Backward glances at racing history
Atlas F1 Columnist
Three of Three: A Tale of the Life
and Times of the Grand Prix
World, 1966 to 1968
Part 8: The Season Marches On!
NASCAR President Bill France, after being stung by the 1965 Mopar Boycott, dumped the problem in the lap of the ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee of the United States). In a rare show of unity, USAC (United States Auto Club) President Tom Binford agreed with France and stated that he would support the move. The ACCUS agreed to intervene and take a look the situation and make an announcement as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Show would continue.
In the Final, Jim Clark gave the BRM teammates a hard time in the early going, but the Lotus had a plug electrode come loose causing the engine to begin misfiring very badly. A pitstop to cure the problem dropped Clark way down the field. His charge back through the pack was the probably the high point of the race. Despite his valiant efforts, Clark could only salvage seventh place by the finish. At the finish, Stewart was ahead of Hill by over a minute. Hill suffered from a slipping clutch and was fortunate to finish.
Final Tasman Championship Standings
* Drivers counted their best three performances in each country.
Goldsmith took the lead for the first dozen laps, but was passed by Bobby Isaac. The Ford challenge lost one of its better aces on lap 35 when Bobby Isaac could not avoid a spinning Bub Strickler and tee-boned the Curtis Satterfield Chevy. Out went Isaac then leading the race, but Strickler managed to continue only to crash after 148 laps. The lap after Isaac crashed, Ned Jarrett parked his Bondy Long Ford in the garage with engine troubles. Goldsmith got back in the lead, only to have Curtis Turner pass him. The lead started changing hands about every 15-20 laps, LeeRoy Yarbrough showing surprising speed in the Jon Thorne Dodge Charger. During this run, Paul Goldsmith made of his 10 pitstops of the race, necessitated by another car knocking off his gas cap and the Hemi not only gulping the Pure Firebird racing gasoline, but sloshing it out onto the track as well.
Despite an early race accident that damaged the nose of his Ford Galaxie, Cale Yarborough was in the battle for the lead all afternoon. It was usually Goldsmith, Turner, and Yarborough trading the lead. Then Turner retired after 376 laps when he got caught up in a crash. In an irony that had to had the Wood Brothers scratching their heads, the next car to drop out was you guessed it Marvin Panch in the other Wood Brothers Ford when the engine gave up the ghost. At Daytona the same thing happened only it was Panch then Turner who dropped out. Unfortunately, Panch had managed to get into the lead not long before the engine quit
In the final stretch, Yarborough passed Goldsmith on lap 447 to take the lead. However, only four laps later Goldsmith got back by the Ford and held the lead until the checkered flag. Although Yarborough led the most laps 177, at the end he simply did not have enough left to fend off the Plymouth. With six Fords in the top 10, more than a few fans wondered what Ford's problem was.
The crowd of about 40,000 sat through a race that lasted 4 hours 59 minutes and 55 seconds. The average speed was 100.027mph. They saw 10 separate yellow flag periods that covered 70 laps of the race. They also went home happy.
At the start, Pearson motored away and led the first 142 laps, before Lorenzen led a single lap, and Pearson led for an additional 100 laps. The mayhem of short track racing sent eight of the 10 factory entries to the showers before the race ended. Cale Yarborough was the first to fall out of the factory cars when his engine blew. Bobby Isaac wrecked the Junior Johnson #26 Galaxie yet again the for seventh straight race! Needless to say, even the taciturn Junior was muttering after this one. Then out went Lorenzen engine, Goldsmith alternator, Paschal oil filter, Ned Jarrett differential, and Marvin Panch engine. All of these, from Yarborough to Panch, retired in that order.
Marvin Panch got past Pearson to lead for about 40 laps, only to have Pearson retake the lead. Dick Hutcherson was driving a conservative race and moved into the lead after 332 laps. Pearson once again got back into the lead after only five laps. Just as Pearson seemed to have the race completely in the bag, he suddenly slowed and pitted. This left Hutcherson in the lead. Pearson returned to the race, but the car was well off its earlier pace. After 396 laps, Pearson parked it and got out. At that time, Hutcherson had built up a seven lap lead. At the end, Hutcherson was four laps clear of second place independent driver Paul Lewis. The $1,825 prize money was quite a payday for Lewis.
Only seven cars were running at the end for the benefit of the 25,000 fans in the bleachers. Hutcherson gave Ford another win. The race took 3 hours 34 minutes and 26 seconds to run, the average speed being 69.952mph, due in part to the 92 laps run under the seven caution periods. With only two of the top 10 cars being factory cars, the independents had a field day.
The new Eagle T2G Ford not being ready, All American Racers was making do with its Halibrand cars. Ever dependable Lloyd Ruby and former bike rider Joe Leonard were doing the driving chores. The Leader Card stable brought three cars to Phoenix: a Gerhardt Ford for Don Branson, and two Watson Ford cars for Johnny Rutherford and Bob Mathouser. There were several examples of the Lotus 38 present, A.J. Foyt being one of those hoping to have it bring him back to the winner's circle. One of the Roadsters was an Epperly/ Salih lay-down model for rookie John Hollansworth. Also in the garage was an entry from J. Frank Harrison, an Eisert Chevrolet driven by Al Unser. In addition to being a stock block, the # 96 car also boasted an appendage above the engine that few had seen on a car before: a large wing similar to that of an aircraft, but inverted to provide downforce instead of lift. The other attempts to use 'wings' in competition the May Brothers with their Porsche in 1956 at the Nurburgring and the Smokey Yunick on the # 44 Watson Roadster he entered for Jim Rathmann in 1962 were restricted to practice sessions only. Harrison was determined to race the car with the 'wing' in place. Although there was some scratching of heads, the 'wing' stayed in place.
However, the center of attention was the car carrying # 1 for the season, the Brawner Ford of Mario Andretti. Although carrying the big white # 1 on a blue circle, the jury was still out on the young Italo-American driver. His sole victory on the Championship Trail in 1965 was the road race at the Indianapolis Raceway Park circuit. It was the first road race on the Championship Trail since the Vanderbilt Cup race on Long Island in 1937. Andretti had yet to win on an oval and the tongues were wagging.
After Andretti brought the Brawner back into the pits after his qualifying run, the tongues were wagging a different tune. The time Andretti set 29.46sec was not only good enough for the pole, but well clear of the next best time, that of Don Branson 30.39sec, and almost four miles per hour faster. The Al Unser Eisert 'Wing' car qualified 7th, 30.82sec. As a note of interest, the tire choice saw the score Goodyear 13, and Firestone (including National Champion Andretti) 8.
At the start the 'second' since the original start was aborted when the lights failed to change, Andretti stormed into the lead and was setting a very quick pace, drawing away from most of the field. Both the Chevrolet-engined cars in the race the Unser Eisert and the Weisman of Dee Jones were out early, Unser with overheating. The 'wing' car never got much a chance to see if the new idea really had any merit. After 24 laps, the red flag was waving and the race was halted. Bobby Unser managed to wedge his Huffaker Offy under the guardrail! The front left suspension of the Huffaker collapsed and the wheel separated from the suspension. The right front of the # 7 car dug into the track. The car then hit the guardrail almost head-on.
Fortunately for Unser, he ducked down into the cockpit as far as he could when the car hit the railing. The force of the impact sheared off the rollbar. Parts of the car were scattered everywhere and everyone feared the worse. The rescue workers were almost dumbfounded to not only find Unser's head still attached to his body, but with scarcely a scratch! There was a sense of disbelief when Unser emerged from the wreckage. Few accidents had looked bad the Duke Nalon crash in the Novi being the one that pops to mind with such minimal consequences for the driver.
After a long wait, the guardrail was repaired and the race picked up right where it left off, Andretti hammering away in the lead. Foyt was now on the move. Super Tex passed Jim McElreath for second and was soon nipping at the heels of Andretti. After a few laps looking over the opportunities, Foyt decided to pass Andretti on the 47th lap. Unfortunately, the two cars touched and went spinning into the in-field. Both got back on the track, but Andretti was out with damage from the collision after only one more lap. Foyt was never in the hunt after that and was lucky to continue running as long as he did a dropped valve put him in the garage after 101 laps, but he still salvaged 11th place and 30 points towards the Championship.
After the Andretti-Foyt shunt, McElreath ran away with the race. Ruby was running well, but dropped out while third. Rodger Ward had a quiet day and brought one of the new John Mecom Lola 90 machines this one using one of the new supercharged Offy engines home in second place. In third and fourth places were, of all things, Roadsters! Only 10 cars were running at the finish. For this round, the honors went to Firestone.
The sedans can have engines of up to five litres in displacement and the wheelbase can be no more than 116 inches. The cars eligible are those which have been homologated in either Group 1 or Group 2 of the new FIA Appendix J. The entrants can do a few others things as well:
Points are awarded in the same style as the Constructors Championship in Grand Prix racing 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, for both Over 2-litres and Under 2-litres, with only the best result of a marque getting points. In addition, there are four classes: A, over 2,000cc; B, 1,300cc to 2,000cc; C, 1,000cc to 1,300cc; and D, under 1,000cc.
There were three Ford Mustang notchback sedans the fastback models lack sufficient headroom in the rear per the latest edition of Appendix J present with A.J. Foyt at the wheel of the Dale Brown entry, # 4. Team Starfish entered two Plymouth Barracudas and Group 44 had a Dodge Dart on the grid. There were two Chevrolet Corvair entries, five of the BMW 1800 TISA cars, six of the Alfa Romeo GTA rockets, two Alan Mann Ford Lotus-Cortina cars, a gaggle of BMC Minis from a 850cc to a Cooper S 1,175cc, a half dozen Saabs, three Volvo 122S cars, a VW, a Renault-Gordini R8, an Opel Kadett, and among the odds and ends a VW.
With the grid determined by engine size, practice was even more of a shambles than one would expect. Jochen Rindt was not amused when nominated co-driver Roberto Bussinello managed to roll the Alfa GTA they were assigned, not going too much harm. The Autodelta team mechanics fixed it up so that it was fully functional, even if a bit tatty looking.
The Foyt Mustang was first off the grid with the Charlie Rainville Team Starfish Barracuda in its wake. Behind this pair were the Ed Diamond Mustang, the other Team Starfish Barracuda with Scott Harvey up, Dick Thompson in a Mustang, Don Eichsteadt in one of the Corvair entries, and the Barracuda of Ray Stoudenberg. The Rainville Barracuda and the Foyt Mustang rounded the first lap in a dead heat, but Foyt soon was starting to draw away from Rainville. Behind them the mayhem kept the (sparse) crowd entertained.
With an hour both of the Lotus-Cortina entries were out. Art Riley put his Volvo on its roof and had the BMW of Bill Campbell and the Saab of Bill Boyer imitate him. No physical injuries and all three rejoined the race. Al Rogers was driving the tiny Honda as if it were on a mission and embarrassing many of the larger cars, particularly the Saabs. Rally wizard Paddy Hopkirk had the 1,275 Mini-Cooper S up to ninth at the mid-point before it dropped out of the race with various ills.
Foyt stopped pitted early (lap 13) and Bob Tullius assumed the lead in the Group 44 Dodge Dart, extending that lead to almost two minutes. However, the Dart would have to pit twice and the Alfas only once. The Alfa driven by Rindt wrinkled bodywork and all was lurking behind the Dart waiting to take the lead. When the Dart finally rolled into the pits, the stop took an agonizing five-plus minutes. The Barracudas were struggling with brake problems, so the Alfa GTA of Rindt was now firmly in the lead. Meanwhile, Foyt retired the Mustang after its overheating problems got worse and worse.
The pit stops for the Alfas went smoothly and the race ended with Rindt lapping the third place car on his last lap. Of the 44 starters, 26 were still running at the finish with the Honda 600S in 21st position.
The Ford entries were headed by the Daytona-winning Shelby American International (SAI) team. Starting with this race, Ford now had the individual cars painted in different colors versus the team colors previously employed. The SAI cars were no longer in the Guardsman Blue that the Shelby had team had employed since the 1963 season. In a metallic blue was the # 2 Ford GT Mark II (chassis 1031) of Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant. This car had been used by Holman & Moody (H&M) at Daytona. The other SAI entry, # 1, was painted red and entered for the Daytona-wining duo of Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby. As to what to call it, well, good question. It was originally built by Abbey Panels as one of two experimental roadsters that Ford was interested in fielding along the coupes. The first roadster was supplied to Kar Kraft on early 1965. When attention shifted to the development of the Mark II, the roadsters were pushed off into a corner. In the early Fall, the first of these was supplied to Bruce McLaren to modify to the new Group 7 regulations. The roadsters were never officially given chassis numbers when supplied to Kar Kraft, but the first roadster was simply called '110' since it was supplied after '109' which was produced in the Fall of 1964 and before two additional GT40 coupes that Abbey Panels produced, '111' and '112.' I am not aware of the second roadster '110A' ? ever being used.
At any rate, McLaren modified '110' to the specs for the new Group 7 sports-racing cars in the Appendix J to come into effect on 1 January 1966. This included an FIA windscreen and various other modifications to bring it in line with the regs. In went one of the 427-cubic inch engines, a Hewland LG500 gearbox, and Halibrand wheels with Firestone tires. Painted white with a blue nose, the car was entered for the Fall Professional Racing series in the United States. It also sported 'Ford X 1' emblazoned on the rocker panels. Chris Amon drove it in four races the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park and The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside. At Mosport Amon retired, but managed to finish fifth at Riverside. The 'X 1' ran in the Nassau Speedweeks races at the end of the year. It retired from both the Governors Trophy and the Nassau Trophy events. After Nassau, Kar Kraft ordered McLaren to turn '110' over to SAI in Venice. SAI brought the chassis up to Mark II specs and fitted Mark II front and rear bodywork. SAI also strengthened the rollbar/ roof structure of '110' and added a full windshield for possible Group 6 use. SAI referred to '110' as either the 'GT X1' or 'GTX 1' so take your choice. For Sebring, '110' was fitted with an automatic transmission.
Holman & Moody brought a white and black Mark II (1032) for Walt Hansgen and Mark Donohue. The other H&M entry was gold with a black nose and was the same car (1031) used at Daytona with the automatic transmission. Still using an automatic gearbox, Ronnie Bucknum was partnered with A.J. Foyt. All the Mark II cars sported modifications since the Daytona race: lightweight rear bodywork now made of fiberglass, new scoops for the rear brakes, and while the H&M cars retained Dzus fasteners the SAI cars now used quick-release pins on the nose section.
In addition to the Mark II versions of the GT40, there were other Ford entries as well. The Alan Mann Racing entries were two lightweight GT40 cars that AMR started as a project at the beginning of Winter. Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) had sent AMR two chassis 1019 and 1023 to use as the basis for the 'lightweight' GT40s, but AMR had Abbey Panels prepare two new cars, AMGT-1 and AMGT-2. Both continued to use the 289-cubic inch Cobra engine, the ZF five-speed gearbox, and were on Goodyear tires. Since both had heavily modified suspension and brakes, they were running in the Sports Prototype class. Both were also painted red with white stripes and using many of the same bodywork tweaks as the Mark II cars. In AMGT-1 were John Whitmore and Frank Gardner and in AMGT-2 were Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill.
There were two GT40s entered by Essex Wire for Augie Pabst/ Masten Gregory and Skip Scott/ Peter Revson. The Canadian Comstock Racing Team also had two entries, their newly delivered car (1037) for Eppie Wietzes/ Craig Fisher and the first GT40 (1000) from the production line was on loan from FAV for Bob McLean/ Jean Oulette to drive. The Bill Wonder GT40 was now painted maroon and Wonder was to share the driving duties with Caldwell. Peter Sutcliffe entered the GT40 entered by Ford Advanced Vehicles at Daytona for himself and Innes Ireland to drive. And the final GT40 was the silver Scuderia Bear entry (1029) for Richard Holquist/ Bruce Jennings.
The Chaparral team brought two cars white naturally, the 2D used at Daytona for team Boss Jim Hall and Hap Sharp to drive and a new 2D for Phil Hill and Joakim Bonnier. Gone was the 2C flipper used at Daytona. Both sported revised bodywork and were really very attractive cars to look at in the paddock. The 'slush-a-matic' was still in use and both the cars used the 327-cubic inch engine.
The factory sent one of the new 4-litre 330P3 cars (telaio 0846) for Mike Parkes and former Cobra ace Bob Bondurant to drive. With a wary eye on the new Porsche Carrera 6, Modena also sent the new Dino 206S for Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti to knock heads with the German Batmobile entries. Backing up the factory cars were the North American Racing Team (NART) of Luigi Chinetti. Pedro Rodriguez and Mario Andretti were back in the 330P2 used at Daytona. In a race where the Ferrari entries used to outnumber the Corvettes, it was slim pickings this time. The Jack Slottag/ Larry Perkins Ferrari 250GTO was back again. As this was the first GTO of the production line in June 1962, telaio 3223, it was getting a tad long in the tooth. It had managed to survive to come home 19th at Daytona, but it was struggling now. Arthur Swanson and Robert Ennis were in the Swanson-entered 250LM. And that, Sports Fan, were all the Ferraris! All five of them.
The Porsche brigade was expanded by the presence of more of the Carrera 6 or 906 Batmobiles being available to thrown into the fray. The Factory Porsche System Engineering, entered two of the 906 cars for Hans Herrmann/ Joe Buzzetta and Gerhard Mitter/ Gunther Klass. The works team also had 904 models for George Follmer/ Peter Gregg and Dieter Glemser/ Udo Schutz. There were privately entered 906s for: Swiss Charles Voegele and his partner Josef 'Seppi' Siffert; Ed Hugus and his partner Lake Underwood; and, Scooter Patrick and Don Webster in the Precision Motor Cars entry. There were three more 904 entries by private entrants Jacques Duval, Briggs Cunningham, and Herb Wetanson. In addition, there was an 8-cylinder Spyder entered by Keymo Motors for Charlie Kolb and Buck Fulp.
In the big American Iron department, there were Shelby Cobra roadsters entered by Tom Payne (289), Space Science Service (427), and Scuderia Bear (427). The Corvette entries were the Gran Sport roadster entered by Roger Penske, the Stingray of Harold C. Whims, Jr. and the other Penske entry, a Stingray.
During practice, the Miles/ Ruby GTX-1 had several of the automatic gearboxes fail and it was finally decided to use one of the T44 manual gearboxes for the race. The automatic gearbox in the Bucknum/ Foyt Mark II run fairly well, but still seemed to not have the edge that the manual transmission had getting out of the corners. The Gurney/ Grant Mark II was fast out of the box and ended up on the pole with a time nearly three seconds quicker than the time set by the Chaparral in 1965: 2min 54.8sec. Second was the Ferrari 330P3, showing that Ferrari still knew their way around the circuit with a time of 2min 56.6sec. The next three in line were Fords, the third qualifier being the surprising quick Alan Mann lightweight GT40 of Hill/ Stewart, the Mark II of Hansgen/ Donohue, and the X 1 once it had it a manual gearbox installed.
Contrary to ritual, the flag dropped (this year by the Governor of Florida, Hayden Burns) at 1000 (10am) without a countdown, and the drivers dashed across the track to their cars. The sprinters reached their cars and then created one massive traffic jam as everyone tried to funnel into the first turn while dodging cars of all sizes, shapes, and colors. That is most of the cars were roaring down the track. When polesitter Gurney tried to start his Mark II, nothing happened. For nearly two long minutes the blue Mark II sat on the grid. Then it finally fired and Gurney joined the fray in the penultimate position.
From 12th on the grid and into the lead was the Dino with Scarfiotti not only leading the pack off the grid and off into the hinterlands, but he was the leader of the first lap as well! Graham Hill was nipping at his exhaust pipes and took the lead on the second lap. Right behind him was Parkes in the 330P3, which soon was in the lead.
On the first lap, Gurney passed 26 cars as he screamed through the field! After only 20 laps, Gurney was third behind Parkes and Miles in the X 1. And after only 90 minutes, Gurney was now in the lead, and drawing away. Both the Chaparral entries were out before Noon. The # 12 Coupe of Hill/ Bonnier retired when an oil leak defied all efforts to fix it. The # 11 Hall/ Sharp dropped out with the rear suspension broken only eight laps after the # 12 car called it a day. The Hall entry had been as high as fourth place before problems hit. Things are not looking good in Midland right now. After much head scratching, the engine problem was traced to a ring package that did not seat correctly and therefore allowed the blowby problem. With Hall stating that he was embarrassed by the performance of the team so far, entries for the Targa Florio and Spa were dropped so as to work on the cars.
The Foyt Mark II was making a series of pit stops with brake trouble shades of Daytona! The problem as eventually traced to the brake balance being out and the front calipers were boiling the brake fluid making Life very exciting for Foyt. The FAV/ Sutcliffe GT40 had the engine croak a rod broke, and dumped oil at the Hairpin. Oil which Stewart could not avoid and so had a lurid spin in the AMR GT40 and was very fortunate to escape with only minor damage, all of which was quickly repaired. However, later the engine died and that was that.
After three hours, the Comstock GT40 entry with McLean at the wheel had a massive accident at the same place, the Hairpin. As McLean approached the corner, a rear brake appeared to lock. The GT40 swerved into a ditch, started to somersault end-over-end, struck a telephone pole, and after bouncing on impact burst into flames winding up only meters from the FAV/ Sutcliffe GT40. McLean, the Canadian Driving Champion, was killed instantly. The other Comstock GT40 was withdrawn as soon as it was realized what had happened.
The attrition on the Ford front was such that the Bill Wonder GT40 was out disqualified for refueling on the course, and the Essex Wire entry for Gregory/ Pabst was out with engine problems.
The race settled down as Gurney and Grant settled into the lead, with the Ferrari P3 and the NART P2 making a sandwich of the X 1 in third. However, at about the nine hour mark the P3 rolled into the pits with a broken transmission. Fords were now running in first and second. Soon there was another incident which was to sour an already dreadful race. As Andretti approached the Webster Turn at the end of the Warehouse Straight, he had problems. As he went down the gears, the gearbox locked for just a split second and Andretti put a wheel off the road and then did a series of spins, finally stopping and crawling back to the pits. In the midst of the spin, the Precision Motor Cars Porsche 906 with Don Webster at the wheel got caught up in the accident. The Ferrari threw up a cloud of dust when it initially dropped a wheel off the track and Webster was suddenly hit by the red car which was spinning on the track. While the blow was only a light one Andretti never realized that the P2 hit the Porsche, it was to have devastating effects.
The Porsche left the track and unable to slow, crashed some distance off the track, actually striking a warehouse and overturning. The car ended up in a restricted area that was supposed out limits to spectators. Unfortunately, the Porsche mowed into a small group watching the race from this vantage point, among them Patricia Heacock, the wife of one of the local supporters of the race. When the shock wore off, it was realized that not only was the Porsche driver badly injured, but four spectators were dead including Mrs. Heacock. When the P2 was nearly ready to the depart the pits, fuel vapors were ignited by the hot exhaust pipes and the car caught fire in the pits, but was quickly extinguished although the car was not out of the race. Just after the fire, Andretti was told of the grim news from the accident at the Webster Turn.
Meanwhile, the leading SAI cars started to engage in a bit of intramural fisticuffs and were dicing each other and not slowing a bit although Carroll Shelby had ordered them to stroke home and win the race. Shelby then had a series of messages displayed to remind the driver who they worked for with the subsequent obedience to orders.
It looked as if it were to be a great win for Gurney and Grant. Starter Jesse Coleman watched the Mark II sweep by the pits for what should be its last lap since the clock would hit the 2200 (10pm) mark before it finished the lap. Eyes strained looking for the blue Mark II to emerge from the darkness and take the checkered flag. As the minute hand hit 12 and signaled the end of the race, still not even a hint of Gurney in the # 2 car. Then the red X 1 flashed by the finish line. A surprised Coleman almost forgot to give the flag a wag in its direction as it roared past.
The Gurney Mark II was only about 200 meters from the finish line when the engine had a rod bolt break and rolled to a stop. Gurney emerged from the cockpit, a puzzled look on his face, and then checked the engine compartment. After a hasty talk with the marshals at his location, Gurney then pushed the car not off the track, but down the finishing straight. After several long minutes, Gurney pushed the car over the line only to find himself disqualified. Had he simply left the car where it was, he would have been second. In any event, Ford still salvaged a 1 2- 3 result, with the Foyt automatic Mark II finishing 12th. At the end, 32 cars were still circulating, the final car a Jaguar XKE, managing a total of only 81 laps in the 12 hours.
Fastest lap: Dan Gurney, 2min 54.8sec
Petty ran strong in the early laps leading most of the first part of the race (131 laps), but at the halfway point it turned into a battle between Jim Hurtubise and Lorenzen. The engine in the Petty Belvedere blew and left it as a battle between Herk and Fast Freddie. In the waning laps the lead went back and forth until Lorenzen made his final under green, while Hurtubise was lucky and managed to pit when a yellow came out.
It was a popular win for the Tonawanda, New York driver and his first Grand National victory. That he was able to drive at all is a testament to the remarkable spirit of 'Herk.' With his hands badly burned as the result of a crash at Milwaukee in June, 1964 (he also had broken ribs and a punctured when a wheel hit him in the chest plus second and third degree burns over 42 percent of his body), it was doubtful that Hurtubise would ever return to racing.
Although the victory went to a Mopar product, the Fords appeared to the 71,000 (the announced attendance...) fans to be in the hunt.
Next Time, April Aggravation!
All of five days after the Daytona 500, Ford dropped a great big cockroach into the potato salad at the Sunday School picnic: the Ford General Manager, Donald N. Frey, issued a statement announcing the availability of the single overhead camshaft 427-cubic engine as an option for its production cars. Citing the NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing) previous stance that the engine would be eligible for use in the Grand National Division once it went into production, Ford said it was now in production.
VII Rand Autumn Trophy, 40 laps of 2.544-mile circuit
The race looked promising on paper. John Love led from start to finish in the Tasman Cooper 79 Climax FPF. Peter de Klerk in the Otelle Nucci Brabham BT11 Climax FPF and Dave Charlton in a similar Brabham entered by Scuderia Scribante followed Love until about a dozen laps from the end when they both dropped out. This left Sam Tingle to finish second, but a lap behind Love. Love also captured the pole and set the fastest lap.
1st John Love John Love Motors Cooper 79 (FL/1/65) Climax FPF 2nd Sam Tingle S.A. Tingle LDS Mk. 3 (LDS/10) Climax FPF 3rd Clive Puzey Clive Puzey Motors Lotus 18 (18/P2) Climax FPF 4th Doug Serrurier L.D. Serrurier LDS Mk. 3 (LDS/11) Climax FPF 5th Jackie Pretorius Scuderia Scribante Lotus 21 (21/952) Climax FPF 6th Tony Jefferies John Love Motors Cooper 55 (F1/11/61) Climax FPF
VI South Pacific Trophy, 10 lap Heat of 4.5-mile circuit 45.0 miles, 27 lap Final 121.50 miles
At the always challenging Longford circuit on Tasmania, the BRM team was simply operating on another level from the rest of the teams. The 1.5-litre cars were not run with the 'big' cars in an effort to reduce the performance gap between the cars. This meant that only nine cars lined up for the Heat race. Jackie Stewart simply left every one to win from Graham Hill by about 25 seconds! Jim Clark and Jim Palmer were next in their Lotus Climax machines.
1st Jackie Stewart BRM P61/2 2nd Graham Hill BRM P61/2 3rd Jack Brabham Brabham BT19 Repco 4th Jim Palmer Lotus 32B Climax FPF 5th Spencer Martin Brabham BT11 Climax FPF 6th Frank Gardner Brabham BT11 Climax FPF
Driver P L W T WF LS S LF Points*
Jackie Stewart 6 - 9 9 3 - 9 9 45
Graham Hill 9 - - - 6 9 (4) 6 30 (34)
Jim Clark - 6 - - 9 4 6 - 25
Jim Palmer 4 (2) 4 4 (1) 3 3 3 21 (24)
Frank Gardner - - - 6 4 6 2 (1) 18 (19)
Richard Attwood - 9 6 - - - - - 15
Spencer Martin - 4 3 - 2 - - 2 11
Dennis Marwood 3 - 1 3 - - - - 7
Roly Levis - 3 - 2 - - - - 5
Jack Brabham - - - - - - - 4 4
Leo Geoghegan 2 - - - - - - - 2
Andy Buchanan - - 2 - - - - - 2
Ken Sager 1 - - 1 - - - - 2
Kevin Bartlett - - - - - 2 - - 2
Ian Dawson - 1 - - - - - - 1
Glynn Scott - - - - - 1 - - 1
Les Howard - - - - - - 1 - 1
Points: First 9, second 6, third 4, fourth 3, fifth 2, sixth 1.
P Round 1 Pukehohe L Round 2 Levin W Round 3 Wigram T Round 4 Teretonga WF Round 5 Warwick Farm LS Round 6 Lakeside S Round 7 Sandown LF Round 8 Longford
Peach Blossom 500, 500 laps of 1.0-mile circuit, 500 miles
Amid the new problems generated by the announcement concerning the Ford SOHC engine earlier in the month, the Grand National folks got down to business for the first Spring race at Rockingham. Paul Goldsmith grabbed the pole for Plymouth with David Pearson along side in a Dodge. The speed for the pole was 116.684mph, slightly better than the speed set by the Fall pole winner Richard Petty of 116.260mph. On the second row were the Fords of Curtis Turner (the Wood Brothers) and Bobby Isaac (Junior Johnson).
1st Paul Goldsmith Nichels Engineering Plymouth Belvedere 2nd Cale Yarborough Banjo Matthews Ford Galaxie 3rd Bobby Allison Betty Lilly Ford Galaxie 4th Harold Smith Lyle Stelter Ford Galaxie 5th John Sears L.G. DeWitt Ford Galaxie 6th Roy Mayne Tom Hunter Chevrolet 7th Elmo Langley Langley-Woodfield Ford Galaxie 8th David Pearson Cotton Owens Dodge Charger 9th Henley Gray Henley Gray Ford Galaxie 10th Worth McMillion Allen McMillion Ford Galaxie
Southeastern 500, 500 laps of 0.5-mile circuit, 250 miles
The Cotton Owens Dodge Charger of David Pearson dominated the race. It rolled off the truck and grabbed the pole, setting a lap speed of 86.248mph. Along side Pearson was perennial contender at Bristol, Fred Lorenzen in a Holman & Moody Ford. Rockingham winner Paul Goldsmith sat on the inside of the second row and shared the row with Jim Paschal (subbing for Richard Petty this weekend) in a Petty Enterprises Plymouth Belvedere. There were 32 starters for this race on the high banks on the very quick Tennessee half-mile. Not making it onto the track was the Wood Brothers entry for Curtis Turner. It was called a "Fairlane" by the team, but had the front end of a Galaxie grafted onto a Fairlane frame. The NASCAR inspectors were not amused and sent the "Fairlane" back to the truck.
1st Dick Hutcherson Holman & Moody Ford Galaxie 2nd Paul Lewis Paul Lewis Plymouth 3rd James Hylton Bud Hartje Dodge 4th Elmo Langley Langley-Woodfield Ford Galaxie 5th Sam McQuagg Nichels Engineering Dodge Charger 6th Gene Black Gene Black Ford Galaxie 7th Bill Seiffert Bill Seiffert Ford Galaxie 8th Wendell Scott Wendell Scott Ford Galaxie 9th Henley Gray Henley Gray Ford Galaxie 10th G.C. Spencer G.C. Spencer Plymouth
150 laps of 1.0-mile circuit, 150 miles
After a not-so-long-as-it-used-to-be Winter, the National Championship teams converged on the Phoenix track for the first round of the 1966 series. The changes in the series from the events of the past two seasons were readily evident in the garage area. At this same event at the beginning of the 1964 season, there were nine Roadsters, 12 dirt cars, and the lone rear-engined Vollstedt Offenhauser of Len Sutton. This time there were three Roadsters, no dirt cars, and the rest of the 23 car field were rear-engined cars.
1st Jim McElreath Zink-Urschal-Slick Brabham Ford 2nd Rodger Ward American Red Ball Lola 90 Offenhauser 3rd Chuck Hulse Dean Van Lines Blum Offenhauser 4th Bud Tinglestad Federal Engineering Trevis Offenhauser 5th Carl Williams Dayton Steel Wheel Gerhardt Ford 6th George Snider Sheraton-Thompson Lotus 38 Ford 7th Billy Foster Jim Robbins Vollstedt Ford 8th Bob Mathouser Leader Card Watson Offenhauser 9th Gordon Johncock Weinberger Homes Gerhardt Offenhauser 10th John Hollansworth Hollansworth Epperly Offenhauser 11th A.J. Foyt Sheraton-Thompson Lotus 38 Ford 12th Lloyd Ruby All American Racers Halibrand Ford
The Governors Cup, four hours of 5.2-mile circuit
The first event in the new SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) racing sedan series, the 'Trans-Am,' got its first event on the track the day prior to the 12-hour race. The entry list long and 44 starters finally assembled on the track. With two separate championships being run Over and Under-two litres, the entry list for the race were heavily weighed towards the smaller class. At one end of the spectrum were the Mustangs and at the other was the 600cc Honda coupe that came all the way from Ohio.
1st Jochen Rindt Autodelta SpA Alfa Romeo GTA 2nd Bob Tullius Group 44 Dodge Dart 3rd Andrea de Adamich/ Teodoro Zeccoli Autodelta SpA Alfa Romeo GTA 4th Paul Richards Alfa Romeo GTA 5th Horst Kwech/ Gaston 'Gus' Andrey Alfa Romeo GTA 6th Scott Harvey Team Starfish Plymouth Barracuda 7th Charlie Rainville Team Starfish Plymouth Barracuda 8th Howard Hanna Alfa Romeo GTA 9th Ryan/ Howard BMW 1800 TISA 10th Cuomo/ Cosentino Fiat Abarth
Class A: Tullius Class B: Rindt Class C: Marinelli/ Drolet BMC Mini Class D: Cosentino/ Cuomo
The 12-Hour Florida International Grand Prix of Endurance, 12-hours of 5.2-mile circuit
When the annual gathering of racing fans took place in the Other Mecca of racing in Florida, the fans were greeted by a pleasant surprise: not only were Ford and Chaparral present to butt heads, S.E.F.A.C. (Societa Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse) SpA Ferrari had sent two entries to stir things up. It was looking like a great three-way battle for the win.
1st Ken Miles/ Lloyd Ruby Shelby American International Ford GT X 1 228 laps 2nd Walt Hansgen/ Mark Donohue Holman & Moody Ford GT Mark II 3rd Peter Revson/ Skip Scott Essex Wire Racing Ford GT40 4th Hans Herrmann/ Joe Buzzetta/ Gerhard Mitter Porsche Systems Engineering Porsche 906 5th Lorenzo Bandini/ Ludovico Scarfiotti SEFAC SpA Ferrari Ferrari Dino 206S 6th Charles Voegele/ Josef Siffert Charles Voegele Porsche 906 7th George Follmer/ Peter Gregg Porsche Systems Engineering Porsche 904 8th Ed Hugus/ Lake Underwood Ed Hugus Porsche 906 9th Ben Moore/ George Wintersteen Penske Racing Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 10th Bob Grossman/ Ed Lowther Scuderia Bear Shelby Cobra
Atlanta 500, 334 laps of 1.5-mile circuit, 501 miles
After a another strong performance, Richard Petty put his Petty Enterprises Plymouth Belvedere on the pole at Atlanta. Along side was the Holman & Moody Ford Galaxie of Dick Hutcherson. The second row was filled by another Holman & Moody entry Fred Lorenzen, and LeeRoy Yarbrough in the Jon Thorne Dodge Charger.
1st Jim Hurtubise Norm Nelson Plymouth 2nd Fred Lorenzen Holman & Moody Ford Galaxie 3rd Dick Hutcherson Holman & Moody Ford Galaxie 4th Paul Goldsmith Nichels Engineering Plymouth 5th Jim Paschal Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth 6th Cale Yarborough Banjo Matthews Ford Galaxie 7th Sam McQuagg Nichels Engineering Dodge Charger 8th Don White Nichels Engineering Dodge 9th Tiny Lund Lyle Stelter Ford Galaxie 10th Bobby Allison Betty Lilly Ford Galaxie
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Volume 7, Issue 21
Atlas F1 Special
Interview with Burti
Silly Season Review
Yearly Roar
Monaco GP Preview
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Tech Preview and Track Map
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Audio: A Lap of Monaco with MS
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