# 1963 Brands Hatch 6 Hours

'The Motor' International Six Hour Saloon Car Race was the third round of the 1963 European Touring Car Challenge, and was held at Brands Hatch on the Grand Prix circuit, on 6 July.
This, the second Motor-sponsored Six-Hour saloon car race, was run in appalling conditions, like the 1962 event. The large crowd of approximately 15000, witnessed the favourite, a 7-litre Ford Galaxie driven by Dan Gurney and Jack Brabham flounder in the wet and the Jaguar Mk II dominate the race. Victory went to Roy Salvadori and Denny Hulme from Peter Lindner and Peter Nöcker after the winners on the road, Mike Salmon and Pete Sutcliffe, were disqualified for engine irregularities.

## Report
### Entry

A fine entry of 39 cars were accepted for the event, across five classes. However, scrutineering meant trouble for those Ford Galaxies which had disc brakes; Gawaine Baillie was only allowed to start the meeting on the promise of photographic evidence of the brake mounting – otherwise he would be disqualified. John Willment Automobiles was not prepared for this and withdrew their Galaxie. Of the cars accepted, 37 cars practised.

### Qualifying

Grid positions were determined by engine capacity rather than practice times. As a result, the record books show John Sprinzel on pole, in his 7-litre Ford Galaxie. However, the fastest time in practise was set by the pairing of Dan Gurney and Jack Brabham in their Galaxie.

### Race

The start with the slow car of John Sprinzel on pole, brought Mike Salmon into second place in Jaguar Mk. II following the early leader, Gawaine Baillie’s Galaxie, ahead of the American Dan Gurney (Galaxie) and John Coundley (Jaguar Mk II). Handicapped by wrong tyres, Gurney spun at South Bank, but somehow the whole field avoided him. After two laps, Baillie had dropped to third, giving way to Salmon and Peter Lindner, while Gurney spun again. By the fourth lap, Gurney came in for a tyre change on the rear – before the start, he could only change the fronts.
The terrible conditions made for an interesting race; Lindner nearly lost his Jaguar Mk. II, and he was not the only one. Albert Powell hit a bank, but continued after repairs, and Mick Clare rolled his Mini. After the pit stops, at the three-hour mark, the leaders were Roy Salvadori, Salmon, Lindner (all Jaguars), Jack Sears, Jimmy Blumer (both in Cortinas) with Tom Trana in sixth, in his Volvo. The quick pit stop of the Atherstone Engineering Jaguar moved Salmon into the lead, its lead now over a lap. Salvadori/Denny Hulme were second, Sears fourth and Lindner/Peter Höcker fifth.
At 8:30pm, six hours after the race started and 166 laps of the Grand Prix circuit, the chequered flag dropped and the pairing of Salmon/Pete Sutcliffe won the race, with Salvadori/Hulme second, Lindner/Höcker completing the podium, just ahead of Sears/Bo Ljungfeldt with Trana/Carl-Magnus Skogh fifth. Once again scrutineering revealed problems for the winner: the Jaguar Mk. II was disqualified for having oversized inlet valves. The winner's average speed was published as 73.477mph.

## Classification
### The Motor 6 hours

Class Winners are in Bold text. Please note that race winner, was not declared class winner.
| Pos. | No. | Class | Drivers | | Entrant | Car - Engine | Laps | Reason Out |
| DISQ | 6 | 9 | Mike Salmon | Peter Sutcliffe | Atherstone Engineering | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 166 | inlet valve size |
| 1st | 5 | 9 | Roy Salvadori | Denny Hulme | Tommy Atkins | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 165 | |
| 2nd | 7 | 9 | Peter Lindner | Peter Nöcker | | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 162 | |
| 3rd | 23 | 6 | Jack Sears | Bo Ljungfeldt | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | 162 | |
| 4th | 16 | 7/8 | Tom Trana | Carl-Magnus Skogh | Volvo AB | Volvo 122 S | 161 | |
| DISQ | 14 | 7/8 | Peter Sargent | Peter Lumsden | REC Parkes | Mercedes-Benz 220SE | 159 | Non-homologate gear ratios |
| 6th | 28 | 5 | John Whitmore | Paddy Hopkirk | | BMC Mini Cooper S | 159 | |
| 7th | 2 | 9 | Gawaine Baillie | Peter Jopp | | Ford Galaxie | 159 | |
| 8th | 29 | 5 | John Rhodes | Rob Slotemaker | Cooper Car Co. | Morris Mini Cooper S | 158 | |
| 9th | 1 | 9 | Dan Gurney | Jack Brabham | Alan Brown | Ford Galaxie | 157 | |
| 10th | 24 | 6 | Jimmy Blumer | Henry Taylor | Alan Andrews Racing | Ford Cortina Super | 157 | |
| 11th | 30 | 5 | Christabel Carlisle | Denise McCluggage | Don Moore | Morris Mini Cooper S | 158 | |
| 12th | 9 | 7/8 | Edward Harrison | John Manussis | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Zodiac Mk 3 | 155 | |
| 13th | 20 | 6 | Piero Frescobaldi | Leo Cella | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flavia Coupé | 155 | |
| 14th | 17 | 6 | Peter Harper | Chris Amon | Alan Fraser Racing Team | Sunbeam Rapier | 155 | |
| 15th | 32 | 4 | John Aley | Rauno Aaltonen | Cooper Car Co. | Austin Mini Cooper S | 154 | |
| 16th | 25 | 6 | Ernst Furtmayr | Hans-Dieter Dechent | Squadra Tartaruga | Alfa Romeo Giulia TI | 153 | |
| 17th | 21 | 6 | Franco Patria | Romolo Rossi | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flavia Coupé | 153 | |
| 18th | 33 | 4 | Elizabeth Jones | Timo Mäkinen | Alexander Engineering Co. | Austin Mini Cooper | 153 | |
| 19th | 18 | 6 | Bill Blydenstein | Chris Lawrence | Lawrencetune Engines | Vauxhall VX4/90 | 153 | |
| 20th | 27 | 5 | Alan Foster | Andrew Hedges | Dick Jacobs | MG 1100 | 153 | |
| 21st | 26 | 5 | Anita Taylor | Anne Hall | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Anglia Super | 151 | |
| 22nd | 11 | 7/8 | Luigi Cabella | Giorgio Pianta | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flaminia 3B coupé | 146 | |
| DISQ | 4 | 9 | John Sprinzel | Merton Lucia | John Sprinzel Racing | Ford Galaxie | 145 | Loose bonnet |
| 24th (DNF) | 4 | 9 | Albert Powell | Ken Baker | Zenith Films | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 143 | Clutch |
| 25th | 35 | 4 | Edward Lewis | Julien Vernaeve | Westover Racing | Morris Mini Cooper | 142 | |
| 26th (DNF) | 8 | 9 | Chris McLaren | John Couldley | Chris McLaren | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 140 | Oil Leak |
| 27th | 34 | 4 | Loek Nerden | Alexander Roell | Ecurie Lonertex | Austin Mini Cooper | 76 | Engine |
| DNF | 12 | 7/8 | Piero Frescobaldi | Carlo Facetti | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flaminia 3B coupé | | Accident |
| DNF | 10 | 7/8 | Roy Pierpoint | Alan Mann | Alan Andrews Racing | Ford Zodiac Mk 3 | | Lost wheel |
| DNF | 38 | 9 | John Sparrow | Neil Dangerfield | D. M. Racing | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | | Overheating |
| DNF | 15 | 7/8 | Jochen Neerpasch | Peter Scherrer | Squadra Tartaruga | Volvo 132 S | 59 | Accident |
| DNF | 31 | 5 | Mike Clare | Tony Rutt | Alexander Engineering Co. | BMC Mini Cooper S | 34 | Accident |
| DNF | 36 | 4 | Peter Clarke | John Anstead | Peter Clarke | Abarth 1000 Berlina Corsa | 4 | Misfire |
| DNF | 22 | 6 | Les Leston | David Haynes | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | 3 | Clutch |
| DNQ | | 9 | Jack Sears | Bo Ljungfeldt | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Galaxie | | Withdrawn after homologation dispute re disc brake fitting |
| DNQ | 23 | 6 | John Uren | Peter Bolton | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | | Car taken over by Sears/Ljunfeldt |
| DISQ | 19 | 6 | Alan Hutcheson | Bob Anderson | | Riley 1.5 | | Rejected at scrutineering |
| Source: |||||||||
* Fastest lap: Denny Hulme, 2:04.000secs. (77.375 mph)

### Class Winners

| Class | Winners | |
| Overall | Salvadori / Hulme | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 |
| Class 9 | Lindner / Nöcker | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 |
| Class 7/8 | Trana / Skogh | Volvo 122 S |
| Class 6 | Sears / Ljungfeldt | Ford Galaxie |
| Class 5 | Whitmore / Hopkirk | BMC Mini Cooper S |
| Class 4 | Aley / Aaltonen | Austin Mini Cooper S |
| Source: |||

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Championship | Points |
| 1 | Luigi Cabella | 29 |
| 2 | John Aley | 27 |
| 3 | Ernst Furtmayr | 26 |
| 4= | Peter Linder | 24 |
| 4= | Peter Nöcker | 24 |
| 4= | Björn Rothstein | 24 |
| 4= | Tom Trana | 24 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings.
Championship points were awarded for the first seven places in each race in the order of 12-10-8-7-5-6-4.