The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (1966 being the Mk II, 1967 the Mk IV, and 1968-1969 the oldest chassis design, the Mk I). It is so far the only American car to win overall at this race (Although the Mk I and the Mk II were actually designed and built in the United Kingdom).
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40)
Ford's entry at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hours is the strongest works entry ever seen: no less than 8 factory Fords MkIIA are sent to La Sarthe. The #1, #2 and #3 are entries by Shelby American Inc., aligning 3 American and 3 New Zealand drivers. (It's not clear why Lloyd Ruby, winner at Daytona and Sebring was not selected by Carroll Shelby). The #4, #5 and #6 are entries by Holman & Moody using four American racers (among them NASCAR specialist Dick Hutcherson), one Australian and one Belgian. Finally Alan Mann Racing Ltd., located in England, shows with two cars (#7 and #8) with its traditional racers: F1-world champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Graham Hill, Sir John Whitmore, dr. Dick Thompson and Australian Frank Gardner.
(Source: LE MANS 1966 FORD DRIVERS by Ken Miles)
Car #8 clocked the second fastest grid qualifying time behind eventual winner car#1 but DNF'd due to clutch problems.
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| Pos | Car # | Drivers | Car | Entrant | Laps | DNF Reason | Grid | Qual.Time |
| 1 | 2 | Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon/Bob Grossman*/Dan Gurney* | Ford Mk II [1046] | Shelby American Inc. | 360 |
| 4 | 3m32.6 |
| 2 | 1 | Ken Miles/Denny Hulme/Lucien Bianchi*/Richard Thompson*/Lloyd Ruby*/Mark Donohue* | Ford Mk II [1015] | Shelby American Inc. | 360 |
| 2 | 3m31.7 |
| 3 | 5 | Ronnie Bucknum/Dick Hutcherson/A.J.Foyt*/Bruce McLaren*/Peter Arundell* | Ford Mk II [1016] | Holman & Moody | 348 |
| 9 | 3m34.6 |
| DNF | 8 | John Whitmore/Frank Gardner/Mike Salmon^/Jack Sears* | Ford Mk II [XGT-1] | Alan Mann Racing Ltd. | 31 | Clutch | 3 | 3m32.2 |
(Source: http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1966/66lemans.html)
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Ken Miles' usual partner Lloyd Ruby wasn't at Le Mans in 1966 because he suffered spinal injuries in a plane crash after taking off from Indianapolis Motor Speed Way Airport. Denis Hulme was drafted as his replacement. Hulme and Ruby would share the #4 Shelby Ford GT40 Mk. IV in 1967 until Ruby buried it for good in the sand at the end of the Mulsanne straight after sliding on another car's spilled oil.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the #8 started third, not second. The #3 of Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant was on the pole, followed by the #1 of Miles/Hulme that eventually finished 2nd behind the fourth-starting McLaren/Amon #2. Dr. Dick Thompson was not a
ReplyDelete"traditional" Alan Mann driver - I could find no other instances when he drive with the British team. In any event, he never drove in the race because an accident in practice resulted in the French officials attempt to disqualify the #7 car. After both Ford and, surprisingly, Ferrari threatened to withdraw all their cars, a compromise was reached and Thompson was disqualified and Mann had to recruit Brian Muir, a sedan driver who had never driven a prototype or been at Le Mans before!
Interestingly enough, Thompson himself was a replacement for Jackie Stewart, who, the week before Le Mans, had received a broken collarbone and ribs from his accident in the Belgian GP (parts of which can be seen in the movie "Grand Prix", which was filming at the time). So Graham Hill's co-driver in the #7 Alan Mann Ford Mk. II was a replacement for a replacement...
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