Ulis Racing Legends
#0603 'Moment of Truth'
#0603 'Moment of Truth'
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Le Mans 24 Hours 1966
#8 Ford GT40 Mk.II
John Whitmore / Frank Gardner
DNF
#2 Ford GT40 Mk.II
Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon
1st place overall, 1st place in P+5.0 category
#21 Ferrari 330P3
Lorenzo Bandini / Jean Guichet
DNF
#7 Ford GT40 Mk.II
Graham Hill / Brian Muir
DNF
#27 Ferrari 330P3 Spyder
Richie Ginther / Pedro Rodriguez
DNF
The conditions for a Ford victory in 1966 were good, even if there was strong opposition from Ferrari and Porsche, because the team from Detroit occupied almost 24% of the entire starting field. But, during the long race, the failure rate was high and only 15 out of 55 cars crossed the finish line. The yellow GT40 on the left was an early casualty, completing just 31 laps. The red Ferrari on the right, from Bandini and Guichet, made it through, but then had to retire after 226 laps. It was McLaren and Amon's black GT40 that completed the most laps in 24 hours, 360 to be precise, to win the race. It was unusual that the car that crossed the finish line first wasn't the winner. But that's what happened to "Kiwis" Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon in the black GT 40 at the 1966 24 Hours. At the end of the race, Ken Miles and Denny Hulme comfortably led in their Shelby American Inc. GT40. But Ford PR man Leo Bebe had a brilliant promotional idea and ordered them to slow down so all three 'surviving' GT 40s could cross the finish line in close formation. However, since McLaren and Amon had started from much further down the field but had now caught up with the leader and were on the same lap, they had actually overtaken the lead car and been declared winners. McLaren, which came to Europe in 1958, also had a successful career in Formula 1. He founded his own Formula 1 team and designed racing cars based on his own ideas. He died tragically at the early age of 32 while testing his own vehicles. Amon, who came to Europe in 1962, was a talented Formula 1 driver, often ranked as one of the best drivers never to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix. He retired on his farm in New Zealand in 1977.
