Events on February 6th
Interesting and notable events from the history of motor sport.
1954
Lady Wigram Trophy won by Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari.
Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari won the first International Lady Wigram Trophy race after Ken Wharton again strikes trouble in the V16 BRM and pushes the car over the line to claim third place. The fastest New Zealanders all fail, leaving John McMillan, in a sister P3 Alfa to Roycrofts, in fourth place.
1955
Ricardo (aged 12) and Perdo (aged 15) Rodriguez took part in their first race.
1960
Teretonga International won by Ian Burgess in a Cooper from David Piper in a Lotus and first NZ finisher Syd Jensen in a Cooper.
1966
The Porsche 906 won its class at the Daytona 24hr race on its racing debut.
1966
Daytona 24 Hour Race won by Ken Miles and Indy driver Lloyd Ruby in a 7 liter Ford Mark 2.
New World Sports Car regulations for both the prototype and production classes marked the first Daytona 24 Hours race and the race saw a swarm of Fords batter the one private Ferrari entry. Ken Miles and Indy driver Lloyd Ruby teamed for victory in a 7 liter Ford Mark 2, finishing 8 laps ahead of the similar mount of Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant. The new Chapparal 2D led early with Jo Bonnier driving, but retired after the suspension broke. Production classes were now required to produce at least 50 cars for eligibility.
1972
Daytona 6 Hour Race
Reliability concerns for the 3 liter cars led to the 24 hours being replaced by a 6 hour event. Ferrari took the win with the 512P of Mario Andretti/Jacky Ickx gaining the lead when Ferrari teammate Tim Schenken had a tire puncture with 15 minutes left. Schenken and co-driver Ronnie Peterson still finished second despite the puncture and late gearbox problems. The Jo Bonnier entered Lola challenged early before retiring, while the lone Alfa-Romeo threat ended when the Peter Revson/Rolf Stommelen car blew late.
1972
Round 5 of the Tasman Cup won by Graham McRae in a McRae GM1-Chevrolet.
Graham McRae drove his McRae GM1-Chevrolet to victory the Tasman Cup race on the 2.0 mile Surfers Paradise International Raceway. The race was round 5 of the 1972 series for Formula 5000 cars. It was McRae's 8th career Tasman Cup race win.
1977
Warwick Brown drives a Lola T430 to victory in the F5000 Australian Grand Prix at Oran Park in Sydney.
1977
Daytona 24 Hour Race won by John Graves, Hurley Haywood and Dave Helmick in a Porsche Carrera RSR.
The Porsche Carrera RSR of John Graves, Hurley Haywood and Dave Helmick won the Daytona 24 Hours Sports Car race at Daytona International Speedway. The race was round 1 of the 1977 World Championship for Makes. The winners finished 2 laps ahead of the Porsche 935 of Martino Finotto, Carlo Facetti and Romeo Camathias.