1966 Belgian Grand Prix
Spa is notorious for its changeable weather, and just three years earlier the 1963 Belgian GP had been desperately wet, dominated by Lotus maestro Jim Clark.
In 1966, it was the sudden deluge that enveloped the field halfway around the opening lap that resulted in chaos, and provided a trigger to Jackie Stewart kicking off his safety campaign. Just seven of the 15 starters filed through at the end of lap one, and among those missing was the Scot, who was being extracted from the wreckage of his BRM by team-mate Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant. They laid him in a barn, while removing his fuel-soaked overalls.
Remarkably, those who completed the first lap all finished, with John Surtees taking victory in his Ferrari after passing the Cooper-Maserati of Jochen Rindt at three-quarters distance.
Stewart was on his way to hospital in Liege, but only after being left on the floor on his stretcher in the ‘medical centre’, and via a detour after the ambulance driver got lost.
Typically for Spa, the weather had been fine in the build-up to the race, with Saturday qualifying even delayed while the local put out a fire that had broken out in the woods
