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. Manufacturers titles were awarded for both Over 2 Liter and Under 2 Liter cars with Ford and Alfa Romeo winning their respective class championships. 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
The championship was contested over a seven race series. Overall winner race winners are shown in bold. Rnd Race Date Circuit Distance Over 2 liter - Winning car Under 2 liter - Winning car Over 2 liter - Winning driver(s) Under 2 liter - Winning driver(s) 1 Sebring 4-Hour International Touring Race March 25 Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida Dodge Dart Alfa Romeo GTA Bob Tullius Tony Adamowicz Jochen Rindt 2 Mid-America 300 June 12 Mid-America Raceway, Wentzville, Missouri Ford Mustang Alfa Romeo GTA Tom Yeager Bob Johnson Horst Kwech Gaston Andrey 3 Bryar 250 July 10 Bryar Motorsports Park, Loudon, New Hampshire Plymouth Barracuda Ford Cortina Lotus Bruce Jennings Allan Moffat 4 VIR 400 July 31 Virginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia 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 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 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 Ford Mustang Lotus Cortina Jerry Titus Frank Gardner
Season review 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.
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. Alfa Romeo GTAs won the Under 2 liter class at five races with Ford Cortina Lotus winning twice. Ford and Alfa Romeo won their respective class championships.
Points system Points were awarded according to finishing position. Only the highest-placed car scored points for the manufacturer. Drivers' championships were not awarded in Trans-Am until 1972. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 9 6 4 3 2 1
Championship standings
Over 2 liter class Pos Manufacturer Seb MAR Bry VIR Mar GRV RIV Pts 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
Under 2 liter class Pos Manufacturer Seb MAR Bry VIR Mar GRV RIV Pts 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
The cars The following models scored championship points for their respective manufacturers.
Over 2 liter class Ford Mustang Plymouth Barracuda Dodge Dart Chevrolet Corvair
Under 2 liter class Alfa Romeo GTA Ford Cortina Lotus BMW 1800TI & 1800 TISAFour Hour Governor’s Cup for Sedans, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015VIR 400, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015 BMC Cooper S Volvo 122S Fiat Abarth 1000 TCThe Great Race - Marlboro 12 hour, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 15 April 2015
See also 1966 Can-Am season 1966 United States Road Racing Championship season
References
External links touringcarracing.net www.racingsportscars.com www.virhistory.com