1966 Le Mans winner still roots for Ford
Chris Amon co-drove GT40 for first victory in France by U.S. automaker
It’s an iconic image in motorsport, the photographer capturing one of Ford Motor Company’s greatest triumphs as well as one of its greatest embarrassments. Two Ford GT40 Mk. IIs thundering side-by-side along the short pit straight of Le Mans’s legendary circuit, rooster tails of spray streaming behind them.
On the same lap, with only one to go in the 24-hour race, and following orders by Leo Beebe, Ford’s head of racing operations, not to race to the finish line, the pale blue No. 1 car of Ken Miles and Denis Hulme is lined up with the black No. 2 car of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. Beebe further decided that a photo finish featuring all three of the remaining team cars (eight had started) would be a sweet victory at the 1966 event — putting an end to Ferrari’s domination. The third Mk. II, driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson, was 12 laps down, in a solid third place.
But, while all three cars got the checkered flag just feet apart for the photo finish, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), organizers of the Le Mans event, had other ideas regarding the tie between the Nos. 1 and 2 cars. It informed Ford that the difference in the cars’ starting positions would be taken into account if it came to a close finish. Since the McLaren/Amon Ford GT40 started approximately 20 metres behind the Hulme/ Miles car, it had covered slightly more distance over the 24 hours and would be declared the winner.
A month shy of his 23rd birthday, Amon had won the historic race — one of the youngest ever to do so.
Now 72, Chris Amon, MBE, lives in his native New Zealand. After Le Mans, he went on to spend a long, if not overly successful, 13 years on the Formula One circuit, with numerous teams, including Ferrari and others. Though smooth and naturally quick, he was often saddled with unreliable machinery. After a crash while practising for the 1976 Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport, he retired.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Ford’s inaugural triumph at Le Mans — its cars would continue to win the endurance race in 1967, 1968 and 1969 — and the company’s return to the Circuit de la Sarthe with its new GT race car, Amon corresponded with Postmedia: Brian Harper: When you joined the Ford works team, how confident were you that the GT40 could win Le Mans? Chris Amon: I had been involved with Shelby/Ford team off and on since 1964, when I drove a Cobra Daytona Coupe at Le Mans. In 1965, the McLaren team for whom I was working was contracted to build a lightweight version of the GT40, which I ran in three Group Seven races in the U.S., these being the forerunner of the Can-Am (race series), which started in 1966. This meant that I was involved in development of both this car and other GT40s.
I co-drove with Phil Hill at Le Mans in 1965, with one of the first 7.0-litre cars. I think we were leading when the gearbox failed in the early hours of the morning. The sister car was driven by Ken Miles and Bruce McLaren and they had a similar problem.
We were confident the GT40 could win Le Mans and equally, as a driver pairing, we (Amon and McLaren) were confident that we had as much pace as any other (driver) pairing in the Fords.
I wouldn’t say we were confident we were going to win; in a 24-hour race there is so much that can go wrong. (But) we were certainly hopeful and optimistic. BH: How did you and Bruce split driving duties? CA: The car could run for approximately one hour 20 minutes to one hour 30 between fuel stops ... Our aim was to do single stints in daylight hours and double at night, the idea being trying to get some sleep during the double. I think that worked for Bruce, but I didn’t get any sleep. I did, however, enjoy a couple of long hot showers. BH: By 1966, was the Ford GT Mk. II and its big 7.0-litre V-8 superior to the Ferraris and other cars you were racing against? CA: The Mk. IIs were clearly superior speed-wise to the opposition at Le Mans. (They) had been in 1965 as well; the long Mulsanne Straight suited us. (We) probably had a topspeed advantage of 20-plus miles per hour. Note: Unlike earlier GT40s, which used smaller-displacement V8s, the Mk. II was powered by a modified 427-cubic-inch (7.0 litre) V8 from the Ford Galaxie, an engine used in NASCAR stock cars at the time. The car’s chassis was redesigned and modified by Shelby American to accommodate the larger, heavier 427. A new fourspeed gearbox was built to handle the more powerful engine, replacing the ZF five-speed used in the Mk. I. The Mk. II and IV were rendered obsolete after the FIA changed the rules for 1968 to ban unlimited capacity engines. The Mk. I, however, with its smaller V8, was able to race. BH: Didn’t your car experience tire problems during the race? Did that contribute to the orchestrated photo finish? CA: The tire problems we experienced occurred in the first two hours of the race. Bruce and I were contracted to Firestone and were the only one of the leading contenders running them. We lost the tread off one of the rears at least twice … In those first two hours, the decision — not an easy one — was made to switch brands (to Goodyear). By then, we had lost a lot of time and so gave it everything to catch up. By the time the decision was made to slow the cars down (for the last lap finish) we were back in the lead and had been for some time. BH: Is there a sense of nostalgia with Ford returning to Le Mans with its GT race cars, 50 years after you won the race? CA: I certainly do feel something of a sense of nostalgia with Ford returning, not just for my own memories but also the memory of Bruce McLaren and what we shared together. Sadly he was only with us for a few short years following.
I certainly would like to see Ford win the GT class. I was excited when they announced their return, so I will be hoping for a great result.
THE ONLY DRIVER REMAINING
Of the six Ford team drivers involved in that 1966 1-2-3 finish, Amon is the only one still alive. While Bucknum and Hutcherson died from natural causes, Miles was killed just two months later in a testing accident in Ford’s J-car, which became the Mk. IV race car that won Le Mans in 1967. McLaren died in 1970, when his Can-Am race car crashed during testing at Goodwood in England. Hulme — 1967 F1 World Champion — suffered a fatal heart attack at age 56 while competing in the 1992 Bathurst 1000 race in Australia.