The title battles had already been sorted in favour of Jack Brabham and Brabham-Repco at the previous two meetings, although qualifying/practice would leave the newly recrowned racer down in fourth. Pole instead went to John Surtees in the Cooper-Maserati, with Jim Clark sharing the front row. When the flag dropped it was third placed Richie Ginther in the Honda that was seen streaking into the lead of the race, just as he had done so in 1965. Jochen Rindt was another strong started to get into second with Brabham third, while Denny Hulme also managed to get ahead of the front row starters.