1965 Round 2
Levin

Graham Hill, Lex Davison and Arnold Glass had moved on to Australia after the Grand Prix. Wanganui driver Graeme Lawrence had at last got hold of his white Brabham and it was making its first appearance as part of the Molyslip team.

But as usual the practice times meant nothing as grid positions were decided on heats. Main item on race-day morning was the eight-lap heat in which all overseas drivers and favoured locals participated. Clark, sharing the front row with McLaren and Hill, jumped into the lead from the start and remained there to the finish. Hill, McLaren, Palmer and Grant settled into the next four spots after Gardner had dropped out with distributor trouble. The contest was enlivened a little by Palmer catching Grant napping in the seventh lap and assuming fourth place. Clark won in 6 min 49.8 sec and set a new lap record of 49.9 sec.

Before the title race there was some feverish work in the Palmer pit. A cracked universal joint in the 2.5 Brabham was replaced and then, an hour before the race was due to start, another close inspection revealed a hairline crack in a half-shaft. A replacement was found and fitted minutes before the field lined up on the grid.

Clark had pole position in the main event with Hill and McLaren outside him. In rows of three, the rest of the field comprised Palmer, Grant, Gardner; Levis, Buchanan, Abernethy; Dawson, Thomasen, Riley; Flowers, Smith,  Lawrence; and at the back Hollier. As the cars were forming on the grid, Abernethy could not select a gear and he had to abort the start.

Clark leading at the start from Grant and Phil Hill.

A 51.6 sec second lap gave Clark a 3 sec lead over Grant. In his fourth lap Palmer took McLaren and in another two laps had moved to third place ahead of Hill. Clark held on to his lead over Grant, who really had the customers on their toes. There was then a gap of 3 sec to Palmer, with Hill and Gardner next in line. McLaren, probably to his embarrassment, had the 1.5 drivers Levis and Buchanan looming large in his mirrors.

The pattern changed dramatically in the tenth lap. Grant tried to correct a slide at Cabbage-tree Bend, dropped a rear wheel into the rough, and spun off the course to lose all chance in such a short race. Palmer took second spot, but not for long. Gardner in the next three laps bridged the gap to take over second place just 5 sec behind Clark. Next in line were Hill, McLaren and Levis. Flowers was out with transmission failure in the troublesome Lola on lap 14.

As the race reached the last stages, Clark continued to circulate in a steady 51 sec. Gardner in two laps reduced Clark's advantage from 11 sec to 9 sec while Palmer closed up to be 2 sec behind the Australian, but Clark was given the 'hurry' signal and moved out again with effortless ease to come home 11.3 sec ahead of Gardner with Palmer 4.7 sec further back. Thomasen retired with only a handful of laps remaining.