Friday, Jan. 04, 1963

Who Won

> Britain's Graham Hill: the South African Grand Prix, and with it the 1962 world driving championship. Hill, 33, is a mustachioed daredevil who switched from motorcycles to cars, got his first driver's license only ten years ago, and was--until this week-- known as "the other Hill" to distinguish him from the U.S.'s Phil Hill, the 1961 Grand Prix champion. In South Africa, Hill whipped his spanking new British-built B.R.M. around the windswept East London track at speeds up to 145 m.p.h., won the 196.8-mile race by 1 min. Scotland's Jimmy Clark, who needed a victory in South Africa to beat Hill for the title, almost got it: with the race three-quarters over, he led by 25 sec.--only to be forced to the pits when his grass green Lotus sprang an oil leak. Hill's victory (four firsts, two seconds, one fourth in nine races) marked the first time that a British driver has won the world championship behind the wheel of a British car--and Clark, winding up second in the final standings with his Lotus, made it Britain's year all around.

> The Dallas Texans: the American Football League championship, beating the defending champion Houston Oilers, 20-17, in the longest pro game in history. Ahead 17-0 at half time, Dallas was tied in the second half, narrowly escaped defeat in the regulation four quarters when Oiler Quarterback George Blanda, trying to pass to a wide-open receiver, hit himself on the helmet with the football. At the start of a sudden-death overtime, Texan Captain Abner Haynes unthinkingly elected to kick off, and into the wind at that. But the Dallas defense held, and Tommy Brooker eventually ended the 77-min. marathon with a 25-yd. field goal.

> Australia: the Davis Cup, for the eleventh time in the last 13 years, by trimming Mexico, 5-0, on Brisbane's Milton Courts. Lefthanders Rod Laver and Neale Fraser each won two singles matches; Laver teamed with Roy Emerson to defeat Mexico's Rafael Osuna and Antonio Palafox in a straight-sets doubles match that lasted only 70 min. At the closing ceremony, Mexican Captain Pancho Contreras wistfully fondled the Davis Cup, announced that his team would be back to try again. Yelled one Down Under fan, bored with yet another victory: "I hope you bloody well win the thing." Chances improved slightly when Laver, the No. 1 amateur, officially announced that he is turning pro for a $110,000 contract.

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