Posts Tagged ‘Ferrari P4’

Hawkeye…

Posted: September 25, 2020 in F1, Sports Racers
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Ickx/Hobbs first place Mirage M1 Ford from Piper/Attwood Ferrari 412P and Hawkins/Love Ferrari Can-Am 350, Crowthorne Corner, Kyalami 1968 (G Kegel)

Paul Hawkins had a very successful African tour in November/December 1968 with his ex-works Ferrari 350 Can-Am, winning five of the seven races he entered.

Ferrari raced four P4s in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship, one of which was an upgraded P3, at the WSC seasons end two of the cars were lightened and modified to ‘350 Can-Am’ specification. David McKay acquired one of the cars at the end of the 1967 Can-Am Challenge Cup, ‘0858’, for Chris Amon to race in the 1968 Australian Tasman Cup round sportscar supporting events where he was beaten on every occasion he raced Frank Matich’s Matich SR3 Repco. The story of the P3/350 Can-Am is here; https://primotipo.com/2015/04/02/ferrari-p4canam-350-0858/

After Chris returned to Europe Bill Brown raced the car throughout the domestic Australian season until after the Surfers 6 Hour enduro at which point Hawkins bought it and took it to Africa.

Kyalami (royckdboats)

 

4176cc, DOHC three valve, twin plug, fuel injected V12, 480 bhp @ 8500 rpm, five speed transaxle. Kyalami (royckdboats)

 

PH getting stuck into the Pommery after winning the 1968 Monza 1000 km- he shared the winning Gulf Wyer GT40 with David Hobbs

The prestigious Kyalami 9 Hour was the first race on Hawkins’ tour, there, on 11 November, sharing with South African single-seater ace, John Love, they were third having started from pole, the race was won by the Ickx/Hobbs Mirage M1 Ford. Tim Schenken took fourth outright and a 2 litre class win in a Chevron B8 BMW he shared with Brian Redman.

A week later Hawkins won the Cape Town 3 Hour at Killarney and was again victorious on 1 December at the GP Bulawayo, on the Kumalo circuit, he was second in the GP of Rhodesia on the same weekend. He again placed second in the 3 Hour de Lourenco Marques, in Mozambique that race won by Mike Hailwood and Malcolm Guthrie’s Mirage M1 Ford. He finished his tour with victories in the Roy Hesketh 3 Hours in Pietermaritzburg and 500 Km of East London on January 4 1969.

In May Hawkins raced a Lola T70 Mk3B Chev at Magny Cours, he entered Mike Hailwood in the Ferrari with Mike winning the race despite Paul setting pole and fastest lap of the race. Several days later Hawkins won the Dijon International, this time Mike started from pole and did the fastest lap but finished eighteenth. Shortly after this Paul sold the car to racer/dealer David Piper who had plenty of opportunities to evaluate the merits of the car on circuit!

Cyril Simson/Hawkins Healey Sebring Spite s/c, 20th with Morgan and Ferrari 250GT SWB in close attendance during the 1960 Tourist Trophy, Goodwood- the victor, Moss Ferrari 250GT SWB (Getty Images)

 

Hawkins/Makinen works Austin Healey 3000 during Targa in 1965. 21st and second in class. Vaccarella/Bandini won in a Ferrari 275 P2 (Bonhams Collection)

 

Paul Hawkins, Willment F2 Lotus 25 Coventry Climax FPF from Sam Tingle, LDS 1 Alfa Romeo during the 9 January 1965 Cape South Easter Trophy at Killarney, Cape Town, South Africa. Hawkins won from John Love and David Prophet (R Winslade)

 

Hawkins in a works-Lotus Ford Cortina FVA Group 5 machine during the 1967 BTCC, circuit folks? (unattributed)

‘Hawkeye’ was born in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburb of Richmond on October 12 1937, his father was a builder who later became a clergyman. He started racing circa 1958, having a few runs in Terry Valmorbida’s Austin Healey 100S before jumping a ship to the UK where a job with Healey quickly led to racing the marque.

He progressed through one of the toughest schools of all, British Formula Junior and then Formula 2 with John Willment in 1964, he was ninth in the 1965 South African GP aboard Willment’s Brabham BT10 Climax.

Along with Alberto Ascari, Hawkins is a Monaco Grand Prix diver survivor. He was racing Dickie Stoop’s Lotus 33 Climax towards the rear of the field on his eighthieth lap of the100 lap race in 1965. Denis Jenkinson saw it this way ‘…there was a bit of a furore at the chicane for Hawkins struck the wooden barrier at the entry and spun through the straw bales and over the edge of the quay and into the harbour. The Lotus sank to the bottom and the rugged Australian bobbed to the surface and struck out for shore, while boats went to his rescue.’

DSJ wryly observed ‘There was some discussion as to whether Hawkins used an Australian crawl or an American crawl to return to the edge of the harbour after his dive. Whatever it was it was an impressive and powerful stroke. Exactly ten years ago Ascari went in at the same place in a Lancia.’ Graham Hill won the race in fine style in his BRM P261.

Monaco 1965, Paul, Lotus 33 Climax about to be rounded up by second placed Lorenzo Bandini’s Ferrari 1512. Hawkins accident happened on his eightieth lap (unattributed)

 

Hawkins slightly soggy Lotus 33 Climax is repatriated from the chilly waters of Monaco Harbour. Chassis ‘R8’ lived to fight another day and is alive and well

 

Hawkeyes’s Lotus awaits him at a subsequent meeting! (R Schlegelmilch)

 

Hawkins on the way to winning the 1967 Targa Florio aboard a works Porsche 910 together with Rolf Stommelen (unattributed)

Hawkins quickly became a very fast, safe pair of endurance/sportscar hands winning Targa together with Rolf Stommelen aboard a works Porsche 910 and the Paris 1000 Km at Montlhery in a Mirage M1 Ford with Jacky Ickx in 1967 as well as the 1968 Monza 1000 Km together with David Hobbs. He was placed in five rounds of the World Sportscar Championship assisting John Wyer’s iconic Gulf sponsored Ford GT40s to victory in 1968.

At 31 he was still a young man in a wonderful career sweet spot racing factory cars and his own cars in national and international non-championship events.

On 26 May 1969 whilst running a works supported Lola T70 Mk3B Chev during the Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park, battling to get back in the lead group whilst running sixth, he hit a tree at Island Bend with poor Paul caught in the car as it was engulfed in flames. Brian Redman wrote ‘…I have no doubt his Lola T70 Mk3B suffered suspension failure, later in the race I crashed heavily at Knicker Brook due to the same problem.’

Treat this as a teaser, we will come back to Paul Hawkins, who is somewhat forgotten in Australia, Oulton was such a tragedy at a time his career trajectory was very much on the up.

1965 South African GP, East London. Paul Hawkins ninth place Brabham BT10 Lotus-Ford t/c from Dan Gurney’s Brabham BT11 Climax DNF- Jim Clark was up front in a Lotus 33 Climax (MotorSport)

 

Spa 1000 km start 1968. Hawkins GT40 inside Herman’s 908 Coupe, fourth and third respectively, Ickx/Redman Wyer GT40 the victor (unattributed)

 

Hawkins/Hobbs Gulf Wyer Ford GT40 Spa 1000 km 1968 (MotorSport)

Credits…

MotorSport, Brian Redman on ‘The Nostalgia Forum’, Gary Kegel, royckdboats, Richard Winslade, Mike Hayward Collection, Peter Maslen, Rainer Schlegelmilch, autopics.com.au, Bonhams Collection

Etcetera…

Hawkins Lola T70 Mk3 Chev about to surge past Alan Hamilton’s Porsche 906 during the 1967 Surfers 12 Hour (P Maslen)

We saw a bit of Paul in Australia later in his career. He contested the 1967 Surfers Paradise 12 Hour in a Lola T70 Mk3 Chev shared with car owner, Jackie Epstein, the duo were second in a race either they or the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 350 Can-Am Hawkins shortly thereafter acquired should have won but both machines had problems, see here; https://primotipo.com/2018/08/28/1967-surfers-paradise-6-hour/

David McKay included Hawkins in his ‘works’ Holden Dealer Racing Team Bathurst 500 lineup in 1968.

Paul popped the Holden HK Monaro GTS327 he shared with Bill Brown third on the grid, but the pair were disqualified after ‘slicing’ a wheel in The Cutting and receiving outside assistance. In the shot above he is ahead of Fred Gibson’s works XT Ford Falcon GT. The race was won by Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland in another GTS.

It’s interesting to speculate about the manner in which Paul Hawkins Racing Ltd may have developed whilst Hawkeye continued to race and once he retired. Here Mike Hailwood ponders more pace from his Hawkins Racing Lola T142 Chev F5000 during the the 4 April 1969 British F5000 championship round at Oulton Park.

The spaceframe chassis, surplus T70 parts-bin special T140/142 is unlikely to be on any list of Lola’s greatest cars. This event was the first ever British F5000 championship race, Mike qualified third behind the David Hobbs Surtees TS5 Chev and Peter Gethin’s McLaren M10A Chev, Peter took the win from David with Mike a DNF after a driveshaft broke.

Tailpiece…

(Lola Archive)

Paul has the big, brutal Lola T70 Mk3B Chev beautifully dancing on its tippy-toes on the way to a win in the Guards Trophy at Snetterton in April 1969.

Finito…

 

 

 

Bill Brown, Ferrari P4/Can-Am 350…

Posted: December 9, 2018 in Fotos, Sports Racers
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(oldracephotos.com.au/D Keep)

Bill Brown’s Ferrari 350 Can-Am on the exit of the very quick left-hander off Long Bridge- just about to change direction, Longford during the February 1968 Tasman meeting…

The ex-works car was owned by David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce and raced for him by Chris Amon in the sportscar events which supported each of the Australian Tasman rounds- and being beaten by Frank Matich in his Matich SR3 Repco V8 4.4 litre. Both cars had raced in some 1967 Can-Am Series races so Chris had a bit of an idea what he may have been up against when he arrived in Australia.

Sydney’s Bill Brown was to drive the car after Chris returned to Europe and also raced the car at Longford- a daunting place, to say the least, to become acquainted with one of the fastest sportscars on the planet at the time!

I wrote a long feature about the P4 Ferrari, and this particular car, chassis ‘0858’, a while back, click here to read it; https://primotipo.com/2015/04/02/ferrari-p4canam-350-0858/

(Rod MacKenzie)

For Chris the car was a bit of a distraction really, he was after the Tasman Cup aboard his works-owned but Chris Amon run Ferrari Dino 246T. He wasn’t successful in 1968, Jim Clark won the championship in his Lotus 49 Ford DFW but Chris made amends in 1969, winning the title against strong opposition including the Team Lotus duo of reigning F1 world champ Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt.

The shot below is of Bill setting off from the Longford pits in this oh-so-sexy machine, forever in the memories of those lucky enough to be at Longford ’68, or anywhere this car raced in its too short time in Australia that year.

(oldracephotos.com.au/D Keep)

Tailpiece: Can-Am 350 business end, Longford 1968…

(Dennis Cooper)

What an impressive beast it is!

The V12 three-valve engine grew from 3967 cc and 450 bhp @ 8000 rpm in P4 endurance spec to 4176 cc and circa 480 bhp @ 8500 rpm in sprint Can-Am trim. Fuel injection is Lucas- two distributors are providing spark to two plugs per cylinder. The transaxle is a Ferrari built 5 speeder and chassis the Scuderia’s ‘Aero’ semi-monocoque with the engine having a stiffer crankcase than the P3’s to allow it to be used as a semi-stressed structural member.

Photo Credits…

David Keep/oldracephotos.com, Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania, Rod MacKenzie, Dennis Cooper

Superb shot shows Bill coming off Kings Bridge with oil flag on display (oldracephotos.com.au/Harrisson)

Finito…

 

Amon’s Tasman Dino…

Posted: July 21, 2017 in F1, Features
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(Mr Reithmaier)

I love the build up and tension before the start of a big race; here it’s the grid prior to the start of the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe, in the north of NZ’s North Island on 6 January 1968…

Chris Amon readies himself and his Ferrari Dino 246T before the first round of the 1968 Tasman Series, a race in which he wonderfully and deservedly triumphed. Missing on the front row is Jim Clark’s Lotus 49T Ford DFW. Car #2 is Pedro Rodriguez’ BRM P261, the Mexican is bent over the cockpit of his car but failed to finish with clutch problems. Car #7 is Alec Mildren’s Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8 with chief mechanic Glenn Abbey warming up the one-off car. Lanky Franky Gardner is adjusting his helmet beside the car, it was a good day for Frank, the car was second.

Look closely and you can see a camera crew behind the Brabham which is focusing on 1967 reigning world champion Denny Hulme and his #3 Brabham BT23 Ford FVA F2 car- Denny’s head is obscured by Frank’s body. Hume boofed the ex-Rindt BT23 during the race badly enough for a replacement chassis to be shipped out from the UK.

I’ve always thought these F2/Tasman Ferrari’s amongst the sexiest of sixties single-seaters.
The 166 F2 car was not especially successful amongst the hordes of Ford Cosworth Ford FVA engined cars in Euro F2 racing, however, the car formed the basis of a very competitive Tasman 2.5 litre Formula car when fitted with updated variants of the Vittorio Jano designed V6 which first raced in F2 form and then powered the late fifties Grand Prix racing front-engined Ferrari Dino 246. It was in one of these cars that Mike Hawthorn won the 1958 World Drivers Championship.

Amon won the Tasman Series in 1969 with Ferrari Dino 246T chassis #0008, fellow Kiwi Champion Graeme Lawrence won aboard the same car in 1970 against vastly more powerful, if far less developed Formula 5000 cars. The story of those championships is for another time, this article is about Chris’ 1968 Tasman mount and campaign.

Amon hooking his gorgeous Ferrari Dino 246T ‘0004’ into The Viaduct in the dry at Longford 1968. Early ’68, we are in the immediate pre-wing era, and don’t the cars look all the better for it! (oldracephotos.com/D Keep)

In many ways Chris was stiff not to win the ’68 Tasman Cup a title, the last title won by the late, great Jim Clark…

Ferrari entered only one car that year, chassis #0004 was assembled in Maranello by longtime Amon personal mechanic Roger Bailey and tested at Modena in November 1967. It was then freighted by plane to New Zealand where it was prepared by Bruce Wilson in his Hunterville workshop in the south of the North Island.

The chassis was Ferrari’s period typical ‘aero monocoque’, a ‘scaled down’ version of the contemporary F1 Ferrari with aluminium sheet riveted to a tubular steel frame thus forming a very stiff structure. The 166 was launched to the adoring Italian public at the Turin Motor Show in February 1967.

In F2 form, the 1596cc, quad-cam, chain driven, 18 valve, Lucas injected engine developed circa 200bhp at an ear-splitting 10000 rpm. It is important to note that this F2 engine, designed by Franco Rocchi, and in production form powering the Fiat Dino, Ferrari Dino 206 and 246GT and Lancia Stratos is a different engine family to the Jano designed engines, evolved by Rocchi and used in the Tasman Dinos.

The F2 166 made its race debut in Jonathon Williams hands at Rouen in July 1967, whilst it handled and braked well it was around 15bhp down on the Cosworth engined opposition. The car was tested extensively at Modena, including 24 valve variants, but was not raced again that year.

Amon, who had not contested the Tasman Series since 1964, could immediately see the potential of the car, suitably re-engined, as a Tasman contender given the success of the small, ex-F1 BRM P261 1.9-2.1 litre V8’s in the 1966 and 1967 Tasmans. The same approach which worked for the boys from Bourne could work for Maranello Chris figured. A parts-bin special is way too crass, but you get my drift of a very clever amalgam of existing, proven hardware as a potential winning car.

In fact Ferrari went down this path in 1965 when a Tasman hybrid of a then current F1 chassis was married to a 2417cc variant of the Jano 65 degree V6 for John Surtees to race in the 1966 Tasman. John had Tasman experience in Coventry Climax FPF engined Coopers and Lola’s at the dawn of the sixties and could see the potential of a small Ferrari.

That plan come to nothing when Surtees was very badly injured in a Mosport Can-Am accident in his self run Lola T70 Chev in late 1965. This car, Ferrari Aero chassis ‘0006’ played the valuable role of proving Surtees rehabilitation when he completed 50 laps in the car at Modena. It was in the same chassis that Lorenzo Bandini finished second in the 1966 Syracuse and Monaco GP’s as Ferrari sought to get the new 3 litre V12 F1 312 up to speed, Bandini elected to race the Dino on both occasions- he also finished third in the car at Spa.

The allocation of this more competitive car to Bandini rather than team-leader Surtees was amongst the many issues which lead to the confrontation between John Surtees and team manager Eugenio Dragoni during Le Mans practice and Surtees departure from the team shortly thereafter.

An unidentified fellow, Jim Clark, Ferrari engineer Gianni Marelli, Chris Amon and Roger Bailey share a joke during the 1968 Longford weekend. Chassis ‘0004’ is fitted with the 24 valve V6 covered in the text. Note the quality of castings, fabrication and finish, inboard discs, sliding spline driveshafts and single plug heads of this very powerful- but less than entirely reliable engine in 1968 form, it’s shortcoming cylinder head seals (oldracephotos.com/Harrison)

The engine of the 166/246T was carried in a tubular subframe attached to the rear of the monocoque which terminated at the drivers bulkhead, the car was fitted with a 5 speed transaxle designed by Ingenere Salvarani and Girling disc brakes.

Suspension was also similar to the contemporary F1 cars in having an front upper rocker and lower wishbone with inboard mounted spring/shocks and conventional outboard suspension at the rear- single top link, inverted lower wishbone, two radius rods and coil spring/shocks.

For the 1968 NZ races- Chris won at Pukekohe after Clark retired and at Levin, leading from flag to flag, was second to Clark at Wigram and fourth at Teretonga- a 3 valve variant (2 inlet, 1 exhaust) of the 65 degree fuel injected V6 was fitted which was said to develop around 285bhp @ 8900rpm from its 2404cc.

Chris crossed the Tasman Sea with a nine point lead in the Series from Clark and the might of Team Lotus. It was a wonderful effort, whilst Ferrari provided the car free of charge and took a share of the prize money, the logistics were of Chris’ own small equipe, and here they were serving it up to Gold Leaf Team Lotus with a couple of World Champions on the strength, plenty of spares and support crew.

Amon just falls short of Jim Clark at the end of the 1968 AGP at Sandown. The official margin, one tenth of a second after 62 minutes of great motor racing. Lotus 49 Ford DFW and Ferrari Dino 246T (unattributed)

 

Amons heads into the Sandown pitlane to practice- Shell corner or turn 1 behind (G Paine)

 

Amon’s car in the Sandown paddock. That little four valve engine came so close to pipping Clark’s Ford DFW on raceday (G Paine)

For the four Australian races a 24 valve version of the engine was shipped from Maranello. Its Lucas injection was located within the engines Vee rather than between the camshafts and had one, rather than two plugs per cylinder. This motor developed 20 bhp more than the 18 valver with Chris promptly putting the car on pole at Surfers Paradise, a power circuit- he won the preliminary race and had a head seal fail whilst challenging Clark in the championship round.

At Warwick Farm he qualified with the 18 valve engine and raced the 24 valver having rebuilt it- they only had one of the motors. He was challenging both Clark and Hill in the race and then spun in avoidance of Hill who was having his own moment…he was fourth on the tight technical Sydney circuit.

At Sandown during the AGP, the pace of the car, and Amon, was proved in an absolute thriller of a race in which he finished second to Clark by one-tenth of a second, the blink of an eye. Let’s not forget the best driver in the world driving the best F1 car of the era powered by the Tasman variant of the greatest GP engine ever was his competition- and took fastest lap.

As the team crossed Bass Straight from Port Melbourne on the ‘Princess of Tasmania’ Chris knew he had to win the Longford ‘South Pacific Championship’, with Clark finishing no better than fifth to win the Tasman title.

At Longford, still fitted with the 24 valve engine, which must have been getting a little tired, he qualified a second adrift of Clark and Hill, he finished seventh in a race run in atrocious conditions on the most unforgiving of Australian circuits having initially run second to Clark but then went up the Newry Corner escape road and suffered ignition problems from lap 10.

Piers Courage won in an heroic drive aboard his little McLaren M4A Ford FVA F2 car that streaming day, in a series which re-ignited his career.

Chris and the boys confer about car set-up- in the dry!, at Longford(oldracephotos.com.au/Harrisson)

Chris was a busy boy during the Australian Tasman leg as he also drove David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 350 CanAm/P4 in sports car support events at each round in addition to the little Dino.

These races were outstanding as they involved close dices between Chris and Frank Matich in his self designed and built Matich SR3 powered by 4.4 litre Repco Brabham V8’s- with Frank getting the better of him in each of these races. The speed of the Matich was no surprise to Chris though, both had contested rounds of the Can-Am Championship only months before the Tasman in the US.

Click here for my article on the Ferrari P4/CanAm 350 #’0858’ Chris raced in Australia;

https://primotipo.com/2015/04/02/ferrari-p4canam-350-0858/

Amon lines David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce Ferrari P4/350 Can Am up for Longford’s The Viaduct during the 1968 Longford Tasman meeting. Matich didn’t take the SR4 to Longford so Chris had an easy time of it that weekend. The sight and sound of that car at full song on the Flying Mile at circa 180mph would have been really something! (oldracephotos.com/D Keep)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Amon, David McKay and mechanic David Liddle with the Can-Am 350 in the Sandown pitlane (G Paine)

For the 1969 Tasman Chris applied all he learned in 1968 returning with two cars, the other driven by Derek Bell, four well developed 300bhp 24 valve engines with the logistics of the two months taken care of by David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce.

He promptly lifted the Tasman Cup in a very successful campaign from Jochen Rindt, Graham Hill and others, with a little more luck or greater factory commitment in 1968 it may have been two Tasmans on the trot for the Maranello team and Chris…

Etcetera…

(G Paine)

 

(G Paine)

A couple of shots of the SV Ferrari Can-Am 350 being fettled in the 1968 Sandown Tasman paddock.

Bibliography…

oldracingcars.com, sergent.com.au, ‘Dino: The Little Ferrari’ Doug Nye

Photo Credits…

Mr Riethmaier, oldracephotos.com, Rod MacKenzie, Glenn Paine Collection

Tailpiece: Love this moody, foreboding Longford shot by Roderick MacKenzie…

(Rod MacKenzie)

Chris has just entered the long ‘Flying Mile’ in the streaming wet conditions during Monday’s ‘South Pacific Trophy’ famously won by Piers Courage little McLaren M4 Ford FVA F2 car. 4 March 1968.

Finito…

 

Brands 6 Hour ’67…

Posted: June 16, 2017 in Fotos, Sports Racers
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fazz color

The Ludovico Scarfiotti/Peter Sutcliffe factory Ferrari P4 during the 1967 Brands Hatch 6 Hour held on 30 July…

Louis Klemantaski’s creative shot beautifully captures and ‘distresses’ the 5th placed car, Phil Hill and Mike Spence won the race in a Chaparral 2F Chev from the P4 of Chris Amon and Jackie Stewart.

fazz 1

Sutcliffe dives the P4 inside the Enever/Polle MGB (Klemantsaki)

fazz 2

P4 Ferrari cockpit at Brands ’67. Of the period ‘innit? Momo wheel, Veglia Borletti instruments, right-hand 5 speed change, car a spaceframe chassis with riveted on aluminium panels to add stiffness, beautifully trimmed for a racer-added to driver comfort over longer distances (Klemantaski)

I wrote articles about the Ferrari P4/CanAm 350, Chaparral 2F and 1967 Le Mans which may be of interest if you are into these cars and this great era of ‘unlimited’ endurance racing, check out;

https://primotipo.com/2015/04/02/ferrari-p4canam-350-0858/ and https://primotipo.com/2014/06/26/67-spa-1000km-chaparral-2f/ and https://primotipo.com/2015/09/24/le-mans-1967/

fazz 3

Brands pits, 6 Hours ’67; the 3 factory P4’s in line astern with the Scarfiotti/Sutcliffe car ahead of the other two crewed by Amon/Stewart 2nd and Paul Hawkins/Jonathon Williams 6th. # 30 and 32 Lotus 47 Fords are Taylor/Preston 19th and Hine/Green DNF (Klemantaski)

Credit…

Klemantaski Collection

Tailpiece: Phil Hill in the winning Chaparral 2F Chev from the Scarfiotti/Sutcliffe Ferrari P4…

fazz last

(Klemantaski)

 

 

Le Mans 1967…

Posted: September 24, 2015 in Features, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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crowd

1967 was one of the most intensely interesting years of Sportscar Racing; the last year of the ‘unlimited cars’ saw the 4 litre Ferrari P4 and 7 litre Ford GT40 Mk4/2B’s and Chaparral 2F at it tooth and nail in a battle for dominance before new rules came into force rendering the cars obsolete at the stroke of the rule-makers pen…

I’ve written a couple of long articles about the Ferrari and Chaparral which also cover that seasons racing in some detail, click here to read them;

Chaparral 2F;  https://primotipo.com/2014/06/26/67-spa-1000km-chaparral-2f/

Ferrari P4;  https://primotipo.com/2015/04/02/ferrari-p4canam-350-0858/

coppers

This article is largely pictorial using as it’s base the phenomenal work of American Dave Friedman.

He was a still photographer on movie sets after serving in World War 2. His passion was motor racing though, he was soon engaged by Ford and others to document their racing history. The photos I have chosen are from an archive of nearly 900 of this race alone!

The race was famously won by Fords ‘All American Boys’ Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt, the latter adapting rather well to road racing given his oval background on both dirt and bitumen.

The images are all monochrome and all the more evocative for it!

paper

Race Entries…

Ford won the 1966 Le Mans classic taking the first three placings after the failings of 1964 and 1965. In 1964 the GT40 was simply too new and lacked the necessary development, in 1965 cracked brake discs from unforeseen levels of heat were the problem which eliminated most of the 7 litre Mk2’s.

For 1967 FoMoCo entered four new, fabulous 7 litre Mk4’s, two prepared by Holman & Moody and two by Shelby-American. They also fielded Mk2’s designated Mk2B’s, these beasts also powered by the same 530bhp V8’s as the Mk4.

ford interior

Business end and cockpit of the Hulme/Ruby Ford Mk4 chassis ‘J8’. Aluminium honeycomb chassis, Ford 7 litre OHV cast iron V8 fed by 2 4 barrel Holley carbs. Circa 530bhp. Suspension; single top link, inverted lower wishbone, 2 radius rods, coil spring/damper unit, cast magnesium upright, adjustable roll bar. Ford Kar Kraft T44 4 speed transaxle.

Ferrari entered 4 litre cars; 3 new P4’s and a P3/4, these cars powered by the latest 450bhp 36 valve, fuel injected V12.

Two Chaparral 2F’s were entered, despite 7 litres of Chev V8 they were lighter than the P4’s.

The P4 weighed in at circa 2200lb, the 2F 1980lb, the Mark4 2200lb and the Mk2B, without the benefit of the lighter honeycomb construction of its newer sibling, was about 2500lb.

The 2 Lola T70 Aston Martin’s tipped the scales at 2320lb, the Aston 5 litre V8’s fuel injected since the April pre-race Le Mans trials at which they had been very fast.

lola

Lola T70 Mk3 Aston Martins’ a big disappointment. #11 John Surtees/David Hobbs car engine shat itself on lap 3 with piston failure , #12 Chris Irwin/Peter de Clerk lasted till lap 25 also withdrawing with engine failure.

In the 2 litre class the Porsches’, always outright contenders such was their speed and reliability, would do battle with the Matra BRM’s. Ferrari chose not to race their Dino’s focusing on the ‘main game’ and Alfa withdrew their T33’s as not being not sufficiently ready for the rigours of la Sarthe.

jochen and nina

Jochen Rindt with the lovely Nina Lincoln, Finnish fashion model and daughter of racer Curt Lincoln, he married her in ’67. Jochen raced Porsche 907 #40, (above) he and Masten Gregory famously won the race in a Ferrari 250LM when the factory Ford GT40 Mk2’s and Ferrari P2’s failed in 1965. The other Porsche #41 is the 5th placed, 2 litre class winning 907 of Jo Siffert/Hans Hermann.

 

ford and babes

#2 McLaren/Mark Donohue 4th and #1 Gurney/Foyt 1st Ford Mk4’s with friends before the start.

Ford had windscreen troubles in practice but this was remedied with a fresh batch of correctly tempered screens which arrived pre-race.

As if to assert Ford’s authority Bruce McLaren took a Mk4 out and lapped at 3.24.4, an average of 147.316 mph and topped 215mph on the Mulsanne, in the dark. It gave him pole, McLaren was Ford’s victor in 1966 in a GT40 Mk2 he drove with fellow Kiwi Chris Amon.

mc laren

Bruce McLaren jumps out of his Ford Mk4 ‘J6’ during practice. Bruce the pole sitter in this car.

Fords times gave them five of the six top slots. Frank Gardner and Roger McCluskey qualified their Holman & Moody Mk2B 6th, here is FG before the off, the race not quite so successful, his co-driver became part of an accident not of his making…

frank gardner

The Race…

race start

Dan Gurney is the bolter at the start in #1, #2 McLaren Mk4, #7 Chap Spence putting on his full harness, alongside him #3 Andretti and #4 Hulme both in Mk4’s doing the same.

 

start 2

A second or so later; Spence, Andretti and Hulme still ‘belting up’ whilst #62 Mike Salmon DNF fire and #11 Surtees Lola Aston, #23 Attwood Ferrari P3 and #21 Scarfiotti Ferrari P4 come thru.

 

start 3

Love this start shot as it gives a sense of the depth of the field but also the speed differentials for which Le Mans is infamous; #42 Robert Buchet/Herbert Linge 14th Porsche 911S 2 litre, #48 Roger Delageneste/Jacques Cheinisse 10thAlpine A210 Renault 1.6 litre, #60 Andre Wicky/Philippe Farjon DNF Porsche 911S and the rest…Mike Spence just away in the winged Chap 2F at far left.

300,000 people attended the race on 10 June in overcast, warm weather, Henry Ford 2 and wife arriving by ‘chopper shortly before the race…

After the traditional start Pedro Rodriguez led initially in the NART Ferrari but was quickly passed by the Paul Hawkins Mk2B, who led at the end of the first hour by which time both Lola’s were out; Surtees with engine trouble after 3 laps, Chris Irwin on lap 25 later with fuel pump problems.

early laps

#21 Scarfiotti in the 2nd placed Ferrari P4 from the #4 Hulme Ford Mk4 during the early laps. Below is the Surtees Lola also during the first 3 laps…

After the first pitstop the Chaparral 2F took the lead, the Fords getting about an hour out of a fuel tank, the Fazz’ and Chaparral about 15 minutes longer.

chap pitstop

The Hill/Spence Chap 2F circulating fast at this point doing 3 min 29 sec laps…

After the second refuelling the Gurney/Foyt Mk4 lead from the Hill/Spence Chaparral followed by the Andretti/Bianchi and McLaren/Donohue Ford Mk4’s.

rodriguez

Oopsie; Ricardo Rodriguez (no relation) in the ‘kitty litter’ on Lap 30, the NART Ferrari 365P2 retired at this point. Car shared with Chuck Parsons. In the background in the lower photo is the works Austin Healey Sprite of Clive Baker/Andrew Hedges which finished 15th, first British car home.

 

andretti

The ill-fated Andretti/Bianchi Mk4 ahead of Chris Amon/Nino Vaccarella Ferrari P4 DNF puncture/fire and Denny Hulme/Lloyd Ruby Mk4 DNF accident, in The Esses in the first quarter of the race.

 

fireman

‘British Racing and Sports Car Club’ fireman in the latest gear.

After 4 hours the Gurney car was still ahead.

This time from the Andretti Ford. Three Fords led from the Chaparral, with Ferrari further back, the leading Ferrari’s were driven by Amon/Vaccarella P4 and Rodriguez/Baghetti, P3/412P.

chap 8

The #8 Bruce Jennings/Bob Johnston Chaparral 2F in the pits for its final pitstop on lap 91, car out with battery and starter failure.

 

butt shot

2 P4’s, the white car the NART P Rodriguez/Baghetti P4/412P entry chasing the Jennings/Johnston Chaparral 2F and a 911S about to be ‘swallowed’ by all 3.

After 6 hours the 2nd #8 Chaparral failed to restart after a pitstop.

Hill pitted at about the same time in the #7 Chap with the transmission, the cars weak link checked leading to speculation about its health. The stop lasted 9 minutes, the car rejoined in 7th place.

Rindt (below) retired his Porsche 907, having over-revved its 2 litre flat 8.

rindt 2

jo

The #7 Chaparral 2F Chev of Spence and 5th placed Porsche 907 ‘Langheck’ of Siffert/Hans Hermann with Jo at the wheel. Car also the 2 litre winner.

At 2 am it was still 1-3  for Ford but the pattern of the race changed hugely after Andretti took over his car from Bianchi, it was fitted with fresh brake pads.

As he approached The Esses and braked one disc grabbed, pinging the car instantly between the unforgiving earth banks until finishing in the middle of the track with bits of ‘Big Henry’ scattered all over the place.

Roger McCluskey arrived in the Mk2B he shared with Frank Gardner, braked, spun and hit the banks wrecking another factory Ford. Schlesser then added to the party arriving in the Ford France Mk2B  he shared with Guy Ligier and spun in avoiding his teammates- three Fords were out on the spot!

rooted fords

Rooted Fords #3 Andretti Mk4 and #5 McCluskey Mk2B. (Rainer Schlegelmilch)

 

foyt 2

The winning Mk4 of Gurney/Foyt ahead of #57 Ronnie Bucknum/Paul Hawkins Mk2B DNF and #14 Mirage M1 Ford of David Piper/Richard Thompson,DNF .

 

ferrari dead

Dead Ferrari’s atop the transporter in the middle of the race, both with piston failure; #22 Jean Guichet/Herbie Muller Ferrari P3/412P #25 Pedro Rodriguez/Giancarlo Baghetti Ferrari P3/412P

 

foyt 3

AJ Foyt aboard the winning Ford Mk4 chassis ‘J5’.

At half distance the Gurney/Foyt Mk4 had a huge lead

But there were three Ferrari’s and a Chaparral between Gurney and the next Ford.

At dawn it was Gurney/Foyt 7 laps ahead of the Parkes/Scarfiotti Ferrari, the Hill/Spence Chaparral then Ferrari-Ford-Ferrari, it was anybody’s race at this point.

At 5.30am Hill’s Chaparral pitted for investigation of an oil leak; and stayed for 3 hours whilst the mechanics heroically removed the transmission and fitted a new oil seal but the car was finally retired with an oil-less transmission.

spence

Chaparral council of war in the middle of the night. Jim Hall , Phil Hill and Mike Spence curse the cars auto gearbox, its weakness that year. The one bright spot for the fastest, most innovative and stunning sports/prototype of 1967 was its season ending Brands Hatch 6 Hour victory in July.

With 6 hours to go the Gurney/Foyt Ford only lead by 5 laps!

But it was one Ford from three Ferrari’s with the Italian cars being driven very hard, Mike Parkes said ‘I have never driven a car so hard for so long’ of his Ferrari P4 after the race.

lini

What am i going to tell The Commendatore!? Franco Lini, Ferrari Team Manager ponders the teams prospects late in the race. It was an honorable defeat, to say the least, against the onslaught of the then second largest motor manufacturer in the world.

With less than 2 hours to go the Ferrari’s were lapping 10 seconds a lap quicker than the leading Ford, with 90 minutes to go both cars stopped for fuel for the last time, Ferrari’s only hope a Ford failure but it was not to be…

finish

Car #24 the 3rd place Willy Mairesse/Jean Blaton Ferrari P4 and winning #1 Mk4, ‘victory lap’. Small shots; Franco Lini, Bruce McLaren Mk4 pit, ‘pit popsie’.

It was the first ‘All American’ win ever; car and drivers. Ford were both first outright and won ‘The Index of Thermal Efficiency’, which seems somewhat of a contradiction in terms for a car powered by a 7 litre cast iron, OHV V8!…

The first six placings were;

1st. Gurney/Foyt Ford Mk4 388 laps

2nd. Scarfiotti/Parkes Ferrari P4 384 laps

3rd. Mairesse/Blaton Ferrari P4 377 laps

4th. McLaren/Donohue Ford Mk4 359 laps

5th. Siffert/Hermann Porsche 907 358 laps 2 litre winner

6th. Stommelen/Neerpasch Porsche 910 351 laps

winner

Winners are Grinners…

The winning Ford covered a record distance and was pushed hard all the way- Dan Gurney at left and AJ Foyt, right, below.

dan

Mike Parkes (L) and Ludovico Scarfiotti looking suitably tired after fantastic drives in pursuit of the Ford Juggernaut!

parkes

Henry Ford 2 and his wife Maria look well pleased with the results of their teams work.

Its interesting to reflect on how different automotive/motor racing history may have been had Enzo Ferrari not withdrawn from the final stage of negotiations for the ‘Boys from Dearborn’ to buy his Maranello outfit in July 1963.

Whatever the case, motor racing had a friend in Henry Ford 2. Without his patronage and support of racing to build Ford’s global brand we would not have had many of Ford’s programs which enriched racing during his tenure of either direct or indirect control of FoMoCo.

mr ford

Tailpiece; The Morning After the Night Before…

rubbish

Photo Credits…

The amazing Dave Friedman Archive, Rainer Schlegelmilch

Bibliography…

Team Dan WSC Archive, Automobile Year 15

Finito…

Lorenzo Bandini:Cooper T53 Maserati: Warwick Farm, Sydney 1962…

Posted: March 24, 2015 in F1, Sports Racers
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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bandini warwick farm 1962 cooper maser

(John Ellacott)

Lorenzo Bandini heading for fourth place in his ‘Centro Sud’ Cooper T53 Maserati, ‘Warwick Farm 100’, February 1962…

The race was won by Stirling Moss in Rob Walkers’ Cooper T53 Climax from Bruce McLaren in a similar car.

bandini portrait 67

Lorenzo Bandini 1967. (Unattributed)

Bandini joined Centro Sud in 1961 making his championship debut at Spa having scored 3rd place in the Non-Championship Pau GP earlier in the season.

He raced in the Southern Summer gaining valuable experience in the powerful F Libre cars raced in Australasia at the time against the Worlds best.

Bandini contested the Warwick Farm International, his only race in Australia but competed in New Zealand at the start of the year coming 5th in the NZ GP at Ardmore and retired at Wigrams airfield circuit and at Teretonga with an oil leak and ignition problems respectively.

Born in 1935, he commenced his racing career on motorcycles, progressing into cars with a borrowed Fiat 1100. He came to the attention of ‘Centro Suds’ Mimmo Dei after Formula Junior successes in Stanguellini and Volpini chassis’ in 1960 and 1961.

bandini brm

Have always thought BRM’s and Cooper’s look great in BRG but they look even better in red!? Lorenzo in his ex-works BRM P57 1.5 V8 in the British GP, Silverstone 1963. An excellent 5th in the race won by Jim Clarks’ Lotus 25 Climax. (Unattributed)

le mans 63

Victorious at Le Mans in 1963 in Ferraris’ first V12 mid engined endurance racer the 250P. He shared the car with fellow Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti. (Unattributed)

Bandini drove his first GP for Ferrari in 1962 but for 1963 drove in their sports car squad, Centro Sud kept him in GP racing campaigning an ex-works BRM P57…Ferrari did enter him in the last 4 GP’s of the season…he also won Le Mans in’63 partnered by Ludovico Scarfiotti in a Ferrari 250P.

For 1964 he partnered John Surtees in the F1 team winning the Austrian GP at Zeltweg, sadly his only Championship GP win.

bandini zeltweg

First in the Austrian GP at Zeltweg in August 1964 ahead of Richie Ginther in a BRM P261 and Bob Anderson, Brabham BT11 Climax…(Unattributed)

bandini germany 1965

Patiently bleeding the brakes of his Ferrari 158 in practice for the German GP, Nurburgring 1965. 6th in the rcae won by Clarks’ Lotus 33 Climax. (Unattributed)

bandini french gp 66

Disappointment on his face, Bandini pulls to the side of the Reims circuit, 1966 French GP. He was in the lead of the race and pulling away, of all things his throttle cable broke, well before the days of potentionometers! Jack Brabham took the lead in his Brabham BT19 Repco and became the first driver to win a race in a car of his own manufacture and name. (Unattributed)

Always competitive in F1, if not an absolute ‘ace’ Bandini was unlucky not to win the 1966 French and US Grands Prix’ when well in the lead of both races , mechanical problems with his 3 litre V12 Ferrari 312 intervening.

p2 targa 65

Famous shot first published in Automobile Year. Lorenzo in the Ferrari P2 he shred with local Nino Vaccarella to win the 1965 Targa Florio. (Automobile Year)

Luckier in sports car racing, in addition to the Le Mans victory, he also won the Targa Florio in 1965 and the Daytona 24 Hours and Monza 1000Km in 1967 racing the superb Ferrari P4 partnered with Chris Amon whom he first met at the NZ GP in 1962, Chris campaigning a Maserati 250F before he came to Europe…

Lorenzo died in a gruesome accident at Monaco in 1967, the fire which took his life accelerating improvements to circuit and driver safety, not the least the abolition of hay-bales with which he collided, fuelling the ensuing fire.

He was an immensely popular driver with his colleagues, the media and fans, 100000 of whom were in the streets surrounding the Reggiolo church in which his funeral was held.

bandini monza p4

Bandini in the gorgeous Ferrari P4 at Monza, 1967 1000Km’s which he won with Chris Amon. The P4 4 litre V12 was outgunned by the 7 litre Fords and Chaparrals that year but still scored some successes. (Unattributed)

le mns 63 poster

Shell ad to celebrate the 1963 Le Mans win. #10 Rodriguez/Penske Ferrari 330LM TRI, #18 P Hill/Bianchi Aston DP215, # 21 victorious Bandini/Scarfiotti Ferrari 250P, # 23 Surtees/Mairesse Ferrari 250P, # 8 McLaren/Ireland Aston Martin DB4 GT

Credits…

John Ellacott, Automobile Year,