[32], Jo Siffert put the quickest Porsche 22nd on the grid with 3:51.0, with Nino Vaccarella's Ferrari in 24th (3:53.5) and Jo Schlesser's Matra just behind it (3:53.5). McLaren, who builds his own Formula and sports cars, is 28. 0 Comments, © 2016 Dailysportscar. All Rights Reserved. Guichet had just spun his Ferrari in the rain and got away when Buchet arrived and crashed his Porsche. That’s where he was told to be and that’s where he was.”. [14] Two months later, Ken Miles died at Riverside while testing the next generation Ford GT40 J-Car, which became the MkIV that won Le Mans in 1967. The Ford J-car was intended to be the successor to the all-conquering Ford GT40 Mk.II and, despite reliability problems, showed potential in the springtime Le Mans trials. It demonstrated that production engines could compete with racing powerplants and that an American-built car could top Europe's best. Thompson was adamant he had advised pit officials, and in the hearing Ford's director of racing Leo Beebe threatened to withdraw all Fords. [15] There had been instant excitement when Edgar Berney spun his Bizzarrini on the start-line amongst the crowd of departing cars. [28][27][38], After 6 hours, heavy rain was pouring down. [15] The Holman & Moody crew took 70 minutes to repair it only for Mark Donohue to have the rear boot blow off down the Mulsanne and find the differential had been terminally damaged. TJS - Web Design Lincolnshire, DTM Dealt Body Blow By Audi Post 2020 Pull-Out, COVID19 Update: French Government Rule On Mass Attendance, Join the conversation across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, LMDh & Dakar Programmes Set To Replace Formula E & DTM For Audi Sport, Absolute Racing Commits Two Car GT Entry To Asian Le Mans Series. 2. We finished fifth. The Hollywood blockbuster that brought the story of Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby and Le Mans 1966 to the silver screen was so good that it’s crying out for a sequel, says Charles Bradley. 8. The other Chevy was in Texan Jim Hall's Chaparral 2D. [14][15][35], On the third lap Gurney took the lead, which he held onto until the first pit-stops. Having slowed to accommodate the Ford finish decision, the Miles … Ken was sitting in the car and said to me ‘I think I’ve been fucked’. "What happened to the movie adaptation of "Go Like Hell? When I showed this quotation to Carroll Smith and asked for his opinion, he told me “Bob Negstad is one of the most truthful people that I have ever known.” Bob died shortly after this interview was conducted and many of us feel that it was a dying declaration to see justice finally done for his good friend, Ken Miles. [29] At the end of the first hour Fords were 1-2-3, with Gurney leading by 24 seconds from Graham Hill and Bucknum. The Bucknum / Hutcherson Holman & Moody entered Ford moved from ninth starting position to third position at the end of the first hour, and that’s where they eventually finished. [18] In the end Australian Brian Muir, who was in England was flown over to France. ... you know that the winner of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans … After a defective batch of transaxle shafts sank Ford's effort, Ferrari took a 1-2-3 finish with their new P4s and returned the favor of Ford's victory formation. With 2019’s Le Mans 66 movie now out in physical and digital form for us all to rewatch during the lockdown (details here), now’s the perfect time to dig up some buried treasure from the DSC archives related to the fabled 1966 running of the 24 Hours. Ken Miles was in one and Dick Hutcherson and Bruce McLaren were in the others. The GT40s met the production requirement and 5 litre limit for homologation in the new Group 4 class. The release of Ford v.Ferrari, which tells the story of Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and Ford's quest for Le Mans glory has us going through the archives.From the October 1966 issue of … Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon also shared a GT40, while another GT40 – the one which is set to auction – was driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson. [36] By then all three Dinos were out with mechanical issues, removing one threat to Porsche. Just before midnight Robert Buchet aquaplaned coming over the crest at the Dunlop Bridge and crashed the French Porsche. Several cars of the original 24-hours race have survived and have been restored to their former glory. With the 2.0L flat-6 engine from the 911, it had recently been homologated for Group 4 with the requisite 50 cars. Both New Zealanders who now reside in England, it was the most important victory yet for the two youngsters. It shows the cars leaving the grid at the start. 13. [23] The Chaparral had been running well initially, getting as high as 5th, until a broken alternator stopped them also just before midnight while running in 8th. After a disappointing showing at Monza a controversial denial of championship points from a Mirage win at the Spa event, Ford saw limited opportunity for taking the Manufacturers' title again and instead concentrated on a last hurrah at Le Mans, where the leading Mark IV, driven by Dan Gurney and A.J. [26] The final finisher was the little Mini Marcos. It’s the perfect complement to a re-watch of last year’s box-office, Academy Award-winning hit! At 9am the Gurney/Grant car, which had been dicing for the lead with Miles & Hulme (against strict team orders), retired from 1st when the car blew a headgasket. #2 is the car driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon that did win the race. 3. Through his work for Carroll Shelby, Miles got involved in Ford's GT racing program. [53][54] The book attained a "4.5 star" rating by book review website GoodReads.com. After the death of Walt Hansgen in a J-car Ford while testing at Le Mans in April, the decision was made to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs, and little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championshipseason. 9. The 5.3L small block put out 420 bhp and had a semi-automatic transmission. It was during this time that Passino sent John Cowley down to the scorer’s and timer’s tower and told them that we had miscredited a lap on Ken’s car and to take a lap away from that car. Miles would race his grandmother to the breakfast table and the other two weren’t much better. Ferrari found the production requirement for homologating the P4 under Group 4 daunting and withdrew from competition in the sport-racer classes. In hindsight, we probably should have done it differently, but we were trying to control our destiny and insure a Ford win and we did just that.”. I was away with the Chaparrals and tried to stay out of harm’s way. Siffert/Davis were leading a train of Porsches in 7th and the nearest Ferrari was the Bandini/Guichet P3 limping in 12th. 7. The Stommelen/Klass car in 7th was the first, and only, Sports car to finish. As car after car ran into trouble and dropped out, the little Marcos, by this time nicknamed 'la puce bleue' (the blue flea) wailed on. The 1966 Le Mans-winning Ford GT40 Mk II in 2006. The car was powered by a 1130cc Peugeot engine, marking the return of the French company last seen in the 1938 race. In 1929, Miles began riding a 350cc Trials Special Triumph bike, resulting in a crash that broke his nose and the loss of three teeth, but Miles persevered and fixed up an 1100-cc Salmson motorcycle. Collectively, Ford's wins were one of countless bright moments in a golden decade for both motorsport and culture in general. The Fords were further delayed as a number chose to change brake pads early. Then Schlesser's Matra ran into the CD of Georges Heligouin avoiding the accident. Just before 4pm, it started to drizzle again. [58] The production was well received critically, attaining a "100%" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[59]. Ken Miles' death in Ford v Ferrari isn't too far off from what really happened - though the movie changes some details for storytelling purposes. When Dearborn won last year, the world went less than nuts. Fact: There really was a company in Italy named Ferrari that made excellent and fast sports … II sits abandoned at the finish line as the victory celebration continues in the background. [14][41][42][43][44], At their last pitstop, the 7th-placed Porsche of Peter Gregg and Sten Axelsson was stopped by engine problems. [7], Once again there was rain at the April testing weekend. Over the test weekend, Mauro Bianchi had surprised many in the 1-litre Alpine, going as fast as the 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossas. He was supported by Huschke von Hanstein who was prepared to withdraw the Porsche team as well. [14][41][47], In a race of attrition it was fortunate the big teams brought such quantity – only 3 of the 13 Fords finished and only the two GTs finished from the 14 Ferraris entered. [16][18] Fighting on two fronts, the company also took on Porsche in the 2-litre class with its Dino 206 S with a pair from NART and another for Maranello. He did his two laps, his first ever at Le Mans on raceday morning to qualify. "[46] Beebe also later admitted he had been annoyed with Miles racing Gurney, disregarding team orders by potentially risking the cars' endurance. Three more examples were produced and prepared for the Le Mans 24 Hours, while Ford's championship hopes rested on the older GT40s and the new GT40-derived Mirages to gain points in the intervening races. Results taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO[61] Class Winners are in Bold text. 12. We weren't sure who had won initially. 4. Two new classes for Sports Cars were Group 4 and Group 5 for 'Special Sports Cars' (Group 1 and 2 covered Touring Cars, Group 7 led to the Can-Am series, with Group 8 and 9 for single-seaters). With the new regulations this year the ACO received a huge 103 entry requests. But Andretti was soon sidelined with a blown headgasket, as was the Hill/Muir Ford which had broken its front suspension coming out of Arnage corner. With Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe. When the NART P3 retired from 4th with a broken gearbox at 3am, and the Filipinetti car of Mairesse/Müller from 5th an hour later, the Ferrari challenge was spent – there would be no privateer-saviours for the marque this year. Baime[48][49] titled "Go Like Hell"—the words shouted by Bruce McLaren to Chris Amon as they drove to their famous victory. [18] Holqvist spun off with heavy damage, while Thompson was able to get back to the pits. Despite finishing 26 laps behind the rest of the field. The race became the subject of a 2009 book, detailing the race and the famous background rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II, by A.J. I recall it was damp and we were running on intermediate Firestone tires and at 210–220 mph [355 kmh] on the Mulsanne Straight, the tires were shedding tread. All three cars went over the finish in formation, but any chance for a dead heat disappeared when officials discovered a rule that in case of a tie, the car that had started further down the grid had travelled the farther distance. Ford v Ferrari (known as Le Mans '66 in the UK and other territories) is a sports drama film distributed by 20th Century Fox, based on the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari for dominance at Le Mans.