TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANS

1960

The Sixties were a great decade for Le Mans. Although Ferrari and Ford dominated the whole decade, the racing and rivalry were thrilling to watch.  Ford came late to Le Mans, not entering until 1963, while Ferrari had a wealth of experience.

Aston Martin, who had won the world sports car championship in 1959, withdrew in 1960, so the main challenger to Ferrari was from a rejuvenated Maserati Team.

The classes changed to sports cars and GT cars (in effect what had been prototypes and production sports cars). Within these classes were sub-divisions based on capacity. It provided plenty of scope. In 1960 the biggest cars were the 4.6 litre Chevrolet Corvettes, the smallest the 741cc Stranguelli.

The 1960 winner was an open 3-litre ‘sports car’, the 3-litre Ferrari Testa Rossa, driven by Gendebien and Frère. The race did not live up to its promise of a battle between the Ferraris and Maseratis, Ferrari won by outlasting rather than outpacing the opposition.

Ferrari had 13 entries including four works cars. The works team had Testa Rossas, the rest 250GT coupes. Cunningham was back with three Corvettes and a Jaguar. The Jaguar was an E2A (the link between the D and E-Types), on loan to Cunningham from Jaguar, and this set the fastest lap in practice. And a Lola made its first appearance.

The early race leader was Gregory and Daigh in a Maserati Tipo 61 (the ‘birdcage’), but within two hours the Maseratis ran into trouble. The leader lost an hour in the pits with starter motor problems the retired around midnight. Another Maserati also had fatal starter motor problems after the third hour, and the third went off into the sand and eventually suffered transmission failure.

Two Ferraris failed to get as far as their first pit stops, as they run out of fuel. The Jaguar went out with engine failure after nine and a half hours, and the Ecosse D-Type last four more hours before its engine failed too.

All this allowed the three remaining Testa Rossas to take the lead, ahead of the first of the private Ferraris. The only other challenger was the Aston Martin DBR1 driven by Roy Salvadori and the young Jim Clark. When the rain of the first half of the race was at its worst, Clark drove brilliantly to split the Ferraris, briefly taking third.

At the end Gendebien and Frère won from Rodriguez and Pilettes’ Ferrari with Salvadori and Clark third and then a fleet of Ferraris. Only one Corvette finished, in eighth. Tavano and Loustel won the GT class in a Ferrari. A MGA won the 1500cc class, a Lotus Elite the 1300ccs and an Austin Healey Sprite the 1 litre class.

Results in full

1961

Enzo Ferrari liked to do things his own way. He believed that engine power was the way to win, and was slow to adopt changes that other teams innovated. The use of rear-mounted engines was an example. Cooper had used them in the late fifties and showed that it improved handling. All the Grand Prix cars changed their layout, except Ferrari and it had cost them races. But in 1961 Ferrari turned up with his first mid-engine car, but it was in only one of the four in the works team. Three leading Maseratis were mid-engined in the foprm of Tipos 63s, all private entries, two of them by Briggs Cunningham, one driven by Bruce McLaren.

The race was expected to be a confrontation between Ferrari and Maserati, with Aston Martin having an outside chance with two DBR1/300 and three 3.7 GT cars, a DB4 and two DB4GTs. But they did not get a look in and none of them finished. Maserati never challenged, but they did finish fourth. Two of the Tipos 63s were soon gone to a crash and overheating, leaving only Pabst and Thompson.

So the fight was between the Ferraris themselves. Gendebein and Hill lead home from Mairesse and Parkes and Noblet and Guichet GT winners in their 250GT. The latter Ferrari had not been as quick as the cats of Moss and Graham Hill, but it kept going to the end; the British pair were gone by Sunday Morning. It would be Moss’ last Le Mans.

Results in full

1962

	The were new rule changes to the definitions of prototype and GT classes, courtesy of the world sports car championship organisers, who tried to lessen the Impact of prototype cars and favour the sports cars of up to 4 litres. Ferrari set out to out wit the rule makers, and entered a variety of different cars. There were both open and closed cars and front and mid-engined cars. These were versions of the front engined 330s, the mid eingined 246SP, 250GTs and the new 250 GTO. The latter just about falling into the definition of being useable on the roads. The rules also required 100 of any car being built, but allowed for ‘evolution’ of cars that met this rule. Ferrari had built more than a hundred 250GT SWB and argued that the GTO was an evolution of this car. The term ‘evolution’ had meant to mean minor bodywork changes; Ferrari’s interpretation was more flexible. There were several aerodynamic bodywork packages, but from 1962 to1964 only 39 were built. The GTO did not win the 1962 Le Mans, but it did get second, third and sixth. An open 4-litre V12 front-engined ‘experimental’ Testa Rossa driven by Phil Hill and Oliver Gendebien beat them. Their main challenge came from the 2.4 V6 mid-engined Testa Rossa driven by the Rodriguez brothers. They swapped places with the big front-engined car before they retired near the half way point. A larger 2.6 V8 Testa Rossa also ran second for a while but went out after 17 hours. Maserati had also been experimental with the rules and had three front-engine 4-litre GT coupes that were very fast in a straight line. All failed without making much of an impression. Both 3.7 Aston Martin DB4 GTs Zagatos blew up, and the 212 prototype retired at quarter distance. Jaguar took fourth and fifth places with two of their three lightweight E-Types. Lotus was not allowed to enter their 23s, but did take eighth with an Elite. A Morgan was refused entry in 1961 because it was too old fashioned, was allowed to run in 1962, and it won the 2 litre class and 13th place overall, out of 18 finishers.
The Ferrari 250 GTO that was second in 1962

Results in full

1963

1963 saw more rule changes, another Ferrari win, the first for a mid-engined car, the first time 4500km was exceeded and the second biggest winning margin. It was also the start of a new era – the first entry of Ford.

There were 59 starters including 26 prototypes, 22GTs and one gas turbine engined Rover BRM numbered 00 and running in a special class of its own. This year there was no capacity limit to prototypes and no minimum production number.

The Ferrari 250LM, the first mid-engined Le Mans winner

The winning Ferrari was a 3-litre V12 250P driven by Scarfiotti and Bandini. It was fast an open toped and mid-engined. It was the first all Italian car and drivers win. They won by 134 miles after travelling 2835miles. Surtees set the fastest lap of 129 mph in a similar car, but he did not finish. He had led at 4,8.12 and 16 hours, but it caught fire on the track after fuel had spilled on the exhaust during a pit stop.

Ferraris took the first six places including second, fourth and sixth for GTOs and fifth for the 4-litre 330LM GT prototype.

The Maserati, although ferociously fast in a straight line were looked outdated. The Rover whispered around the circuit with no problems, and if had been an official entry it would have finished eighth.

But the Ford powered entries would prove to be the most significant event.  The Shelby Cobra had an AC Ace chassis with a 4.7 litre lightweight V8 Ford engine. The unlimited capacity rules let them in, but their aerodynamics hampered their effort against Ferraris, the Astons, the Cunningham E-Types and all. They finished a promising seventh, wining the 5-litre class.

The other Ford was a British Lola with a Ford V8 engine. It was a mid-engined coupe with a modern monocoque chassis and sophisticated suspension. It had problems passing scrutineering, and in the race had gearbox problems, which eventually led to its demise at dawn.

Results in full

1964

Ford had tried to enter sports car race with a partnership with Ferrari, but even $15 million would not attract Enzo Ferrari. So Ford had to do it the hard way, and the key was the Ford-engined Lola. Within a year the Lola evolved into the first generation Ford GT40.

The first two GT40s were ready for the Le Mans test day in April. They weren’t very quick and had numerous minor problems. In qualifying the car topped 190mph down the Mulsanne straight in qualifying.

In the race, Ferrari led for the first lap, but the Fords led for the next four hours. Ginther and Gregory led by a growing margin. In the fifth hour the second GT40 caught fire on Mulsanne and retired. Ginther and Gregory’s car lost the lead with a slow pit stop and then had transmission problems that caused it to retire. Hill and McLaren in the third Ford had a slow start, and fuel problems, but it made up many places until it reached third, but then were forced out with gearbox problems on Sunday morning.

Ferrari raced on as Ford dropped out, and for the fifth year in a row they won with the 3.3 litre 275P driven by Guichet and Vaccarella. Second was the 4 litre 330PS of Graham Hill and Jo Bonner, third was a similar car driven by John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini.

Ford had the consolation of the fastest lap at 131.3mph by Phil Hill, and finished fourth and won the GT and 5 litre classes with a Cobra Daytona coupe. This was a more aerodynamic version of the AC built by Carroll Shelby.

Results in full

1965

Ferrari turned up with ten cars from the works and semi-works teams. They included the new 4 litre 330P2s and the 250LM. Ford had six prototypes including four completely revised GT40s now with V8 engines. Ford also had two Mark IIs with 7 litre V8s. The Mark II of Phil Hill was fastest in qualifying at 141.5mph and set a new lap record of 139.2mph, and lasted longer than all his teammates. But that was less than 8 hours, the torque of the engine being too much for the gearboxes. The GT40s disappeared with engine and gearbox problems.

The winning Ferrari 275LM

This opened the door for Ferrari to win. After the demise of the GT40s Ferrari held the first five places for the P2s, but all but one retired with engine brake and transmission problems. The surviving P2 finished seventh. The win went to Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory in the 250LM entered by NART, followed by the similar car driven by Dumay and Gosselin in a private entry. Mairesse and ‘Beurlys’ finished third for Ferrari in a 275GTB coupe. Porsches taking fourth and fifth places with 2 litre cars. This was only the second time a closed car had won at Le Mans (the first being a Mercedes in 1952), but it marked the start of seventh consecutive coupe wins.

Results in full

1966

Ford had spent million of dollars, and although they had had success elsewhere Le Mans still eluded them. They had more bad luck in the April practice weekend when Walt Handgen was killed after his GT40 aquaplaned off the start-finish straight.

Ford concentrated on Le Mans to the exclusion of all other European racing, and they meant to win it. Eight Mark II GT40s started, run by Shelby, the American Holman Moody team and the British Alan Mann Racing Team. Ford also ran five Mark Is as their second string, now being eligible to be run as a sports car, with over 50 being built. These included one driven by a young Belgium making his first appearance, by the name of Jacky Ickx.

1966 Ford GT40 in the Esses

Ferrari was weaker than previous years, hit by industrial problems in Italy, and by the loss of John Surtees in after a row. Even so, Ferrari P3 coupes would have been hard pushed to match the Fords, the fastest cars yet seen at Le Mans, which had been recorded at 205mph at Mulsanne in practice.

Ford, in some permutation led after every four hour spell, but Rodriguez and Ginther in a Ferrari P3 was constantly in the top three until midnight, with one other Ferrari in the top six. After midnight Ferrari never featured again, and out of 14 starters, only two finished, these being 275GTBs. But Ford also suffered problems and from having the first six places at halfway, they steadily lost cars. It was Porsche who benefited to take fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh with 2 litre Carreras.

In a tough race only 15 of the 55 starters completed. Only three of the GT40s finished, but they were 1-2-3, the rest suffered from a variety of transmission and suspension failures.

The three GT40s went across the start-finish line in close formation; there performance being so dominant that they had tried to stage-manage what was supposed to be a dead-heat.  But the organisers weren’t having any of this, and they argued that as it had started further back on the grid the Amon/McLaren car had travelled further than Ken Miles and Denny Hulme’s sister car, about 20 yards in 3009.5 miles. Bucknum and Hutcherson finished third. They also had a new lap record of almost 143mph for Dan Gurney in another Mark II.

The 1966 Finish

Results in full

1967

The race in 1966 had changed the character of Le Mans. There had been determined team efforts before, but the Ford – Ferrari rivalry had taken it to new levels and the speeds were rising rapidly. 200mph had been clocked on Mulsanne and the lap record was at over 140 mph, and the distance travelled had exceeded 3000 miles. The organisers were nervous, but they did not change the rules for 1967.

Eric Broadly who had helped design the GT40 whilst working on the Ford when they colaboratred with Lola, severed his connections and entered his own Lola prototype, the T70 coupe with a 5 litre Aston Martin V8 engine. John Wyer, the other man behind the Ford, teamed up with John Willment to create JW automotive and they created the Mirage, a 5-litre narrow cockpit version of the GT40. These were sponsored by Gulf Oil and saw the introduction of the pale blue and orange livery. But neither car would last long, and Ford retained their dominance.

Ford’s new cars were the Mark IVs, all new with narrow-cockpits and new chassis, but retaining the 7 litre V8 engines. However the drivers were unhappy about these new cars, as they were unstable at over 200mph, the windscreens broke in their faces.

Chaparral proven the only real threat to Ford, but one went out early, and the other, having recovered from a slow start to challenge, retired on Sunday morning. The Mark IV Fords dominated after overtaking the fast starting Mark II driven by Bucknum and Hawkins, but they began top threaten each other and fall by the wayside. A single incident took three GT40s from the leading pack at just before dawn, at half way. Andretti crashed at the Esses, and Schlesser and McCluskey just behind in two 7-litre Mark IIs also crashed.

Porsche Carrera 6, 2nd in class in 1967

Other Fords had mechanical problems and their own crashes, but Ferrari also had mechanical problems losing two works cars. But the remaining P4s capitalised on Ford’s problems and finished second and third, but a long way behind the victorious Mark IV of Gurney and Foyt. McLaren and Amon were a distant fourth. Porsche finished 5-6-7-8.

Results in full

1968

The track was changed, with alterations to the start-finish entrance. Chicanes were built financed by Ford; hence the birth of the Ford chicanes.

The rules changed again also, this time quite drastically. The unlimited capacity prototypes were becoming too fast, and racing could not afford another major accident. The limit was reduced to 3 litres again, and this changed the face of Le Mans.

Ford were likely to retire the big works cars anyway, and the 4.7 and 5 litre GT40s now qualified as production sports cars.

Political unrest in France saw the race put back to late September and started at 3pm, instead of the traditional 4pm.

Ferrari withdrew, concentrating on their Grand Prix cars. They have never won Le Mans, or seriously challenged, since.

The 1968 entry included prototypes for Alfa, with six 2-litre V8 Tipos 33s; four Renault Gordini V8 engined Alpines, one 3-litre Matra and four 3 litre 908 Porsches.

The long-tailed, lightweight Porches were the fastest in the field and were a dominant 1-2-3-4 in the early stages of the race, while the leading ford was in tenth place behind various prototypes. Porsche knew they were unlikely to go the distance, and only one did. The other early leaders fell out with mechanical and electrical problems followed by several prototypes. The Rodriguez and Bianchi GT40 took the lead, and held on to it to complete Ford’s hat trick. Several cars swapped second place, including Hobbs and Hawkins’ GT40 until its engine failed, and the Matra of Pescarolo and Servoz-Gavin until it was put out by punctures from debris on the track.

At the end second went to the Porsche 907 of Steinmann and Spoerry, third was the 908 of Stommelen and Neerspach. The 2 litre Atlas took forth, fifth and sixth.

Results in full

The Circuit 1968-1971

 Length: 13.469 km

To reduce the speeds past the pit area, a chicane was installed immediately prior to the pit entrance. Named the Ford chicane, the track was slightly redirected from Maison Blanche.

Distance record set by the 1971 winners: 5,335.31 km, average speed: 222.304 km/h.

Fastest lap was set during the 1971 race by Jackie Oliver in the number 18 Gulf Porsche 917LH with a time of 3:18.40, an average speed of 244.387 km/h.
 

1969

This was the end of another era- the end of Ford’s winning run, and the birth of new dominance by the Porsche 917s. This was quite remarkable racing car, built for Le Mans. But it was not a prototype, Porsche already had the 3 litre 908s in this category which were capable of winning, but they built 25 917s which satisfied the then rules on production cars. It was, however, near the minimum weight limit, having a 4.5 litre flat 12 engine producing 585bhp, and performance that out classed the 917s. The reason it did not win in 1969 was that it was barely ready. It was so much quicker than anything else, but it had poor handling characteristics, a combination that needed a very brave man to drive.

Alfa Romeo 33/2

On the first lap, one of the private 917s got away from its driver, John Woolfe at the White House section, split in two, burst into flames and killed its driver. Chris Amon’s following Ferrari hit on of the fuel tanks and also caught fire, and the fire also damaged a GT40.

Other 917s stormed into the lead and for the next twenty hours they were in a race within a race. With barely four hours to go the first and second 917s suffered transmission failures. Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver in a JW Gulf GT40 (the same car that won in 1968) went into the lead and won the race; Ford’s fourth successive victory. They finished just yards ahead of the Porsche 908 of Hermann and Larrousse, in the closes genuine finish yet seen. Hobbs and Hailwood were third in another JW GT40. Matras were fourth, fifth and seventh.

The end of an era - the last traditional Le Mans start in 1969

Results in full

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