1966 Trans-American Sedan Championship

The 1966 Trans-American Sedan Championship was the inaugural running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series auto racing series. It was open to FIA Group 1 and FIA Group 2 cars and was contested over seven races.[1] Manufacturers titles were awarded for both Over 2 Liter and Under 2 Liter cars with Ford and Alfa Romeo winning their respective class championships.[1] Horst Kwech and Gaston Andrey were subsequently named Drivers co-champions in 1980 when the SCCA retroactively named drivers championships for the series after the 1980 season.

Schedule

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Alfa Romeo won the Under 2 liter championship with its GTA model

The championship was contested over a seven race series.[1] Overall winner race winners are shown in bold.

Rnd [1] Race [1] Date [1] Circuit [1] Distance [1] Over 2 liter - Winning car [1] Under 2 liter - Winning car [1]
Over 2 liter - Winning driver(s) [1] Under 2 liter - Winning driver(s) [1]
1 Sebring 4-Hour International Touring Race March 25 Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida 348.4 mi (560.7 km) Dodge Dart Alfa Romeo GTA
  Bob Tullius
  Tony Adamowicz
  Jochen Rindt
2 Mid-America 300 June 12 Mid-America Raceway, Wentzville, Missouri 299.25 mi (481.60 km) Ford Mustang Alfa Romeo GTA
  Tom Yeager
  Bob Johnson
  Horst Kwech
  Gaston Andrey
3 Bryar 250 July 10 Bryar Motorsports Park, Loudon, New Hampshire 250 mi (400 km) Plymouth Barracuda Ford Cortina Lotus
  Bruce Jennings   Allan Moffat
4 VIR 400 July 31 Virginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia 400.5 mi (644.5 km) Ford Mustang Alfa Romeo GTA
  Tom Yeager
  Bob Johnson
  Horst Kwech
  Gaston Andrey
5 Marlboro 12-Hour August 14 Marlboro Park Speedway, Upper Marlboro, Maryland 12 Hours
688.5 mi (1,108.0 km)
Dodge Dart Alfa Romeo GTA
  Bob Tullius
  Tony Adamowicz
  Harry Theodorocopulous
  Sam Posey
6 Pan-American Endurance Race September 10 Green Valley Raceway, Smithfield, Texas 6 Hours
391.84 mi (630.61 km)
Ford Mustang Alfa Romeo GTA
  John McComb
  Brad Booker
  Horst Kwech
  Gaston Andrey
7 Riverside 4-hour race September 18 Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California 4 Hours
351 mi (565 km)
Ford Mustang Lotus Cortina
  Jerry Titus   Frank Gardner
[1]

Season review

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The Dodge Dart of Bob Tullius won the Over 2 liter class at the opening race at Sebring International Raceway, while the Alfa Romeo GTA of Formula One driver Jochen Rindt won the Under 2 liter class and was placed first overall.[1]

Over the course of the championship Ford Mustangs won the Over 2 liter class at four races with Dodge Darts winning twice and Plymouth Barracuda once.[1] Alfa Romeo GTAs won the Under 2 liter class at five races with Ford Cortina Lotus winning twice.[1] Ford and Alfa Romeo won their respective class championships.[1]

Points system

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Points were awarded according to finishing position.[1] Only the highest-placed car scored points for the manufacturer.[1] Drivers' championships were not awarded in Trans-Am until 1972.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
9 6 4 3 2 1

Championship standings

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Over 2 liter class

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Pos [1] Manufacturer [1] Seb MAR Bry VIR Mar GRV RIV Pts [1]
1 Ford 5 1 2 1 5 1 1 46
2 Chrysler-Plymouth 2 2 1 3 2 2 5 39
3 Dodge 1 5 4 1 3 2 33
4 Chevrolet 4 3
[1]

Under 2 liter class

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Pos [1] Manufacturer [1] Seb MAR Bry VIR Mar GRV RIV Pts [1]
1 Alfa Romeo 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 57
2 Ford of Britain 2 1 2 2 1 36
3 BMW 6 4 4
4 BMC 4 3
5 Volvo 5 2
6 Fiat Abarth 6 1
[1]

The cars

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The following models scored championship points for their respective manufacturers.

Over 2 liter class

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Under 2 liter class

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak "1966 Trans-Am Box Scores" (PDF). Sports Car Club of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  2. ^ Four Hour Governor’s Cup for Sedans, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015
  3. ^ VIR 400, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015
  4. ^ The Great Race - Marlboro 12 hour, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015
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