Brands Hatch, fifty kilometres from London, is home to a magnificent circuit, the one where the British Grand Prix takes place on July 16, 1966, won by Australian driver Jack Brabham. Some scenes from this exciting race will be included in the film Grand Prix, which director John Frankenheimer filmed, for the British racing part, precisely on the fabulous British track. Other famous European circuits later hosted the film troupe as well. After racing in Monte-Carlo, Spa and Zandvoort, the drivers moved on to the French circuit of Clermont-Ferrand to shoot other important scenes. This film is certainly the most spectacular ever dedicated to motor racing and has never been played in cinemas before. The curvature of the ultra-giant screen seems to have been specifically designed to increase the dynamism of the film, which will certainly gain further prestige from the use of colour, for which the director has called on Lionel Landon, one of Hollywood's most capable cameramen.
"Driving a car is the only way to feel free and independent nowadays. Mine will not be the sort of film made in the past on this subject, those in which James Cagney acted in the background of Indianapolis. What I aim to do is something similar to what Francesco Rosi did with the film Il momento della verità, which tells in the most realistic way possible what a bullfighter feels and thinks when facing a bull".
In the case of Grand Prix, the bullfighters are the drivers; the bulls, the race cars. John Frankenheimer, with the $7.000.000 budget at his disposal for this film production, will try to render the truth of the racing world: the danger, the fighting, the hard preparation work, the continuous risk.
"That's why the Cinerama system is unbeatable. In the next film, as I change the requirements for the story, I will also change the technique, but for Grand Prix I think Cinerama is the best solution".
Grand Prix tells the story of the drivers who risk their lives during the racing season on the tracks of the World Championship, and of their racing cars, of course. The film is well underway with the production, but the sequences set in Monza have yet to be shot and will be shot next month during the Italian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Giuseppe Farina, the unforgettable and great driver from Turin who recently passed away, will no longer be in the circuit during the Italian Grand Prix. However, Farina will live again in some moments of the film, and it will be impossible not to be moved for those in the audience who have been enthralled for years by his achievements as one of the most daring drivers of the post-war period. As they had almost a month off between the German Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix, all teams have had plenty of time to improve their cars or complete the new ones, perfectly in time for the race to be held at Monza, the last of the European classics. As a result, the entries are of the highest technical quality and arguably the best ever seen in this new era. There are new cars from Brabham, B.R.M., All American Racers and Honda, while Ferrari and Maserati are producing new versions of existing engines. Scuderia Ferrari enters three cars with new V12 engines, driven by Lorenzo Bandini, Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti respectively. Team Lotus also enters a three-car team: a new Lotus 43 with a B.R.M. H16 engine driven by Jim Clark, an R1 with a 2-litre B.R.M. V8 engine driven by Peter Arundell, and an R14 with a 2-litre CoventryClimax V8 engine driven by the young Italian driver Geki (alias Giacomo Russo). Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme will be driving the standard Brabham-Repco V8 cars. Jack Brabham will drive the original prototype, with oval section tubes in the chassis, while Denny Hulme will drive the 1966 second car. The two Brabham team drivers will also have a brand-new car to test, identical to Hulme's one, also with the field-tested Repco V8 engine. The Cooper team consists of Surtees and Rindt as usual, and their cars are equipped with new Maserati V12 engines with the intake ducts angled inwards to compact the engine. B.R.M. enters three cars equipped with 16-cylinder engines: the original Monaco prototype and the improved one that has been used at Spa, plus a third brand new car. The two newest cars have an improved gearbox and a new layout, and the clutch operation has been upgraded, while Hill's car has a significantly modified engine that works as a single 16-cylinder unit instead of two 8-cylinder units. There is only one of these new engines (Clark's Lotus is fitted with the previous type of engine, as is the one used by Stewart).
The B.R.M. team intends to race with 3-litre engined cars at all costs, since the 2-litre Tasman engines have been definitively retired. Although, in fact, they are not far away at the moment, as they are on display at the exhibition in the Monza Park organised by ACI. The brand-new Honda V12 makes its first appearance in the car driven by Richie Ginther, and there are high expectations for this powerful, but also big and heavy car. In mid-August, Dan Gurney's All American Racers team had tested the new Gurney-Weslake V12 engine and the results were so encouraging that they decided to fit it on a new chassis, No. 102, and to run it at Monza together with the four-cylinder Climax-engined car No.101. As Bruce McLaren's two entries has been dropped at the last minute due to engine problems, the car will be launched at Monza. As Bruce McLaren's two entries have been withdrawn at the last minute due to engine problems, Gurney entered Phil Hill instead, in his Climax-powered car, provided that the new V12 engine would work well enough in practice to be able to take part in the race. Tim Parnell enters his two Lotus 25 cars, numbers #R3 and #R4 respectively for Spence and Baghetti, both fitted with 2-litre B.R.M. V8 engines and Hewland gearboxes. Jo Siffert will drive Walker/Durlacher's Cooper-Maserati V12, Bernard White entered his Tasman B.R.M. V8 entrusted to Bob Bondurant, and Jo Bonnier and Bob Anderson enter their own cars, Cooper-Maserati V12 and 4-cylinder Brabham-Climax respectively. Since no McLarens are entered for him to drive, Chris Amon buys a Brabham-B.R.M. V8 from MGM and signs up as a strong competitor. Practice for the Italian Grand Prix begins on Friday, September 2, 1966, at 3:00 p.m. under perfect weather conditions. Ferrari, Honda and B.R.M. have already been testing earlier in the week. The official lap record was set in last year’s race by Jim Clark with a time of 1'36'4 in a 1.5-litre Lotus-Climax V8, whereas currently in practice the drivers have been lapping in 1'35"9. Considering the high quality of the cars equipped with 3-litre engines, it is obvious that such times will be largely beaten: the new Ferrari has already lapped in 1'31'7 in unofficial practice, and Honda and Cooper-Maserati have also lapped in 1'34"0 quite easily. Given that most of the cars are new, one wonders if there might be a certain hesitation to push too hard.
However, this is a wrong impression, as during the afternoon the pace is very fast, with the Ferraris looking almost unchallenged. At some point, Honda and Surtees' Cooper-Maserati V12 seem to be on the same pace, with the Japanese engine making a magnificent sound. Jo Siffert is halfway through his first lap when a connecting rod in his car breaks and punches a hole in the crankcase of his Maserati engine, and Graham Hill doesn't get many laps in his B.R.M. before the gearbox in his car breaks as well. Jackie Stewart's B.R.M. is performing quite ok, but Jim Clark's Lotus #43, which is fitted with a similar engine, performs much better and shows encouraging reliability. Clark completes a total of twenty-eight laps by the end of the afternoon without any major problems, even though the gearbox has broken down. Clark completes a total of twenty-eight laps by the end of the afternoon without any major problems, although his car's gearbox seems to be leaking a lot of oil. Dan Gurney is forced to delay the start of his practice with his Eagle because his car is being fine-tuned in the paddock. As soon as he can start, the engine is running well and makes a very loud sound, but the fitting of the fuel pumps and hoses causes a lack of acceleration, and the mechanics are unable to fix the car and finish their fine-tuning before the end of the tests. Meanwhile, Dan Gurney and Phil Hill are carrying out some tests with the 4-cylinder-engined Eagle, but the fact that it bears the same number as the V12-engined car causes some confusion among the timekeepers. Jack Brabham tests the new Goodyear tyres and one of these tests leads to him spinning out and then flipping over in the sand at South Bend. The B.R.M. team is running into a bit of a difficulty, because the 3-litre 16-cylinder spare engine has had a gearbox failure earlier in the week, and with the new car having gearbox problems, despite the improvements, Graham Hill has no car to drive. The car equipped with a 2-litre V8 engine has therefore been withdrawn from official practice, although Hill does use it for some practice in the afternoon. Although the #43 Lotus is running well, the British team still does not have full confidence in it, so the old loyal #33 Lotus with a 2-litre Climax engine is kept ready for Jim Clark in case of emergency; as a result, Geki cannot even run a single test lap. During this first day of official practice for the Italian Grand Prix, English driver Mike Parkes, at the wheel of the 3000 cc Ferrari, sets the fastest lap time in 1'31"3 at an average speed of 226.725 km/h, breaking last year's record set by Jim Clark. Just behind the Englishman are Ludovico Scarfiotti (1'31'6) and Lorenzo Bandini (1'32'0), both driving Ferraris.
American driver Richie Ginther, in the brand-new Honda V12, sets a time of 1'32'4, while British driver John Surtees, in the Cooper-Maserati, sets the fifth fastest time (1'32"6) but seems unable to catch up with the Maranello cars in terms of speed. On Saturday, September 3, 1966, the practice session lasts from 3:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., to give all drivers enough time on track. The Ferrari trio finishes the first practice session in first, second and third place respectively, although none of the three drivers improved on their previous times today. The team's morale is somewhat disturbed by Surtees who steps into the middle between the two Ferrari drivers, beating Bandini's time by just 0.1 seconds; then Clark beats Surtees' time, so Bandini is sidelined to fifth place, unable to improve it. For this practice session, Surtees goes back to the old Maserati engine with wide-angle air intakes, equipped with a Marelli coil ignition system, while Rindt continues testing with the new engine. Since Baghetti breaks the gearbox of the car loaned to him by the Parnell team, Scuderia Ferrari's team manager, Eugenio Dragoni, lends the Parnell team the 2.4-litre V6 Ferrari engine that the Italian team was using at the beginning of the year, as long as Baghetti is driving. During the whole afternoon, there is a lot of action on the track and interesting situations often occur, such as when rival teams bump into each other and the drivers try to find out the speed of their rivals, or to get into the slipstream of the fastest cars. For a few laps, Jackie Stewart (B.R.M.), John Surtees (Cooper-Maserati), Jack Brabham (Brabham-Repco), Jim Clark (Lotus-B.R.M.) and Jochen Rindt (Cooper-Maserati) engage in an interesting fight, completely forgetting that it is just a practice session. However, the result is positive as lap times drop and last year's race record (1'36"4) is easily broken by anyone with a competitive car. Seventeen out of the twenty participants have broken the old lap record, and the top twelve cars are all 3-litre 1966s. Some of the new official cars still have a lot of problems: Dan Gurney is still suffering from a fuel issue, but the Weslake V12 engine makes a nice sound when he manages to solve it.
Consequently, Colin Chapman is optimistic enough to allow Geki to start practice with the 2-litre Climax car. Towards the end of the afternoon, it is noted that Jim Clark clearly has trouble on the back straight, and a few moments later the #43 Lotus stops due to a slight defect in the gearbox mechanism. Jack Brabham tests with both the new and the old car and changes the numbers so that each fast lap is credited to his car number in the race. While Team Lotus is very satisfied with the performance of its B.R.M. powered car, the B.R.M. team itself is somewhat disappointed because, during the afternoon, their 2-litre engine breaks down. So, out of four cars, the British team is left with only one working car, the one with the newest engine on which Graham Hill started testing. For this second practice session, the young Scottish driver has fitted the gearbox unit of Jackie Stewart's car that was adapted for him, being Stewart only ninth in the overall standings. Instead, Jim Clark brings his car to the front row, in third place, next to the official Ferrari of Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti. The Honda V12 engine performs well on its first run, but not as well as expected, because the handling is still poor, and the suspension and steering are far from perfect. The Japanese mechanics make many small changes to the car geometry, but the drivers of the slower cars still have difficulty in the corners. The 20 fastest cars have earned a place on the starting grid, Phil Hill and Chris Amon are excluded. Team Lotus has managed to repair the 16-cylinder engined car, thus Geki can take part in the race with the Climax V8 engined car. After a long working session, the B.R.M. team had managed to finish the assembling of the two H16-engined cars for Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, with the former again driving the newer car, as during the Friday practice sessions. In particular, the results of the official practice sessions on Friday, September 2, and Saturday, September 3, 1966, confirm Ferrari's excellent preparation and condition: Parkes and Scarfiotti set the best lap times, achieving an average speed of over 225 km/h. In the last practice session, Scarfiotti is the fastest, although he does not improve on his performance of the previous day. Reigning World Champion Jim Clark (Lotus-B.R.M.), John Surtees (Cooper-Maserati) and Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari) are only a few fractions of a second apart from each other in this tentative ranking. The 37th Italian Grand Prix, to be held on Sunday September 5, 1966, at Monza, will have for the first time an almost complete line-up of cars built according to the new Formula 1 regulations. This requires engines with a 3,000-cc maximum displacement and a 500 kg minimum weight. In previous tests for the season, as far as the World Drivers' Championship is concerned, the cars were much more diverse.
At Monza, however, the technical conditions of the different teams get more equal, with the debut of the cars from the two British teams B.R.M. and Lotus, which will be powered by the same sixteen-cylinder engine, as well as the Japanese Honda, the American Eagle, the already well-known and tested Ferraris (which will also be using engines of a new type on this occasion), Cooper-Maserati and Brabham. The general feeling, however, is that the cars of this second group will still dominate, if for no other reason than their greater racing experience. In particular, the results of the official tests confirmed Ferrari's excellent preparation, with Parkes and Scarflotti setting the best times on the 5,750-metre lap, with an average speed of over 225 km/h. Only a few fractions of a second apart in this ranking, which is, however, merely indicative, are the reigning World Champion, Jim Clark (Lotus-B.R.M.), Surtees (Cooper-Maserati), and Bandini, also in a Ferrari. The expectations are therefore favourable to the Maranello factory, which this year, for a complex of technical, organisational and human causes, has been deprived of the superiority that their cars equipped with twelve-cylinder engines had led them to hope for. The world title, on the other hand, is gone, as Australian manufacturer and driver Jack Brabham has already practically - though not yet mathematically - won it. With the car he built himself (a small miracle of craftsmanship) he has now won four out of the six races held so far. The focus of interest in the 37th Italian Grand Prix therefore lies in mainly technical reasons, in the clues that will come out of it for the 1967 racing season. However, the concerns on a human level about these powerful cars, with twice the displacement of last few years’ cars, with up to 380 horsepower in some engines and speeds not far off 300 km/h, cannot be overlooked. The drivers do not hide the difficulty in mastering these cars, making the most of them. Among the news on the eve of the Monza race is the fact that manufacturer Enzo Ferrari is offering to Giancarlo Baghetti, who has entered the race at the wheel of a Lotus 2000, to drive one of his cars. Baghetti naturally accepts with enthusiasm, and on Sunday he will be starting the race in a car equipped with a six-cylinder, 2400 cc engine, as the fourth driver for the Maranello team.
Finally, there is a rumour coming from Ferrari's close quarters: young Austrian driver Jochen Rindt will be hired next year. Every year ACI has been reducing the Italian Grand Prix's length; on this occasion, the race distance is shortened to 68 laps, starting on Sunday, September 4, 1966, at 3:30 p.m., when the sun is not that hot anymore. On Sunday morning, the Eagle team is busy making changes to the fuel system on their V12-powered car, while Jack Brabham decides to drive his old original 1966 car and Clark and Geki both change car numbers for the race, but not their respective cars. Given Chris Amon's absence, Mike Spence takes No. #32 instead of No. #42. Rob Walker borrows another engine for Jo Siffert's car, which has qualified on Saturday, while Jo Bonnier's Maserati engine has problems with the injection pump. John Surtees still uses the first type of Maserati engine, while Jochen Rindt uses the newer one. All but four participants do a warm-up lap: Jo Siffert is content to get his car on the starting grid, while Dan Gurney starts late due to a last-minute adjustment and John Surtees has problems with a rubber tank leak. Jackie Stewart's car also suffers from a similar, albeit more serious problem, as fuel spills into the cockpit and causes the driver to sit very uncomfortably. Given the complicated nature of many of the engines and the fact that they cannot be kept in neutral for too long, the start of the race is not so good because the starter keeps them on the dummy grid too long. As the drivers approach the actual starting grid, Jim Clark is concerned about the fuel pressure on his car being very unstable, making the Scottish driver fear there is some leak. Ludovico Scarfiotti is slightly delayed in reaching his starting position, as is John Surtees, both of whom are eager to get off to a good start, while Richie Ginther manages to keep the Honda engine revs at full throttle. When the chequered flag drops, Ludovico Scarfiotti is already moving from a few metres behind the start line and manages to take the lead, with Richie Ginther following close behind. Jim Clark makes a wrong race start. The engine of his B.R.M. goes into a power crisis, so much so that he moves off the track with his arm raised to warn the drivers following him that he is in trouble. Jo Bonnier also moves slowly away from the track due to a broken throttle, but all the other drivers pull away in a cloud of smoke. Scarfiotti's initial lead only lasts a short time; during the course of the first lap the Italian driver starts to lose positions.
The group of cars up ahead of the Curva Sud is led by Bandini (Ferrari), followed by Parkes (Ferrari), Surtees (Cooper-Maserati), Ginther (Honda), Brabham (Brabham-Repco), Scarfiotti (Ferrari), Rindt (Cooper-Maserati) and Stewart (B.R.M.). Jim Clark is last in this group, but the Scottish driver is pushing his car to the limits after his terrible start. Graham Hill does not complete the opening lap because the engine of his B.R.M. breaks down. Gurney also brings his Eagle-Weslake into the pits, followed by Bonnier. The next lap, Bandini comes back into the pits because of a broken fuel line, leaving Parkes in the lead. The British driver is now followed by Surtees, Brabham, Hulme, Ginther and Rindt. At the end of the pack, Jim Clark moves up two places and gains another one on lap three, when Surtees takes the lead amidst traffic. Despite the leading group being bunched up, the cars are not driving in line with practice time standards and Brabham manages to take the lead without too many problems, lapping just over 1'37"0. On laps four and five the Australian driver takes the lead and begins to pull away from the other participants; in the meantime, Clark moves to the tail of the group of official cars. At the end of lap six, just as Brabham goes past the pits, an annoying fog of blue smoke comes out of the Repco engine, and although the car does not lose speed, Parkes, Surtees, Hulme, Ginther, Scarfiotti, Rindt and Clark realise that the Australian driver's race is almost over. The problem with Brabham's car is that a control plate on the timing cover loosens and falls off and, although another one can be fitted, the engine is leaking a lot of oil, which cannot be refilled according to FIA regulations. Smoke still billowing from his car's engine, Jack Brabham manages to make another lap with an impressive lead, but at the end of the eighth lap he heads for the pits and is forced to withdraw from the race, leaving Parkes in the lead to the great cheers of the Italian fans. Almost as if to encourage the Brabham team in their moment of despair when they see their No. 1 driver coming into the pits, Hulme overtakes Surtees and pulls into the slipstream of the Ferrari, which is leading the race. Gurney and Bonnier are able to rejoin the race.
Scarfiotti is starting to improve his performance, and Bandini is rejoining the race as well. At the end of the first ten laps, Parkes is in the lead, followed by Hulme, Surtees, Scarfiotti, Clark, Ginther and Rindt, still very close to each other, lined up along the straights and side by side in some turns. Baghetti and Spence are next, very close together, and then Arundell, Anderson and Siffert, with Bondurant further back and Geki at the back, already lapped. Stewart is forced to withdraw on lap five due to a fuel leak from the tank that has deposited on the driver's seat, while Gurney is still having problems with the Eagle-Weslake engine. On lap 13, Scarfiotti takes the lead, closely followed by Ginther and his Honda, very fast on the straight, while Surtees moves ahead of Parkes. At the same time, Clark heads for the pits with his rear wheel tilted due to the safety tube of the tubeless tyre breaking, which ended up on one side of the outer casing, unbalancing the car. The wheel is replaced, and Clark rejoins the race in last position, one lap behind the leaders and with virtually no hope of catching up. Bandini waits for his chance and joins the leading group, albeit seven laps behind, and does his best to help Parkes and Scarfiotti in their fight. Thanks to the help of Italian driver Bandini, Scarfiotti takes the lead of the race, with Ginther's Honda firmly in second position, followed by Parkes and Surtees, who are also tailed by Bandini. The overall pace of the race has increased, but it is still not as fast as in practice, so much so that Hulme and Surtees manage to keep up with the Ferraris but are held up by Bandini. In the meantime, Dan Gurney comes in and out of the pits and finally the American driver's Eagle begins to run smoothly, allowing him to set a lap at just over 1'35"0. But then the oil temperature starts to rise dramatically, and the car is retired at the end of lap seven. On lap 16, a rear tyre of the Honda driven by Richie Ginther bursts; as the car starts spinning, the American driver brakes to try and stabilise it, but loses control and goes off the track, crashing through the trees at over 200 km/h into the turn right after the grandstands straight, almost grazing two race officials. The accident happens at the Curva Grande, the turn at the end of the long grandstands straight. It is a section where cars speed by at over 200 km/h. Richie Ginther is immediately carried by ambulance to the on-site field hospital, a few dozen metres from the pits, as the race slows down for a few seconds. The American driver does not lose consciousness, although his suit is completely ripped to shreds, he has no shoes, and his face is covered in blood. After receiving the first treatment, the driver is taken, again by ambulance, to the Ospedale Civile in Monza, where he is admitted in one of the internal wings.
At the end of lap 20, Scarfiotti is still leading the race, with Surtees, Hulme and Parkes close behind him; Bandini is right there with them, while Rindt is starting to fall behind. Baghetti and Spence keep driving close together, and Arundell and Anderson are also running a good race close together, constantly swapping positions, with Siffert a little further back watching the ongoing fight. Bondurant, Clark and Geki are all within a lap of the leaders and, although the #43 Lotus is performing well, the Scottish driver has to content himself with continuing to run a test race, as he is too far back to catch one of the leading drivers. If there was a Ferrari in the lead, it is obvious that Enzo Ferrari would prefer one of his Italian drivers to win. At the end of lap 27, Mike Parkes moves into the lead, but by the end of the next lap, Scarfiotti is back in the lead, while Surtees pushes Parkes down to third, but just for one lap. The two Ferraris are faster than Cooper-Maserati and Brabham, but the skill shown by Surtees and Hulme compensates for their lack of speed. At the end of lap 31, Surtees notices that his car is performing in a strange way and has to lower his pace. Thinking he has a slow puncture, the British driver heads to the pits, where he discovers that the problem on the Cooper-Maserati is caused by a fuel tank failure, and petrol ends up on the rear tyres causing a feeling of instability while driving. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Bandini drives past the pits with the engine making a bad sound and stops on lap 33 due to an injection problem. Thus, Ludovico Scarfiotti is in the lead, with Parkes and Hulme behind him, but the New Zealand driver does not want to settle for third place and fights brilliantly with the British Ferrari driver, often taking the lead. Halfway through the race, at the end of lap 34, Scarfiotti is still in the lead, and nothing is stopping Ferrari from winning the Italian Grand Prix, because all Hulme can do is get in front of Parkes from time to time. Every time he manages to overtake, the New Zealand driver is again pushed back to third place by the higher speed of the car from Maranello. Meanwhile, Jim Clark's problems with his gearbox continue. Rindt is in a solo fourth position, while the positions of Baghetti and Spence do not change as they continue to be lapped by the leader.
Arundell and Anderson continue their fight, overtaking each other over and over again, with Siffert still behind them and Bondurant further back because of the slipping clutch of the B.R.M. engine in his car. In the meantime, the problem with the engine of Lorenzo Bandini's car is solved and the Italian driver is back in the race, waiting for the leader to join him and help Mike Parkes to face Denny Hulme's attacks. The times are now constantly under 1'34"0 and the New Zealand driver works hard to counter the two Ferrari drivers, often passing Bandini on the outside when he is in the way in fast turns. Thanks to this exciting battle, Denny Hulme improves his lap record twice, with a time of 1'33‘0 on lap 32 and 1'32’5 on lap 35. But despite this, Scarfiotti has built up a lead that can now be measured in seconds. During lap 47, Bandini once again has a problem with the engine ignition and is forced to pit, this time for good, allowing Hulme and Parkes to race without any interference. Scarfiotti has a ten-second lead now, so Parkes can let Hulme set the pace, just staying behind to try to discourage him; it is a difficult task, though, because the New Zealander is certainly not an easy driver to challenge on a psychological level. Just before the end of lap 50, the race is very lively: the leaders lap the Baghetti-Spence duo, who in turn pass the pugnacious Anderson and Arundell, so much so that some sectors of the track are very crowded, with seven cars packed into a mixed group, while Ludovico Scarfiotti sets a new lap record with a time of 1'32"4. Giancarlo Baghetti overtakes Mike Spence and Bob Anderson overtakes Peter Arundell, but the Lotus-B.R.M. has gearbox problems and often misses gears, resulting in an abnormal increase in engine revs. Jim Clark continues to set a strong pace in his Lotus-B.R.M., albeit many laps behind the lead, and catches up with Ludovico Scarfiotti, driving for several laps at the same pace as the Italian driver before passing him and pulling away, giving Team Lotus high hopes for this car's future. On lap 55, Giancarlo Baghetti starts having problems with the throttle traction system and has to return to the pits. This delay causes him to fall from fifth to last place, allowing Mike Spence to take the position away from him. In the final laps of the race Ludovico Scarfiotti can relax a bit, letting his lead of over 15 seconds drop to less than 6 seconds. But there is no danger of the Italian driver being overtaken, as Mike Parkes overtakes Denny Hulme on the straight every time the Brabham takes the lead in a turn. Jim Clark is forced to withdraw on lap 58, due to a gearbox stall. Previous pit stops caused the Scottish driver not to have enough laps to qualify in the final standings. With just five laps to go, the engine of Arundell's Lotus V8 B.R.M. breaks down while he is passing the pits.
Even though his career was already successful in motor sport, Ludovico Scarfiotti has just fulfilled his lifelong dream at Monza: to race in Formula 1 and win a Grand Prix. Lulù, as his friends call him, is thirty-three years old and has been on the starting grid for six or seven years now. However, he had not taken part in any Formula 1 Grand Prix until now and, as always happens, such lack was more of a burden for Scarfiotti than all the positive results. It seemed that the driver from Marche was more at ease in the big 4000 cc prototypes or in the Ferrari Dino than in the fast Formula 1 single-seaters. Enzo Ferrari himself was of this opinion, so much so that last year, at Monza, he preferred to leave his driver stranded at the last moment. But Scarfiotti is not a man who gives up easily, he has been patient, has shown in recent months that he is in great shape and has finally found his place, thanks also to Surtees' leaving. So, after fourteen years, an Italian driver and car have won at Monza. Fourteen years later: since the days of Ascari in the two-litre Ferrari. The fact that Australian driver Jack Brabham, forced to withdraw today but winner of four of the six races prior to the Italian Grand Prix, has now mathematically won the World Title matters very little. The wonderful achievement of an Italian driver remains, with the hope that a new champion has arisen in Formula 1, the university of car drivers. Scarfiotti did not really have a difficult task, his Ferrari was too superior in power and tuning to Lotus, B.R.M., Cooper-Maserati and Honda. But he also showed his best qualities: generosity, boldness and, at the same time, carefulness. The driver did not let himself be carried away by the car, he preferred to preserve it, even when he could have pushed and left more opponents behind. A nice side to Scarfiotti's personality is humility.
"I must especially thank my team-mate Parkes, who helped me a lot by containing Hulme's offensive".
The New Zealander at the wheel of a Brabham-Repco, protagonist of a very smooth race, finished in third place. Scarfiotti also points out that, in the first few laps, he did not have the feeling that he could win:
"The others seemed too strong".
These are just a few ironic words, but they show that Lulù does not feel like a star, let alone a super-axe driver, despite the flags, the applause, the cheering, the affectionate crowd around him and the hundreds of people asking for autographs. There is even an old soldier, a veteran of the First World War (1915-18), a peculiar and somewhat anachronistic figure who has come down from the hills of Brianza to the Autodromo, who wanted at all costs to give a bunch of wildflowers to the Champion of the day. Scarfiotti is forced to hide in one of the Ferrari pits, lying on a pile of tyres waiting for this ‘storm’ to pass. Meanwhile, he is signing licences, pieces of paper and race programmes. As he climbed out of the car, he looked very tired, sweaty, his face tense and drawn. Then he slowly relaxed, with his friends around to congratulate him and a bottle of mineral water to quench his thirst.
"At lunch I had a boiled egg and a fruit salad, my usual pre-race food, but at dinner I want to make up for it. I usually lose around two or three kilos in a race, and I have no intention of losing weight".
The driver from the Marche region will now go to Porto Recanati for a short holiday, after a visit to Enzo Ferrari in Modena. Some swimming, a few trips with his big motorboat, then training at Monza and Modena. The United States and Mexican Grand Prix, the final rounds of the championship, are scheduled for October, and Scarfiotti does not want to miss the appointment.
"I will gain some useful experience for next year".
Experience is also needed for the engineers of B.R.M., Cooper-Maserati and Honda: engines and suspensions must be fine-tuned, currently they do not run as they should. Jakie Stewart, Graham Hill and Jim Clark, forced to act as supporting drivers in this first season of the new three-litre Formula, not to mention Jonh Surtees and Richie Ginther, know something about it. The latter has gone off the track, breaking his collarbone and destroying his Honda. He spends a fairly uneventful night, the doctors think he should recover in a short time. The only happy one, apart from Scarfiotti and the Ferrari team, is, of course, Jack Brabham. His single seater, for once, failed him: on lap eight, the engine started to smoke. A glance at the pits, and goodbye to his race. Nevertheless, because of the points system, the Australian driver has now mathematically secured the World Championship. Jack Brabham is forty years old, Scarfiotti is seven years younger: he has still plenty of time to become a World Champion someday. Richie Ginther, at the wheel of the new 12-cylinder Honda, was the protagonist of a frightful accident at Monza. He went off the road on lap 17, while in second position behind Ludovico Scarfiotti, and crashed at 200 km/h in the woods bordering the track, grazing two race marshals. Ginther suffered a fractured right collarbone, an injury to his left arm, a series of lacerations to his face from a broken windscreen and a slight state of shock. The two marshals suffered some bruises on their legs and hands. This is not so serious considering the danger they were in. One of the two marshals says:
"I saw the Honda crashing into me and I escaped by diving in next to my colleague".
Ginther is immediately taken by ambulance to the field hospital inside the Autodromo, a few dozen metres from the pits, as the race slows its pace for a few seconds. The American driver fortunately did not lose consciousness: his suit in tatters, his shoes off, his face bloodied, he murmurs while touching his shoulder, as they lay him on the first aid table:
"The car slid off and, in a moment, I was off the track. It hurts here".
After initial medication, the driver is taken by ambulance to the Ospedale Civile di Monza, where he is admitted to one of the internal halls. The accident happened at the Curva Grande at the end of the long grandstands straight. It is a section where cars speed at over 200 km/h. The turn runs to the right, it is wide, apparently not difficult; however, in fact it is very dangerous: in case of a spinning, the drivers cannot attempt any emergency manoeuvres due to the high speeds. It seems that Ginther's Honda slipped on an oil slick, but it has been pointed out that the driver and mechanics of the Japanese team had worked during the night between Saturday and Sunday to fine-tune the suspension and improve the road holding.
"It is a powerful but very heavy car: around 740 kg in weight. In practice it didn't seem very stable".
A reliable judgement, since Richie Ginther is not only an experienced driver, but also a very sensitive test driver. He is 33 years old and has been racing for about a dozen years now. He has worked for Ferrari, B.R.M. and Cooper. In 1960, when he was at Ferrari, the Modenese manufacturer did not want him to race in Grand Prix so as not to distract him from testing. Hired two years ago by Honda, the Californian driver (he was born in Los Angeles from German parents) has been actively involved in the construction of the Japanese single seaters. The car that raced at Monza was tested for the first time in the current championship, which requires new three-litre engines. Ginther fractured his collarbone when he hit the steering wheel as his Honda went off the track.
"Richie was really lucky".
Exclaims Dan Gurney, driver for American Eagle team and a genuine friend of Richie Ginther. Gurney had just withdrawn from the race and was in the pits when he heard about the accident. He ran towards the square next to the grandstands where the emergency vehicles stopped, jumped into an ambulance and rushed with the driver and a nurse towards the Curva Grande. When he returned to his box, he was perhaps even paler than Ginther himself. The public sensed that the 37th edition of the Italian Grand Prix was worth watching and came as numerous as on few other occasions in the past to the trackside of the circuit in Lombardy. Needless to say, this large crowd followed the various steps of the race and the progressive demonstration of the technical superiority of Ferrari and winner Ludovico Scarflotti with enthusiasm. Long accustomed to disappointments in the sporting field, the Italian fans finally had something to cheer about, as they emerged from a sort of inferiority complex. Those who are primarily interested in the technical side of motor racing - which is its main raison d'être - have had the satisfaction of seeing how Italian Formula 1 cars, i.e. representatives of the very top of car construction, have nothing to learn from the more noble foreign cars. This is the first positive fact in the 1966 season that, having culminated in the bitter end at Le Mans, had given the impression of confining Enzo Ferrari and his manufacturer to an undeserved role. Today at Monza must have dispelled many doubts in this regard, re-launching the whole of Italian motorsport on a good note. But here we would like to emphasise above all the human side of the Italian Grand Prix, embodied by the figure of the winner, Ludovico Scarfiotti, who did not make the risky sport of driving a profession in the strict sense of the word, but rather a conception of life, in the vaguely romantic spirit of heroic motor racing. To those who deny the importance of family traditions in the spiritual and moral development of each person, we can recall that Cavalier Ludovico Scarfiotti, grandfather of our Monza hero, was, in 1899, one of the founders of Fiat, and indeed chairman of its first board of directors, alongside Giovanni Agnelli, Roberto Biscaretti, Emanuele Bricheraso, Cesare Goria Gatti and others. And in those days, car building and sport practically went hand in hand.
Thirty years later, another Scarfiotti, the honourable Luigi, was an excellent gentleman-driver, finishing among the leaders in a Mille Miglia among other things. It would be trivial to draw rhetorical conclusions from these biographical mentions. The fact remains that Ludovico Scarfiotti lived his childhood in a certain context, which influenced his ideals and ambitions. Scarfiotti was born in Turin on October 18, 1933, and later moved with his family to Porto Recanati, where he still lives running a cement factory. But almost every Sunday he is somewhere in the world motor racing. His career is quite long: after proving his qualities in races for small and medium-sized sports cars, he was hired by Ferrari and destined for long-distance and uphill races, which seem particularly suited to the young man's abilities. Driving a Ferrari, he won many international tests for sports cars and prototypes, including a 24 Hours of Le Mans; and for two consecutive years he won the title of European Mountain Champion. In 1963, Ferrari had a test with Scarfiotti at the wheel of a Formula 1 car, which is the highest goal for any driver, on the Reims circuit. But he had an accident in practice that cost him a fractured leg and, for a long time, the chance to be hired again by Enzo Ferrari in such a responsible role. This year, fate has finally favoured him. Having participated in the most recent Grand Prix prior to the Italian GP, he arrived on Sunday prepared, aware that he had a great opportunity. And he definitely did not let it slip away. The public cheered and encouraged him just as in the days of the great Italian drivers of the past. Scarfiotti is no longer very young and is under no illusion that he can give what great champions like Nazzaro, Varzi, Nuvolari and Ascari could. He states that explicitly, rather humbly. And this too is a nice side of the personality of the Italian Grand Prix winner. This guy says he races because he likes it, just like that, without using those clichés that sometimes make those drivers who achieve sporting success appear almost always too generous. Scuderia Ferrari's victory at Monza undoubtedly helped re-launch Italian motor racing, thus re-awakening the enthusiasm and hope of the fans. In a way, the great technical importance of this victory influences the entire Italian automotive industry, though, with some reservations. It is not enough for any car, and all the more so if it is a racing car, to be ingeniously designed, with superior technical intelligence, in order to assert itself on the market or, even, over the competitors. In its design, construction and practical use, it needs materials, accessories and details that are themselves designed for that specific purpose by specialised companies.
Only through an all-inclusive technological collaboration between the car manufacturer and the by-product industry is it possible to produce a successful product. In the specific case of Ferrari, such collaboration with third parties is not, as far as Italian companies in the industry are concerned, as complete as one might believe. There are some valid reasons of an economic, productive or commercial nature that justify the lack of interest of many companies in competitive techniques. Firstly, it seems questionable to many that motor racing has, in absolute terms, such a high value in technical or publicity terms as to justify a direct or indirect interest on the part of the motor industry. However, it can be argued that, for example, in the United States and above all in the United Kingdom, there are diametrically opposed criteria, whereby there is a collective effort on the part of specialised companies to support the numerous local sports car manufacturers in achieving concrete results. These are then widely exploited for marketing purposes. This can largely explain the difficulties that Ferrari will face from year to year in order to continue their racing activity and stay competitive. There's more: in racing today, mechanical equipment is ageing very quickly, sometimes being outdated, technically or functionally, in a matter of months. Hence the need for constant updating, a design pressure that requires daily collaboration with suppliers of the different components. If such contacts are with foreign companies, the difficulties are clearly increased. Engineer Enzo Ferrari himself provided a rough list of parts that he has to import from other countries. Amongst these, steel for valves, titanium alloy for connecting rods, brake discs and friction linings, injection pumps, clutch plates and aluminium radiators are purchased in England. The shock absorbers are bought in the Netherlands; the gaskets for the cylinder heads, the material for the valve seats and the injection pumps are bought in Germany; the spark plugs are bought in the United States and France; the bearings are bought in England and in the USA. And finally, and above all, the tyres: after a major Italian manufacturer gave up racing, they are supplied to Ferrari by British and American companies. This is certainly not due to inability or lack of experience on the part of similar Italian companies. There is another kind of problem, which concerns a certain way of thinking about industrial policy, whether it is right or wrong. But perhaps it would be a good idea to reconsider certain attitudes, comparing them with those of other countries that are currently showing an aggressive approach that is probably part of a long-term plan within the broader framework of world car production. Missed opportunities could be damaging in general terms, especially as regards the possibility of increasing, through racing experience, a legacy of technical and technological knowledge useful for standard car production.