# 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. 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.
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.

## 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.
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.

## Results

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

## Statistics

* 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