It is to Mr. France's credit as an organizer, and a very dynamic one at that, to have pulled off this hattrick at the last moment and gotten the impressive list of entries which turned up. Even though Daytona counted as the first race towards the 1966 Manufacturers' GT Championship, Ferrari abstained from officially entering and many and varied theories were put forth in attempted explanation. Whether he felt that his '66 cars weren't as yet ready, perhaps thought that running both at Daytona and Sebring as too expensive and unrewarding with regard to points towards the championship, or just felt antipathetic to the track, we shall never really know.
With a combination of fast, even banking leading into an infield road course for a total length of 3.81 miles per lap, Daytona is far removed from the ideal arrangement for a 24-hour endurance race, and what may be one type's meat-the 1.8 g load imposed on the banking, which the big, beefed-up stock cars regularly running there readily digest-can be another's poison, as some of the faster cars were to experience. Be that as it may, Ford was out in force for they harboured every intention of repeating their previous year's win. Five powerful 7-litre Mark lis were entered; Shelby-American fielding the cars of Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby, Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant and Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon, while Holman-Moody's Mk. II teams consisted of Walt Hansgen/Mark Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum/Richie Ginther, the latter driving an automatic transmission-equiped machine. Somewhat similar in operation to the Chaparral's transmission, the Ford unit possessed a high and low range, with Ginther feeling it to be a definite advantage over a long racing distance due to the minimization of physical effort. As with the Chaparral though, there appeared to be a lag in acceleration after the up-shift.
Four Ford GT 40s backed up the Mk. l's. These ran in the sports category with two cars entered by the Essex Wire Corporation, one by Ford Advanced Vehicles of England, and the fourth as a private entry.
The lone Chaparral II coupe, driven by Phil Hill/Jo Bonnier, was brought to race with every intention of pushing it till it broke in order to sort it out for the rest of the season. It had a 3-position spoiler perched atop its tail and though it started practice with a 5-litre engine, a new 5.3-litre unit was flown in, mounted, run in, and then Bonnier went out to do a lap in 1 m. 58.0 s., putting the Chaparral on the front row of the grid next to the Mk. II of Miles-Ruby, which managed just 0.2 seconds less.
The Ferrari opposition, left entirely up to private entries, materialized in the form of two 1965 365 P2s as the closest rivals of the Mk. l's and the Chaparral. These fast cars, powered by a 4.4 litre, sohc V12 were piloted by Pedro Rodriguez/Mario Andretti for NART, and by Lucien Bianchi/Jackie Ickx for the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps. They made the 4th and 5th places on the grid, respectively, behind the Hansgen-Donohue Mk. II and were followed, in turn, by the two big-engined Fords of Bucknum/Ginther and McLaren/Amon. Surprisingly, the fifth Mk. II of Gurney/Grant was in the 11th spot with a practice time of only 2 m. 04.0 s. A host of Ferrari 275 LMs and 250 LMs were also entered but these seemed clearly out of contention against the big-bore machinery even though the 275s of Follmer/Western and Wilson-Hulme managed 8th and 9th grid positions. A somewhat sensational surprise from Stuttgart appeared in the form of the Carrera 6 which made its competition debut at Daytona a typical Porsche gesture, entering an as yet untried car in a 24-hour race! True to form, the low squat 2-litre machine, driven by Herrmann-Linge, took the 18th position on the grid behind all of the large-engined machinery and ahead of two Ford GT 40s, two Ferrari 275 LMs, two 7-litre Corvette Stingrays and a 7-litre Cobra. Not yet homologated, the Carrera 6 ran as a prototype, with two factory Porsche 904s in the sports class piloted by Mitter-Buzzetta and Klass-Schlitz to challenge the other 2-litre cars. Three other, privately entered 904s plus a 911 made up the remainder of the Porsche contingent.
It isn't a simple matter to organize a field of 60 cars, even at Daytona, and so the usual privately - entered smaller, older - a 1962 E- Type; Ferrari GTO; Alfa Romeo Zagato and a 1963 Volvo P 1800 I - and sometimes strange machines, as in the case of the next-to-the-last car on the grid: a Rambler Marlin completed the starting line-up. The field was to be sent on its 24-hour grind in a flying start and the cars were positioned on the grid a half-hour prior to the departure time. The weather outlook was rather bleak, for a cold wind was sweeping over the track.
At 3:00 p.m. on the Saturday the pace car led the field once around the circuit, pulled in on the back straight, and the flag came down for the official start. Bonnier immediately put the Chaparral into the lead, closely followed by Miles' Mk. II, the 7-litre Ford passing the Chaparral on the second lap to take the first peg. Behind the leaders came the Ford Mk. II of Hansgen trailed by the Ferrari P2s driven by Rodriguez and Bianchi.
Ginther brought the Mk. II with the automatic transmission into the pits after the first lap and repairs were made on the master brake cylinder. Gurney began to work his way up to the front of the pack when suddenly, on lap 7, Bonnier brought the Chaparral to the pits thinking his fan belt was loose and hitting the seat-back. It proved to be nothing but he was four laps behind the leaders in that short span of time, with the front-placed machines having already repeatedly passed the slower cars on the very brief Daytona circuit! Due to the constant angle of the banking there was no proper "line" and the slower cars could be found anywhere across its breadth as the fast machines passed, often straddling them on either side! Miles, Hansgen, Rodriguez and Bianchi still led but by lighting-up time, at 5:00 p.m., Gurney had put his Mk. II between the two Ferraris to take 4th place. The Scott/Thompson GT 40 of Essex Wire was going remarkably well in 6th place, leading the sports category.
With the night came the cold sub-zero temperatures at times and with the cold came confusion. The computor, programmed for results, was affected and ceased to function properly, causing mayhem in the pits and among the press alike.
The darkness bode ill to the Ferrari LMs which were dropping out in droves from the strain of trying to keep up with the fast machinery. The Chaparral broke the lap record attempting to catch up but a holed exhaust put it even further back. NART's P2 lost much time and its position when the mechanics had to hammer the bodywork out, as the right rear tyre was touching when on the banking. The automatic transmission of the Ginther-Bucknum Mk. II packed up and the Belgian 365 P2 wasn't running either at dawn. By daybreak, the two Essex Wire GT 40s led the sports class with the Porsches running very consistently, behind. The Penske entered 7-litre Corvette Stingray had a collision and continued with a much modified front section. It went on to win the GT category, though.
Hill had retired the Chaparral when a front hub carrier broke, after completing 312 laps. Both class leading GT 40s quit with faulty transmissions, giving the sporting laurels to the Porsche 904s Gurney also had transmission trouble but drove on to end in 2nd place behind Miles/Ruby.
Ford finished 1-2-3-5, McLaren Amon in 5th behind NART's P2 and the amazing Carrera 6 in 6th
