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| Clay Regazzoni |
The Zandvoort circuit, with its very long straight, was particularly suited to the 12-cylinder engines of the time. lckx planted his flat-12 Ferrari on pole, alongside Rodriguez's V12 BRM. Stewart, in the best of the V8 cars, was only third fastest.
Torrential rain on race day ensured that the users of Firestone tyres would be at an advantage. Both Ickx and Rodriguez were on this rubber; Stewart wasn't. lckx immediately stormed into the lead, with Rodriguez glued to the Ferrari's gearbox.
Stewart ran a distant third initially, but spun way down the field on the third lap and eventually finished 11 th !
The two leaders were lapping at a completely different pace to the rest of the field and not making a single mistake between them.Their uncanny skill in such conditions made the others look inept. Fourteen drivers left the road at Tarzan bend alone, so treacherous was the surface.
Furthermore the Ferrari and BRM were rarely separated by more than a car's length, building up the tension. On the ninth lap, Rodriguez took the lead. Now it was Ickx's turn to watch the leader's gearbox.
Eventually it stopped raining and, although the track remained treacherously slippery, a dry line began to form in parts, notably at the Hunzerug hairpin. Here the cards began to fall in lckx's favour.
Rodriguez's fuel metering unit had begun to malfunction, making the BRM's power delivery more peaky than the Ferrari's and obliging the Mexican to take this bend in first gear as it dried. lckx found he could take it in second, and his consequent speed on to the following straight was higher, enabling him to retake the lead on lap 30.
Although an awkwardly placed back-marker slowed the Ferrari on the next lap, allowing Rodriguez to get back in front, lckx reasserted himself once more a lap after that. For the remaining 38 laps, Rodriguez shadowed the Ferrari, but never again found a way past.Third-place man Clay Regazzoni was a lap behind these two aces at the finish.