- 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans Races
Previous = 1965
Current = 1966
Next = 1967The 196624 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place onJune 18 and 19,1966 . It was also the seventh round of theWorld Sportscar Championship .Pre-race
In 1966, the Ford Mk. II had become reliable. Shelby test driver
Ken Miles managed to win at the24 Hours of Daytona and the12 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 andAlan 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.At the last pit stop, three Mark IIs were in front.
Ken Miles andDenny Hulme were leading, followed byBruce McLaren andChris Amon in the same lap.Ronnie Bucknum andDick 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
Did Not Finish
tatistics
* Pole Position - #3 Shelby-American Inc. - 3:30.6
* Fastest Lap - #3 Shelby-American Inc. - 3:30.6
* Distance - 4843.09km
* Average Speed - 210.795km/hTrophy Winners
* Index of Performance - #30 Porsche System Engineering
* Index of Thermal Efficiency - #33 Ecurie Savin-Calberson
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