1966 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1966 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 12 June 1966. It was race 2 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the 26th Belgian Grand Prix and was held over 28 laps of the 14.1-kilometre circuit for a race distance of 395 kilometres.

1966 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Date 12 June 1966
Official name XXVI Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
Course Permanent racing circuit
Course length 14.120 km (8.770 miles)
Distance 28 laps, 395.36 km (245.56 miles)
Weather Overcast and wet
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 3:38:0
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom John Surtees Ferrari
Time 4:18:7
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Cooper-Maserati
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The race was won by British driver and 1964 world champion, John Surtees, driving a Ferrari 312 in a race that saw the field decimated by weather in the early laps. It was Surtees' fourth Grand Prix victory and his first since the 1964 Italian Grand Prix. Surtees won by 42 seconds over Austrian driver Jochen Rindt driving a Cooper T81, Rindt achieving his first podium finish and the first for the new Cooper-Maserati combination as the works Cooper Car Company team looked to the three-litre Maserati V12 sports car engine for the new regulations. Surtees' Italian team mate Lorenzo Bandini finished third in his Ferrari 246.

With a pair of podiums, Bandini took the lead in the championship by a point over the two race winners, Surtees and Jackie Stewart.

Race summary

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The race distance was shortened from the previous year, from 32 to 28 laps. More than half the field crashed out on the first lap due to a heavy rainstorm and only seven runners remained by the start of the second lap. Four drivers went off and crashed at the sweeping Burnenville corner, where the heavy wall of rain was. Jo Bonnier crashed with his Cooper T81 coming to rest balancing on a parapet, the front half car in the air. Jackie Stewart's BRM P261 crashed into a telephone pole and then landed in a ditch at Masta Kink, leading to him being stuck upside down in his BRM, halfway up to his waist in fuel, for 25 minutes. Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant, both of whom had gone off near Stewart, managed to rescue him with a spectator's toolkit. Jack Brabham slid his Brabham BT19 coming out of the Masta Kink at 135 mph, but regained control of the car and rejoined the race. There was so much water on the track that it got into and flooded the Climax engine in Jim Clark's Lotus 33, putting him out on the first lap too. The entire first lap was run under green flags.

The race was filmed for the motion picture Grand Prix. The eight-minute segment of the 1966 film uses a combination of live footage and mocked-up racing scenes. The live footage shows Surtees, Bonnier, Bandini, Ligier, Clark and Gurney in action. Surtees doubles in the scene for the fictional Jean-Pierre Sarti while Bandini doubles for the fictional Nino Barlini. The film is careful not to pick up Jackie Stewart in action as he doubles for the fictional character Scott Stoddard, who at this point in the film is recovering from a near fatal crash earlier in the season, although this was fairly easy since Stewart crashed on the first lap. James Garner's white "Yamura", a repainted McLaren, did not appear in the actual race and scenes showing it are part of the staged race filming.

Because of McLaren's withdrawal, Bob Bondurant's car had to be painted white overnight in order to have actual footage featuring the "Yamura" car. In addition, Phil Hill was allowed to do one lap of the track with his car having a camera mounted on its nose. He managed to avoid the entire first-lap carnage and was able to get pictures of the scene.[1]

After his accident in this race, Jackie Stewart began his efforts for safer racing which continued for decades; particularly after his influence as a Formula One racing driver grew through the next seven seasons he competed in the sport.

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 6   John Surtees Ferrari 3:38.0
2 19   Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 3:41.2 +3.2
3 15   Jackie Stewart BRM 3:41.5 +3.5
4 3   Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 3:41.8 +3.8
5 7   Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 3:43.8 +5.8
6 20   Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 3:44.3 +6.3
7 16   Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 3:45.2 +7.2
8 18   Richie Ginther Cooper-Maserati 3:45.4 +7.4
9 14   Graham Hill BRM 3:45.6 +7.6
10 10   Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 3:45.8 +7.8
11 8   Bob Bondurant BRM 3:50.5 +12.5
12 22   Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 3:51.1 +13.1
13 4   Denny Hulme Brabham-Climax 3:51.4 +13.4
14 21   Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 3:53.8 +15.8
15 27   Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 3:57.6 +19.6
16 28   Phil Hill McLaren-Ford 4:01.7 +23.7
DNS 24   Bruce McLaren McLaren-Serenissima 3:57.6 +19.6
DNS 8   Vic Wilson BRM 4:26.0 +48.0
DNS 11   Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 5:01.2 +1:23.2
  • Bondurant drove car #8 in practice alongside Wilson, but he would drive car #24 in the race.

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6   John Surtees Ferrari 28 2:09:11.3 1 9
2 19   Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 28 + 42.1 2 6
3 7   Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 27 + 1 Lap 5 4
4 3   Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 26 + 2 Laps 4 3
5 18   Richie Ginther Cooper-Maserati 25 + 3 Laps 8 2
NC 22   Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 24 + 4 Laps 12
NC 27   Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 23 + 5 Laps 15
Ret 15   Jackie Stewart BRM 0 Accident 3
Ret 20   Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 0 Accident 6
Ret 16   Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 0 Accident 7
Ret 14   Graham Hill BRM 0 Accident 9
Ret 10   Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 0 Engine 10
Ret 24   Bob Bondurant BRM 0 Accident 11
Ret 4   Denny Hulme Brabham-Climax 0 Accident 13
Ret 21   Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 0 Accident 14
Ret 28   Phil Hill McLaren-Ford 0 Withdrawn (Camera car) 16
DNS 24   Bruce McLaren McLaren-Serenissima Wheel bearing in practice
DNS 11   Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM Engine
DNS 8   Vic Wilson BRM Car raced by Bondurant
Source:[2]

Notes

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  • This was the 100th Formula One World Championship race wherein a Frenchman participated. In those 100 races, French drivers won 2 Grands Prix, achieved 23 podiums, and 2 fastest laps.
  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for American constructor Eagle.
  • This was Ferrari's 5th win of a Belgian Grand Prix in the Formula One World Championship era. In total, the Scuderia had 17 podiums, 5 pole positions, 5 fastest laps and 2 Grand Slams at Spa-Francorchamps.
  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Italian engine supplier Serenissima.

Championship standings after the race

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

References

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  1. ^ "Grand Prix The Movie: A Complete History". blu-ray.com. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  2. ^ "1966 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Belgium 1966 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
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