1966 Italian Grand Prix

The 1966 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 4 September 1966. It was race 7 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the 36th Italian Grand Prix and the 32nd to be held at Monza. The race was held over 68 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a race distance of 391 kilometres.

1966 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Date4 September 1966
Official nameXXXVII Gran Premio d'Italia
LocationAutodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Italy
CoursePermanent racing facility
Course length5.750 km (3.573 miles)
Distance68 laps, 391.000 km (242.964 miles)
WeatherWarm, dry and sunny
Pole position
DriverFerrari
Time1:31.3
Fastest lap
DriverItaly Ludovico ScarfiottiFerrari
Time1:32.4 on lap 49
Podium
FirstFerrari
SecondFerrari
ThirdBrabham-Repco
Lap leaders

The race was won by Italian driver Ludovico Scarfiotti driving a Ferrari 312 in his only Grand Prix victory. Scarfiotti led home his British team mate Mike Parkes by five seconds. Parkes only just defeated New Zealand racer Denny Hulme in his Brabham BT20, the pair separated by less than half a second.

While series points leader Jack Brabham stopped with an oil leak in his Brabham BT19 on lap seven, he secured his third world championship, and the unique achievement of becoming world champion in a car of his own make, when his only remaining points rival John Surtees stopped with a fuel leak in his Cooper T81 24 laps later.

Race report

Race winner Ludovico Scarfiotti inside his Ferrari 312 prior the start

Jack Brabham was odds-on favourite for the Championship – only John Surtees could stop him and only then by winning all three remaining races. He was prevented from doing so by an impressive performance from his former employers Ferrari at their home track. Honda had brought a new 370 bhp 3 litre V12 engine for Richie Ginther, whilst Dan Gurney had his Weslake engine and Graham Hill had the BRM H16. Lorenzo Bandini and Mike Parkes led from the start, whilst Hill's engine gave up on the first lap, followed in retirement by Jackie Stewart on lap 5 with a fuel leak, and then Brabham on lap 8 with an engine failure which coated the car in oil. Jim Clark in the H16 Lotus was moving strongly through the field. On lap 17, Richie Ginther had a horrific accident, crashing heavily into the trees and being very fortunate to escape with his life. Once Clark had pitted, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Parkes, Surtees and Hill disputed the lead until Surtees withdrew with a split petrol tank which was pouring it all over his tyres and ending his championship chances. Denny Hulme had fought through the field to third place. But the race was Scarfiotti's, as he became the first Italian to win for Ferrari at Monza since Alberto Ascari in 1952. Parkes completed Ferrari's joy as he pipped Hulme by 0.3 seconds to claim second spot. Amidst all the celebrations, Jack Brabham was crowned champion. Apart from three NART entries in 1969 this race was the last time a Ferrari car was entered by a privateer team when Giancarlo Baghetti drove a private car entered by the British Reg Parnell team.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
14 Mike ParkesFerrari1:31.3
26 Ludovico ScarfiottiFerrari1:31.6+0.3
320 Jim ClarkLotus-BRM1:31.8+0.5
414 John SurteesCooper-Maserati1:31.9+0.6
52 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari1:32.0+0.7
610 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco1:32.2+0.9
718 Richie GintherHonda1:32.4+1.1
816 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati1:32.7+1.4
928 Jackie StewartBRM1:32.81+1.51
1012 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco1:32.84+1.54
1126 Graham HillBRM1:33.4+2.1
1238 Jo BonnierCooper-Maserati1:33.7+2.4
1324 Peter ArundellLotus-BRM1:34.1+2.8
1442 Mike SpenceLotus-BRM1:35.0+3.7
1540 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax1:35.3+4.0
1644 Giancarlo BaghettiFerrari1:35.5+4.2
1736 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati1:36.3+5.0
1848 Bob BondurantBRM1:36.9+5.6
1934 Dan GurneyEagle-Climax1:37.6+6.3
2022 GekiLotus-Climax1:39.3+8.0
DNQ34 Phil HillEagle-Climax1:40.0+8.7
DNQ32 Chris AmonBrabham-BRM1:40.3+9.0
  • Clark, Geki, and Spence switched numbers for the race when they are driving the same cars.
  • Phil Hill's car was driven by Gurney in practice, but he would drive car #30 of Eagle-Weslake for the race.

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
16 Ludovico ScarfiottiFerrari681:47:14.829
24 Mike ParkesFerrari68+ 5.816
312 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco68+ 6.1104
416 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati67+ 1 lap83
532 Mike SpenceLotus-BRM67+ 1 lap142
640 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax66+ 2 laps151
748 Bob BondurantBRM65+ 3 laps18
824 Peter ArundellLotus-BRM63Engine13
920 GekiLotus-Climax63+ 5 Laps20
NC44 Giancarlo BaghettiFerrari59Not Classified16
Ret22 Jim ClarkLotus-BRM58Gearbox3
Ret36 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati46Engine17
Ret2 Lorenzo BandiniFerrari33Ignition5
Ret14 John SurteesCooper-Maserati31Fuel Leak4
Ret18 Richie GintherHonda16Accident7
Ret10 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco7Oil Leak6
Ret30 Dan GurneyEagle-Weslake7Engine19
Ret28 Jackie StewartBRM5Fuel Leak9
Ret38 Jo BonnierCooper-Maserati3Throttle12
Ret26 Graham HillBRM0Engine11
DNQ34 Phil HillEagle-Climax
DNQ32 Chris AmonBrabham-BRM
Source:[1]

Championship standings after the race

Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Brabham-Repco40 (43)
2 Ferrari31 (32)
3 BRM22
4 Cooper-Maserati20
5 Lotus-Climax7
Source: [2]

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References


Previous race:
1966 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1966 season
Next race:
1966 United States Grand Prix
Previous race:
1965 Italian Grand Prix
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1967 Italian Grand Prix