny Servoz-Gavin.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 9: Italy
Ferrari ran a third car for rising British star Derek Bell while Honda fielded a second RA301 for David Hobbs. Cooper had been planning to run three cars but Robin Widdows was out of action after an accident and so the team ran only Vic Elford and Lucien Bianchi. Early qualifying saw Andretti and Unser setting fast times as both wanted to fly back to the United States to participate in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Hoosier Hundred the following day. They then intended to fly back across the Atlantic and race in the Grand Prix.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 9: Italy
The organisers announced that if the two drivers did fly back to the United States and race in the Hoosier Hundred, there they would be banned from competing in the Italian race under a rule which forbade drivers to compete in another event within 24 hours of the start of the Grand Prix. They flew off back to Indiana for the dirt race and did not return. Qualifying resulted in John Surtees taking pole his Honda with Bruce McLaren (McLaren) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) alongside him.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 9: Italy
The second row was shared by Jacky Ickx's Ferrari and Graham Hill's Lotus while Jackie Stewart shared the third row with Denny Hulme (McLaren) and Bell's Ferrari. For the first time in months, the race took place in sunny conditions with Surtees taking the lead at the start. McLaren was ahead by the time the cars returned at the end of the first lap. McLaren stayed ahead until lap seven when Surtees slipstreamed into the lead. The following lap McLaren was ahead again while Amon crashed and Surtees also hit the wall trying to avoid the Ferrari.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, European Summer, Race 9: Italy
This put Siffert into second place with Stewart third. Stewart then moved to second and a slipstreaming battle developed for the lead between McLaren, Stewart, Siffert and Hulme. Hill disappeared when a wheel fell off his Lotus. McLaren dropped out when he had to pit for more oil on lap 35. Stewart was the next to disappear with engine failure on lap 43 and when Siffert went out with a rear suspension failure of lap 59, Hulme was left to win. There had been a lively battle behind the leaders between Servoz-Gavin, Ickx and Rindt. Ickx had emerged ahead but in the closing laps had to stop for more fuel and so dropped to third behind Servoz-Gavin, Rindt having gone out with an engine failure.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 10: Canada
After the successful Canadian GP at Mosport Park near Toronto the previous year, the event was given a more reasonable date in the 1968 calendar, but the race was moved to the exciting Mont Tremblant circuit at St Jovite, in Quebec, one and a half hours northwest of Montreal. With the final three races being held in North America, traveling was also reduced. Attention now centred on the battle for the World Championship with Graham Hill still ahead after his early season successes with 30 points by Jacky Ickx with 27, Jackie Stewart with 26 and Denny Hulme with 24.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 10: Canada
Lotus ran a third car for Canadian star Bill Brack, while Dan Gurney ran in a third McLaren (having given up with his Eagle-Weslake program). An old Eagle appeared in the hands of local driver Al Pease while BRM ran only one car for Pedro Rodriguez. Matra Sports expanded to a two-car operation Jean-Pierre Beltoise being joined by Henri Pescarolo and with Jackie Stewart running alongside Johnny Servoz-Gavin in the Matra International entries, there were four Matras in the field. In qualifying Ickx's hopes of the World title ended when he crashed after his throttle stuck open.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 10: Canada
He suffered a broken leg. Jochen Rindt took pole position for Brabham—the new Repco engine finally beginning to work—with Chris Amon's Ferrari and Jo Siffert's Rob Walker Lotus alongside on the front row. Gurney did well to qualify on the second row alongside Hill, while the third row featured Hulme (McLaren), John Surtees (Honda) and Bruce McLaren (McLaren). At the start Amon took the lead with Siffert chasing him. Then came Rindt, Gurney and Hill. The order at the front remained stable with Surtees dropping out early from eighth place.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 10: Canada
On lap 14, Hill managed to pass Gurney and 12 laps later Gurney dropped away with a broken radiator. On lap 29 of 90, Siffert disappeared with an oil leak and so Rindt was second but he retired soon afterwards with an engine failure which promoted Hill to second place. That too was short-lived as Hill soon dropped behind Hulme and McLaren because of a serious vibration problem. Hill gradually fell back and was overtaken by Rodriguez and Servoz-Gavin. A few laps later the Frenchman spun out and so Hill moved back to fourth. Amon seemed to have everything under control until the 73rd lap when his Ferrari's transmission failed. This gave McLaren a 1–2 victory with Rodriguez grabbing third for BRM. The result put Hulme and Hill equal in points in the World Championship with two races to go.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 11: United States
There were some additions to the usual F1 field at the small Watkins Glen circuit in up-state New York with Team Lotus running a third car for Mario Andretti (who had practiced but not raced for the team in Italy) and Bobby Unser who has suffered a similar fate at Monza in the second BRM. McLaren again ran a third car for Dan Gurney while Ferrari replaced Ickx (who had broken his leg in practice for the Canadian GP) with Derek Bell. Things did not begin well for Unser who did serious damage to his BRM in the first session.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 11: United States
On Saturday however, Mario Andretti gave everyone a surprise when he put his Lotus on pole position, ahead of Jackie Stewart's Matra. On the second row was Graham Hill in his Lotus and Chris Amon's Ferrari while World Championship hopeful Denny Hulme (who was equal on points with Hill after his win in Canada a fortnight earlier) was on the third row alongside Jochen Rindt's Brabham. Jack Oliver suffered a wheel failure and crashed the second Lotus heavily. Henri Pescarolo was also a nonstarter when his Matra V12 blew up.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 11: United States
A big crowd gathered in the hope that Andretti would be able to beat the F1 regulars and at the start Mario edged into the lead although Stewart overtook him before the end of the first lap. Amon was able to get into third ahead of Hill while Hulme moved quickly up to fifth place. The order remained stable for the first few laps and then Amon spun and dropped back. On lap 14 of 108, Andretti's Lotus was dragging part of the bodywork and he was forced to pit and dropped to the tail of the field.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 11: United States
He began to fight back but eventually retired with clutch failure. More significantly, however, Hulme spun on oil and had to pit to have a damaged brake pipe fixed. He eventually re-joined, aiming to pick up points but suffered a driveshaft failure in the closing laps and crashed. This left Stewart and Hill untroubled at the front and Gurney running third. He dropped behind Surtees after a spin but recovered to retake the position. In the final minutes of the race, Gurney had a puncture and so Surtees took third place after all. The result was a boost to Graham Hill who moved six point clear of Hulme in the World Championship race although Stewart's win put him only three points behind Hill. So it would be a three-way fight for the title in Mexico a month later.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 12: Mexico
The final round of the championship in Mexico was moved back 2 weeks because of the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics having taken place only 3 weeks previously. When the F1 teams finally arrived at the high-altitude Magadelena Mixhuca Park circuit in Mexico City for the final round of the World Championship four weeks after Watkins Glen, Graham Hill had 39 points, Jackie Stewart had 36 and Denny Hulme had 33. All the contenders were overshadowed in qualifying by the Swiss Jo Siffert in Rob Walker's Lotus 49 who took pole position with Chris Amon's Ferrari second.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 12: Mexico
Hill and Hulme shared the second row while Dan Gurney (in the third McLaren) was alongside John Surtees's Honda on the third row. Stewart was on row four with Jack Brabham's Brabham. For the occasion, the third Lotus was driven by Moises Solana, who out-qualified Lotus driver Jack Oliver after the Essex driver had a spin. At the start of the race neither man on the front well got away well and it was Hill who took the lead although he was overtaken at the first corner by the fast-starting Surtees.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 12: Mexico
Hill re-took the lead later in the lap and was clear by the end of the lap. Stewart had moved to third ahead of Amon, Hulme, Pedro Rodriguez (BRM) and Jochen Rindt (Brabham). In the early laps, the order switched around considerably. Surtees dropped back through the field as his engine overheated and Rindt disappeared with an ignition problem. Jacky Ickx was back in action in his Ferrari after missing the US Grand Prix because of a leg injury but his race was also short-lived because of an ignition failure.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 12: Mexico
Stewart took the lead for several laps but Hill passed him again while Hulme ran third until his car began to handle oddly and Siffert overtook him. Hulme retired on lap 11, when a rear suspension failure sent him into a guardrail, bringing to an end his World Championship challenge. It was now a straight fight between Hill and Stewart although Siffert decided to get in on the act and took the lead on lap 22. He then had to pit with a broken throttle cable and so it was Hill and Stewart again at the front.


1968 Formula One season, Race by race, North American Trilogy, Race 12: Mexico
They were well clear of third-placed Brabham. And then Stewart began to drop back quickly with a fuel feed problem. The engine began to misfire and the handling also went awry. On lap 51, McLaren and Brabham both overtook him (the New Zealander having overtaken the Australian earlier). Brabham's race ended soon afterwards with an engine problem and as Johnny Servoz-Gavin also went out with an engine problem it was left to Oliver to take third place behind Hill and McLaren. Stewart ended up back in seventh position. Hill was World Champion for the second time.


1968 Formula One season, Results and standings, World Drivers' Championship standings
Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the top six finishers in each race. Only the best five results from the first six races and the best five results from the remaining six races were counted towards a driver's total.


1968 Formula One season, Results and standings, International Cup for F1 Manufacturers standings
Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best five results from the first six rounds and the best five results from the last six rounds were retained.


1968 Formula One season, Non-championship races
Other Formula One races held in 1968, which did not count towards the World Championship.


1968 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia
In July and August 1968, the French national rugby union team toured New Zealand and Australia. They played three tests against New Zealand and one against Australia, losing all four.


1968 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia, Touring party, Three-quarters
Andre Campeas (Lourdes)Jean-Marie Bonal (Stade Toulousain)Pierre Besson (Brive)Andre Piazza (Montauban)Claude Dorthe (Dax)Jean Trillo (Begles)Joe Maso (Perpignan)Jean-Pierre Lux (Tyrosse)


1968 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia, Touring party, Half-backs
Christian Boujet (Grenoble)Jean Andrieu (Graulhet)Marcel Puget (Brive)Jean-Louis Berot (Stade Toulousain)


1968 France rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia, Touring party, Forwards
Christian Carrerre (Toulon)Jean-Jacques Salut (Toulouse O.E.C)Jean-Claude Olivier (Cognac)Michel Billieres (Stade Toulousain)Alain Plantefol (Agen)Walter Spanghero (Narbonne)Eli Cester (Toulouse O.E.C)Michel Greffe (Grenoble)Benoit Dauga (Mont de Marsan)Jean-Claude Noble (La Voulte)Jean-Claude Berejnoi (Tuille)Jean-Michel Esponda (Perpignan)Jean IracabalMichel Lasserre (Agen)Jean-Paul Baux (Lannemezan)Michel Yachvili (Tulle)


1968 French Covered Court Championships
The 1968 French Covered Court Championships was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the penultimate edition of the French Covered Court Championships before it was taken over by the Paris Open. It took place at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, and was held from 12 February through 18 February 1968.


1968 French Covered Court Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Patrice Beust /  Daniel Contet defeated  Bob Carmichael /  Ismail El Shafei 3–6, 10–8, 6–2, 19–17


1968 French Covered Court Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Rosie Reyes /  Monique Salfati defeated  Janine Lieffrig /  Johanne Venturino 3–6, 6–0, 6–3


1968 French Covered Court Championships, Finals, Mixed Doubles
Gerald Battrick /  Nell Truman defeated  Jean-Pierre Courcol /  Évelyne Terras 6–2, 1–6, 6–3


1968 French Covered Court Championships – Men's Singles
Milan Holeček won the title, defeating Bob Carmichael 6–4, 10–8, 3–6, 6–3 in the final.


1968 French Grand Prix
The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was race 6 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 60-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx after he started from third position. John Surtees finished second for the Honda team and Matra driver Jackie Stewart came in third.


1968 French Grand Prix
The French driver Jo Schlesser had a fatal accident on the second lap of the race, when he lost control in the then-new Honda RA302 chassis which overturned and caught fire partially due to its magnesium content. He was chosen as driver when regular Honda F1 driver John Surtees refused to drive the new car, opting for the older RA301 chassis, on the grounds that the new car was unsafe. This race was a turning point in Formula One as the death of Schlesser prompted many safety precautions in later races.


1968 French Grand Prix
This was also the last F1 race to take place at Rouen-Les Essarts.


1968 French Open
The 1968 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from Monday 27 May until Sunday 9 June 1968. It was the 72nd edition of the French Open, the 38th to be open to foreign competitors, and the second Grand Slam of the year.


1968 French Open
This was the first Grand Slam that allowed professional players to compete and the first Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era. Ken Rosewall and Nancy Richey won the singles titles.


1968 French Open, Finals, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Ken Rosewall /  Fred Stolle defeated  Roy Emerson /  Rod Laver, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3


1968 French Open, Finals, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Françoise Dürr /  Ann Haydon-Jones defeated  Rosemary Casals /  Billie Jean King, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4


1968 French Open, Finals, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Françoise Dürr /  Jean-Claude Barclay defeated  Billie Jean King /  Owen Davidson, 6–1, 6–4


1968 French Open – Men's Doubles
Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle defeated Roy Emerson and Rod Laver 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 in the final to win the Men's Doubles title at the 1968 French Open tennis tournament.


1968 French Open – Men's Singles
Second-seeded Ken Rosewall defeated Rod Laver in the final, 6–3, 6–1, 2–6, 6–2 to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1968 French Open. It was Rosewall's second French title, and his fifth Grand Slam title of an eventual eight. The tournament was the first Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era, in which professionals were allowed to compete against amateurs. Rosewall and Laver, who had not appeared in a Grand Slam tournament since 1956 and 1962 respectively, were no longer barred from entering. Fourth-seeded Roy Emerson was the defending champion but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Pancho Gonzales.


1968 French Open – Men's Singles
Missing from this year's French Open were WCT's "Handsome Eight" and top amateurs Santana, Ashe, Graebner and Okker. It was future champion Năstase's first ever grand slam event.


1968 French Open – Men's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1968 French Open – Men's Singles Qualifying
Players who neither had high enough rankings nor received wild cards to enter the main draw of the annual French Open Tennis Championships participated in a qualifying tournament held in the week before the event.


1968 French Open – Mixed Doubles
Owen Davidson and Billie Jean King were the defending champions, but lost to Jean-Claude Barclay and Françoise Dürr in the final, 6–1, 6–4.


1968 French Open – Mixed Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1968 French Open – Women's Doubles
The Women's Doubles tournament at the 1968 French Open was held from 27 May to 9 June 1968 on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The second-seeded team of Françoise Dürr and Ann Jones won the title, defeating the first-seeded pair of Rosie Casals and Billie Jean King in the final in three sets.


1968 French Open – Women's Singles
Fifth-seeded Nancy Richey defeated Ann Jones in the final, 5–7, 6–4, 6–1 to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 1968 French Open. It was Richey's first French open title and second (and last) Grand Slam title after the 1967 Australian Championships. Françoise Dürr was the defending champion but was defeated in the fourth round by Gail Sherriff. The tournament was the first Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era, in which professionals were allowed to compete against amateurs.


1968 French Open – Women's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1968 French Senate election
The fourth senatorial elections of the Fifth Republic were held in France on September 22, 1968.


1968 French Senate election, Context
This election has depended largely of the results of 1965 municipal elections.


1968 French Senate election, Results, Senate Presidency
On October 3, 1968, Alain Poher was elected president of the Senate.


1968 French legislative election
Early legislative elections took place in France on 23 and 30 June 1968 to elect the fourth French National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They were held in the aftermath of the events of May 1968. On 30 May 1968, in a radio speech, President Charles de Gaulle, who had been out of the public eye for three days (he was in Baden-Baden, Germany), announced the dissolution of the National Assembly, and a new legislative election, by way of restoring order.


1968 French legislative election
While the workers returned to their jobs, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou campaigned for the "defence of the Republic" in the face of the "communist threat" and called for the "silent majority" to make themselves heard. The Left was divided. The Communists reproached the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (FGDS) leader François Mitterrand for not having consulted it before he announced his candidacy in the next presidential election, and for the formation of a provisional government led by Pierre Mendès-France. The Far-Left and the Unified Socialist Party protested against the passivity of the left-wing parties. The Gaullist Union for the Defence of the Republic became the first party in the French Republic's history to obtain an absolute parliamentary majority. The FGDS disintegrated.


1968 French legislative election
However, the relation between the two heads of the executive power had deteriorated during the crisis. One month later, Georges Pompidou resigned and was replaced by Maurice Couve de Murville.


1968 French legislative election in Afars and Issas
Elections to the French National Assembly were held in Afars and Issas on 23 June 1968 as part of the wider French parliamentary elections. Moussa Ali Abdoulkader was re-elected as the territory's MP.


1968 French legislative election in the Comoros
Elections to the French National Assembly were held in the Comoros on 23 June 1968. The result was a victory for the List for the French Republic, which won both seats. The seats were taken by Saïd Ibrahim Ben Ali and Mohamed Ahmed.


1968 French legislative election in the Comoros, Results
Two independent candidates contested the election, Abdou Sidi Elface and Saïd Ali Youssouf.


1968 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The 1968 Fresno State Bulldogs football team represented Fresno State College during the 1968 NCAA College Division football season. This was the last season Fresno State was in the NCAA College Division and in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The following year, Bulldogs moved to the University Division and became a charter member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association.


1968 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The team was led by third-year head coach Darryl Rogers and played home games at Ratcliffe Stadium on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. They finished the season as Champions of the CCAA, with a record of seven wins and four losses (7–4, 4–0 CCAA). As champion, the Bulldogs qualified for the 1968 Camellia Bowl, which was played in Sacramento, California vs. the champion of the Far Western Conference, the Humboldt State Lumberjacks. Humboldt State prevailed 29–14.


1968 Friuli-Venezia Giulia regional election
The Friuli-Venezia Giulia regional election of 1968 took place on 26 May 1968. The legislature was expanded to five years following the creation of the ordinary regions.