The 18th

BRDC International Trophy The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, al ...

was a

motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

, run to Formula One rules, held on 14 May 1966 at the

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

, England. The race was run over 35 laps of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, and was won by Australian Jack Brabham in the

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

- Repco

BT19 The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the and Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third List of Formula ...

. With no Race of Champions in 1966, the International Trophy formed the first major race of the European season, being run just a week before the start of the FIA World Championship in Monaco. The 1966 season was significant, as changes to the F1 formula had allowed an increase in engine capacity from 1.5L to 3L. This then was the first opportunity for many teams to test their new cars against top-line opposition.

Pre-race

The "''return to power''" caused some manufacturers significant problems, as the supply of suitable large-capacity engines was restricted. Only four teams managed to provide true 3-litre cars this early in the season. Regular front runners

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

and

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

were both prepared with new vehicles, as was former World Champion Jack Brabham's eponymous team, fielding Australian Repco engines. The fourth team to have a 3L car was

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

, however, their engine was far from new. The team's first monocoque chassis, the Cooper T81 was fitted with what was in essence

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

's 1950s engine, which had seen success in the Maserati 250F, bored out to the new capacity limit.

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

's new H16 engine was also slated to appear, but reliability problems resulted in Peter Arundell being forced to withdraw his Lotus-BRM prior to qualifying.

Race Report

From the beginning of practice it became apparent that the race would be a straight fight between the Ferrari of John Surtees and Jack Brabham's Brabham. The pair qualified at the head of the field, with Brabham taking pole by only 0.2 of a second. The race went the same way, with Brabham being forced to equal his pole time in order to stay ahead of Surtees's hard-charging Ferrari. Despite qualifying an impressive third, Jochen Rindt's Cooper developed mechanical troubles and dropped him back to fifth by the end of the race. However, the surprise of the field was the sister Cooper of Jo Bonnier - run by Bonnier's

Anglo-Suisse Racing Team Ecurie Bonnier, Ecurie Suisse, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team and Anglo-Suisse Racing Team were names used by Swedish racing driver Joakim Bonnier to enter his own cars in Formula One, Formula Two and sports car racing between 1957 and his death in 1 ...

and painted in Swiss racing red and white - who managed to climb from sixth to take the third place on the podium. It would prove to be Bonnier's last podium finish in a Formula One car, after a prolific career dating back a decade. Close behind Bonnier, Denny Hulme managed to bring an ageing Brabham home in fourth.

Results

* Qualified 7th, but started from the back of the grid in replacement car.

References

External links

* Race Report at A Second A La

{{BRDC International Trophy BRDC International Trophy

BRDC The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...