1963 Brands Hatch 6 Hours Explained

'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.ClassDriversEntrantCar - EngineLapsReason Out
DISQ69 Mike Salmon Peter SutcliffeAtherstone EngineeringJaguar Mk II 3.8166inlet valve size
1st59 Roy Salvadori Denny HulmeTommy AtkinsJaguar Mk II 3.8165
2nd79 Peter Lindner Peter Nöcker Jaguar Mk II 3.8 162
3rd 236 Jack Sears Bo LjungfeldtJohn Willment AutomobilesFord Cortina GT162
4th167/8 Tom Trana Carl-Magnus SkoghVolvo ABVolvo 122 S161
DISQ147/8 Peter Sargent Peter LumsdenREC ParkesMercedes-Benz 220SE159Non-homologate gear ratios
6th285 John Whitmore Paddy HopkirkBMC Mini Cooper S159
7th 29 Gawaine Baillie Peter JoppFord Galaxie159
8th 295 John Rhodes Rob SlotemakerCooper Car Co.Morris Mini Cooper S158
9th19 Dan Gurney Jack BrabhamAlan BrownFord Galaxie157
10th 246 Jimmy Blumer Henry TaylorAlan Andrews RacingFord Cortina Super157
11th 305 Christabel Carlisle Denise McCluggageDon MooreMorris Mini Cooper S158
12th97/8 Edward Harrison John ManussisJohn Willment AutomobilesFord Zodiac Mk 3155
13th206 Piero Frescobaldi Leo CellaHF Squadra CorseLancia Flavia Coupé155
14th176 Peter Harper Chris AmonAlan Fraser Racing TeamSunbeam Rapier155
15th324 John Aley Rauno AaltonenCooper Car Co.Austin Mini Cooper S154
16th256 Ernst Furtmayr Hans-Dieter DechentSquadra TartarugaAlfa Romeo Giulia TI153
17th216 Franco Patria Romolo RossiHF Squadra CorseLancia Flavia Coupé153
18th 334 Elizabeth Jones Timo MäkinenAlexander Engineering Co.Austin Mini Cooper153
19th186 Bill Blydenstein Chris LawrenceLawrencetune EnginesVauxhall VX4/90153
20th275 Alan Foster Andrew HedgesDick JacobsMG 1100153
21st265 Anita Taylor Anne HallJohn Willment AutomobilesFord Anglia Super151
22nd117/8 Luigi Cabella Giorgio PiantaHF Squadra CorseLancia Flaminia 3B coupé146
DISQ49 John Sprinzel Merton LuciaJohn Sprinzel RacingFord Galaxie145Loose bonnet
24th
(DNF)		49 Albert Powell Ken BakerZenith FilmsJaguar Mk II 3.8143Clutch
25th 354 Edward Lewis Julien VernaeveWestover RacingMorris Mini Cooper142
26th
(DNF)		89 Chris McLaren John CouldleyChris McLarenJaguar Mk II 3.8140Oil Leak
27th344 Loek Nerden Alexander RoellEcurie LonertexAustin Mini Cooper76Engine
DNF127/8 Piero Frescobaldi Carlo FacettiHF Squadra CorseLancia Flaminia 3B coupéAccident
DNF107/8 Roy Pierpoint Alan MannAlan Andrews RacingFord Zodiac Mk 3Lost wheel
DNF389 John Sparrow Neil DangerfieldD. M. RacingJaguar Mk II 3.8Overheating
DNF157/8 Jochen Neerpasch Peter ScherrerSquadra TartarugaVolvo 132 S59Accident
DNF315 Mike Clare Tony RuttAlexander Engineering Co.BMC Mini Cooper S34Accident
DNF364 Peter Clarke John AnsteadPeter ClarkeAbarth 1000 Berlina Corsa4Misfire
DNF226 Les Leston David HaynesJohn Willment AutomobilesFord Cortina GT3Clutch
DNQ9 Jack Sears Bo LjungfeldtJohn Willment AutomobilesFord GalaxieWithdrawn after homologation dispute re disc brake fitting
DNQ236 John Uren Peter BoltonJohn Willment AutomobilesFord Cortina GTCar taken over by Sears/Ljunfeldt
DISQ196 Alan Hutcheson Bob AndersonRiley 1.5Rejected at scrutineering
Source:[5]

[3] [5]

Class Winners

ClassWinners
OverallSalvadori / HulmeJaguar Mk II 3.8
Class 9Lindner / NöckerJaguar Mk II 3.8
Class 7/8Trana / SkoghVolvo 122 S
Class 6Sears / LjungfeldtFord Galaxie
Class 5Whitmore / HopkirkBMC Mini Cooper S
Class 4Aley / AaltonenAustin Mini Cooper S
Source:

Standings after the race

PosChampionshipPoints
1 Luigi Cabella29
2 John Aley27
3 Ernst Furtmayr26
4= Peter Linder24
Peter Nöcker
Björn Rothstein
Tom Trana

Championship points were awarded for the first seven places in each race in the order of 12-10-8-7-5-6-4.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Official Programme, 'The Motor' International Six Hour Saloon Car Race, Brands Hatch, Saturday, July 6, 1963
  2. Web site: Brands Hatch 6 Hours 1963 . Racing Sports Cars . 2014-02-02.
  3. Web site: 1963 ETCCC - round 3 . Touringcarracing.net . 2014-02-02.
  4. Peter Swinger, "Motor Racing Circuits in England : Then & Now" (Ian Allan Publishing,, 2008)
  5. Web site: Brands Hatch 6 Hours 1963 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars.
  6. Web site: European Touring Car championship - 1963.

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