Belgian Grand Prix

Spa-Francorchamps, 9 Jun 1963

All cars are 1.5-litre F1 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Cooper T66 [F1-4-63] (Bruce McLaren): New for Cooper F1 team leader Bruce McLaren to drive in 1963, starting at the Glover Trophy at Goodwood in April. McLaren was second at Goodwood, second again at the International Trophy, third at Monaco and second in the Grand Prix de Belgique. He then crashed the car at the German GP at the Nürburgring in August and it was written off.
2. Porsche 718/2 [202] (Carel Godin de Beaufort): The first works 718/2 was driven by Jo Bonnier and Hans Herrmann in 1960 as well as being loaned out to other teams on a couple of occasions. It was kept as a spare in 1961 and then sold to Heinz Schiller for 1962. Count de Beaufort bought it as a spare to his chassis 1 for 1963 but the car saw little use thereafter and was acquired by the Donington Museum following de Beaufort's death. It was still in the museum in 2007. (Source: History of the Grand Prix Car 1945-65, Nye)
3. Cooper T66 [F1-5-63] (Tony Maggs): New for Cooper F1 No 2 driver Tony Maggs to drive in 1963, starting at the International Trophy at Silverstone in May. This car is believed to have been sold to Switzerland in 1964, and was raced by Andre Wicky in Swiss national events in 1965. It was last seen at the Syracuse Grand Prix in 1966, but was entered for the same event in 1967 only to be damaged en route.
4. Lotus 24 [945] (Jim Hall): New to UDT-Laystall/British Racing Partnership late in 1962, fitted with a BRM V8 and raced by Masten Gregory at the Oulton Park Gold Cup. Run by British Racing Partnership for Jim Hall in F1 in 1963, still with a BRM V8, but heavily damaged by Mike Beckwith in a one-off drive at the Oulton Park Gold Cup. Then to Bob King's Racing Preparations Ltd and used in libre racing with a 1475cc Coventry Climax engine in 1964. For 1965, King changed the engine to a 2.5-litre Climax, and entered the car for Tony Lanfranchi in libre racing that summer. Then to Ted Martin for the Martin V8 but then on to Warner Brothers in 1966 for their planned film 'Day of the Champion'. Next seen with Jim Dillamore in 1967 and from him to dealer Fred Opert in the US. It was next seen when auctioned by Rick Cole at Monterey in 1988 and then when advertised by Richard Ward in 1989. Ward sold it in March 1990 to collector Everett Anton Singer, at which point the car had a 2-litre BRM engine and 1984 HSCC HVIF, but after a court case in 1994, it returned to Ward. Rumoured to have been acquired by Jim Hall but this seems unlikely. Then unknown until it was reported to be the car raced by Alessandro Ripamonti in the Monaco Historics in 1997.
5. Lotus 24 [950] (Jo Siffert): After its F1 career, the Lotus 24 became the basis of the Cegga-Ferrari, mated to a 3-litre 250 GT V12 engine and used in hillclimbs. It was built in 1967 and driven by Georges Gachnang in 1967 and then sold to Philippe Panis in France for 1968, to René Barone for 1968 and 1969, to Hugues Hazard 1970 and then Jean-Louis Belliard at the end of that season. It returned to Switzerland in 1970 or 1971 when it was driven by Michel Rizzo. It then passed to Jean-Pierre Lüscher who raced it as "F1 Ferrari", again in hillclimbs, in 1972 and 1973. In the latter season, it had acquired a big US V8 but the Ferrari engine returned when it was raced by Bernard Gueissaz from 1974 to 1976.
6. ATS 100 ['1'] (Phil Hill): Phil Hill's ATS Tipo 100 is regarded as No '1'
7. Brabham BT3 [F1-1-62] (Jack Brabham): Raced by Jack Brabham in F1 in 1962 and retained as a spare car during the 1963 season. Used by Brabham to win the non-championship Solitude and Austrian GPs and also by Denny Hulme for the F1 race at Karlskoga. Sold to Brighton garage owner Ian Raby for 1964 and raced in F1 events fitted with a BRM V8 engine. Retained for 1965 but now used mostly in non-championship events and even in libre racing. To Tony Dean in Leeds at the end of 1965 but sold on quite quickly by him to David Hepworth in nearby Brighouse for hillclimbing. Fitted with a 4.6-litre Chevrolet V8 and used in British hillclimbs in 1966 but without any great success. Sold to John Scott-Davies in February 1967 and then on to Tim Stock a few months later for circuit racing but appeared only rarely. Sold to Fred Opert to be exported to the US but instead sold back to Hepworth who sold it on to Tom Wheatcroft for his museum. Restored (eventually) by 1971 and in Wheatcroft's Donington Museum when it opened in 1973. Ever present in the museum for nearly 40 years until the collection started to be disbanded after Wheatcroft's death. Sold to Marco Rollinger (Luxembourg) in 2012 and prepared for historic racing.
8. Cooper T66 [F1-2-63] (Jo Bonnier): New to Rob Walker and entered for Jo Bonnier in F1 in 1963, replacing an older ex-works T60. Retained for 1964 but soon replaced by a Brabham BT11 and used as a spare car with a BRM V8 engine, It's engine and gearbox were then transferred to Walker's ex-works Brabham BT7 and the car was sold to Bill Bradley and then on the John Axon. It was fitted with a 4727cc Ford Cobra V8 and raced in libre very successfully in 1965 and 1966, interrupted only by a heavy accident at Oulton Park in 1965. Sold to Jim Charnock (Liverpool) for 1967 and raced regularly in libre for another two seasons. To John Scott Davies briefly in early 1969 then to Mike Coombe and John Dean who shared it in F5000 and libre in 1969. Sold to Alan Mountain who entered it in libre and hillclimb events for John Lambert (York) in 1971. The engine was transferred into a Leda F5000 chassis and the rest of the car was sold to collector John McCartney. Subsequently via Jim Gleave, Howden Ganley, Hugh Edgely, Peter Bloore, Rod Tolhurst and John Harper to Anthony Mayman in early 1986. Then to Sid Hoole in 1992 and fully restored. Raced in historic events by Hoole for over 20 years.

Sources

The identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' original results.

3-litre Formula 1 World Championship events 1966-1985

These 1966 to 1985 results were initially compiled by Allen Brown, but these were in the very basic form required to track individual car histories. Since then further details, such as laps completed, qualifying times and so on, have been added from Rob Ryder's extensive database.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com if you can help with our research.