The 1966 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 3 July 1966. It was race 3 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the "60th Anniversary race" of Grand Prix racing, which had started with the GP of France in 1906. It was also the 16th and last time the French Grand Prix was held on variations of French highways near Reims, following a three-year absence from the region. The race was held over 48 laps of the circuit for a race distance of .
The race was won by the 1959 and 1960 World Champion, Australian driver Jack Brabham, driving his Brabham BT19. It was Brabham's eighth Grand Prix victory and his first since the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix, six years earlier. It was also his first win since establishing his Brabham team, and the first win for the Australian-developed Repco-Brabham V8 engine. Brabham became the first driver to win a World Championship Grand Prix in a car bearing his own name. British driver Mike Parkes finished second in a Ferrari 312, 9.5 seconds behind, while Brabham's team-mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme, finished third in his Brabham BT20, albeit two laps down.
Brabham now led the Driver's Championship on 12 points, two ahead of Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini and three ahead of BRM's Jackie Stewart and Ferrari's John Surtees. The win was the first of four in succession for Brabham as he began his march towards his third world title.
Race summary Jim Clark was a non-starter, recovering from an accident after he was hit in the eye by a bird during practice. Qualifying was firmly in the hands of Ferrari and especially Lorenzo Bandini with a pole set at 2:07.8 in his 3-litre 312/66, averaging 146.112 mph (233.780 km/h). After the start, Bandini duly led, with Jack Brabham in what would later be nicknamed his 'Old Nail' BT19 – which had a bit less straightline speed – following in his slipstream for a while. Mike Parkes, who had taken over at Ferrari from John Surtees acquitted himself well, duelling with Graham Hill for third place, becoming second when Hill's camshaft broke. When the Italian had to retire due to a broken throttle linkage, Brabham took first place at the finish – his first win since the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix and the first driver to win a championship Grand Prix in his own car. It was also the last race ever at Reims-Gueux, the original venue of the Formula One French Grand Prix.
1950 World Champion Nino Farina died in a car accident while on his way to watch this race.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap1 20 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 2:07.8—2 10 John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 2:08.4 +0.63 22 Mike Parkes Ferrari 2:09.1 +1.34 12 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 2:10.2 +2.45 6 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 2:10.9 +3.16 38 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 2:12.2 +4.47 8 Chris Amon Cooper-Maserati 2:12.4 +4.68 16 Graham Hill BRM 2:12.8 +5.09 14 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 2:13.3 +5.510 32 Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 2:14.2 +6.411 42 Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 2:15.4 +7.612 36 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 2:15.6 +7.813 2 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax 2:15.6 +7.814 2 Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 2:16.5 +8.715 26 Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 2:17.9 +10.116 44 John Taylor Brabham-BRM 2:19.2 +11.417 4 Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 2:19.6 +11.818 30 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 2:23.5 +15.7 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 48 1:48:31.3 4 9 2 22 Mike Parkes Ferrari 48 + 9.5 3 6 3 14 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 46 + 2 Laps 9 4 4 6 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 46 + 2 Laps 5 3 5 26 Dan Gurney Eagle-Climax 45 + 3 Laps 14 2 6 44 John Taylor Brabham-BRM 45 + 3 Laps 15 1 7 36 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 44 + 4 Laps 12 8 8 Chris Amon Cooper-Maserati 44 + 4 Laps 7 42 Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 42 + 6 Laps 11 2 Pedro Rodríguez Lotus-Climax 40 Oil Leak 13 20 Lorenzo Bandini Ferrari 37 + 11 Laps 1 30 Jo Bonnier Brabham-Climax 32 + 16 Laps 17 16 Graham Hill BRM 13 Engine 8 38 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 10 Fuel System 6 32 Mike Spence Lotus-BRM 8 Clutch 10 10 John Surtees Cooper-Maserati 5 Fuel System 2 4 Peter Arundell Lotus-BRM 3 Gearbox 16 2 Jim Clark Lotus-Climax Accident (18)
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 6 1 Jack Brabham 12 1 2 Lorenzo Bandini 10 3 John Surtees 9 2 4 Jackie Stewart 9 1 5 Jochen Rindt 9Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 21 2 2 Brabham-Repco 12 1 3 BRM 9 1 4 Cooper-Maserati 9 5 Eagle-Climax 2Source:
References