1966 Rounds 5-8
Australia

Round Five: WARWICK FARM

Tasman 100

Date: 13th February 1966

45 Laps of 3.621km (162.945km)

After the last round in New Zealand, there was an extra weeks break before the Australian rounds commenced at Warwick Farm on 13th February. At this stage Stewart had 24 points in the championship, Attwood 15, Palmer 12, Hill 9 and Clark and Gardner each 6.

At the Farm, the Mildren team tried out their new toy, a Brabham fitted with a 2.5 litre V12 Maserati engine, but although it made all the right noises it was packed away after practice and Gardner returned to his Brabham-Climax. Clark won 75 bottles of champagne and pole position in practice.

In the race, Clark leapt off the line as though shot, with Hill, Stewart and Gardner close up. On lap 2 Stewart clipped the fence on the causeway, ripping chunks out of his right rear wheel, and rejoined the race in ninth place, feeling physically ill and with his handling all wrong. By lap 7 Clark had 3.0 seconds on Hill, who led Gardner by 8.2 seconds. Geoghegan was leading the 1.5 litre class, with Harvey gradually working his way through the others. The gap between Clark and Hill stayed fairly constant, but Gardner lost a second a lap. Stewart hounded Martin and Palmer for eight laps, finally passing them on laps 32 and 34. However, he could not close the gap to Gardner.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

   Frank Gardner                Graham Hill                  Jim Clark*
                      Greg Cusack             Jackie Stewart
  Spencer Martin                Jim Palmer             Leo Geoghegan
                    John McDonald             Kevin Bartlett
     Glyn Scott                  Dennis Marwood              Bob Jane
                       Mel McEwin                 Les Howard
Peter Williamson             Don O'Sullivan                Roly Levis
                                                             John Harvey

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 39 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 45 1hr 11m 03.6s
2 Graham Hill UK BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 45 1hr 11m 24.5s
3 Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 02.8s
4 Jackie Stewart Scot BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 45 1hr 12m 18.4s
5 Spencer Martin Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 23.1s
6 Jim Palmer NZ Lotus 32B / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 45 1hr 12m 28.0s
7 Leo Geoghegan Aust Lotus 32 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 44  
8 John Harvey Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 43  
9 Bob Jane Aust Elfin Mono / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 43  
10 Dennis Marwood NZ Cooper T66 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 43  
Ret Glyn Scott Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 29 Steering
Ret Kevin Bartlett Aust Brabham / BRM 1495cc 4cyl 25 Quill Shaft
Ret Mel McEwin Aust Elfin Mono / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 24 Engine
Ret Greg Cusack Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 18 Gear Selector
Ret Roly Levis NZ Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 10 Accident
Ret Don O'Sullivan Aust Cooper T66 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 7 Accident
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 0 Accident
DNS Paul Bolton Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl    
DNS Les Howard Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl    
DNS Peter Williamson Aust Elfin Imp 950    
DNS Andy Buchanan NZ Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl   Engine

Fastest Lap: Jim Clark 1m 34.0s

 

Round Six: LAKESIDE          31st Australian Grand Prix

Date: 20th February 1966

66 Laps of 2.414km (159.324km)

From Sydney, the party was trailered the 1000 plus kilometers north to Lakeside, the very fast 2.4 kilometer circuit on the outskirts of Brisbane. Here was to be staged the 31st Australian Grand Prix.

Clark was to have continual carburetion trouble throughout the weekend. Stewart gained pole with 55.4s, Hill returned 55.6s, Gardner 55.8s, and Clark 57.0s. The field was cut to 15 from the original 20, on the demand of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, so that good 1.5 litre drivers like Levis and Howard were balloted out.

Everybody went like the first lap was the last, with the order first time around Stewart, Hill, Clark, Gardner, Martin, Palmer, Geoghegan, Cusack, Bartlett, Marwood, Harvey, Buchanan, McDonald, Scott and McEwin. Cusack got by Geoghegan on lap 5, and Hill was tied to Stewart as though on a string. The race developed into three incredibly tough fights between Stewart and Hill up front, then Clark just ahead of Gardner, then a flying wedge of Palmer, Cusack and Geoghegan.

On lap 28 the whole face of the race changed. Stewart trundled into the pits with a wrecked gearbox, while in the Eastern Loop moments later Cusack clipped Palmer, Geoghegan clipped Cusack, Cusack spun and Geoghegan left the circuit, rejoining it 100 metres further on. Geoghegan retired on the next lap with a bent wishbone and Cusack two laps later. Gardner was still pushing Clark, and Scott in the 1.5 was hanging grimly on to Buchanan in the 2.5. With 5 laps to go Clark's engine went sour and Gardner passed him into second. On the second last corner, Scott slid the Lotus inside Buchanan to take 6th place.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

                       Graham Hill                    Jackie Stewart*
    Jim Clark                    Frank Gardner
                   Leo Geoghegan                Spencer Martin
  Greg Cusack                  Jim Palmer
                   John McDonald                   Kevin Bartlett
Andy Buchanan               John Harvey
                       Mel McEwin                  Dennis Marwood
                                            Glyn Scott

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Graham Hill UK BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 66 62m 38.4s
2 Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 66 62m 55.0s
3 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 39 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 66 63m 37.0s
4 Jim Palmer NZ Lotus 32B / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 64  
5 Kevin Bartlett Aust Brabham / BRM 1495cc 4cyl 63  
6 Glyn Scott Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 63  
7 Andy Buchanan NZ Brabham BT7A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 62  
8 John Harvey Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 62  
Ret Mel McEwin Aust Elfin / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 62 Accident
Ret Spencer Martin Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 48 Clutch
Ret Greg Cusack Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 30 Universal
Ret Leo Geoghegan Aust Lotus 32 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 29 Bent Wishbone
Ret Jackie Stewart Scot BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 28 Gearbox
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 23 Water Pump
Ret Dennis Marwood NZ Cooper T66 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 8 Oil Pressure
DNQ Les Howard Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl    
DNQ Roly Levis NZ Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl    

Fastest Lap: Jackie Stewart 55.5s

 

Round Seven: SANDOWN

Sandown Park International 100

Date: 27th February 1966

52 Laps of 3.103kms (161.356kms)

Sandown Park on February 27th was the next race. This was to be the first appearance in Australia of Brabham and the new Repco 2.5 litre V8, and a huge crowd of 55,000, the best of the entire 8-race series, was directly attributable to the appearance of the very popular Australian. The car went very poorly on the first two practice days, but few people took any notice of that, knowing the wily Jack.

In the Friday unofficial practice Stewart staggered everybody with a 1m 7.7s, well under the lap record. Gardner tried the Maserati again, but the engine had done so many miles in chassis testing it needed a rebuild, so he went back to the Climax car. Overnight, Repco engineers got another 30bhp on the dynamometer, and in official practice, Stewart notched 1m 8.0s, Clark 1m 8.2s and Hill and Brabham 1m 8.4s. Grid positions were determined by two heats on the Sunday of which Stewart won one and Geoghegan the other, Branham setting the new record of 1m 7.6s in finishing third to Stewart.

The start was atrocious. With the Governor-General Lord Casey dropping the flag, Brabham burst away as Stewart hesitated. Stewart passed Brabham on lap 2, with Hill and Clark right behind Brabham. An enormous fight started between the 1.5 litre cars of Geoghegan, Bartlett, Cusack and Howard, with Harvey following until he retired on lap 7. On lap 6 Brabham stopped around the back of the circuit and Stewart widened the gap between him and Hill.

With the 1.5 cars ducking in and out of the pits with all sorts of troubles, Clark started to push Hill hard, slipstreaming him down the main straight to duck out under brakes at Shell Corner, only to get back in again. Hill's clutch was starting to slip badly, but try as he might, Clark could not get past, with Stewart getting further away. On lap 31 Clark made it at Shell and immediately posted a big gap between the Lotus and Hill. Gardner was behind Palmer, making no impression at all on the New Zealander. The order stayed that way until the end.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

Jack Brabham*             Jackie Stewart               Jim Clark
                      Graham Hill                    Jim Palmer
Spencer Martin              Frank Gardner          John McDonald
                     Kevin Bartlett              Leo Geoghegan
  Les Howard                  Greg Cusack              John Harvey
                      Mel McEwin                   Don Fraser
Don O'Sullivan

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Jackie Stewart Scot BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 52 59m 37.1s
2 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 39 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 52 60m 00.9s
3 Graham Hill UK BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 52 60m 27.2s
4 Jim Palmer NZ Lotus 32B / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 51  
5 Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 50  
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 50  
6 Les Howard Aust Lotus 27 / Ford 1495cc 4cyl 47  
7 Greg Cusack Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 45  
8 Kevin Bartlett Aust Brabham / BRM 1495cc 4cyl 40  
Ret Mel McEwin Aust Elfin / Ford 1500cc 4cyl 25 Oil Pressure
Ret Don O'Sullivan Aust Cooper T66 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 22 Engine
Ret Spencer Martin Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 18 Engine
Ret Leo Geoghegan Aust Lotus 32 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 17 Steering
Ret John Harvey Aust Brabham BT6 / Ford 1498cc 4cyl 7 Overheating
Ret Jack Brabham Aust Brabham BT19 / Repco 2493cc V8 6 Oil Pump
Ret Don Fraser Aust Cooper T66 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 2 Accident

Fastest Lap: Jackie Stewart 1m 08.1s

 

Round Eight: LONGFORD

Examiner 45 Mile Race

Date: 7th March 1966

27 Laps of 7.242kms (195.535kms)

The last race of the eight-race series is always at Longford, the delightful 4.5 mile true road circuit around and through the township of Longford, nine miles from Launceston in Tasmania. After a short trip by ocean ferry, the cars arrive on Thursday for initial practice on Friday.

Stewart again took the champagne, with a slashing 2m 16.0s after a 30 minute long war of nerves and skill with his team leader. The 1.5 litre cars had been asked to stay away from Longford, allegedly because of the speed differential, but as it turned out they would have been quite competitive. Stewart won the 45 mile preliminary race on the Saturday from Hill and Clark after Brabham had gone down an escape road after getting a bee sting on his face. The cars were topping 170 mph on the long straights, Stewart being the quickest.

So it was only a small field of 8 cars who faced the starter for the 121 mile main race, final round of the Tasman Cup. Hill made a deplorable start, with Brabham taking to the gravel on the outside to get around him. Stewart streaked away into an impossible lead. It was an extremely hot day and most drivers were watching their temperature gauges. By lap 3 Hill passed a disconsolate Brabham into third, and passed Clark under brakes into the very slow Newry corner to get second on lap 6. But Clark repassed Hill two laps later, and the two started  a marvelous slipstreaming fight that held the only interest in the race. But with Brabham going back at a second a lap, Hill got Clark again on lap 11. Two laps later Clark pulled into the pits with a detached plug lead and got back into the race in last place. As Clark went out, Gardner flew in to rip off a loose panel, but was behind Martin and Palmer then. Stewart ran comfortably home to win, Hill battled clutch slip into second, and Clark was last finisher home.

Grid: (* denotes pole)

Jackie Stewart*              Graham Hill               Jim Clark
                    Jack Brabham            Frank Gardner
   Jim Palmer               Spencer Martin        John McDonald

Result Driver Nat Car

Laps

Time
1 Jackie Stewart Scot BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 27 62m 55.4s
2 Graham Hill UK BRM P261 / BRM 1916cc V8 27 64m 01.6s
3 Jack Brabham Aust Brabham BT19 / Repco 2493cc V8 27 64m 28.7s
4 Jim Palmer NZ Lotus 32B / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 27 64m 32.2s
5 Spencer Martin Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 27 64m 35.2s
6 Frank Gardner Aust Brabham BT11A / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 26  
7 Jim Clark Scot Lotus 39 / Climax 2495cc 4cyl 25  
Ret John McDonald Aust Cooper T70 / Climax 2499cc 4cyl 25  

Fastest Lap: Jackie Stewart 2m 18.5s

 

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