Factory Inc. 2.1.67 – Tap, Produce, and Sell in this Amazing Game

Although the new season would actually start two days before the end of 1966, there had been a lot of movement over the winter.[2] It had all started when John Surtees signed for the factory Honda Racing team once they announced that they would be committing to a full season of Formula One.[2] The Englishman's departure meant there was a spare seat at the factory Cooper-Maserati effort, with Pedro Rodríguez jumping out of Team Lotus as confusion reigned over the future of the Norfolk squad's driver line up.[2]

Factory Inc. 2.1.67 –

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Indeed, it was arguably Clark's biggest British rival, and friend, Graham Hill who stepped in to the Norfolk squad leaving Lotus with arguably the strongest driver line up, but with two questionable cars.[2] Hill's departure left a vacant seat at the factory BRM team, who drafted in ex-Lotus racer Mike Spence to partner Jackie Stewart.[2] Spence's move meant the privateer Reg Parnell Racing team were without a driver, so team owner Tim Parnell decided to bring in Formula 2 racer Piers Courage for the new season.[2]

Elsewhere, Stewart and BRM were continuing to experiment with tyres, ignoring their overheating problems which seemed to be more minor in the intense heat, until the Scot's session was ended by a radiator leak.[2] The privateers were enjoying differing fortunes too, with the locals Dave Charlton and John Love stealing the show, the latter leaping up to fourth with a lap a little over a second slower than Brabham.[2] The full time privateers, in contrast, were really struggling in the heat as Jo Bonnier and Jo Siffert joined the factory Cooper team in struggling to cool their cars.[2]

After a night of rebuilding, which featured a really early morning session for Honda, where Surtees finally got some serious running in in cooler temperatures, although these were not official times.[2] When the Saturday session opened it was the Cooper quartet who went out first to try and cure their issues, with the factory cars getting cut-away noses, relocated fuel pumps and modified air-ducts.[2] BRM were finally ready to run two cars, although Stewart would not complete a lot of running as the team decided to prepare his car for the race once he recorded a 1:30.3.[2]

The factory Cooper-Maserati effort were handed an early lead in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers standing after their victory courtesy of Rodriguez. Cooper were also in second with the privateer Climax powered effort of Love, while Honda were in third due to Surtees. Brabham-Repco were in fourth, the rules of the World Championship meaning that only the best placed car from each team scored points, with Brabham appearing again with the privateer Climax of Anderson. 2ff7e9595c