Unlike the French, German and English national clubs, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium have no doubts about the status and location of their Grand Prix. It takes place on the magnificent “National Circuit of Francorchamps” in the wooded hills above the town of Spa, and it represents Grand Prix racing at its best. The entry list was very similar to that at Zandvoort, as were the cars, Ferrari running the same three cars and drivers, Amon, Scarfiotti and Parkes, Honda had Surtees with their two 12-cylinder cars, BRM had Stewart with an H16 and a Tasman V8, and Spence, with a V8, Parnell with his Lotus-BRM V8 and an H16 BRM for Irwin, Team Lotus with the two Type 49 cars for Clark and Hill.
The Brabham team had the new car that practised in Holland, but now with a F1 Howland gearbox, for the owner, and the 1965 chassis with 1967 engine that Brabham raced in Holland, for Hulme. Cooper had the same three cars as Zandvoort for Rindt and Rodriguez, and Gurney had Eagle number 104, the lightweight titanium car and a spare car and engine. Anderson, Bonnier and Ligier had their own cars and Siffert the usual Rob Walker car. AAR-Eagle would have entered McLaren on one of their cars but were short of a good spare engine.
Practice from 4pm-6pm on Friday and Saturday afternoon saw Clark dominate everyone in the Lotus-Cosworth (Ford) V8 and while he was expected to go fast, few people were prepared for the speeds he achieved. Last year in practice Surtees was fastest at 3min 38.0sec, without too much effort with the 1966 Ferrari, so it was natural that 3min 40.0sec, this year should be minimum lap time for any works driver.
