1966 Mexican Grand Prix

Last updated
1966 Mexican Grand Prix
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 1963.svg
Race details
DateOctober 23, 1966
Official name V Gran Premio de Mexico
Location Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City, Mexico
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.000 km (3.107 miles)
Distance 65 laps, 325.000 km (201.946 miles)
Weather Warm, clear
Pole position
Driver Cooper-Maserati
Time 1:53.18
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Honda
Time 1:53.75
Podium
First Cooper-Maserati
Second Brabham-Repco
Third Brabham-Repco
Lap leaders
  • 1966 Mexican Grand Prix

The 1966 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca on 23 October 1966. It was race 9 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the fifth Mexican Grand Prix [1] and the first to be run under the new three-litre Formula. [2] It was held over 65 laps of the 5 km (3.1 mi) circuit for a race distance of 325 km (202 mi).

Contents

The race was won by British driver John Surtees driving a Cooper T81-Maserati, his first victory since leaving Scuderia Ferrari to join Cooper. Surtees led home reigning world champion Australian owner-driver Jack Brabham, driving a Brabham BT20-Repco, [3] by eight seconds. A lap down in third place, also driving a Brabham BT20, was Brabham's teammate New Zealander Denny Hulme.

Surtees's victory promoted him to second place in the championship, vaulting past Austrian driver Jochen Rindt of the Cooper works team.

Race report

John Surtees dominated to take his first win since transferring from Ferrari to Cooper in mid season. He took the lead from Jack Brabham on lap 6 and was never challenged. With Jim Clark suffering gearbox problems and both BRMs retiring, Richie Ginther was the only contender left. However he too had mechanical problems, and dropped back. Brabham rallied at the end to close, but Surtees had lapped the entire field up to second. The first year of 3-litre engines had resulted in wins for five different makes of car, using five different engines.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 1:53.18
21 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-BRM 1:53.50+0.32
312 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Honda 1:53.56+0.38
45 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:53.95+0.77
58 Flag of Austria.svg Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 1:54.19+1.01
66 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 1:54.21+1.03
73 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM 1:54.61+1.43
811 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 1:54.78+1.60
915 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 1:54.93+1.75
104 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart BRM 1:55.90+2.72
1118 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 1:55.98+2.80
1219 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 1:55.99+2.81
1322 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 1:56.49+3.31
1414 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Bucknum Honda 1:56.59+3.41
1517 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 1:56.84+3.66
169 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Moisés Solana Cooper-Maserati 1:57.44+4.26
1710 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland BRM 1:57.46+4.28
182 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 2:00.79+7.61
1916 Flag of the United States.svg Bob Bondurant Eagle-Weslake 2:02.88+9.70
Source: [4] [5]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 652:06:35.3419
25 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 65+ 7.8846
36 Flag of New Zealand.svg Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 64+ 1 lap64
412 Flag of the United States.svg Richie Ginther Honda 64+ 1 lap33
515 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 64+ 1 lap92
622 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati 63+ 2 laps121
72 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 61+ 4 laps17
814 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Bucknum Honda 60+ 5 laps13
Ret11 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 49Differential8
Ret17 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren McLaren-Ford 40Engine14
Ret19 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 33Suspension11
Ret8 Flag of Austria.svg Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 32Suspension5
Ret10 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Innes Ireland BRM 28Transmission16
Ret4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jackie Stewart BRM 26Oil Leak10
Ret16 Flag of the United States.svg Bob Bondurant Eagle-Weslake 24Fuel System18
Ret3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill BRM 18Engine7
Ret1 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jim Clark Lotus-BRM 9Gearbox2
Ret9 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Moisés Solana Cooper-Maserati 9Overheating15
DNS18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 0Accident
Source: [6]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 424
  2. Kettlewell, Mike. "Grand Prix Racing South of the Border", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974) Volume 12, p.1332.
  3. Kettlewell, p.1332.
  4. "1966 Mexican GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  5. "1966 Mexican Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine . Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  6. "1966 Mexican Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Mexico 1966 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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1966 United States Grand Prix
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