1966 British Grand Prix

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1966 British Grand Prix
Race details
Date 16 July 1966
Official name XIX RAC British Grand Prix
Location Brands Hatch
Kent, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.26 km (2.65 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 341.18 km (212.00 miles)
Weather Wet, drying later
Pole position
Driver Brabham-Repco
Time 1:34.5
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco
Time 1:37.0
Podium
First Brabham-Repco
Second Brabham-Repco
Third BRM
Lap leaders

The 1966 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 16 July 1966. It was race 4 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 21st British Grand Prix and the second to be held at Brands Hatch. It was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 341 kilometres.

The race, the first of the new three-litre engine regulation era where starters reached 20 cars, was won for the third time by Australian driver Jack Brabham in his Brabham BT19, his second win in succession after winning the French Grand Prix two weeks earlier. New Zealand driver Denny Hulme finished second in his Brabham BT20, a first 1–2 win for the Brabham team. The pair finished a lap ahead of third placed British driver Graham Hill in his BRM P261. Ferrari did not participate in this Grand Prix weekend to honour a metalworkers strike in Italy.

Brabham's win ended a streak of 4 consecutive wins by Jim Clark at the British Grand Prix.

Brabham's win put him ten points clear in the championship chase over Austrian Cooper racer Jochen Rindt with Hulme and Ferrari's Lorenzo Bandini a point further back.

Race summary[edit]

Brabham and Hill duelled at the start, until rain storms arrived on the circuit. Whilst Brabham maintained his lead, Rindt who had changed to rain tyres was catching him rapidly, whilst John Surtees in the Cooper was in third, well clear of the rest of the field. Hill and Jim Clark then battled for second and third until Clark pitted and then Hulme took over second place. As the rain dried, Rindt fell back. Surtees retired with mechanical problems, leaving Clark in fourth. Brabham duly led home teammate Hulme, Hill, Clark, Rindt and Bruce McLaren.

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 5 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:34.5
2 6 New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 1:34.8 +0.3
3 16 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 1:35.8 +1.3
4 3 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 1:36.0 +1.5
5 1 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 1:36.1 +1.6
6 12 United Kingdom John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 1:36.4 +1.9
7 11 Austria Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 1:36.6 +2.1
8 4 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart BRM 1:36.9 +2.4
9 17 United Kingdom Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 1:37.3 +2.8
10 21 United Kingdom Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 1:37.5 +3.0
11 20 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 1:38.0 +3.5
12 7 United Kingdom Chris Irwin Brabham-Climax 1:38.1 +3.6
13 14 New Zealand Bruce McLaren McLaren-Serenissima 1:38.5 +4.0
14 25 United States Bob Bondurant BRM 1:38.9 +4.4
15 18 Sweden Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 1:39.3 +4.8
16 22 United Kingdom John Taylor Brabham-BRM 1:40.0 +5.5
17 19 France Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 1:41.4 +6.9
18 23 United Kingdom Trevor Taylor Shannon-Climax 1:41.6 +7.1
19 24 United Kingdom Chris Lawrence Cooper-Ferrari 1:43.8 +9.3
20 2 United Kingdom Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 1:54.3 +19.8
Source:[1]

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 80 2:13:13.4 1 9
2 6 New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 80 + 9.6 2 6
3 3 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 79 + 1 lap 4 4
4 1 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 79 + 1 lap 5 3
5 11 Austria Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 79 + 1 lap 7 2
6 14 New Zealand Bruce McLaren McLaren-Serenissima 78 + 2 laps 13 1
7 7 United Kingdom Chris Irwin Brabham-Climax 78 + 2 laps 12
8 22 United Kingdom John Taylor Brabham-BRM 76 + 4 laps 16
9 25 United States Bob Bondurant BRM 76 + 4 laps 14
10 19 France Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 75 + 5 laps 17
11 24 United Kingdom Chris Lawrence Cooper-Ferrari 73 + 7 laps 19
NC 21 United Kingdom Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 70 Not Classified 10
NC 20 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 70 Not Classified 11
Ret 12 United Kingdom John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 67 Transmission 6
Ret 18 Sweden Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 42 Clutch 15
Ret 2 United Kingdom Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 32 Gearbox 20
Ret 4 United Kingdom Jackie Stewart BRM 17 Engine 8
Ret 17 United Kingdom Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 15 Oil Leak 9
Ret 16 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 9 Engine 3
Ret 23 United Kingdom Trevor Taylor Shannon-Climax 0 Engine 18
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1966 British GP Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ "1966 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Britain 1966 – Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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1966 French Grand Prix
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