1967 24 Hours of Le Mans

1967 24 Hours of Le Mans

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The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 35th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1967. It was also the seventh round of the World Sportscar Championship.

Event

The Ford GT40 Mark IV was an updated version of the Ford J-Car, which was shelved following the fatal accident of Ken Miles in August 1966. The Mark IV had an all new chassis designed and built in the United States, as opposed to the Mark Is and IIs which had chassis that were built in England. The big-block 427 cubic inch (7 liters) Ford Galaxie-derived engine from the Mk.II was used for the Mk.IV. Although it had the same engine they did, the Mark IV had a low-drag body which increased the top speed of the car to nearly 220 mph.

The 1967 World Sportscar Championship season started on a real low for Ford. Ferrari had dominated the first round, a 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway in the United States by finishing 1-2-3 (all works cars) while all of the works GT40 Mk.IIB's (the Mk.IV was not ready yet, and the Mk.II's were upgraded to "B" spec) effectively retired with the same type of gearbox troubles. Thoroughly humiliated on home soil, Carroll Shelby, the Holman & Moody squad and Ford executives knew what had to be done. They ended up winning the next round 6 weeks later at the 12 Hours of Sebring, also in the United States with their new Mk.IV with American Mario Andretti and New Zealander Bruce McLaren driving, run by Holman & Moody. Ford only entered the 12 and 24 hour races that were part of the championship; the way Ford saw it, Daytona and Sebring were really test runs for the only race that really mattered: the world stage at Le Mans.

The surprise winners were Americans A. J. Foyt and Dan Gurney, who led all but the first 90 minutes of the race and defeated the factory Ferrari 330P4 of Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti and Briton Michael Parkes by nearly four laps. The team had to fabricate a roof "bubble" to accommodate the helmet of Dan Gurney, who stood more than 190 cm (6 feet, 3 inches) tall. In one famous incident which took place in the middle of the night, Gurney had been running quite easily to preserve his car, and Parkes came up behind in the second-place Ferrari (which was trailing by four laps, or 34 miles). For several miles Parkes hounded the Ford driver by flashing his passing lights in Gurney's mirrors until an exasperated Gurney simply pulled off the course at Arnage corner and stopped on a grassy verge. Parkes stopped behind him, and the two race-leading cars sat there in the dark, motionless, until Parkes finally realized this attempt at provocation was not going to work. After a few moments, he pulled around Gurney and resumed the race, with Gurney following shortly. With the cat-and-mouse game abandoned, each car then simply maintained their positions to the finish. The win remains, to this day, the sole all-American victory at Le Mans: an American-built car, prepared by an American team and driven by American drivers.

When the winners mounted the victory stand, Gurney was handed the traditional magnum of champagne. Looking down, he saw Ford CEO Henry Ford II, team owner Carroll Shelby, their wives, and several journalists who had predicted disaster for the high-profile duo of Gurney and Foyt. Many of the journalists had predicted the two drivers, who were heated competitors in the United States, would break their car in intramural rivalry. Instead, both drivers took special care to drive the car with discipline and won easily. On the victory stand, Gurney shook the bottle and sprayed everyone nearby, establishing a tradition reenacted in victory celebrations the world over ever since. Gurney, incidentally, autographed and gave the bottle of champagne to a Life Magazine photographer, Flip Schulke, who used it as a lamp for many years. Schulke recently returned the bottle to Gurney, who keeps it at his home in California.

Official results

Le Mans in 1967

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
1	P +5.0	1	Shelby-American Inc.	Dan Gurney A. J. Foyt	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	Ford 7.0L V8	388
2	P 5.0	21	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Ludovico Scarfiotti Mike Parkes	Ferrari 330 P4	Ferrari 4.0L V12	384
3	P 5.0	24	Equipe Nationale Belge	Willy Mairesse Jean Blaton	Ferrari 330 P4	Ferrari 4.0L V12	377
4	P +5.0	2	Shelby-American Inc.	Bruce McLaren Mark Donohue	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	Ford 7.0L V8	359
5	P 2.0	41	Porsche System Engineering	Jo Siffert Hans Herrmann	Porsche 907/6L	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	358
6	P 2.0	38	Porsche System Engineering	Rolf Stommelen Jochen Neerpasch	Porsche 910/6K	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	351
7	S 2.0	37	Porsche System Engineering	Vic Elford Ben Pon	Porsche 906K Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	327
8	S 2.0	66	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Gerhard Koch	Porsche 906 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	321
9	P 1.3	46	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Henri Grandsire José Rosinski	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4	321
10	P 1.3	49	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	André de Cortanze Alain LeGuellec	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4	318
11	GT 5.0	28	Scuderia Filipinetti	Dieter Spoerry Rico Steinemann	Ferrari 275 GTB/C	Ferrari 3.3L V12	317
12	P 1.3	48	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Roger Delageneste Jacques Cheinisse	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4	311
13	P 1.6	45	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Mauro Bianchi Jean Vinatier	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5L I4	311
14	GT 2.0	42	Auguste Veuillet	Robert Buchet Herbert Linge	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	308
15	P 1.3	51	Donald Healey Motor Company	Clive Baker Andrew Hedges	Austin-Healey Sprite Le Mans	BMC 1.3L I4	289
16	P 1.3	64	Ecurie du Maine	Marcel Martin Jean Mesange	Abarth 1300OT	Fiat 1.3L I4	262

Did Not Finish

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
17	P 5.0	19	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Günter Klass Peter Sutcliffe	Ferrari 330 P4	Ferrari 4.0L V12	296
18	P +5.0	57	Shelby-American Inc.	Ronnie Bucknum Paul Hawkins	Ford GT40 Mk.IIB	Ford 7.0L V8	271
19	P +5.0	7	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Phil Hill Mike Spence	Chaparral 2F	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	225
20	P 1.3	47	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Claude Andruet Robert Bouharde	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4	219
21	P 5.0	23	Maranello Concessionaires	Richard Attwood Piers Courage	Ferrari 412P	Ferrari 4.0L V12	208
22	P 1.15	56	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Gérard Larrousse Patrick Depailler	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4	204
23	P 1.15	55	North American Racing Team (NART)	Jean-Luc Thérier Francois Chevalier	Alpine M64	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4	201
24	P +5.0	3	Holman & Moody	Mario Andretti Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	Ford 7.0L V8	188
25	P +5.0	6	Holman & Moody Ford France S.A.	Jo Schlesser Guy Ligier	Ford GT40 Mk.IIB	Ford 7.0L V8	183
26	S 5.0	16	Ford France S.A.	Pierre Dumay Henri Greder	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	179
27	P +5.0	5	Holman & Moody	Roger McCluskey Frank Gardner	Ford GT40 Mk.IIB	Ford 7.0L V8	179
28	GT +5.0	9	Dana Chevrolet Inc.	Bob Bondurant Dick Guldstrand	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	167
29	P 2.0	29	Equipe Matra Sports	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra MS630	BRM 2.0L V8	155
30	P 5.0	25	North American Racing Team (NART)	Pedro Rodriguez Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari 412P	Ferrari 4.0L V12	144
31	GT 2.0	67	Pierre Boutin	Pierre Boutin Patrice Sanson	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	134
32	GT 2.0	60	Philippe Farjon	Philippe Farjon André Wicky	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	126
33	S 5.0	18	Scuderia Filipinetti	Umberto Maglioli Mario Casoni	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	116
34	P 5.0	20	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Chris Amon Nino Vaccarella	Ferrari 330 P3 Spyder	Ferrari 4.0L V12	105
35	P 2.0	40	Porsche System Engineering	Gerhard Mitter Jochen Rindt	Porsche 907/6L	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	103
36	P +5.0	8	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Bob Johnson Bruce Jennings	Chaparral 2F	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	91
37	P 5.0	22	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jean Guichet Herbert Müller	Ferrari 412P	Ferrari 4.0L V12	88
38	P +5.0	4	Holman & Moody	Denis Hulme Lloyd Ruby	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	Ford 7.0L V8	86
39	P 2.0	39	Porsche System Engineering	Udo Schütz Joe Buzzetta	Porsche 910/6L	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	84
40	P 1.15	58	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Philippe Vidal Leo Cella	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4	67
41	P +5.0	14	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	David Piper Richard Thompson	Mirage M1 (Ford GT40 Lightweight)	Ford 5.7L V8	59
42	GT 5.0	17	Claude Dubois	Claude Dubois Chris Tuerlinckx	Ford-Shelby Mustang GT350	Ford 4.7L V8	58
43	P 2.0	30	Equipe Matra Sports	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Henri Pescarolo	Matra MS630	BRM 2.0L V8	55
44	P 1.6	44	Team Elite	David Preston John Wagstaff	Lotus Europa Mk.47	Ford Cosworth 1.6L I4	42
45	P 1.15	53	S.E.C. Automobiles CD	André Guilhaudin Alain Bertaut	CD SP66C	Peugeot 1.1L I4	35
46	P 5.0	26	North American Racing Team (NART)	Ricardo Rodriguez Chuck Parsons	Ferrari 365 P2	Ferrari 4.4L V12	30
47	P +5.0	15	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Jacky Ickx Brian Muir	Mirage M1 (Ford GT40 Lightweight)	Ford 5.7L V8	29
48	P 1.15	52	S.E.C. Automobiles CD	Dennis Dayan Claude Ballot-Léna	CD SP66C	Peugeot 1.1L I4	25
49	P +5.0	12	Lola Cars Ltd. / Team Surtees	Peter de Klerk Chris Irwin	Lola T70 Mk.III	Aston Martin 5.0L V8	25
50	S 5.0	62	John Wyer Automotive Engineering / Viscount Downe	Mike Salmon Brian Redman	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	20
51	P 1.15	54	Roger Nathan Racing Ltd.	Roger Nathan Mike Beckwith	Costin Nathan	Hillman 1.0L I4	15
52	P 1.3	50	Marcos Racing Ltd.	Chris J. Lawrence Jem Marsh	Marcos Mini Marcos GT	BMC 1.3L I4	13
53	P +5.0	11	Lola Cars Ltd. / Team Surtees	John Surtees David Hobbs	Lola T70 Mk.III	Aston Martin 5.0L V8	3
54	GT 2.0	43	"Franc"	Jacques Dewes Anton Fischhaber	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	2

Statistics

• Pole Position - #2 Shelby-American Inc. - 3:24.4
• Fastest Lap - #4 Holman & Moody / #3 Holman & Moody - 3:23.6 (tie)
• Distance - 5232.9 km
• Average Speed - 218.038 km/h

Trophy Winners

• Index of Performance - #41 Porsche System Engineering
• Index of Thermal Efficiency - #1 Shelby-American Inc.