1966 British Grand Prix

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	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Time	1:34.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Time	1:37.0
Podium
First	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Second	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco
Third	Graham Hill	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

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

Qualifying

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

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	80	2:13:13.4	1	9
2	6	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	80	+ 9.6	2	6
3	3	Graham Hill	BRM	79	+ 1 lap	4	4
4	1	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	79	+ 1 lap	5	3
5	11	Jochen Rindt	Cooper-Maserati	79	+ 1 lap	7	2
6	14	Bruce McLaren	McLaren-Serenissima	78	+ 2 laps	13	1
7	7	Chris Irwin	Brabham-Climax	78	+ 2 laps	12
8	22	John Taylor	Brabham-BRM	76	+ 4 laps	16
9	25	Bob Bondurant	BRM	76	+ 4 laps	14
10	19	Guy Ligier	Cooper-Maserati	75	+ 5 laps	17
11	24	Chris Lawrence	Cooper-Ferrari	73	+ 7 laps	19
NC	21	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	70	+ 10 laps	10
NC	20	Jo Siffert	Cooper-Maserati	70	+ 10 laps	11
Ret	12	John Surtees	Cooper-Maserati	67	Transmission	6
Ret	18	Jo Bonnier	Brabham-Climax	42	Clutch	15
Ret	2	Peter Arundell	Lotus-BRM	32	Gearbox	20
Ret	4	Jackie Stewart	BRM	17	Engine	8
Ret	17	Mike Spence	Lotus-BRM	15	Oil leak	9
Ret	16	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Climax	9	Engine	3
Ret	23	Trevor Taylor	Shannon-Climax	0	Engine	18
Source: [2]

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut race for British drivers Chris Irwin and Chris Lawrence.
• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for British constructor Shannon.
• This was the 100th race for a Cooper. In those 100 races, Cooper had won 14 Grands Prix, achieved 49 podium finishes, 10 pole positions, 12 fastest laps, 2 Grand Slams and had won 2 Driver's and 2 Constructor's World Championships.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jack Brabham 21 3 2 Jochen Rindt 11 5 3 Denny Hulme 10 2 4 Lorenzo Bandini 10 2 5 John Surtees 9 Source: [3]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Brabham-Repco 21 1 2 Ferrari 21 3 BRM 13 4 Cooper-Maserati 11 1 5 Lotus-Climax 3 Source: [3]

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

References

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. "Britain 1966 – Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

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