The 1966 Can-Am Championship, with John Surtees

Sit down with four-time 500cc Motorcycle World Champion, Formula 1 World Champion and 1966 Can-Am Champion John Surtees for a chat about the inaugural season of Can-Am racing.

Pulling double duty during the last quarter of the 1966 Formula 1 World Championship, Surtees joined the 1966 Can-Am season for its debut at Mont-Tremblant.

He would win that race, driving a Lola T70 Mk.2 for his Team Surtees race team. That set the tone for a highly successful season, although the two following races, the Bridgehampton Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix for the Pepsi-Cola Trophy, saw him picking up DNFs.

Watkins Glen would be his next stop off, to take third in the 1966 Formula One United States Grand Prix, before heading back to Can-Am for the Monterey Grand Prix where he finished twelfth.

The last few races of 1966 were magnificent for Surtees. In Formula 1 he set pole position and went on to win the Mexican Grand Prix and finish second in the 1966 Formula One drivers’ championship. He then won both the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix and Stardust Grand Prix to claim the inaugural Can-Am drivers’ title.

This excellent video from the Goodwood Road & Racing team reunites the record-setting champ with a Can-Am-winning Lola T70 to chat about the 1966 Can-Am championship. Enjoy it!