1966 French Grand Prix

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1966 French Grand Prix
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Race details
Date 3 July 1966
Official name 52e Grand Prix de l'ACF[1]
Location Reims-Gueux, Reims, France
Course Temporary road course
Course length 8.348 km (5.187 miles)
Distance 48 laps, 400.694 km (248.980 miles)
Weather Hot, dry
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 2:07.8
Fastest lap
Driver Italy Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari
Time 2:11.3
Podium
First Brabham-Repco
Second Ferrari
Third Brabham-Repco
Lap leaders

The 1966 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 3 July 1966. It was race 3 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the "60th Anniversary race" of Grand Prix racing, which had started with the GP of France in 1906. It was also the 16th and last time the French Grand Prix was held on variations of French highways near Reims, following a three-year absence from the region. The race was held over 48 laps of the 8.35-kilometre (5.19 mi) circuit for a race distance of 400.694 kilometres (248.980 mi).

The race was won by the 1959 and 1960 World Champion, Australian driver Jack Brabham, driving his Brabham BT19. It was Brabham's eighth Grand Prix victory and his first since the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix, six years earlier. It was also his first win since establishing his Brabham team, and the first win for the Australian-developed Repco V8 engine. Brabham became the first driver to win a World Championship Grand Prix in a car bearing his own name. British driver Mike Parkes finished second in a Ferrari 312, 9.5 seconds behind, while Brabham's team-mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme, finished third in his Brabham BT20, albeit two laps down.

Brabham now led the Driver's Championship on 12 points, two ahead of Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini and three ahead of BRM's Jackie Stewart and Ferrari's John Surtees. The win was the first of four in succession for Brabham as he began his march towards his third world title.

Race summary[edit]

Jim Clark was a non-starter, recovering from an accident after he was hit in the eye by a bird during practice. Qualifying was firmly in the hands of Ferrari and especially Lorenzo Bandini with a pole set at 2:07.8 in his 3-litre 312/66, averaging 146.112 mph (233.780 km/h). After the start, Bandini duly led, with Jack Brabham in what would later be nicknamed his 'Old Nail' BT19 – which had a bit less straightline speed – following in his slipstream for a while. Mike Parkes, who had taken over at Ferrari from John Surtees acquitted himself well, duelling with Graham Hill for third place, becoming second when Hill's camshaft broke. When the Italian had to retire due to a broken throttle linkage, Brabham took first place at the finish – his first win since the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix and the first driver to win a championship Grand Prix in his own car. It was also the last race ever at Reims-Gueux, the original venue of the Formula One French Grand Prix.

1950 World Champion Nino Farina died in a car accident while on his way to watch this race.[2]

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 20 Italy Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 2:07.8
2 10 United Kingdom John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 2:08.4 +0.6
3 22 United Kingdom Mike Parkes Ferrari 2:09.1 +1.3
4 12 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 2:10.2 +2.4
5 6 Austria Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 2:10.9 +3.1
6 38 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 2:12.2 +4.4
7 8 New Zealand Chris Amon Cooper-Maserati 2:12.4 +4.6
8 16 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 2:12.8 +5.0
9 14 New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 2:13.3 +5.5
10 32 United Kingdom Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 2:14.2 +6.4
11 42 France Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 2:15.4 +7.6
12 36 United Kingdom Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 2:15.6 +7.8
13 2 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 2:15.6 +7.8
14 2 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 2:16.5 +8.7
15 26 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 2:17.9 +10.1
16 44 United Kingdom John Taylor Brabham-BRM 2:19.2 +11.4
17 4 United Kingdom Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 2:19.6 +11.8
18 30 Sweden Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 2:23.5 +15.7
Source:[3][4]

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Australia Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 48 1:48:31.3 4 9
2 22 United Kingdom Mike Parkes Ferrari 48 + 9.5 3 6
3 14 New Zealand Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 46 + 2 Laps 9 4
4 6 Austria Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 46 + 2 Laps 5 3
5 26 United States Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 45 + 3 Laps 14 2
6 44 United Kingdom John Taylor Brabham-BRM 45 + 3 Laps 15 1
7 36 United Kingdom Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 44 + 4 Laps 12
8 8 New Zealand Chris Amon Cooper-Maserati 44 + 4 Laps 7
NC 42 France Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 42 + 6 Laps 11
Ret 2 Mexico Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 40 Oil Leak 13
NC 20 Italy Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 37 + 11 Laps 1
NC 30 Sweden Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 32 + 16 Laps 17
Ret 16 United Kingdom Graham Hill BRM 13 Engine 8
Ret 38 Switzerland Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 10 Fuel System 6
Ret 32 United Kingdom Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 8 Clutch 10
Ret 10 United Kingdom John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 5 Fuel System 2
Ret 4 United Kingdom Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 3 Gearbox 16
DNS 2 United Kingdom Jim Clark Lotus-Climax Accident (18)
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1966". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Drivers: Giuseppe Farina". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  3. ^ "1966 ACF GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  4. ^ "1966 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  5. ^ "1966 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b "France 1966 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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