#145 1966 British Grand Prix

There is great excitement for the nineteenth edition of the British Grand Prix, the fourth of the nine races scheduled for the twentieth edition of the Formula One World Drivers' Championship and International Constructors' Championship for the 1966 season. The British Grand Prix, to be held on Saturday, July 16, 1966, following free practice and qualifying on Thursday, July 14, and Friday, July 15, 1966, will be held for the second time at Brands Hatch, a circuit that has alternated with Silverstone since its debut as the host circuit for Formula One races in 1964. The circuit, which is 3.703 kilometres long and the venue for various races, has already been the scene of twenty fatal driver accidents since October 1949, the last of them less than two weeks before the British Grand Prix, on July 3, 1966, cost the life of Englishman Stuart Duncan. The big news of this Grand Prix is Ferrari's resounding absence. This is the Italian Scuderia's first absence of the season. The Maranello team has already missed some races since the creation of the different World Championships. The first ever was the 1950 Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but they also missed all editions of the Indy 500 (except the 1952 one), the 1959 British Grand Prix held at Aintree, due to the metalworkers' strike, the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside for economic reasons, the 1961 United States Grand Prix at Watkin Glens as a sign of mourning for the death of German driver Wolfgang von Trips and fourteen spectators less than a month earlier, on September 10, 1961, during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, then the 1962 French Grand Prix in Rouen, due to another metalworkers' strike, and the last two races of the same season. Closing the list are the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and the South African Grand Prix at East London, where Ferrari had decided to withdraw because they had already lost the World Championship. Ferrari's absence in the 1966 British Grand Prix, the third caused by the continuing national strikes (after Aintree 1959 and Rouen 1962), is particularly important for Ferrari, because it does not concern a single race, as in previous cases but, as announced by Scuderia Ferrari itself on Tuesday, July 5, 1966, could lead to even longer inactivity. Indeed, an official communiqué issued by Ferrari reads:

"The state of labour unrest, which has been jeopardising work in the sports management department for seven months now, has continued with recurring strikes, which do not stem from a company dispute but from the national issue of the renewal of the Italian metalworkers' collective contract. These strikes are so intense and sudden that they do not allow to keep a minimum work programme in this special sector of Ferrari, right in the middle of the racing season, and the company is therefore forced to suspend racing activities until the situation returns to normal".

Ferrari withdraws just when, despite a few difficulties, they were in good competitive shape and were leading the Constructors' World Championship, a good nine points ahead of Brabham-Repco, and in second place in the Drivers' World Championship with Lorenzo Baldini, just two points behind championship leader Jack Brabham, with 12 points. Looking at the standings, Ferrari skipping a few races would allow Brabham to move a few points closer to the Maranello team in the Constructors’ Championship and, because of Bandini's consequent absence, would give current World Championship leader Jack Brabham a further advantage in the Drivers’ Championship. Even if the absence at the British Grand Prix were to be Ferrari's only one of the season, Brabham would surely come out on top. So, the British Grand Prix gets underway with this ranking, these predictions and a rather gloomy sky. Despite the absence of Scuderia Ferrari, there are many entries, including the return of Jackie Stewart's #15 single-seater, after his accident at Spa-Francorchamps on June 12, 1966, and the return of Jim Clark's #10 car after his absence at Reims. Also worth noting is the first appearance in Formula 1 of British driver Chris Irwin, coming from Formula 3. Among the participants in the race, however, not everyone seems to be ready: Team Lotus, for example, is in an extremely difficult position, having only one car ready for practice. The second car, in fact, is being prepared at Cheshunt. With the H16 B.R.M. engine and gearbox brought back to Bourne for the necessary changes, the Lotus 43 is initially unusable, but Colin Chapman solves the situation by contacting Coventry Climax to get permission to keep using the V8 Climax 2-litre engine.

Team Lotus also produced another Type 33 chassis, named R14: this is entrusted to Jim Clark, while Peter Arundell is supposed to use the R11. However, at the last moment, further problems with the second 2-litre Climax engine leave the R11 without propulsion and Peter Arundell without a car. Fortunately, however, the B.R.M. team gets a spare one which Team Lotus immediately fits into the car. The B.R.M. team, which designs and builds its own engines and gearboxes, has no better luck than Lotus, because at Reims they have had problems with the gearbox and transmission of the H16 unit. This requires them to rethink their strategies; in fact, the British team must now rely on their 2-litre Tasman cars. Moreover, as Jackie Stewart's car had been destroyed at Spa, only one model remains available, as the others have been sold. Thus, the B.R.M. team has to retrieve the last car from the Far East, where it had been brought for an exhibition, and prepare it for Jackie Stewart, while Graham Hill keeps the one he had already used at Reims. The situation changes considerably if we look at the Brabham team, because Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme can use the two cars that performed very well at Reims. In addition, Hulme's new car has a better exhaust system thanks to the group of pipes from each bank of cylinders. In addition, Brabham Racing is also finishing its car with a 4-cylinder Coventry-Climax engine for Chris Irwin. As for the Cooper team, however, it is decided to participate in the Grand Prix with just two cars: one for Jochen Rindt and one for John Surtees, thus leaving Chris Amon without a car. Also in this case, as for Brabham, the two drivers have at their disposal the same car they have driven at Reims: Jochen Rindt's one has the duct on the nose to let air reach the driver's feet, while Surtees' one doesn’t. The rest of the entries include, as always, private owners: as usual, Bob Anderson with his bright green 4-cylinder Brabham-Climax, Jo Siffert with the Cooper-Maserati of the Walker team, Guy Ligier with the Cooper Maserati, Dan Gurney with the 4-cylinder Eagle-Climax, Bob Bondurant with the 2-litre V8 B.R.M. of the Bernard White (once Chamaco-Collect team), Mike Spence in the V8 Lotus B.R.M. of Tim Parnell's team and John Taylor in the V8 Brabham-B.R.M. belonging to David Bridges. 

Bruce McLaren also returns to racing with his white McLaren equipped with a new Serenissima engine, as the V8 McLaren-Ford unit is not yet ready. Two new special 3-litre single-seaters built by private teams complete the entry list. The first is by Shannon Racing Cars, with a one-off chassis with machining cladding powered by a 3-litre engine made up of components from the 1954 Coventry-Climax 2.5-litre Godiva V8 engine, mated to a Colotti gearbox; the driver is Trevor Taylor. The second car was built by J. A. Pearce Engineering in collaboration with Chris Lawrence, and consists of a 1965 Cooper chassis that has been painstakingly lengthened in the engine compartment to accommodate the V12 engine of the ex-Coombes GTO white Ferrari mated to a Hewland gearbox, with new drive shafts and driveshafts and new alloy wheels. The start of practice is set for Thursday, July 14, 1966, at 10:30 am, in dry but windy weather, and testing continues until 1:00 pm. In the afternoon, another hour of testing is scheduled between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., which allows teams to make changes to some parts that may have caused problems in morning practice and to try out any changes before the end of the day. Missing from the rollcall are Peter Arundell, his Lotus still being modified, Bruce McLaren, as his car is awaiting an engine from Italy, Trevor Taylor and his Shannon Climax and Bob Bondurant and his B.R.M. Jim Clark, on the other hand, arrives late at the circuit because shortly beforehand he undergoes an eye examination to check that his eyesight is optimal. During these first tests, Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme work in complete harmony and team spirit. This allows them to achieve an identical time of 1'34‘8, with which they beat the existing record that Jim Clark had set in 1965 at the Brands Hatch circuit: 1'35’4. In the afternoon Bob Bondurant joins the practice session, while Bob Anderson does not complete his lap due to a leak from the oil filter fitted to his Climax engine. Jo Bonnier drives a Brabham equipped with a V8 engine whose exhaust pipes are painted red to make it look like a Ferrari. However, the engine blows up just as practice begins. Once again, the Brabham-Repco V8s are unchallenged, and Denny Hulme has even the time to show Chris Irwin, the Formula 3 driver who is the author of a very neat and tidy drive, the trajectories to be executed on the track.

In the meantime, Jack Brabham improves his morning time to 1'34"5, at an average speed of 162 km/h: a remarkable result for a circuit with no serious straights and numerous slow corners. Denny Hulme, on the other hand, is a little slower than in the morning, but still sets the second fastest time. Jim Clark and Graham Hill are equally competitive with their 1965 cars, just as they had been in the 1964 British Grand Prix, when they drove similar models with 1.5-litre engines. The Cooper-Maseratis do not seem particularly at ease at Brands Hatch, and the same can be said for Jackie Stewart, who completes several laps without looking very fast. Practice continues on Friday, July 15, 1966, from 10:30 a.m. to 00:30 p.m., again with cloudy skies but a dry track. Once again, the Brabham team does not have to be concerned about anything, as Jack Brabham is content to wear out some tyres at will, and Denny Hulme turns out to be the best of the morning with a relatively slow time of 1'35"6. The morning's revelation driver is Dan Gurney, who managed to test his Eagle regularly. This contrasts with what had happened at Spa and Reims, when he had not been able to do enough testing because the underpowered 2.7-litre Climax engine caused him to lose time on the fast straights, prompting the American driver to try to make up speed in the corners. At Brands Hatch, Dan Gurney's car delivers a top performance, and the American driver manages to achieve a time of 1'35"8, which puts him firmly on the front row.

The Shannon-Climax is finally ready to take part in these tests and Trevor Taylor takes to the track. Peter Arundell, on the other hand, is forced to qualify with the hastily converted Lotus R11 and Jo Bonnier shows up in another “fake” Ferrari, this time a 1-litre Brabham-Climax V8, the same model he had driven for Rob Walker's team during the 1965 season. At the end of practice, the times of the drivers present at Brands Hatch can be summarised as follows: on Thursday morning, the fastest were Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme with a time of 1'34‘8, followed by Graham Hill with a time of 1'36’3 and Jim Clark and Dan Gurney with a time of 1'36‘6; while in the afternoon the fastest was Jack Brabham with a time of 1'34’5, followed by teammate Denny Hulme with a time of 1'35‘6 and Graham Hill with a time of 1'36’0. The best time on Friday morning has been set by Denny Hulme, 1'35‘6, followed by Dan Gurney with 1'35’8 and Jim Clark with 1'36"1. After Friday morning, the drivers have one more hour of unofficial, untimed practice at the end of the day. This practice session is held on a wet track and gives Graham Hill a chance to try the Goodyear tyres in the wet and Jackie Stewart a chance to reacquaint himself with driving in poor conditions. On Saturday, July 16, 1966, in the afternoon, due to the continuing rain at Brands Hatch, it is decided to extend the number of warm-up laps before the start of the British Grand Prix. The twenty single seaters are brought onto the main straight, where it almost seems as if Ferraris was there too, because the V8 Lotus B.R.M. of the Parnell team is painted red instead of the usual dark green.

This car will be driven by Mike Spence, who will wear a white helmet painted with a circle of red dashes to make it look like Mike Parkes', replacing his classic yellow helmet. Jo Bonnier will also be back driving his Brabham, partly painted red. On the starting grid, the drivers prepare to run the eighty scheduled laps of the British Grand Prix. Starting on the front row will be Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme and Dan Gurney on Goodyear tyres; on the second row will be Graham Hill on Goodyear tyres, used for the first time, and Jim Clark on his Lotus with Firestone tyres. On the third row are John Surtees, Jochen Rindt and Jackie Stewart with Dunlop tyres; in fourth, Mike Spence and Bon Anderson; in fifth, Jo Siffert, Chris Irwin and Bruce McLaren; in sixth, Bob Bondurant and Jo Bonnier; in seventh, John and Trevor Taylor together with Guy Ligier and finally Chris Lawrence and Peter Arundell. At the lowering of the chequered flag marking the start of the race, Jack Brabham takes the lead followed by Dan Gurney, while Denny Hulme is squeezed into a corner; John Surtees and Graham Hill collide unintentionally, and a suspension is bent on the British driver's B.R.M. However, both drivers continue the race. Bob Anderson, who started late at the starting signal, falls one lap behind the rest of the group, while Trevor Taylor is forced to withdraw due to a malfunction of his car's Climax engine. Meanwhile, the remaining eighteen drivers continue their race as planned.

Jack Brabham proves to be very competitive from the very start of the race: the Repco V8 engine works perfectly, the Brabham chassis performs to perfection and the Australian driver enjoys driving through the corners with great precision, leaving everyone else behind. After making some mistakes during the opening lap, Denny Hulme is unable to keep up his usual pace. The rain does not intensify, but the track remains wet and terribly slippery, causing numerous mistakes by the drivers. All this while Jochen Rindt, after overtaking Dan Gurney, continues to lap at relentless speed. The situation seems now settled with Jack Brabham leading the race, followed by Jochen Rindt, then Dan Gurney and John Surtees, then the eagerly awaited duel between Jim Clark and Graham Hill, and finally Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Jo Siffert. Dan Gurney's race ends on lap 7 due to engine problems, just when the track was starting to dry out and more grip from the tyres would have allowed him to set his fastest lap. A spin by Jochen Rindt causes the Austrian driver to lose contact with Jack Brabham; at the same time, John Surtees reduces the gap to Jochen Rindt, while Jackie Stewart progressively catches up with Jim Clark and Graham Hill and moves between them. In just ten laps Bob Bondurant, Peter Arundell, Chris Lawrence and Jo Bonnier are lapped, and the latter is even overtaken by the group consisting of Mike Spence, Bruce McLaren, Guy Ligier and Chris Irwin. The two Cooper team drivers, Jochen Rindt and John Surtees, although they can see Jack Brabham ahead of them, have no hope of catching him by now. Meanwhile, Jackie Stewart suffers engine troubles and, after a pit-stop to try to fix the fault, is forced to withdraw on lap 17. Shortly afterwards, John Surtees overtakes Jochen Rindt and takes second position, but when the track dries, the two Coopers seem unable to keep up the race pace. The race continues with Jack Brabham gaining more and more advantage, the two Coopers of Surtees and Rindt holding second and third respectively, while Graham Hill and Jim Clark continue their personal duel for fourth place. In the meantime, Denny Hulme finally seems to be competitive again and is quickly catching up with the drivers ahead of him. While the Coopers lose ground on the dry track, still having wet tyres fitted, Graham Hill and Jim Clark take advantage of the situation and spur each other on, catching up with Surtees and Rindt. 

Denny Hulme follows close behind as the pack catches up with the two Coopers. Graham Hill overtakes Jochen Rindt, followed by Jim Clark, passes John Surtees on the inside at South Bank Corner and is now firmly in P2. After thirty laps, race leader Jack Brabham continues his race unbothered with a twenty-three second lead over Graham Hill's 2-litre B.R.M. On lap 31, Jim Clark and Denny Hulme overtake John Surtees. At the back, all the other competitors have already been lapped. Peter Arundell is far behind due to a malfunction in his car's gearbox and Jo Siffert makes a pit stop to investigate the overheating that is forcing him to run at the back of the pack, allowing those behind him to gain positions. Denny Hulme continues to put pressure on the duo of Graham Hill and Jim Clark, who seem unwilling to concede the New Zealand driver an easy second place. On lap 37, Hulme manages to pass Jim Clark, and two laps later takes second place, also overtaking Graham Hill. Halfway through the race, Jack Brabham remains comfortably alone in the lead, with Denny Hulme busy catching up with his team-mate. Graham Hill follows in third place, with Jim Clark close behind, while John Surtees and Jochen Rindt are fighting for fifth place. Bruce McLaren follows in P7, ahead of Chris Irwin, John Taylor, Guy Ligier, Bob Bondurant and Chris Lawrence. On lap 45, Jim Clark's brake pedal stops working properly; the Scottish driver returns to the pits and discovers that the problem is caused by the fuel tank running out. After having his mechanics refuel, Jim Clark returns to the track but has lost a lap to the leaders. The race now seems to be over, with Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme very confident of an extraordinary result and Graham Hill who seems to have no intention of putting them in trouble. John Surtees, on the other hand, seems to be very unhappy on his Cooper, as its handling seems to be deteriorating as time goes by. The problem gets worse, to the point that, on lap 55, John Surtees spins out: the British driver tries to fight for a few more laps, but is then forced to withdraw at the end of lap 67.

Jim Clark, on the other hand, starts driving very fast again and recovers the lap lost on Jochen Rindt, overtaking the Austrian driver five laps from the end of the race and taking fourth place. In the final laps, Graham Hill notices that the oil pressure is dropping as he goes through the corners and is forced to slow down considerably. Although the British driver is urged to be more cautious, third place seems to be possible, provided the engine does not break down. Graham Hill's problem forces the Brabham drivers - Jack Brabham himself and Denny Hulme - to lap him, and he finishes the race ten seconds behind. At the end of the scheduled eighty laps, Jack Brabham wins the British Grand Prix. The Australian driver dominates this race as well and becomes the first in motor racing history to lead both the Drivers’ and unofficial Constructors’ Championships. The Brabham-Repco that Jack Brabham drove to victory for the second time, after his triumph at Reims, is of his own design. To complete the triumph, New Zealander Denny Hulme finished in second place, also in a Brabham, ahead of all the most famous champions: Graham Hill (B.R.M.) finished third, Jim Clark (Lotus) fourth, then came Jochen Rindt (Cooper-Maserati) and Bruce McLaren (McLaren-Serenissima). Only the absence of the Ferraris could slightly downgrade the performance of the Australian driver and constructor.