1966 Daytona 24 hour race

Track layout

Ford GT40 Mk.II

Porsche 906

Chaparral 2D

The first 24-hour race of Daytona , also called 24 Hours of Daytona , took place on February 6, 1966 at Daytona International Speedway and was the first race of the sports car world championship of that year.

Before the race

Since 1964 that counted endurance race at Daytona for the World Sportscar Championship. The race over a distance of 2000 kilometers was known internationally as the Daytona Continental . Following the wishes of the board members of the main sponsor Continental, the event became a 24-hour race in 1966 . This established a second sports car race alongside the Sebring 12-hour race in Florida . While the race at the Sebring International Raceway had great spectator interest from the first in 1952 , the masses of people interested in racing have remained largely absent in Daytona Beach until the present. In contrast to the Sebring classic, which takes place in March, the Daytona 24-hour race takes place at the beginning of February. In February the night is still long in Florida and temperatures can drop to freezing when the sky is clear. While at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the night in June is short and full of attractions for the visitors, during the long, cold, almost 12 hour long nights in Daytona, the circuit was in all the years of racing, except for the racing activities and the Work in the pit lane, as good as dead. In 1966 there was an absolute alcohol ban on the entire area of ​​the Speedway. Pepsi had received the marketing rights for beverages and only served Coke on the entire site, including the pit lane and paddock .

Carroll Shelby came to the track with three Ford Mk.IIs . The Mk.II was the further development of the GT40. The key feature was the new 7-liter V8 engine . The cars were driven by the driver pairings Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon , Dan Gurney / Jerry Grant as well as Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby . Holman & Moody reported two more Mk.IIs for Walt Hansgen / Mark Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum / Richie Ginther . Peter Sutcliffe and Bob Grossman entered the race with a works GT40 from England. Extensive test drives with the new rain tires from Dunlop were carried out with this car before the race at Sebring .

The strongest opposition for the Ford racing cars was expected from Ferrari and Porsche . Ferrari was prominently represented by the North American Racing Team - with two Ferrari 365P2s for Pedro Rodríguez , Mario Andretti , Jochen Rindt and Bob Bondurant - and the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps . Porsche came to Daytona with the works team . In addition to the proven Porsche 904 GTS , the 906 made its debut in the world championship. The Chaparral 2D , which was driven by Joakim Bonnier and Phil Hill , was also new .

The race

The fastest time in qualifying was achieved by Ken Miles in the Mk.II with the number 98. He drove 1: 57.800 minutes and was 0.2 seconds faster than Phil Hill in the Chaparral. His team mate Joakim Bonnier took over the lead of a race after the start, where freezing temperatures were predicted for the night. Bonnier could only enjoy the top position for one lap, then Ken Miles passed him in the Ford. After just a few laps, the slower vehicles began to lap, which meant that the drivers had to concentrate on the elevated sections of the track. Richie Ginther in the Ford and Bonnier in the Chaparral had the first unscheduled pit stops, which fell far behind in the classification.

The field began to clear in the early evening hours. In the top group, only Pedro Rodríguez in a Ferrari 365P2 was able to keep up with the speed of the Ford Mk.II. As expected, the night was long and cold and the failures increased. The Ferrari 250LM suffered several gearbox damage and after driving 318 laps the chaparral finally failed after a broken rim. Although there were some technical problems at Ford too, victory was no longer in danger from Sunday morning. After 24 hours Miles and Ruby won with a lead of two laps over teammates Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant. The third-placed Holman & Moody-Ford from Hansgen and Donohue was another lap behind.

Results

Final ranking

Item	Classeed	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	P + 2.0	98	Shelby American Inc.	Ken Miles Lloyd Ruby	Ford Mk.II	678
2	P + 2.0	97	Shelby American Inc.	Dan Gurney Jerry Grant	Ford Mk.II	670
3	P + 2.0	95	Holman & Moody	Walt Hansgen Mark Donohue	Ford Mk.II	669
4th	P + 2.0	21st	North American Racing Team	Pedro Rodríguez Mario Andretti	Ferrari 365P2	664
5	P + 2.0	96	Shelby American Inc.	Chris Amon Bruce McLaren	Ford Mk.II	651
6th	P 2.0	15th	Porsche System Engineering	Hans Herrmann Herbert Linge	Porsche 906	623
7th	S 2.0	16	Porsche System Engineering	Gerhard Mitter Joe Buzzetta	Porsche 904 GTS	612
8th	S 2.0	17th	Porsche System Engineering	Günter Klass Udo Schütz	Porsche 904 GTS	610
9	P + 2.0	22nd	North American Racing Team	Jochen Rindt Bob Bondurant	Ferrari 250LM	591
10	S 2.0	14th	Brumo's Porsche Florida	Peter Gregg George Drolsom	Porsche 904 GTS	589
11	S 2.0	20th	Sam Posey	Sam Posey Jim Haynes Harry Theodoracopulos	Porsche 904 GTS	577
12	GT + 3.0	12	Roger Penske	Dick Guldstrand Ben Moore George Wintersteen	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	575
13	P + 2.0	23	Peter Clarke	Mark Konig Peter Clarke Bob Hurt	Ferrari 250LM	574
14th	S + 3.0	86	Ford Advanced Vehicles	Peter Sutcliffe Bob Grossman	Ford GT40	571
15th	P + 2.0	27	David Piper	David Piper Richard Attwood	Ferrari 250LM	556
16	GT 2.0	18th	RBM Motors	Jack Ryan Lin Coleman Bill Bencker	Porsche 911	548
17th	S + 3.0	92	Essex Wire Corporation	Peter Revson masts Gregory Ed Lowther	Ford GT40	531
18th	GT + 3.0	90	Michael Reina	Don Kearney Michael Reina	Ford Mustang	527
19th	S 3.0	30th	Jack slot day	Larry Perkins Jack Slot Day	Ferrari 250 GTO	526
20th	GT + 3.0	67	Cannon car	George Cornelius Dick Boo Bob Brown	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	501
21st	S 2.0	56	William Martin	Ike Maxwell William Martin	Volvo P1800	496
22nd	P 2.0	41	EP Drescher	Hugh Kleinpeter Harry Fry George Parsons	Triumph LM	490
23	GT 3.0	43	Cannon car	Dana Kelder Ara Dube Red Wilson	Triumph TR4A	487
24	GT 3.0	45	John Kingham	Herb Byrne Milo Vega	Triumph TR4A	482
25th	GT 1.6	84	Pompano Sports Cars	Ben Scott Peter Flanagan Roger Chastain	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint	474
26th	GT + 3.0	54	Ray Stoutenburg	Ray Stoutenburg Gene Jones Larry Isley	Plymouth Barracuda	466
27	P + 2.0	75	McMillan Ring Free Oil Co.	Art Riley Russ MacGrotty	Yenko Stinger	448
28	GT 3.0	40	Genser Forman	George Waltman Art Swanson Nick Cone	Triumph TR4	432
29	P 2.0	7th	John Olson	John Bolander Bob Winkelmann John Olson	Ford Cortina	416
30th	S 2.0	78	Autosport	Rosemary Smith Smokey Drolet John Olson	Sunbeam Alpine	416
31	S 2.0	73	Fred Opert	William McKemie Terry Petmecky Fred Opert	Elva Courier Mk.IV	391
32	S 1.8	80	Autosport	Donna Mae Mims Janet Guthrie Suzy Dietrich	Sunbeam Alpine	389
Not classified
33	P 2.0	79	Autosport	Paul Richards Ray Cuomo	Austin-Healey Sprite	491
Failed
34	S + 3.0	91	Essex Wire Corporation	Dick Thompson Skip Scott Peter Revson	Ford GT40	500
35	P + 2.0	32	North American Racing Team	George Follmer Don Wester Paul Hawkins	Ferrari 250LM	428
36	GT 2.0	44	Kenneth Chambliss	Ernie Croucher Walter Glenn Bill Eve	MGB	426
37	S + 3.0	29	Epstein Enterprises Ltd.	Paul Hawkins Jackie Epstein	Ferrari 250LM	425
38	S + 3.0	94	Ralph Noseda	Ralph Noseda Grant Clark Bob Thorpe Harry Heuer	Shelby Cobra	419
39	GT 1.6	55	J. Randall	Al Weaver John Fraim Chet Freeman	Lotus Elan	383
40	S + 3.0	93	Scuderia Bear	Harold Keck Oscar Koveleski Ed Lowther	Shelby Cobra	371
41	P + 2.0	87	Holman & Moody	Richie Ginther Ronnie Bucknum	Ford Mk.II	329
42	S + 3.0	89	Dan Gerber	Dan Gerber Bob Johnson Peter Lerch	Shelby Cobra	328
43	P + 2.0	65	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Joakim Bonnier Phil Hill	Chaparral 2D	318
44	S 1.6	36	Cannon car	Wilbur Pickett Bill Bean	Alfa Romeo Giulia Zagato	278
45	GT 3.0	42	John Addison	Ken Hughes Fred Salo John Addison	Triumph TR4	244
46	S 2.0	59	Kind Riley	Don Yenko John Forte Art Riley	Volvo P1800	216
47	P + 2.0	31	John Fulp	John Fulp Bill Rutan Bruce Jennings	Ferrari 330P	193
48	S + 3.0	88	William Wonder	William Wonder Herb Wetanson	Ford GT40	178
49	P + 2.0	25th	Ecurie Francorchamps	Lucien Bianchi Gérard Langlois van Ophem Jean Blaton	Ferrari 365P2	171
50	GT + 3.0	99	Joe Treadwell	Roger West Dick Macon	Ford Mustang	168
51	P + 2.0	24	Drummond Racing Organization	Innes Ireland Mike Hailwood George Drummond	Ferrari 250LM	90
52	GT 1.6	19th	David McClain	Duncan Forlong Leland Dieas David McClain	Porsche 356B Super 90	80
53	P + 2.0	26th	Ecurie Francorchamps	Léon Dernier Jacky Ickx	Ferrari 250LM	80
54	P + 2.0	74	Queen City Rambler	Larry Hess, Tommy Hess	Rambler Marlin	80
55	S 2.0	47	David Lane	David Lane Don Sesslar	Porsche 904 GTS	74
56	GT + 3.0	77	Space science	John Bentley John Hill	Sunbeam Tiger	71
57	GT 3.0	5	Robert Harper	Spurgeon May Bobby Allison	Chevrolet Corvair	63
58	P + 2.0	28	Team Chamaco Collect	Denis Hulme Vic Wilson	Ferrari 250LM	53
59	GT + 3.0	12	Jaguar of Florida	Dave Hull Herb Byrne Bob Kingham	Jaguar E-Type	41
Not started
60	GT 1.6	85	Anatoly Arutunoff	Bill Clark Bryan Crow Anatoly Arutunoff	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint	1

¹ cylinder damage in training

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
61	P 2.0	10	John Fulp	John Fulp Charlie Kolb Bruce Jennings Bill Rutan	Porsche 904/8 Bergspyder
62	S 2.0	11	Victor Merino	Victor Merino	Porsche 904 GTS
63	P + 2.0	33	Don Fong	Charlie Hayes Rick Muther	Ferrari 275P
64	S 2.0	34	George Drolsom	George Drolsom James Mahoney	Porsche 904 GTS
65	GT + 3.0	58	Richard Robson	Art Baggely Richard Robson Bill Buchman Paul Buchman	Jaguar E-Type
66	GT 1.6	83	Eduardo Dibós	Eduardo Dibós Mario Colabattisti	Alfa Romeo Giulia

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P + 2.0	Ken Miles	Lloyd Ruby		Ford Mk.II	Overall victory
P 2.0	Hans Herrmann	Herbert Linge		Porsche 906	Rank 6
S + 3.0	Peter Sutcliffe	Bob Grossman		Ford GT40	Rank 14
S 3.0	Larry Perkins	Jack slot day		Ferrari 250 GTO	Rank 19
S 2.0	Gerhard Mitter	Joe Buzzetta		Porsche 904 GTS	Rank 7
S 1.6	Donna Mae Mims	Janet Guthrie	Suzy Dietrich	Sunbeam Alpine	Rank 32
GT + 3.0	Dick Guldstrand	Ben Moore	George Wintersteen	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	Rank 12
GT 3.0	Dana Kelder	Macaw Dube	Red Wilson	Triumph TR4A	Rank 23
GT 2.0	Jack Ryan	Lin Coleman	Bill Bencker	Porsche 911	Rank 16
GT 1.6	Ben Scott	Peter Flanagan	Roger Chastain	Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint	Rank 25

Racing data

• Registered: 65
• Started: 59
• Rated: 32
• Race classes: 10
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: cold and dry
• Route length: 6.132 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24:01:02,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 678
• Total distance of the winning team: 4157.225 km
• Winner's average: 173.093 km / h
• Pole position: Ken Miles - Ford Mk.II (# 98) - 1: 57.800 = 187.384 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Dan Gurney - Ford Mk.II (# 97) - 1: 57,000 = 187.543 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• JJ O'Mailey: Daytona 24 Hours: The Definitive History of America's Great Endurance Race. 1st edition. David Bull Pub, 2003, ISBN 1-893618-24-2 .

Web links

• Results
• Race report

Previous race Bridgehampton 500 km race 1965, 2nd race

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 12-hour race at Sebring in 1966