1963 Brands Hatch 6 Hours
'The Motor' International Six Hour Saloon Car Race [1] 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.[2][3]
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.[4]
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.[2][3]
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.[2][3]
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.[2][3][4]
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 | Atherstone Engineering | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 166 | inlet valve size | ||
1st | 5 | 9 | Tommy Atkins | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 165 | |||
2nd | 7 | 9 | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 162 | ||||
3rd | 23 | 6 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | 162 | |||
4th | 16 | 7/8 | Volvo AB | Volvo 122 S | 161 | |||
DISQ | 14 | 7/8 | REC Parkes | Mercedes-Benz 220SE | 159 | Non-homologate gear ratios | ||
6th | 28 | 5 | BMC Mini Cooper S | 159 | ||||
7th | 2 | 9 | Ford Galaxie | 159 | ||||
8th | 29 | 5 | Cooper Car Co. | Morris Mini Cooper S | 158 | |||
9th | 1 | 9 | Alan Brown | Ford Galaxie | 157 | |||
10th | 24 | 6 | Alan Andrews Racing | Ford Cortina Super | 157 | |||
11th | 30 | 5 | Don Moore | Morris Mini Cooper S | 158 | |||
12th | 9 | 7/8 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Zodiac Mk 3 | 155 | |||
13th | 20 | 6 | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flavia Coupé | 155 | |||
14th | 17 | 6 | Alan Fraser Racing Team | Sunbeam Rapier | 155 | |||
15th | 32 | 4 | Cooper Car Co. | Austin Mini Cooper S | 154 | |||
16th | 25 | 6 | Squadra Tartaruga | Alfa Romeo Giulia TI | 153 | |||
17th | 21 | 6 | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flavia Coupé | 153 | |||
18th | 33 | 4 | Alexander Engineering Co. | Austin Mini Cooper | 153 | |||
19th | 18 | 6 | Lawrencetune Engines | Vauxhall VX4/90 | 153 | |||
20th | 27 | 5 | Dick Jacobs | MG 1100 | 153 | |||
21st | 26 | 5 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Anglia Super | 151 | |||
22nd | 11 | 7/8 | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flaminia 3B coupé | 146 | |||
DISQ | 4 | 9 | John Sprinzel Racing | Ford Galaxie | 145 | Loose bonnet | ||
24th (DNF) |
4 | 9 | Zenith Films | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 143 | Clutch | ||
25th | 35 | 4 | Westover Racing | Morris Mini Cooper | 142 | |||
26th (DNF) |
8 | 9 | Chris McLaren | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | 140 | Oil Leak | ||
27th | 34 | 4 | Ecurie Lonertex | Austin Mini Cooper | 76 | Engine | ||
DNF | 12 | 7/8 | HF Squadra Corse | Lancia Flaminia 3B coupé | Accident | |||
DNF | 10 | 7/8 | Alan Andrews Racing | Ford Zodiac Mk 3 | Lost wheel | |||
DNF | 38 | 9 | D. M. Racing | Jaguar Mk II 3.8 | Overheating | |||
DNF | 15 | 7/8 | Squadra Tartaruga | Volvo 132 S | 59 | Accident | ||
DNF | 31 | 5 | Alexander Engineering Co. | BMC Mini Cooper S | 34 | Accident | ||
DNF | 36 | 4 | Peter Clarke | Abarth 1000 Berlina Corsa | 4 | Misfire | ||
DNF | 22 | 6 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | 3 | Clutch | ||
DNQ | 9 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Galaxie | Withdrawn after homologation dispute re disc brake fitting | ||||
DNQ | 23 | 6 | John Willment Automobiles | Ford Cortina GT | Car taken over by Sears/Ljunfeldt | |||
DISQ | 19 | 6 | Riley 1.5 | Rejected at scrutineering | ||||
Source:[3][5] |
- 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:[2][3] |
Standings after the race
Pos | Championship | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | 29 | |
2 | 27 | |
3 | 26 | |
4= | 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.[6]
References
- Official Programme, 'The Motor' International Six Hour Saloon Car Race, Brands Hatch, Saturday, July 6, 1963
- "Brands Hatch 6 Hours 1963". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- "1963 ETCCC - round 3". Touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- Peter Swinger, "Motor Racing Circuits in England : Then & Now" (Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0 7110 3104 5, 2008)
- http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc/results/Brands_Hatch-1963-07-06-22015.html
- http://www.touringcarracing.net/Pages/1963%20ETCC.html