"I’m writing with my conclusions about the driver IDs for the two color, race action photos included with the 18 B&W pics in Martin Hill’s – Homepage (8) photographs of the 1966 Riverside Times GP Can-Am event. 

Although there is almost enough info in Hill’s other photos along with Howard Macken’s of the same race, I did my homework and dug out my yellowed November 19, 1966 edition of Competition Press & Autoweek and my January 1967 issue of Sports Car Graphic for the race reports and also studied Dave Friedman’s McLaren Sports Racing Cars, Richard Falconer’s Chaparral, and Pete Lyon’s Can Am books from my bookcase.

In this event Bruce McLaren qualified his red M1B on pole at 1:44.7, while John Surtees (Lola T70) filled out the front row at 1:45.0.  The second row was Jim Hall (Chaparral 2E) at 1:45.2 and Jackie Stewart (Mecom Lola T70) at 1:46.1.  Graham Hill (in his only CanAm appearance) and Dan Gurney claimed the third row.  Chris Amon (2nd McLaren M1B) and Phil Hill were troubled in qualifying by the fuel delivery problems that caused their early DNFs and did well to take the fourth row positions.  The 3.275 mile Riverside long course was used for a major event for the first time since 1960 instead of the 2.5 course.  This caused many entrants to opt for bigger engines.  Between the prior Laguna Seca CanAm and Riverside, Bruce’s car had been fitted with a revised rear body featuring a rear body fin mounted, adjustable airfoil type spoiler.

 At the start, Jim Hall was able to get by John Surtees from the second row and took up chasing Bruce McLaren, who was flying until the dry ice packed around the experimental injector set-up all melted away in the 92 degree ambient (110 degree trackside) temperatures and his fuel feed problems took him out.  With Bruce in front the lead three cars pulled quickly away from the rest of the pack and that’s what we see in Martin Hill’s photo mislabeled “Surtees leads Hall and G. Hill”. 

The lead car is Bruce McLaren’s M1B with the low wing followed by Hall’s 2E running without the wing end-plate air dams (used at Laguna) and then by John Surtees (note the light helmet with single medial stripe rather than Graham Hill’s unique black helmet with white swatches)."