Sandown Park's permanent road circuit in Springvale measured 3.1 km (1.92 miles) per lap. The race ran over 55 laps for a total distance of 170.5 km (105.6 miles). Open to cars complying with the Australian National Formula or the Australian 1½ Litre Formula, the field drew a strong international contingent competing in the wider 1968 Tasman Series. Race-day weather was sunny.
Jack Brabham took pole position in his Ecurie Vitesse Repco Brabham BT23E with a time of 1 minute 6.7 seconds — what proved to be his final Australian Grand Prix start. Jim Clark qualified for Gold Leaf Team Lotus in a Lotus 49T powered by the Cosworth DFW 2.5-litre V8. Chris Amon ran a private Ferrari Dino 246T/68 fitted with the Ferrari 2.4-litre V6. Graham Hill drove the second Gold Leaf Lotus 49T.
The race was run in sunny conditions. Brabham retired from the lead on lap 21 with engine failure, ending his last competitive drive at his home grand prix. From that point Clark and Amon engaged in a prolonged fight for the lead that continued to the final lap.
Clark crossed the line in 1 hour 2 minutes 40.3 seconds, with Amon classified just 0.1 seconds behind at 1 hour 2 minutes 40.4 seconds after 55 laps. Amon had set the fastest lap of the race at 1 minute 7.0 seconds, equivalent to 166.7 km/h (103.6 mph). Clark received the Lex Davison Trophy and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria Trophy for his victory.
Graham Hill completed the podium in third, one minute behind Amon. Frank Gardner took fourth for Alec Mildren Racing in a Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo 2.5-litre V8, with Piers Courage fifth in a McLaren M4A Cosworth FVA 1.6-litre four-cylinder. Richard Attwood finished sixth for the Owen Racing Organisation in a BRM P126. Leo Geoghegan's Lotus 39 Repco was seventh, becoming the first Australian resident driver to be classified, earning him the Langridge Cup.
Pedro Rodriguez, in the second Owen Racing Organisation BRM P126, retired on lap 10 with engine failure. Denny Hulme dropped out on lap 50.
The result carried historical weight that was not apparent at the time. Jim Clark was killed six weeks later, on 7 April 1968, at the Hockenheimring in West Germany during a Formula 2 race. A two-time World Drivers' Champion (1963, 1965), three-time Tasman Series champion, and winner of the 1965 Indianapolis 500, Clark was among the most celebrated racing drivers of any era. His 0.1-second win at Sandown Park over Amon became, in retrospect, the final chapter of his competitive career, lending the race a significance that endures in the historical record of Australian motor sport.
The victory was also notable for being contested in the Lotus 49T, a Tasman-specification variant of the Lotus 49 that had introduced the Ford Cosworth DFV to Formula One the previous year. Brabham's retirement represented the end of a long association between the Australian champion and the Australian Grand Prix, which he had first entered in 1955.
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