[1] [2] It was also the seventh round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season.This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the Ford GT40 as well as the first overall win for an American constructor.

Miles/Hulme were leading, followed by McLaren/Amon holding station on the same lap. We knew Ferrari had improved, but so had we, especially on the reliability front, and that proved to be the case in the race.Bruce drove the first stints. The crowd-pleasing Mini Marcos was club raced, rallied and hill climbed, road registered twice and repainted five times only to be stolen in the night of 30 October 1975 from beneath a flat in Paris. There was a bit of history to that.

Another thing was you really had to manage the brakes because at the end of the Mulsanne Straight they would be cold and then subjected to tremendous heat as you slowed from 220 mph.There was a real risk the discs could crack. He aimed for the escape road at the end of the straight, not realising it was blocked by a sandbank, which he hit at about 190 km/h (120 mph). Find the perfect 1966 Le Mans stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both,The Ford team's decision was a big disappointment for Ken Miles, who was aiming for the.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. I was not fully confident on the reliability front if we were to drive hard the whole race so I suggested to Bruce that we set a fairly conservative pace for the race, and whilst we might be running out of the top three in the early stages, we might be the only one there at the end.

The Le Mans winner runs the larger 7.0-liter V8 used in later cars, good for 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. 1966 saw the advent of a completely new set of regulations from the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale – the,As Group 7 were ineligible for FIA events, the.Along with the new Appendix J, after four years of focus on GT racing the FIA announced the International Manufacturer's Championship, for Group 6 Prototypes (2L / >2L), and the International Sports Car Championship for Group 4 (1.3L / 2L / 5L).With the new regulations this year the ACO received a huge 103 entry requests. For the 2019 film released internationally as Le Mans '66, see,Challenge Mondial de Vitesse et Endurance standings,Clarke 1997, p.10: Road & Track Sept 1966,Clarke 1997, p.11: Road & Track Sept 1966,Clarke 1997, p.12: Road & Track Sept 1966,Clarke 1997, p.13: Road & Track Sept 1966,"A look back at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours","Watch the story of the controversy behind the Ford GT40's photo finish at Le Mans in 1966","Le Mans 1966: The Golden Mystery – dailysportscar.com","20 Jun 1966, Page 11 - The Cumberland News at Newspapers.com","Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans – Book Review","How Carroll Shelby And A Gang Of Nerds Beat Enzo Ferrari","Ford Preparing to 'Go Like Hell!' The McLaren team was commissioned by Ford to build a lightweight version of the GT40 for possible use in 1966. In spite of almost 50 years passing since the 1-2-3 win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, the Ford GT40 remains one of the most legendary race cars. It came after years of struggle, more than a few public failures, and enough burnt cash to refloat the,Collectively, Ford's wins were one of countless bright moments in a golden decade for both motorsport and,Results taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the,Taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the,As calculated after Le Mans, Round 4 of 4,This article is about the race. As it turned out McLaren's #2 car crossed the finish line just ahead and was declared the winner. Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won by Ferenc Szisz. Ginther's NART Ferrari was leading from Parkes, chased by the Fords of Miles and Gurney on the same lap, McLaren a lap behind then Bandini and Andretti two laps back. Taken with critical injuries to the American military hospital at.A notable absentee at the test weekend was the Ferrari works team.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). Our cars didn’t have power steering or paddle shift gear boxes so they were physically very demanding to drive. 24 Hours of Le Mans races. When I was called in to change tires, I think Bruce's frustration had reached boiling point, he put his head through the car door and said 'Go like hell!'." I think today’s drivers are subjected to much higher G-forces and they also have to manage different settings in the car so they have more to think about during the race. Miles was told to ease off to allow McLaren to catch up with him. I also had some interesting conversations with Henry Ford II and his wife Cristina, during the night.I have to admit I was only 22 at the time and I was overawed by the situation.

But instead of euphoria on the podium, Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren, who were classified first, were strangely subdued. The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 18 and 19 1966. 3 results for 1966 pontiac lemans. Drivers Car Entrant Laps Distance Photo Gallery of Le Mans 24 Hours. Race results of Le Mans 24 Hours 1967. And in 1969, a fourth.That achievement was arguably the greatest in the company's history. Save this search. Henry was on the podium and I believe his wife was also there. We had both driven the first two 7-litre cars at Le Mans the previous year: Bruce with Ken Miles and myself with Phil Hill. 13 examples of the GT40 entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, a race marred by heavy rain.