1966 Australian Touring Car Championship

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Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986) Mount Panorama 1938-1986.png
Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

The 1966 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group C Improved Production Touring Cars. [1] It was contested over a single 20-lap race staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on Easter Monday, 11 April 1966, and was the seventh running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The race was sponsored by the Neptune Oil Company, Sydney. [2]

Ian Geoghegan, driving a Ford Mustang, claimed his second Australian Touring Car Championship title and the first of four consecutive titles that he would achieve in Mustangs. [3]

Race summary

Ian Geoghegan had upgraded to a Ford Mustang and took pole position ahead of Norm Beechey, who had qualified both his Mustang and his new Chevrolet Chevy II Nova. Despite lapping quicker in the Mustang, Beechey elected to race the more powerful Chevy II Nova. Don Smith had qualified sixth in his Holden EH S4, but was unable to start due to an accident in a preliminary race. [3]

Beechey led away from the start and gradually increased his lead during the first half of the 20-lap race, moving 9.6 seconds ahead of Geoghegan by the end of lap 8. Three cars had been retired at this point: T. McGee's Morris Cooper, Malcolm Bailey's Ford Zephyr and Bob Edgerton's Morris Cooper S. [3]

Geoghegan started to reduce the gap on lap 9 and caught Beechey on lap 13 before passing him on lap 14. Terry Allan retired from the race on lap 13 while fellow Holden runner Warren Weldon retired on lap 16 with a broken crankshaft. Beechey's pace dropped off for the remainder of the race, with reported clutch troubles, allowing Geoghegan to take an easy victory. Kevin Bartlett, driving an Alfa Romeo GTA, was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap, albeit nearly two minutes behind Beechey. John Harvey and Phil Barnes completed the top five, one lap down on the leaders. [3]

Results

Pos.DriverNo.CarEntrant [2] ClassLapsTime/RemarksGrid [4] [5]
1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Geoghegan 1 Ford Mustang Total TeamOver 3000cc2054:30.21
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Norm Beechey 1 3 Chevrolet Chevy II Nova Neptune Racing TeamOver 3000cc20+32.83
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Bartlett 12 Alfa Romeo GTA Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd 1501–2000cc20+2:19.84
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Harvey 76 Austin Cooper S R.C. Phillips Sports Car World1101–1500cc19+1 lap5
5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Barnes99 Morris Cooper S Vaughan & Lane1101–1500cc19+1 lap8
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John French 15 Morris Cooper S J. French0–1100cc18+2 laps10
7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Brown71 Volvo 122S Scuderia Veloce 1501–2000cc18+2 laps13
8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Holden 13 Morris Cooper S B.M.C. (Australia) Pty Ltd 1101–1500cc17+3 laps17
9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Don Holland38 Morris Cooper S Don Holland Motors1101–1500cc17+3 laps18
10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg A. Patterson42 Ford Cortina Mark I GT A.R. Patterson1101–1500cc17+3 laps22
11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Mander75 Morris Cooper S Marque Motors1101–1500cc17+3 laps19
12 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Frazer64 Renault R8 Gordini Renno Motors1101–1500cc16+4 laps ?
13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Hall23 Holden X2 H. Taylor2001–3000cc16+4 laps24
14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg A. Barrow82 Holden FJ A. Barrow2001–3000cc16+4 laps28
15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Prisk33 Morris Cooper Varsity Auto Centre0–1100cc16+4 laps25
16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Digby Cooke84? [6] Morris Cooper Marque Motors0–1100cc16+4 laps ?
17 Flag of Australia (converted).svg M. Schneider54 Morris Mini Deluxe Marque Motors0–1100cc16+4 laps ?
18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ross Edgerton43 Renault R8 Ross Edgerton0–1100cc13+7 laps23
19 Flag of Australia (converted).svg G. MacDonald45 Ford Cortina Mark I GT Esso Servicenter1101–1500cc7+13 laps ?
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Charlie Smith100 Morris Cooper S C.G. Smith1101–1500cc1712
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Stanley84? [6] Morris Cooper Marque Motors0–1100cc1627
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Warren Weldon119 Holden EH Special S4 Waggott Engineering 2001–3000cc15Crankshaft7
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Wright28 Morris Cooper S Peter Owen Racing1101–1500cc1415
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg R. Lindsay32 Renault R8 Gordini R. Lindsay1101–1500cc1326
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Allan2 Holden EH Special S4 Syndal Motors2001–3000cc12Clutch failure [4] 9
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Edgerton66 Morris Cooper S Robert Edgerton0–1100cc7 ?
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg Malcolm Bailey53 Ford Zephyr M. Bailey2001–3000cc5 ?
Ret Flag of Australia (converted).svg T. McGee11 Morris Cooper Esso Servicentre (Waterloo)0–1100cc4 ?
DNS Flag of Australia (converted).svg Norm Beechey 1 2 Ford Mustang Neptune Racing TeamOver 3000cc-Withdrew(2)
DNS Flag of Australia (converted).svg Don Smith55 Holden EH Special S4 Smith Auto Accessories2001–3000cc-Accident in preliminary race [7] (6)
DNS Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alton Boddenberg105 Chrysler Valiant Advanx (Gosford) Motor ServiceOver 3000cc-Clutch problems in preliminary race [7] (11)
Sources: [3] [4] [7]

Notes:

Statistics

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References

  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1966 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 70 to 73
  2. 1 2 Souvenir Programme, Bathurst National Open Meeting, 11 April 1966, page 35
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 64–69. ISBN   978-0-9805912-2-4.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Medley, John (1997). Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing. Wahroonga, New South Wales: Turton & Armstrong Pty Ltd. pp. 359–360. ISBN   978-0-9080317-0-2.
  5. The grid lineup shown on page 360 of John Medley's Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing does not show names for all grid positions.
  6. 1 2 W Stanley and D Cooke are both listed to drive the No 84 Marque Motors Morris Cooper in the entry list for the ATCC race in the Souvenir Programme
  7. 1 2 3 Howard, Graham (May 1966). "Geoghegan – The Greatest". Racing Car News. Chippendale, New South Wales: Publishers Photo Digest Pty Ltd. pp. 26–27.
  8. James Laing-Peach, Geoghegan: A Title Regained, Sports Car World, June 1966, pages 42, 43 & 62