public affairs director of Ford of Dagenham, who had contributed £75,000 toward the development of the Cosworth-Ford V8, demonstrated his confidence in a good showing by the two Lotus-Ford drivers when he proposed that they should flip a coin to choose the winner, in case both cars were in contention at the end of the race! The drivers agreed when they decided that the arrangement could be reversed in Mexico, and Hill won the toss. At the start, the Lotus teammates jumped into the lead, and at the end of the first lap, Hill led Clark, Gurney, Brabham, Amon, Hulme and Bruce McLaren. On lap two, Gurney moved past Clark for second place, and soon after, Hulme moved ahead of Amon and then his team leader, Brabham. On lap 10, Clark replaced Gurney in second, while Amon began to move forward in the Ferrari. He first got around Brabham, then on lap 21 passed Hulme and Gurney to take third, as the American slowed with a broken suspension. To everyone's surprise, Amon closed the gap to the Lotus pair, but lost four seconds trying to lap Jo Bonnier's Cooper. He closed up again, gaining ground in the twisty sections, but losing as they exited the fast corners. The three leaders lapped Jo Siffert and John Surtees, but apparently Surtees objected to Amon's hand signals as he did, and the Honda squeezed back ahead of the Ferrari under braking, despite being three laps behind! On lap 61, Surtees developed a misfire, and Amon shot by to take off after the leaders again. Hill surrendered the lead to Clark when his clutch froze and he was briefly unable to change gear. As Clark pulled ahead, Amon caught Hill on lap 65. While the Englishman struggled to find a gear, the Ferrari went through for second place. Amon, however, suddenly saw his oil pressure drop on lap 76, and Hill regained second place. After eight laps, when Hill's Lotus again was unable to select a gear, Amon moved back into second until lap 96, when, after a scintillating drive, his engine finally ran out of oil entirely. With Hill too far behind to take up the claim on first he had 'won' the night before, Clark seemed home free. Then, halfway through lap 106, a support broke on the top of his right rear suspension, causing the wheel to sag inward. The Scot