1966 German Grand Prix

 1966 German Grand Prix

Racing data
6th of 9 races of the 1966 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XXVIII Grand Prix of Germany
Date:	7th August 1966
Place:	Nuerburg , Germany
Course:	Nürburgring
Length:	342.15 km in 15 laps of 22.81 km
Weather:	cloudy, rain
Pole position
Driver:	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax
Time:	8: 16.5 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	John Surtees (Round 4)	Cooper Maserati
Time:	8: 49.0 min
Podium
First:	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Second:	John Surtees	Cooper Maserati
Third:	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Maserati

The 1966 German Grand Prix took place on August 7, 1966 at the Nürburgring near Nürburg and was the sixth race of the 1966 World Cup . John Taylor collided with debut Jackie Ickx and died four weeks later of infection from the burns that resulted from the accident.

Reports

background

John Taylor, fatally injured

Debut race from Piers Courage (picture from 1968)

Jean-Pierre Beltoise's debut race (picture from 1968)

Debut race of Jackie Ickx (left - picture from 1975)

Debut race of Matra with the Matra MS5

Bandini in a Ferrari 312 during training for the 1966 German GP

Winner Jack Brabham during training before the 1966 German GP in the paddock of the Nürburgring

Three weeks after the Dutch Grand Prix , the German Grand Prix took place, which took place at the Nürburgring together with the Formula 2 race. The last time both series took place in the same race was the 1958 German Grand Prix . The Formula 2 drivers were denied points in the Automobile World Championship , but their training times for the starting grid and their placement in the race counted for the race result. This measure was taken by the organizers in order to offer the fans more vehicles and thus more entertainment on the more than 22 kilometers long route.

At Lotus , regular drivers Jim Clark and Peter Arundell continued to drive the Lotus 33 . Since there were problems with a damper in the previous races, it was left out for the time being. Clark drove with a Climax unit for the last time of the season , the remaining races he contested with the BRM engine. In addition to the works team, the Lotus Formula 2 team, operated by Ron Harris , took part in the race. For Gerhard Mitter , Pedro Rodríguez and Piers Courage , three Lotus 44s were used, which had a Ford-Cosworth engine with 1.0 liter displacement. In contrast to the factory team's Firestone tires, Dunlop tires were used. For Mitter it was the only news in 1966, Rodríguez contested his second race of the season after a two-race break and Courage made his debut in the World Automobile Championship. This was also his first race in Formula 2; previously he mainly drove in Formula 3 . In 1967 Courage returned to the World Automobile Championship and drove with Reg Parnell Racing .

Ferrari entered three vehicles for the Grand Prix. Regular drivers Lorenzo Bandini and Mike Parkes drove the Ferrari 312/66 with 3.0-liter V12 engine and Dunlop tires, Ludovico Scarfiotti drove a Ferrari 246 Tasman with 2.6-liter V6 engine and Firestone tires. Scarfiotti had returned to Ferrari after he last competed in a Grand Prix in the World Automobile Championship at the 1964 Italian Grand Prix. McLaren was originally registered for the race, but withdrew the registration and did not show up. In the teams with customer vehicles, the Rob Walker Racing Team withdrew the report due to disputes about the entry fee. Guy Ligier was registered for a race for the last time in 1966 and then ended the season due to an injury. For John Taylor and Chris Lawrence it was the last race of their careers. Taylor had an accident in the race and died a few weeks later from his injuries. Lawrence then drove a few races in the sports car world championship and later became a vehicle designer.

With the Formula 2 starter, the designer Matra made his debut in the automobile world championship. Matra competed with both a factory team and the Tyrrell customer team . A few years later, both teams competed permanently in the automobile world championship, Tyrrell became a very successful team that won the 1971 world constructors championship. After several takeovers, the current owner, the Mercedes AMG F1 Team, won more titles . Drivers Jo Schlesser and Jean-Pierre Beltoise made their debut for Matra Sports . Their vehicle was a Matra MS5 fitted with Dunlop tires and a Ford 1.0 liter engine. The car was built according to Formula 3 regulations and painted blue. Hubert Hahne and Jacky Ickx made their debut for Tyrrell in the automobile world championship. The team also relied on the Matra MS5, but the Hahne car had a BRM engine. Roy Winkelmann Racing reported two Brabham BT18s with Ford engines. Alan Rees made his debut, Hans Herrmann drove his last race in the automobile world championship after a five-year break. In 1969 he registered again for a Grand Prix, but did not take part in the race. Moreover drove Kurt Ahrens his debut race with a private Brabham BT18 and Silvio Moser was reported for the first time, with a private Brabham BT16 .

With Joakim Bonnier , Graham Hill , John Surtees and Jim Clark , four former winners participated in the race, Surtees was the only one of these pilots to win the race twice. Among the constructors, Ferrari had previously been victorious eight times, Lotus twice and BRM once. In the drivers' standings, Jack Brabham was clearly ahead of Hill and Jackie Stewart , but all drivers still had theoretical chances of winning the world championship. In the constructors' championship, Brabham was ahead of Ferrari and BRM, and here too all constructors had theoretical chances of winning the title.

training

The first training session took place on Friday afternoon and lasted 1.5 hours; the weather conditions were very good. Denis Hulme could not take part because his car had an engine failure. In addition, missing Dan Gurney and Taylor because their vehicles were not ready, and Ligier, who had not yet arrived at the track. Stewart set the first fastest time, but was two seconds slower than the pole time of the previous year, when the 1.5 liter displacement was still being driven. This indicated that all drivers were still working on the setting and that no fast laps were being made. After the first practice session, Clark was second ahead of Scarfiotti.

The second training session, which also lasted 1.5 hours, began at 4 p.m. It started to rain right at the beginning, so the track was wet for the entire training session. When Ligier went on his first lap, he lost control of his car shortly after the start straight and slipped off the track. He then had an accident in a forest and was thrown out of the car by the impact on a few trees. He broke his knee and suffered other minor injuries. Ligier then paused the rest of the season and only returned to the World Automobile Championship at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1967 . Due to the rain no times were improved, so Stewart continued to lead in front of Clark and Scarfiotti.

The training session took place on Saturday afternoon, in which the drivers had more than two hours. Hulme's car was repaired, but Clark didn't drive for a while because the transmission on his Lotus had to be changed. He then set a new best time that was more than seven seconds faster than his pole time last year. Scarfiotti had an accident and slightly damaged his Ferrari. Hill's engine was damaged, so that his training was also ended prematurely. Clark secured pole position and was 1.5 seconds faster than second-placed Surtees. Stewart qualified in third place and Scarfiotti finished fourth. With Brabham in fifth place, five different designers qualified in the first five places. Behind them the two Ferraris from Bandini and Parkes started. The first ten were completed by Gurney, Jochen Rindt and Hill. Among the drivers with customer vehicles, Bob Bondurant was the fastest in eleventh place, and Ickx took the best starting position of the Formula 2 starters in 16th place.

run

Three drivers did not start. Ligier was injured after his training accident, Mitter suffered from a foot injury and did not feel fit enough for the race. Moser did not start because of an engine failure. The weather on race day was rainy; consequently the track was wet during the whole race. At the start, the vehicles with 3.0-liter engines had an advantage. Surtees took the lead, followed by Brabham, Bandini and Rindt. Clark, who started from first place, fell back many places due to the weaker engine with a displacement of 2.0 liters.

A serious accident occurred in the rear field. Ickx and Taylor collided with each other in the “Quiddelbacher Höhe” section. Taylor's car caught fire and burned out. Taylor was rescued from the Brabham by Ickx, but suffered severe burns to the face and chest. He died four weeks later from a burn infection. This was the first fatal accident in a race of the automobile world championship since the Grand Prix of Italy in 1961 , when Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips had a fatal accident. He remained the only driver who had a fatal crash on Brabham in the automobile world championship, later Formula 1. Ickx continued the Grand Prix, but retired one lap later with a gearbox failure. Anderson drove through the wreckage of the accident and damaged his car in the process.

On the first lap of the race, Brabham once again used the superiority of his car and took the lead from Surtees and Rindt. Clark had improved to fourth place, followed by Gurney, Stewart, Bandini and Parkes. The rain had eased slightly, but kept coming back, which kept the track wet. Surtees was right behind Brabham, Gurney caught up with Clark and Hill overtook Parkes and Bandini. On the third lap of the race, Gurney passed Clark and Hill overtook Stewart, followed by Clark one lap later. In third place, Rindt was far ahead and behind him with a large lead over Gurney. From the second lap of the race on, some drivers in the back field dropped out. Anderson retired with a power transmission problem. Bondurant parked his car at the pits with engine failure. At Ahrens the gearbox was the reason for failure, at Bonnier the clutch. On lap four, Rees also had an engine failure and Courage went off the track, which ended the race for him too. Beltoise led the Formula 2 race ahead of Hahne and Schlesser.

In the sixth lap, Hulme began to fight his way through the field. First he passed Stewart, then Clark. Two laps later, he also passed Hill. However, when he was about to overtake Gurney, his Brabham suffered an engine failure and Hulme also retired. At the same time Rodríguez and Parkes had engine failures; the race was also over for both drivers. Scarfiotti did not reach the destination either, as did Lawrence and Spence, who parked their vehicles with defects. Clark had an accident on lap eleven, but was uninjured. So there were only twelve vehicles left in the race.

At the front, Brabham increased the lead over Surtees to over 40 seconds; because Surtees had problems with the clutch and had to shift through the gears without clutching. Without any technical difficulties, Brabham finished the German Grand Prix with his fourth win in a row, the last of the season. This was Brabham's only victory at a German Grand Prix, and it was the first for the designer Brabham. After the race, Brabham said that at the beginning of the season he had taken a risk by choosing a reliable engine that might not be as powerful as that of other designers, but lighter. He never thought it would turn out so well. About the race itself, Brabham said that it was very close and required all his skills to stay in the lead. Surtees finished second ahead of teammate Rindt and won his first podium on Cooper. Behind the two Cooper drivers, Hill and Stewart crossed the finish line in the points, while Bandini was classified in sixth place. Gurney fell two places back due to a technical defect and came in seventh. Beltoise won the Formula 2 race ahead of Hahne and Schlesser, Herrmann came fourth.

Surtees set the fastest race lap, this was his second of the season. In the drivers' championship, Brabham extended his lead and was 22 points ahead of Hill and 24 points ahead of Surtees in third place. Only three drivers had theoretical chances for the title: Brabham, Surtees and Stewart. Brabham was enough a win in the next race to win the world championship early. Surtees and Stewart, on the other hand, had to win to maintain their chances. In the constructors' championship, Brabham led Ferrari by 16 points, followed by BRM one point less. Here, too, a victory in the next race was enough to win the title early, or Ferrari and BRM shouldn't have won it.

Registration list

formula 1

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Team Lotus	01	Jim Clark	Lotus 33	Climax 2.0 V8	F.
	02	Peter Arundell		BRM 2.0 V8
Brabham Racing Organization	03	Jack Brabham	Brabham BT19	Repco 3.0 V8	G
	04th	Denis Hulme	Brabham BT20
Owen Racing Organization	05	Graham Hill	BRM P261	BRM 2.0 V8	G
	06th	Jackie Stewart			D.
Cooper Car Company	07th	John Surtees	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	D.
	08th	Jochen Rindt
Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	09	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 312/66	Ferrari 3.0 V12	D.
	10	Mike Parkes
	11	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari 246 Tasman	Ferrari 2.4 V6	F.
Anglo American Racers	12	Dan Gurney	Eagle T1G	Climax 2.7 L4	G
Team Chamaco Collect	14th	Bob Bondurant	BRM P261	BRM 2.0 V8	G
Reg Parnell Racing	15th	Mike Spence	Lotus 25	BRM 2.0 V8	F.
David Bridges	16	John Taylor	Brabham BT11	BRM 2.0 V8	G
Anglo Suisse Racing Team	17th	Joakim Bonnier	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	F.
Guy Ligier	18th	Guy Ligier	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	D.
DW Racing Enterprises	19th	Bob Anderson	Brabham BT11	Climax 2.7 L4	F.
JA Pearce Engineering	20th	Chris Lawrence	Cooper T73	Ferrari 2.9 V12	D.

Formula 2

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Caltex Racing Team	25th	Kurt Ahrens	Brabham BT18	Ford 1.0 L4	D.
Tyrrell Racing Organization	26th	Hubert Hahne	Matra MS5	BRM 1.0 L4	D.
Ken Tyrrell Racing	27	Jacky Ickx	Matra MS5	Ford 1.0 L4	D.
Roy Winkelmann Racing	28	Hans Herrmann	Brabham BT18	Ford 1.0 L4
	29	Alan Rees
Ron Harris / Team Lotus	30th	Gerhard Mitter	Lotus 44	Ford 1.0 L4	D.
	31	Pedro Rodríguez
	32	Piers Courage
Matra Sports	33	Jo Schlesser	Matra MS5	Ford 1.0 L4	D.
	34	Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Silvio Moser Racing Team	35	Silvio Moser	Brabham BT16	Ford 1.0 L4	D.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	8: 16.5	165.39 km / h	01
02	John Surtees	Cooper Maserati	8: 18.0	164.89 km / h	02
03	Jackie Stewart	BRM	8: 18.8	164.63 km / h	03
04th	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	8: 20.2	164.17 km / h	04th
05	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	8: 20.8	163.97 km / h	05
06th	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	8: 21.1	163.87 km / h	06th
07th	Mike Parkes	Ferrari	8: 21.7	163.68 km / h	07th
08th	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Climax	8: 22.8	163.32 km / h	08th
09	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Maserati	8: 27.7	161.74 km / h	09
10	Graham Hill	BRM	8: 28.6	161.45 km / h	10
11	Bob Bondurant	BRM	8: 33.0	160.07 km / h	11
12	Joakim Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	8: 35.2	159.39 km / h	12
13	Mike Spence	Lotus BRM	8: 38.6	158.34 km / h	13
14th	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	8: 42.5	157.16 km / h	14th
15th	Denis Hulme	Brabham-Repco	8: 49.3	155.14 km / h	15th
16	Jacky Ickx	Matra Ford	8: 52.0	154.35 km / h	16
17th	Peter Arundell	Lotus BRM	8: 52.7	154.15 km / h	17th
18th	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	9: 00.4	151.95 km / h	18th
19th	Jo Schlesser	Matra Ford	9: 01.5	151.65 km / h	19th
20th	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus Ford	9: 03.0	151.23 km / h	20th
21st	Kurt Ahrens	Brabham-Ford	9: 04.7	150.75 km / h	21st
22nd	Hans Herrmann	Brabham-Ford	9: 05.7	150.48 km / h	22nd
23	Piers Courage	Lotus Ford	9: 06.0	150.40 km / h	23
24	Silvio Moser	Brabham-Ford	9: 06.0	150.40 km / h	-
25th	Alan Rees	Brabham-Ford	9: 08.4	149.74 km / h	24
26th	John Taylor	Brabham-BRM	9: 08.9	149.60 km / h	25th
27	Chris Lawrence	Cooper-Ferrari	9: 10.9	149.06 km / h	26th
28	Hubert Hahne	Matra-BRM	9: 17.0	147.43 km / h	27
29	Gerhard Mitter	Lotus Ford	9: 32.2	143.51 km / h	-
30th	Guy Ligier	Cooper Maserati	no time	-	-

run

Item	Cat.	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	F1	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	15th	0	2: 27: 03.0	05
02	F1	John Surtees	Cooper Maserati	15th	0	+ 44.4	02	8: 49.0
03	F1	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Maserati	15th	0	+ 2: 23.6	09
04th	F1	Graham Hill	BRM	15th	0	+ 6: 41.4	10
05	F1	Jackie Stewart	BRM	15th	0	+ 8: 28.9	03
06th	F1	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	15th	0	+ 10: 56.4	06th
07th	F1	Dan Gurney	Eagle-Climax	14th	0	+ 1 lap	08th
08th	F2	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	14th	0	+ 1 lap	18th
09	F2	Hubert Hahne	Matra-BRM	14th	0	+ 1 lap	27
10	F2	Jo Schlesser	Matra Ford	14th	0	+ 1 lap	19th
11	F2	Hans Herrmann	Brabham-Ford	14th	0	+ 1 lap	22nd
12	F1	Peter Arundell	Lotus BRM	14th	0	+ 1 lap	17th
-	F1	Mike Spence	Lotus BRM	12	0	DNF	13		alternator
-	F1	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	11	0	DNF	01		accident
-	F1	Chris Lawrence	Cooper-Ferrari	10	0	DNF	26th		suspension
-	F1	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	09	0	DNF	04th		electrical damage
-	F1	Mike Parkes	Ferrari	09	0	DNF	07th		Engine damage / accident
-	F2	Pedro Rodríguez	Lotus Ford	08th	0	DNF	20th		Engine failure
-	F1	Denis Hulme	Brabham-Repco	08th	0	DNF	15th		ignition
-	F2	Piers Courage	Lotus Ford	04th	0	DNF	23		accident
-	F2	Alan Rees	Brabham-Ford	04th	0	DNF	24		Engine damage / transmission
-	F1	Joakim Bonnier	Cooper Maserati	03	0	DNF	12		coupling
-	F1	Bob Bondurant	BRM	03	0	DNF	11		Engine failure
-	F2	Kurt Ahrens	Brabham-Ford	03	0	DNF	21st		transmission
-	F1	Bob Anderson	Brabham-Climax	02	0	DNF	14th		Power transmission
-	F2	Jacky Ickx	Matra Ford	01	0	DNF	16		Power transmission
-	F1	John Taylor	Brabham-BRM	00	0	DNF	25th		fatal collision with Ickx
-	F1	Guy Ligier	Cooper Maserati	00	0	DNS			Training accident / injury
-	F2	Gerhard Mitter	Lotus Ford	00	0	DNS			Injury / not fit
-	F2	Silvio Moser	Brabham-Ford	00	0	DNS			Engine failure

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points. Only the five best results from nine races counted. In the constructors' championship, only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 39 02  Graham Hill BRM 17th 03  John Surtees Ferrari / Cooper Maserati 15th 04th  Jochen Rindt Cooper Maserati 15th 05  Jackie Stewart BRM 14th 06th  Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 12 07th  Denis Hulme Brabham-Repco 10 08th  Jim Clark Lotus Climax 7th

Item driver constructor Points 09  Mike Parkes Ferrari 6th 10  Bob Bondurant BRM 3 11  Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 2 12  Richie Ginther Cooper Maserati 2 13  Mike Spence Lotus BRM 2 14th  John Taylor Brabham-BRM 1 15th  Bruce McLaren McLaren Serenissima 1

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Brabham-Repco 39 02  Ferrari 23 03  BRM 22nd 04th  Cooper Maserati 17th 05  Lotus Climax 7th 06th  Eagle-Climax 2 07th  Lotus BRM 2 08th  Brabham-BRM 1 09  McLaren Serenissima 1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "The German Grand Prix - Brabham works hard" (motorsportmagazine.com on June 6, 2016)
2. ^ "German Grand Prix - Four in a row all but seals Brabham's title" (en.espnf1.com on June 1, 2016)

Web links

• Results at motorsport-total.com
• Grand Prix Results: German GP, ​​1966
• Photos at f1-facts.com