1966 Australian Touring Car Championship

The 1966 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group C Improved Production Touring Cars.[1] It was contested over a single 20-lap race staged at the Mount 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.[2]

1966 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous: 1965 Next: 1967

Ian Geoghegan, driving a Ford Mustang, claimed his second Australian Touring Car Championship title and the first of four consecutive titles that he would achieve in Mustangs.[3]

Race summary

Ian Geoghegan had upgraded to 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.[3]

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.[3]

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.[3]

Results
Pos. Class No. Driver Entrant [2] Car Laps Time/Retired Grid [4] [5]
1 Over 3000cc 1 Ian Geoghegan Total Team Ford Mustang 20 54:30.2 1
2 Over 3000cc 3 Norm Beechey1 Neptune Racing Team Chevrolet Chevy II Nova 20 +32.8 3
3 1501–2000cc 12 Kevin Bartlett Alec Mildren Racing Pty Ltd Alfa Romeo GTA 20 +2:19.8 4
4 1101–1500cc 76 John Harvey R.C. Phillips Sports Car World Austin Cooper S 19 +1 lap 5
5 1101–1500cc 99 Phil Barnes Vaughan & Lane Morris Cooper S 19 +1 lap 8
6 0–1100cc 15 John French J. French Morris Cooper S 18 +2 laps 10
7 1501–2000cc 71 Bill Brown Scuderia Veloce Volvo 122S 18 +2 laps 13
8 1101–1500cc 13 Bob Holden B.M.C. (Australia) Pty Ltd Morris Cooper S 17 +3 laps 17
9 1101–1500cc 38 Don Holland Don Holland Motors Morris Cooper S 17 +3 laps 18
10 1101–1500cc 42 A. Patterson A.R. Patterson Ford Cortina Mark I GT 17 +3 laps 22
11 1101–1500cc 75 Peter Mander Marque Motors Morris Cooper S 17 +3 laps 19
12 1101–1500cc 64 David Frazer Renno Motors Renault R8 Gordini 16 +4 laps ?
13 2001–3000cc 23 John Hall H. Taylor Holden X2 16 +4 laps 24
14 2001–3000cc 82 A. Barrow A. Barrow Holden FJ 16 +4 laps 28
15 0–1100cc 33 John Prisk Varsity Auto Centre Morris Cooper 16 +4 laps 25
16 0–1100cc 84? [6] Digby Cooke Marque Motors Morris Cooper 16 +4 laps ?
17 0–1100cc 54 M. Schneider Marque Motors Morris Mini Deluxe 16 +4 laps ?
18 0–1100cc 43 Ross Edgerton Ross Edgerton Renault R8 13 +7 laps 23
19 1101–1500cc 45 G. MacDonald Esso Servicenter Ford Cortina Mark I GT 7 +13 laps ?
Ret 1101–1500cc 100 Charlie Smith C.G. Smith Morris Cooper S 17 12
Ret 0–1100cc 84? [6] Bill Stanley Marque Motors Morris Cooper 16 27
Ret 2001–3000cc 119 Warren Weldon Waggott Engineering Holden EH Special S4 15 Crankshaft 7
Ret 1101–1500cc 28 Bruce Wright Peter Owen Racing Morris Cooper S 14 15
Ret 1101–1500cc 32 R. Lindsay R. Lindsay Renault R8 Gordini 13 26
Ret 2001–3000cc 2 Terry Allan Syndal Motors Holden EH Special S4 12 Clutch failure [4] 9
Ret 0–1100cc 66 Bob Edgerton Robert Edgerton Morris Cooper S 7 ?
Ret 2001–3000cc 53 Malcolm Bailey M. Bailey Ford Zephyr 5 ?
Ret 0–1100cc 11 T. McGee Esso Servicentre (Waterloo) Morris Cooper 4 ?
DNS Over 3000cc 2 Norm Beechey1 Neptune Racing Team Ford Mustang - Withdrew (2)
DNS 2001–3000cc 55 Don Smith Smith Auto Accessories Holden EH Special S4 - Accident in preliminary race [7] (6)
DNS Over 3000cc 105 Alton Boddenberg Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service Chrysler Valiant - Clutch problems in preliminary race [7] (11)
Sources:[3][4][7]

Notes:

Statistics
  • Pole position: Ian Geoghegan, 2:40.7 [3]
  • Fastest lap: Ian Geoghegan, 2:40.4 [3] (New record [4])
  • Race distance: 20 laps, 123.44 km [3]
  • Winner's average speed: 135.89 km/h [3]

References
  1. Conditions for Australian Titles, 1966 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 70 to 73
  2. Souvenir Programme, Bathurst National Open Meeting, 11 April 1966, page 35
  3. 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. 64–69. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
  4. Medley, John (1997). Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing. Wahroonga, New South Wales: Turton & Armstrong Pty Ltd. pp. 359–360. ISBN 978-0-9080317-0-2.
  5. 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.
  6. 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
  7. Howard, Graham (May 1966). "Geoghegan – The Greatest". Racing Car News. Chippendale, New South Wales: Publishers Photo Digest Pty Ltd. pp. 26–27.
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