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The 1966 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title openββto Group C Improved Production Touring Cars. It was contested over a single 20-lap race staged at theββMount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia on Easter Monday, "11 April 1966." And was the seventh running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The race was sponsored by, the Neptune Oil Company, Sydney.
Ian Geoghegan, driving Ford Mustang, claimed his second Australian Touring Car Championship title. And the "first of four consecutive titles that he would achieve in Mustangs."
Race summaryβ»
Ian Geoghegan had upgradedββto a Ford Mustang and took pole position ahead of Norm Beechey, who had qualified both his Mustang and his new Chevrolet Chevy II Nova. Despite lapping quicker in the Mustang, "Beechey elected to race the more powerful Chevy II Nova." Don Smith had qualified sixth in his Holden EH S4. But was unable to start due to an accident in a preliminary race.
Beechey led away from the start and "gradually increased his lead during the first half of the 20-lap race," moving 9.6 seconds ahead of Geoghegan by the end of lap 8. Three cars had been retired at this point: T. McGee's Morris Cooper, Malcolm Bailey's Ford Zephyr and Bob Edgerton's Morris Cooper S.
Geoghegan started to reduce the gap on lap 9 and caught Beechey on lap 13 before passing him on lap 14. Terry Allan retired from the race on lap 13 while fellow Holden runner Warren Weldon retired on lap 16 with a broken crankshaft. Beechey's pace dropped off for the remainder of the race, with reported clutch troubles, allowing Geoghegan to take an easy victory. Kevin Bartlett, driving an Alfa Romeo GTA, was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap, albeit nearly two minutes behind Beechey. John Harvey and Phil Barnes completed the top five, one lap down on the leaders.
Resultsβ»
Pos. | Driver | No. | Car | Entrant | Class | Laps | Time/Remarks | Grid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1 | Ford Mustang | Total Team | Over 3000cc | 20 | 54:30.2 | 1 |
2 | ![]() |
3 | Chevrolet Chevy II Nova | Neptune Racing Team | Over 3000cc | 20 | +32.8 | 3 |
3 | ![]() |
12 | Alfa Romeo GTA | Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd | 1501β2000cc | 20 | +2:19.8 | 4 |
4 | ![]() |
76 | Austin Cooper S | R.C. Phillips Sports Car World | 1101β1500cc | 19 | +1 lap | 5 |
5 | ![]() |
99 | Morris Cooper S | Vaughan & Lane | 1101β1500cc | 19 | +1 lap | 8 |
6 | ![]() |
15 | Morris Cooper S | J. French | 0β1100cc | 18 | +2 laps | 10 |
7 | ![]() |
71 | Volvo 122S | Scuderia Veloce | 1501β2000cc | 18 | +2 laps | 13 |
8 | ![]() |
13 | Morris Cooper S | B.M.C. (Australia) Pty Ltd | 1101β1500cc | 17 | +3 laps | 17 |
9 | ![]() |
38 | Morris Cooper S | Don Holland Motors | 1101β1500cc | 17 | +3 laps | 18 |
10 | ![]() |
42 | Ford Cortina Mark I GT | A.R. Patterson | 1101β1500cc | 17 | +3 laps | 22 |
11 | ![]() |
75 | Morris Cooper S | Marque Motors | 1101β1500cc | 17 | +3 laps | 19 |
12 | ![]() |
64 | Renault R8 Gordini | Renno Motors | 1101β1500cc | 16 | +4 laps | ? |
13 | ![]() |
23 | Holden X2 | H. Taylor | 2001β3000cc | 16 | +4 laps | 24 |
14 | ![]() |
82 | Holden FJ | A. Barrow | 2001β3000cc | 16 | +4 laps | 28 |
15 | ![]() |
33 | Morris Cooper | Varsity Auto Centre | 0β1100cc | 16 | +4 laps | 25 |
16 | ![]() |
84? | Morris Cooper | Marque Motors | 0β1100cc | 16 | +4 laps | ? |
17 | ![]() |
54 | Morris Mini Deluxe | Marque Motors | 0β1100cc | 16 | +4 laps | ? |
18 | ![]() |
43 | Renault R8 | Ross Edgerton | 0β1100cc | 13 | +7 laps | 23 |
19 | ![]() |
45 | Ford Cortina Mark I GT | Esso Servicenter | 1101β1500cc | 7 | +13 laps | ? |
Ret | ![]() |
100 | Morris Cooper S | C.G. Smith | 1101β1500cc | 17 | 12 | |
Ret | ![]() |
84? | Morris Cooper | Marque Motors | 0β1100cc | 16 | 27 | |
Ret | ![]() |
119 | Holden EH Special S4 | Waggott Engineering | 2001β3000cc | 15 | Crankshaft | 7 |
Ret | ![]() |
28 | Morris Cooper S | Peter Owen Racing | 1101β1500cc | 14 | 15 | |
Ret | ![]() |
32 | Renault R8 Gordini | R. Lindsay | 1101β1500cc | 13 | 26 | |
Ret | ![]() |
2 | Holden EH Special S4 | Syndal Motors | 2001β3000cc | 12 | Clutch failure | 9 |
Ret | ![]() |
66 | Morris Cooper S | Robert Edgerton | 0β1100cc | 7 | ? | |
Ret | ![]() |
53 | Ford Zephyr | M. Bailey | 2001β3000cc | 5 | ? | |
Ret | ![]() |
11 | Morris Cooper | Esso Servicentre (Waterloo) | 0β1100cc | 4 | ? | |
DNS | ![]() |
2 | Ford Mustang | Neptune Racing Team | Over 3000cc | - | Withdrew | (2) |
DNS | ![]() |
55 | Holden EH Special S4 | Smith Auto Accessories | 2001β3000cc | - | Accident in preliminary race | (6) |
DNS | ![]() |
105 | Chrysler Valiant | Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service | Over 3000cc | - | Clutch problems in preliminary race | (11) |
Sources: |
Notes:
- Class winners are indicated by bold text.
- ^1 Norm Beechey qualified in both his Ford Mustang and his Chevrolet Chevy II Nova but chose to race the latter.
Statisticsβ»
- Attendance: 20,000
- Pole position: Ian Geoghegan, 2:40.7
- Fastest lap: Ian Geoghegan, 2:40.4 (New record)
- Race distance: 20 laps, 123.44 km
- Winner's average speed: 135.89 km/h
Referencesβ»
- ^ Conditions for Australian Titles, 1966 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 70 to 73
- ^ Souvenir Programme, Bathurst National Open Meeting, 11 April 1966, page 35
- ^ Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 64β69. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
- ^ Medley, John (1997). Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing. Wahroonga, New South Wales: Turton & Armstrong Pty Ltd. pp. 359β360. ISBN 978-0-9080317-0-2.
- ^ The grid lineup shown on page 360 of John Medley's Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing does not show names for all grid positions.
- ^ W Stanley and D Cooke are both listed to drive the No 84 Marque Motors Morris Cooper in the entry list for the ATCC race in the Souvenir Programme
- ^ Howard, Graham (May 1966). "Geoghegan β The Greatest". Racing Car News. Chippendale, New South Wales: Publishers Photo Digest Pty Ltd. pp. 26β27.
- ^ James Laing-Peach, Geoghegan: A Title Regained, Sports Car World, June 1966, pages 42, 43 & 62