1966 24 Hours of Le Mans

1966 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1965	Next: 1967
Index: Races | Winners

The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 18 and 19 1966. It was also the seventh round of the World Sportscar Championship.

Pre-race

In 1966, the Ford Mk. II had become reliable. Shelby test driver Ken Miles managed to win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring with the big block Ford. Ford sent no less than eight Mark II to La Sarthe, entered by three teams: Shelby, Holman & Moody and Alan Mann Racing.

Ferrari sent only two works P3s to compete against the Ford armada. Another P3 was entered by NART, and four 365 P2 were entered by Ferrari's usual private partners.

Race

The two works P3s were involved in an accident. At 01:45 the P2s had already exhausted their engine in trying to keep contact with the Mk. II and the last Ferrari prototype, the Pedro Rodríguez/Richie Ginther NART P3 retired with overheating. The race was won for Ford. For the first time in history an American car had won Le Mans.

At the last pit stop, three Mark IIs were in front. Ken Miles and Denny Hulme were leading, followed by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon in the same lap. Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson were third, but twelve laps behind.

At the finish, Ford decided to stage publicity photo between Miles/Hulme and McLaren/Amon with the No. 5 following, too. According to witnesses, McLaren left a small margin to Miles and it was expected than Miles/Hulme will be declared winner after the examination of the photo finish. But the ACO declared the McLaren/Amon car had won the race, having covered more distance in 24 hours, as it had started the race several places behind the Miles/Hulme car. The ACO estimated the difference to 8 meters. This was a terrible disappointment for Ken Miles who expected the triple crown Daytona-Sebring-Le Mans as a reward for his investment in the GT40 development. The well-known photography published by the Ford Motor Company showing McLaren leading Miles, with the MkII of Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson third, may have fooled some people, but this document doesn't show the finish line and the public doesn't know at what time the picture was shot. The finish remains, however, the closest in Le Mans history.

Official results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
1	P +5.0	2	Shelby-American Inc.	Bruce McLaren Chris Amon	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	360
2	P +5.0	1	Shelby-American Inc.	Ken Miles Denny Hulme	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	360
3	P +5.0	5	Holman & Moody / Essex Wire Corp.	Ronnie Bucknum Dick Hutcherson	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	348
4	P 2.0	30	Porsche System Engineering	Jo Siffert Colin Davis	Porsche 906/6L Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	339
5	P 2.0	31	Porsche System Engineering	Hans Herrmann Herbert Linge	Porsche 906/6L Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	338
6	P 2.0	32	Porsche System Engineering	Udo Schütz Peter de Klerk	Porsche 906/6L Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	337
7	S 2.0	58	Porsche System Engineering	Günter Klass Rolf Stommelen	Porsche 906/6 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	330
8	GT 5.0	29	Maranello Concessionaires	Piers Courage Roy Pike	Ferrari 275 GTB/C	Ferrari 3.3L V12	310
9	P 1.3	62	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Henri Grandsire Leo Cella	Alpine A210	Renault 1.3L I4	311
10	GT 5.0	57	Ecurie Francorchamps	Pierre Noblet Claude Dubois	Ferrari 275 GTB	Ferrari 3.3L V12	310
11	P 1.3	44	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Jacques Cheinisse Roger Delageneste	Alpine A210	Renault 1.3L I4	307
12	P 1.3	45	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Guy Verrier Robert Bouharde	Alpine A210	Renault 1.3L I4	307
13	P 1.3	46	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Mauro Bianchi Jean Vinatier	Alpine A210	Renault 1.3L I4	306
14	GT 2.0	35	"J. Franc"	Jacques Dewes Jean Kerguen	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	284
15	P 1.3	50	Jean-Louis Marnat & Cie	Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Louis Marnat	Marcos Mini Marcos GT 2+2	BMC 1.3L I4	258

Did Not Finish

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
16	S 2.0	33	Porsche System Engineering	Peter Gregg Sten Axelsson	Porsche 906/6 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	321
17	P +5.0	3	Shelby-American Inc.	Dan Gurney Jerry Grant	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	257
18	P 1.3	49	Donald Healey Motor Company	Paddy Hopkirk Andrew Hedges	Austin-Healey Sprite Le Mans	BMC 1.3L I4	237
19	S 5.0	14	Scuderia Filipinetti F.R. English Ltd. / Comstock Racing	Peter Sutcliffe Dieter Spoerry	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	233
20	P 5.0	21	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Lorenzo Bandini Jean Guichet	Ferrari 330 P3	Ferrari 4.0L V8	226
21	GT 5.0	26	Ed Hugus	Gianpiero Bascaldi Michel de Bourbon-Parma	Ferrari 275 GTB	Ferrari 3.3L V12	218
22	S 5.0	28	Equipe Nationale Belge	Gustave Gosselin Eric de Keyn	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12	218
23	P 1.3	47	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Berndt Jansson Pauli Toivonen	Alpine A210	Renault 1.3L I4	217
24	S 5.0	59	Essex Wire Corporation	Peter Revson Skip Scott	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	212
25	S 5.0	15	Ford France S.A.	Guy Ligier Bob Grossman	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	205
26	P 5.0	19	Scuderia Filipinetti	Willy Mairesse Herbert Müller	Ferrari 365 P2/P3	Ferrari 4.4L V12	166
27	S 5.0	60	Essex Wire Corporation	Jochen Neerpasch Jacky Ickx	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	154
28	P 5.0	27	North American Racing Team (NART)	Richie Ginther Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari 330 P3 Spyder	Ferrari 4.0L V12	151
29	P 1.3	28	Donald Healey Motor Company	John Rhodes Clive Baker	Austin-Healey Sprite Le Mans	BMC 1.3L I4	134
30	P 5.0	17	Ecurie Francorchamps	Jean Blaton Pierre Dumay	Ferrari 365 P2/P3	Ferrari 4.4L V12	129
31	P 5.0	20	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Ludovico Scarfiotti Mike Parkes	Ferrari 330 P3	Ferrari 4.0L V12	123
32	P 1.15	55	Société des Automobiles Alpine	André de Cortanze Jean-Pierre Hanrioud	Alpine A210	Renault 1.0L I4	118
33	P 2.0	41	Matra Sports SARL	Johnny Servoz-Gavin Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra M620	BRM 1.9L V8	112
34	P +5.0	9	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Phil Hill Joakim Bonnier	Chaparral 2D	Chevrolet 5.4L V8	111
35	P +5.0	7	Alan Mann Racing Ltd.	Graham Hill Brian Muir	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	110
36	P 2.0	34	Auguste Veuillet	Robert Buchet Gerhard Koch	Porsche 906/6 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	110
37	P 2.0	42	Matra Sports SARL	Jo Schlesser Alan Rees	Matra M620	BRM 1.9L V8	100
38	P +5.0	6	Holman & Moody	Mario Andretti Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	97
39	P 1.15	53	S.E.C. Automobiles CD	Georges Heligouin Jean Rives	CD SP66	Peugeot 1.1L I4	91
40	P 5.0	18	North American Racing Team (NART)	Masten Gregory Bob Bondurant	Ferrari 365 P2	Ferrari 4.4L V12	88
41	P 1.15	51	S.E.C. Automobiles CD	Claude Laurent Jean-Claude Ogier	CD SP66	Peugeot 1.1L I4	54
42	P 1.3	54	North American Racing Team (NART)	François Pasquier Robert Mieusset	ASA RB613	Ferrari 1.3L I4	50
43	P 5.0	24	Scuderia San Marco	Jean-Claude Sauer Jean de Mortemart	Serenissima Jungla GT Spyder	ATS 3.5L V8	40
44	P +5.0	11	Prototip Bizzarrini SAL	Sam Posey Massimo Natili	Bizzarrini 5300GT	Chevrolet 5.4L V8	39
45	P 2.0	43	Matra Sports SARL	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Henri Pescarolo	Matra M620	BRM 1.9L V8	38
46	P 5.0	16	Maranello Concessionaires	Richard Attwood David Piper	Ferrari 365 P2 Spyder	Ferrari 4.4L V12	33
47	P 1.3	61	ASA	Spartaco Dini Ignazio Giunti	ASA RB613	Ferrari 1.3L I4	31
48	P +5.0	8	Alan Mann Racing Ltd.	Sir John Whitmore Frank Gardner	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	31
49	P 1.15	52	S.E.C. Automobiles CD	Pierre Lelong Alain Bertaut	CD SP66	Peugeot 1.1L I4	19
50	P 2.0	36	Maranello Concessionaires	Mike Salmon David Hobbs	Ferrari Dino 206S	Ferrari 2.0L V6	14
51	P +5.0	4	Holman & Moody	Mark Donohue Paul Hawkins	Ford GT40 Mk.II	Ford 7.0L V8	12
52	P 2.0	38	North American Racing Team (NART)	Charlie Kolb George Follmer	Ferrari Dino 206S	Ferrari 2.0L V6	9
53	P +5.0	10	Prototip Bizzarrini SRL	Edgar Berney André Wicky	Bizzarrini P538	Chevrolet 5.4L V8	8
54	S 5.0	12	F.R. English Ltd. \ Comstock Racing	Innes Ireland Jochen Rindt	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7L V8	8
55	P 2.0	25	Scuderia San Marco North American Racing Team (NART)	Nino Vaccarella Mario Casoni	Ferrari Dino 206S	Ferrari 2.0L V6	7

Statistics

• Pole Position - #3 Shelby-American Inc. - 3:30.6
• Fastest Lap - #3 Shelby-American Inc. - 3:30.6
• Distance - 4843.09 km
• Average Speed - 210.795 km/h

Trophy Winners

• Index of Performance - #30 Porsche System Engineering
• Index of Thermal Efficiency - #33 Ecurie Savin-Calberson

References

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.