Round #8: Porsche wins Mugello ahead of 2 splendid GTAs

July 17 - While at Brands Hatch Jack Brabham wins his second successive Grand Prix in a Ferrariless England, no works cars are found at Mugello by Lorenzo Bandini and Lodovico Scarfiotti, despite the fact that "Lulu" spent the last six days doing private practice at the circuit. At the last minute they are informed by Eugenio Dragoni that the trailer with a Dino for Bandini and a P3 for Scarfiotti couldn't leave the factory at Maranello, due to the umpteenth strike. That doesn't mean that other teams came without works cars. Porsche Engineering Systems is present with a works 906S for Koch/Neerpasch and the semi-works car of Vögele/Siffert. Autodelta, which sold its Alfa Romeos TZ2 has three GTA touring cars at the start to be driven by Enrico Pinto, Ignazio Giunti/"Nanni Galli" and Spartaco Dini. One TZ2 on the grid, driven by "Shangri-La" is on ex-works car. Since the race counts for the S1 division Abarth Corse has several cars on the grid for Ernst Furtmayr, for Johannes Ortner/Leo Cella, for Biscaldi/Virgilio and for Zuccoli/Marzi. Its opponent, Alpine, is only represented by two Berlinettes of clients (Jean Vinatier and Jean-François Piot). British Motor Corporation has a works MGB for Andrew Hedges/Robin Widdows.
At the start we find also a complete colony of British private drivers in Lotus Elans, Sprites, a big Austin-Healey 3000, a Shelby Cobra 289, and hordes of Mini-Coopers and Triumph Spitfires.
Scheduled Friday practice is cancelled because it clashes with market day. So drivers have only Saturday to discover the difficult 66.2-km circuit (also partly used by the Mille Miglia, especially the climb to Punta). Gerard Koch/Jochen Neerpasch in the works Porsche 906S are fastest in 36'03"3, ahead of Biscaldi's works Abarth 1300 OT spider in 35'57"2 and Enrico Pinto's surprising Autodelta Alfa Romeo GTA in 37'05"8.
To add spice and colour to the event, the organisers decide to run also a F3 race, concurrent with the main trash. Those F3 cars will run for two of the eight laps, and after the drivers can co-drive other cars. Start being given from 30 seconds to 30 seconds, just as in that other Italian road race: the Targa Florio, the F3 cars are first away. Of them Jonathan Williams (de Sanctis) is the winner, with Boley Pittard (BWA) as second, ahead of Antonio Maglione (de Sanctis), Carlo Facetti (Tecknokart), Andrea de Adamich (Brabham) and "Geki" (Wainer).
With brilliant sunshine at the start, thick mist and rain up in the moun-tains, racing conditions are hard. With 40'19"5 Giampiero Biscaldi (Abarth 1300 OT Spider) is the fastest non-F3 after one lap, followed by Koch (Porsche 906S) in 40'24"2 and Pinto (Alfa Romeo GTA) in 40'29"7. A failing fuel pump enforces Biscaldi to retire  on lap 2, offering Harry Jack/Martin Wheeler (Austin-Healey Sprite) the lead in P1. Overall lead is Koch's, with Leo Cella (Abarth 1300 OTC) as second, Pinto as third. Joannes Ortner (Abarth 1300 OTC) and Lord Asheton Cross (Shelby Cobra 289) are already out during lap 2.

Facetti, having jumped in the Ferrari 250LM of prince Antonio Nicodemi, is going much faster than the prince, and seems to come back on the leaders, when he's victim of a virtually useless clutch. Group 3 is led by two private Ferraris 275GTB, sandwiching the BMC MGB of Hedges and Widdows. In the under 1,300 c.c. class the Lancias Fulvia HF are headed by two Swiss works Spitfires.
At the end of lap 3, with Jochen Neerpasch at the wheel, the works Porsche 906S has a 32 seconds lead over the Abarth 1300 OTC of Leo Cella, having been joined by Ortner as team mate after the withdrawal of his similar machinery. They are followed at 0.2 second by Pinto's Autodelta Alfa GTA and "Nanni Galli" in a similar machine at the last's exhaust pipes. "Shangri-La" is fifth in the ex-Autodelta TZ2, heading the private Porsche 906S of Mike de Udy and Peter de Klerk.
Before mid-race Leo Cella is in dire mechanical trouble, suffering from an old Abarth malady - transmission. Jean Vinatier (Alpine A110), who tested also a Renault Gordini R8 at practice is already out. Enrico Pinto's pit miscalculates refuelling operations on lap 4, offering "Nanni Galli" at mid-race the second place behind the works Porsche 906S. 
By the end of lap 5, after more than three hours of racing, the Porsche 906S of Koch/Neerpasch has a 1'52"1 lead over the "Nanni Galli"/Giunti Alfa Romeo GTA, followed within 17" by Pinto's. Group 6 is led by the Wheeler/Martin Austin-Healey Sprite. In Group 3 the Hedges/Widdows MGB drops to the third place, the power of the two Ferraris GTB being too much for the Abingdon product. Meanwhile Facetti, dropped to seventh, comes in with a clutchless 250LM, but prince Nicodemi manages to grind away after the fuel stop. The third works Abarth 1300 OTC is out with transmission problems. Abandoned too is the Vögele/Siffert semi-works Porsche 906S.

At the end of lap 6 the "Nanni Galli"/Giunti Autodelta Alfa GTA has only 2 seconds over the Pinto/Parmigiani GTA. During the last lap the dynamo on the leading works Porsche 906S starts misbehaving, eventually packing up. they are lucky to finish as winners, ahead of Pinto who got in front of Giunti. Mike de Udy reaches the finish as fifth, despite a broken chassis on his Porsche 906SD during the last lap. S1 win goes easily to a private Abarth 1300 OTC finishing 6th, minutes ahead over Piot's Alpine A110. One lap before the end Wheeler/Martin retire their P1 leading Sprite, offering division win to the Nesto/Martino Fiat-Abarth 1000SP, finishing as 23rd. GT winners are Sinibaldi/Grana and their 275GTB.
Result - 1. Gerhard Koch/Jochen Neerpasch (2.0 Porsche 906S) 8 laps in 4h55'57"0; 2. Enrico Pinto/Rinaldo Parmigiani (1.6 Alfa Romeo GTA) at 2'26"2; 3. Ignazio Giunti/"Nanni Galli" (1.6 Alfa Romeo GTA) at 2'30"0;4. "Shangri-La"/Alessandro Federico (1.6 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2); 5. Mike de Udy/Peter de Klerk (2.0 Porsche 906S); 6. Luigi Taramazzo/ Giulio Bona (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, winners in S1); 7. Renzo Sinibaldi/ Maurizio Grana (3.3 Ferrari 275GTB/C, winners in GT); 8. Tullio Sergio Marchesi/Francesco Lessona (3.3 Ferrari 275GTB/C); 9. Giuseppe Ribaudi/Romano Ramoino (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 2nd S1); 10. Jean-François Piot/Paolo Paganelli (1.3 Alpine-Renault A110 Berlinette, 3rd in S1); 17. Carlo Zuccoli/Achille Marzi (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 4th in S1) 7 laps; 18. Antonio Nicodemi/Carlo Facetti (3.3 Ferrari 250LM, 1st in P2); 23. Mauro Nesto/Demetrio Martino (1.0 Fiat-Abarth 1000SP, winners in P1); 27. Leo Cella/Johannes Ortner (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 5th in S1); 44 cars out of 91 starters were classified.

Round #9: Ferrari Dino 206S wins Coppa Citta di Enna

August 7 - The Coppa Citta di Enna is traditionally a festivity for all racing Abarths. That may explain why Société Automobiles Alpines, leading the S1 Intermake Championship after 8 rounds with 28 points, again 19 for Abarth, sends not one single car to the 4.797-km circuit for a 335.8-kms race. Even if Abarth wins its division - as it does since years - both teams will have 28 points, and then the final decision has to follow at the Nürburgring 500-kms, the non-official world championship for all under 1.3-litre cars.  This year we find twelve Abarths at the start, four of them being a 1300 OTC S1 car as on the above right picture (not all four with the periscope as on the picture). Six other units are Fiat-Abarths 1000S, also S1 cars as on the right picture of the #317 car. There are also two Simca-Abarths 1300 Bialbero as on the left picture below (#42), under the new FIA rules no longer GT cars but also sportscars. Last but not least one Abarth 1000SP (#6 below) is expected but doesn't start.
Since the social strike is over by end July at Maranello there is even a works fuel-injected Ferrari Dino 206S Barquetta available for Nino Vaccarella. Two weeks earlier he received his Dino 206P for the Cesana-Sestrière hill-climb he won. However, since his direct rival Gerhard Mitter won the three first rounds, where "Lulu" couldn't show twice, it's impossible to prolong his title as European hill-climb champion. This year Ferrari looses it really all. The same July 24, two poorly prepared F1 Ferraris are seen at the start of the Dutch Grand Prix, won again by Jack Brabham. Bandini is only sixth and has already a 19 points arrear on Brabham. It's obvious that also the F1 World Championship - which, on paper, Ferrari could never loose now that new 3-litre engines are used - is lost too. Strikes are only one part of the explanation. The sick nationalism of perfume manufacturer Eugenio Dragoni, having fired the 1964 world champion John Surtees in favour of a second Italian racer, contributed even more to the disaster. Today three Ferraris are at the start of the German Grand Prix (Bandini, Scarfiotti, Parkes). On the grid they are all three headed by their former team mate Surtees, having recorded the second best time behind Jim Clark. Only one Ferrari will reach the finish: Bandini's: sixth. Brabham wins his fourth consecutive Grand Prix, ahead of the ...Cooper-Maserati of John Surtees.
On the grid the works Dino of Vaccarella (1'21"2) is only preceded by the Scuderia Brescia Ford GT40 of Mario Casoni (1'20"5). Then follows the Scuderia Brescia Dino 206S of "Pam" (1'25"7), the semi-works Porsche 906S of Charles Vögele (1'26"5) and the Ferrari 250LM of Bartolomeo Donato (1'29"6). First Abarth and sixth on the grid is Giuseppe Rebaudi's (1'31"9).
Weather is hot when the flag is dropped. Casoni (Ford GT40) goes immediately out at the lead, closely followed by Vaccarella (Dino) and by 21 other cars. Only Vaccarella is able to follow the Ford on the hyper fast circuit. After 6 laps out of 70, difference between the two cars is 13 seconds - Casoni turning in 1'19" against 1'21" for Vaccarella. On lap 7 the yellow flag is waved, since young Franco lo Dico, driving a Scuderia Pegaso Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1, has gone off the road in the back part of the circuit.

The driver is rushed off to the Enna hospital, dying soon after arrival. After Dick Protheroe (Ferrari 330P), Bob McLean (Ford GT40) and Walt Hansgen (Ford MkIIA) he's already the fourth racer this year to die in a sportscar's race.
Meanwhile Casoni is content to keep 15 seconds ahead of Vaccarella and the works Dino. Both have already one minute over "Pam" (Dino), Vögele (Porsche 906S) and Donato in Carlo Facetti's Johnny Walker Ferrari 250LM. On lap 24 Vaccarella comes into the pits with smoke poring from every hole in the car. A pipe in the fuel injection system has broken, and the car, in fire now, has to be extinguished by the brigade. While Casoni increases pressure. At lap 28 out of 70 he can lap "Pam", being second. It is a short-lived triumph, since on lap 33 Casoni has to replace a broken water house, costing him 7 minutes. He regains the race five laps behind the "Pam" Dino. By lap 41 Casoni sets a new track record in 1'17"4 and reduces his arrears to four laps. The Dino has now 15 seconds over Vögele (Porsche 906S). When the Johnny Walker LM retires with clutch problems Casoni is already third. Fourth is "Shangri-La" in the ex-Autodelta Alfa Romeo TZ2, however hard pressed by Gambero's Abarth 1300 OTC.
Casoni's forlorn chase continues until lap 48, when the Ford GT40 comes slowly into the pits with rear suspension problems. For Ford the battle is over. In front the Ferrari-Porsche combat continues, but Vögele has problems to close up with the pace setting Dino. Five laps behind Gambero (Abarth 1300 OTC) can pass the "Shangri-La" Alfa Romeo TZ1 for the third place. Positions change no longer and "Pam", Marsilio Posotti is his real name, and the Scuderia Brescia Ferrari Dino 206S win 14 seconds ahead of the Charles Vögele Porsche 906S. Alfio Gambero wins easily S1, in this class followed by five other Abarths. Since the race counted only for S1, that means that Abarth and Alpine have now both 28 points with still three rounds to go: Hockenheim, the Swiss Hill-Climb Championship and the Nürburgring 500-kms. It's the only division where FIA's International Sportscar Championship remains open. In the two other divisions - S2 and S3 - everything was already over after Le Mans.
Result - 1. "Pam" [Marsilio Posotti] (2.0 Ferrari Dino 206S) 70 laps 1h41'17"; 2. Charles Vögele (2.0 Porsche 906S) at 14", 3. Alfio Gambero (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, winner S1) 64 laps, 4. "Shangri-La" [Romano Martini] (1.6 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2) 64 laps, 5. Giuseppe Ribaudi (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 2nd S1) 61 laps, 6. Francesco Patané (1.0 Fiat-Abarth 1000S, 3rd S1) 58 laps, 7. Maurizio Pinchetti (1.0 Fiat-Abarth 1000S, 4th in S1) 57 laps, 8. Pietro Lo Picolo (1.6 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1) 57 laps, 9. Salvatore Maggiore (1.3 Simca-Abarth 1300 Bialbero, 5th S1) 54 laps, 10. Pietro Termini (2.0 Maserati 200SI) 53 laps, 11. Luigi Taramazzo (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 6th S1) 51 laps. All other cars retired.

Round #10: Porsche's 1-2-3-4-5-6-8-9 Walkover at Hockenheim

August 14 - One can hardly say that the first Hockenheim Grand Prix, organised by the Deutsche Automobil Club attracted the cars it was intended to attract. The same day in England a "big bangers" meeting is scheduled, and when the organising BARC started offering big money, everyone in England decided to stay home. So no Fords GT40 or Ferraris LM at hockenheim, only an army of 11 Porsches on 21 entrants. Among them three works long-tail Porsches 906LM for Mitter, Klass and Hermann. Opposition has to come from eight private Porsches 906S. Although it was decided by FIA that after the cancellation of the Rheims 12-hours and the Bridgehampton double, the race counts not only for the S2 championship, but also as eight and last round for the P1 championship, here are no Ferraris Dino at the start, no TZ2 Alfas, even no Alpines A210, only two Austin-Healey Sebring Sprites entered by Richard Groves. No wonder that three days after the race Autosport will write: "The entry for last Sunday's Hockenheim Grand Prix was, frankly, poor - that is if you discounted the Porsches." 
Practice, under blazing sun, was completely dominated by the three works Porsches 906LM with Mitter TQ-ing in 2'07"18 (191.54kph) ahead of Hermann 2'07"62 and Klass 2'08"20. Then follow eight private Porsches 906, with Udo Schütz in the Lufthansa entry being the lonely one to go under 2'10. Following places on the grid went to Gijs van Lennep in the orange Racing Team Holland 906S, Gerhard Koch in the second Lufthansa Porsche, Jo Bonnier/Ulf Nörinder and Sten Axelsson in both Rolf Hurtig of Stockholm 906s, Charles Vögele and André Wicky in both Team Charles Vögele Porsches and Mike de Udy (2'17"60) in the green painted British entry. First non-Porsche on the grid is Anton Fishhaber in a BMW-engined Lotus 23B (2'21"66) preceding the by Abarth Switzerland entered semi-works 1300 OTC of Helmut Krause and the first works Lotus Elan entered by Elan Sweden for Per Brandström. Initially there was no driver for the second Healey since Clive Baker let Richard Groves badly alone by not showing. Eventually Peter de Klerk (scheduled as co-driver on Mike de Udy's 906S) proposes to drive the car. A 22nd entry, the Radio London Elva-BMW of Dieter Ebermayer, never started, the driver being very sick.
Race day is hot as practice. Organizers adopted a Indianapolis start behind a pace car, being however so slow, that it goes off Half-cock. Günther Klass steps straight into the lead, holding Gerhard Mitter during three laps at bay. After five laps, with Mitter having passed Klass, we find in front the three Porsches 906LM, pulling well clear of Udo Schütz in the leading 906, with Koch, Van Lennep and de Udy struggling for fifth, after Axelsson missed a gear and dropped into 10th.
On lap 10 out of 37  the three 906LM Porsches have already 18 seconds on Schütz, de Udy and Koch. Van Lennep is out with a madly slipping clutch, Siegfried Dau with transmission problems on his Abarth Deutschland 1300 OT, and Robert Eberhart with the slowish orange Alfa Romeo TZ1. Axelsson is pushing into sixth place when after 16 laps he has to retire with a failing gearbox.

At mid-race Mitter has 10 seconds over Hermann and Klass rocketing over the circuit nose-to-tail. Vögele has to replace a broken wheel and Bonnier retires with a broken hand-brake cable wrapped around the rear axle. Shortly before the end of the first segment de Udy has no electrics left. First non-Porsche after 37 laps is Fishhaber Lotus23B.
Part two over 38 laps is nearly a perfect copy of part one. However Mitter has overreved his motor and is passed by Klass and Hermann. But after some laps Hermann spins off, taking Klass with, so that Mitter goes again out at the lead. The three Elans fall all three out during the second part. Addition of the two parts gives Mitter victory, with Klass in second and Hermann in third. Schütz's drive in race one, where he was the only non-works driver to be not lapped by the LM Porsches, is enough to finish fourth, despite an off-form performance in race two. He wins S2 ahead of Koch and Wicky with Fishhaber splitting the Porsche train and finishing ahead of Mike de Udy and Charles Vögele. The two Austin-Healey Sebring Sprites finish 10th and 11th, leaving Helmut Krause and his Abarth 1300 OTC behind.
Result - 1. Gerhard Mitter (2.0 Porsche 906LM) 75 laps in 2h39'03"10, 2. Günther Klass (2.0 Porsche 906LM) at 23"56 (2nd in P1), 3. Hans Hermann (2.0 Porsche 906LM) at 31"80 (3rd in P1), 4. Udo Schütz (2.0 Porsche 906S, winner in S2) 74 laps, 5. Gerhard Koch (2.0 Porsche 906S, 2nd in S2) 73 laps, 6. André Wicky (2.0 Porsche 906S, 3rd in S2) 71 laps, 7. Tony Fishhaber (1.8 Lotus-BMW 23B, 4th in P1) 67 laps, 8. Mike de Udy (2.0 Porsche 906S, 4th in S2) 64 laps, 9. Charles Vögele (2.0 Porsche 906S, 5th in S2) 64 laps, 10. Peter de Klerk (1.3 Austin-Healey Sprite Sebring, 5th in P1) 61 laps, 11. John Moore (1.3 Austin-Healey Sprite Sebring, 6th in P1) 61 laps, 12. Helmut Krause (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, winner in S1) 58 laps.

MGB 1800 Mk1 Roadster wins Marathon de la Route

August 16-20 -  After the fade-out of Liège-Sofia-Liège the Belgian organizers decided in 1965 to replace their race on open road by a 84-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring. This year 37 cars show for the race, among them 7 Grand Touring cars and 30 Group 2 Touring cars. Immediately after the start on Wednesday the yellow Écurie Francor-champs Ferrari 275 GTB/C of Lucien Bianchi/Eric de Keyn goes out at the lead, followed by the two works MGBs of Hedges/Vernaeve and Enever/ Poole. Then follow the four Cortina-Lotus Fords of Alan Mann Racing Ltd. On Wednesday evening De Keyn spins off the road with the GTB, with a thorn direction as consequence. Mechanics repair the car without road sanctions. Later in the evening the first works Cortina (Bohringer/ Kaiser) is out. On Thursday the Ferrari leads again, followed by the two MGBs. Thursday night only 23 cars are still in the race, among them only four having been not penalised for too slow or too fast laps: the Dafs of Slotemaker/Loos and Ransy/Haxhe and the Cortinas of Stapelaere/ Ickx and Elford/Neerpasch. Earlier Alan Mann lost the French Cortina of Henri Greder and Jean Rives.
On Friday morning it's raining the proverbial pushrods at the Ring. First victim around noon is the leading Ferrari spinning off and being beyond repair.  Since both MGBs lost more than 100-kms on road penalties we have now the two remaining Cortinas leading, with Stapelaere/Ickx heading Elford/Neerpasch. Unfortunately both Cortinas have to come in, under the deluge with electrical problems. Vernaeve/Hedges (MGB) are the new leaders, pulling away of the rest of the field. Seven hours before the finish the Enever/Poole MGB is retired from the third place. Eventually Vernaeve/Hedges win, despite 129.6 kms road penalties. Good performance of Tetra, taking places 4-5-6 and of the little Dafs Daffodil taking 8-10.

Result - 1. Andrew Hedges/Julien Vernaeve (1.8 MGB 1800 Mk1 Roadster) 8,876 kms, 2. Jackie Ickx/Gilbert Stapelaere (1.6 Ford Cortina Lotus, Group 2 winners) 8,809 kms, 3. Charlie Koob/Pizzinato (1.8 BMW 1800TI) 8,612 kms, 4. Mark/Siborek (2.5 Tatra T2) 8,330 kms, 5. Chovanek/Chechmanek (2.5 Tatra T2) 8,219 kms, 6. Hadjusek/ Vermirowski (2.5 Tatra T2) 7,725 kms, 7. Beck/Heuser (1.1 Opel Kadett) 7,614 kms, 8. Ransy/Haxhe (0.7 Daf Daffodil) 7,538 kms, 9. Wangstre/ Christofferson (1.8 Volvo 122S) 7,495 kms, 10. Rob Slotemaker/Geo Loos (0.7 Daf Daffodil) 7,303 kms. In total 14 cars reached the finish.

Porsche 906S defeats Cobra 427 at Watkins Glen 500-kms

August 15 - At Watkins Glen a 500-kms race for Group 4 and Group 3 sportscars is initially dominated by the 7.0 Shelby Cobra 427 of Bob Grossman. When he quits the road overall victory goes to the Porsche 906S of Sam Posey and Ray Caldwell. Geo Wintersteen finishes second in the open Corvette Gran Sport #12.

Ken Miles killed in Ford J: Total Performance, but at what price?

Riverside, August 17 - While at Maranello engineers, mechanics and test drivers work like workaholics in view of the Italian Grand Prix F1, which absolutely must be won after such poor season, Carroll Shelby receives orders from Roy Lunn and FoMoCo to test the Ford J in view of a potential participation at this year's CANAM Series. Winning one or more rounds at this new series is absolutely no must, since this year the giant of Dearborn won it all: Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Indianapolis, the Manufacturer's World Championship, FIA's Trophy for Prototype Manufacturers and except for one race all F3 contests. Only at the European Championship for Touring Cars, where Ford entered works Cortinas, Alan Mann was defeated by the splendid Alfa Romeos GTA of Autodelta.
At Dearborn they realise that this year Ferrari was more beaten by social and financial problems than by the hairy American machinery. They have not forgotten that at La Sarthe, after six hours of racing, two Ferraris 330P3 were leading an army of eight works Fords. What was won on pure speed was lost in the pits on changing brakes on the too heavy Fords MkIIA. Roy Lunn of Kar Kraft is convinced that the lighter Ford J, with its honey-comb chassis of only 47kg, is the solution. Unfortunately the new Ford J, so disappointing at the Le Mans April tests, lacks rigidity at high speed. So Ford's n°1 test driver, Ken Miles, is asked to do some high speed tests at Riverside. On August 17, after a series of trouble free laps, nothing indicates that there is still something wrong with the improved version of the Ford J. As the car comes back to the backstretch at about 175mph (282kph) and slows down to 100mph, it goes out of control, spins to the inside of the course and goes over the tall embank-ment. The car bounds end over end and Ken Miles, thrown out of the car, is dead of head injuries before emergency crews reach the car.

The main section of the car catches fire. No one who knows Ken's driving can believe that the accident results from a mistake on his part. He's already the fourth Ford driver after Robert McLean (GT40 at Sebring), Walt Hansgen (MkIIA at Le Mans) and Tony Flory (Cobra Roadster at Brands Hatch) to be killed on the track. That's the price racers have to pay for the vanity of their employer Henry Ford II and his Total Performance by an all-American car. The death of Ken Miles is the definitive end of the Ford J project for 1967. Today Ford lost his best test driver, a skilled engineer, born in England in 1919, having done all the heavy work to achieve Ford's success.
Despite his sarcasm, his ability to alienate people who could have been helpful for him, despite his lack of tactful behaviour, he and Carroll Shelby had a rapport based on mutual respect and admiration. Miles was president of the Californian Sports Car Club and talented writer of columns for Competition Press. There was also the Ken Miles who knew how to order a good wine. There was the Ken Miles who'd read more books and knew more about a large number of subjects than you'd suspect. And there was the Ken Miles who was the husband of Mollie and the father of Peter.  

Surfers Paradise 12-hours to Ferrari 250LM

Ferrari LM wins British Eagle Trophy ahead of Ford GT40

August 28 - Between the two heats for the Guards Trophy, open for "big bangers", BARC organises at Brands Hatch over 20 laps the British Eagle International Trophy for Group 4 cars. No less than five Fords GT40 are found at the start: the colonel's for Innes Ireland, Lord Downe's ex-Essex Wire for Mike Salmon, Bernard White's other Essex Wire for himself, J.N. Cuthbert's for Eric Lidell and Nick Cusson's personal machine. There is also Chequered Flag's Cobra 427 Roadster, having won the Brands Hatch 500 miles for Chris Irwin, and the Cobra 289 for Mike Beckwith. Bob Bondurant is here with the ex-Tony Settember Cobra 427. Those eight Fords will meet on their way to victory lane the Ferraris 250LM of David Piper, Peter Clarke, George Drummond and David Hobbs (Bernard White Racing). The rest of the field are Lotus Elans and Porsches, one of them being Mike de Udy's machinery.
An exciting duel between Mike Salmon (Ford GT40) and David Piper (Ferrari 250LM) will last from start to finish. Together they pull away from the rest of the field, the leader's position swapping from curb to curb. Behind Mike de Udy (Porsche 906S) and John Miles (Lotus Elan S3) are fighting for under-two-litre honours. Bob Bondurant goes off with a holed radiator on his Shelby Cobra 427, Peter Clarke (Ferrari LM) with clutch bothers. During the last stages of the race De Udy's Porsche can pass the Fords GT40 of Innes Ireland and Eric Lidell to take rank 3. Miles misses the necessary bhp to follow any longer. The final sprintg is won by David Piper (Ferrari LM), offering the old LM its second important win of the season.

Round #11: Ferrari Dino 206S wins Swiss Mountain GP

August 28 - The Sierre-Montana Hill-Climb is this year not only the sixth and one but last round for the Europa-Bergmeisterschaft, it's also a round for FIA's Sportscars Championship in the classes S2 and S1. Let's first take a look on the five previous hill-climb rounds.
Round #1 [Rossfeld, June 12] was won by Gerhard Mitter in a Porsche 910FL8 Bergspyder, a fuel injected 8-cylinder, 272bhp strong, and this despite the fact that Mitter not fully recovered from his Spa 1,000-kms accident, obliging him to race with a foot in gyps. "Lulu" Scarfiotti, having found no works Dino, is 5 seconds slower in a carburettered car. Third is Hans Hermann in a Porsche 910FL Bergspyder with carburettors. Group 4 is won by veteran Sepp Greger in a Porsche 906S, ahead of Stommelen and Weber in Porsches 904GTS/4. Group 3 goes to Peter Schetty in a Shelby Mustang 350GT, ahead of Siegfried Zwimpfer's Ferrari 275GTB/C.
Round #2 [Mont-Ventoux, June 26] is easily won by Mitter in his Berg-spyder, pulverising the record with ...33 seconds. Hermann comes 17" behind. Scarfiotti is absent. At the wheel of Ford France's GT40 Guy Ligier record the sixth time. Group 4 goes to Greger in a 906S, finishing third. Fastest Group 3 is Eberhart Mahle's Porsche 911, followed by Lucien Bianchi in a Ferrari 275GTB/C, Neyret's Ferrari 250GTO and Schetty's Shelby Mustang.
At round #3 [Trento-Bondone, July 10] Scarfiotti has always no car. Eduardo Lualdi is present with his new carburettered Dino 206S. Finishing sixth he's seriously beaten by Mitter and Hermann in their Bergspyders, while Greger (906S) finishes third, winning again Group 4, ahead of Capuano (906S). Weber is fourth on a 904GTS-6 prototype. Group 3 is won by Mahle's 911, ahead of Zwimper's Ferrari 275GTB/C and Schetty's Shelby Mustang.
Strike being over Lodovico Scarfiotti finds his fuel-injected works Dino 206S back at round #4 [Cesana-Sestrière, July 24]. He wins, beating Mitter by 1 second and Hermann by 22"1. Greger, finishing fourth in his 906S, wins for the fourth consecutive time Group 4, ahead of Stomme-len (904GTS/4), finishing sixth and preceded by Weber's 904GTS/6 prototype. Once more Mahle's 911 wins Group 3, ahead of Schetty's Shelby, Foitek's Lotus Elan and Zwimper's Ferrari 275GTB/C.
At round #5 [Freiburg-Schauinsland, July 31] Scarfiotti's fuel-injected Dino is beaten by the Mitter Porsche 910FL8 Bergspyder. Greger's 906S is third, winning his fifth consecutive Group 4, followed by Weber's 904GTS/6 prototype and Stommelen's 904GTS-4. Mahle (Porsche 911) wins his fourth consecutive Group 3, ahead of Karl Foitek (Lotus Elan) and Schetty (Shelby Mustang).
At Sierre-Montana no less than 91 cars show for the Swiss Mountain Grand Prix, among them the two works 910FL8 Bergspyders for Mitter and Hermann, the works Dino for Scarfiotti, six Abarths entered by Abarth Switzerland (among them an Abarth 1600SP prototype for Denis Borel), the private Porsches 906S of Sepp Greger and André Wicky, Filipinetti's 906S for Dieter Spoerry, two 904GTS/4s for Stommelen and Lins, three works Triumph Spitfires, etc. Michel Weber, having waited at no avail his new Porsche 906S (instead of the 904GTS/6 prototype) is absent. The works Alpine A110 Berlinette didn't arrive, what implies that Abarth will be the winner in S2.

All racers have to do two 11.0-kms runs. At the first climb "Lulu" Scarfiotti is 4"3 faster than his rival Mitter in the open Porsche Berg-spyder. The last, however, is complaining that one of the cables going to his spark plugs went stuck. At the second climb Mitter is 0"5 faster than the Italian, what means that in the combined standings Scarfiotti is the winner, 3"8 seconds ahead over Mitter. Hans Hermann is third in the carburettered works Bergspyder. Sepp Greger wins his sixth consecutive Group 4 (S2) ahead of the Porsches 906S of Rudi Lins, Dieter Spoerry and André Wicky. The works Abarth 1600SP of Denis Borel is 8th and 4th in P1. Eberhart Mahle, finishing 10th overall, wins once more Group 3 ahead of Schetty (Mustang) and Foitek (Lotus Elan). Zwimper's Ferrari 275GTB/C didn't show. S1 is won by Jean-Daniel Grandjean in a Simca-Abarth, heading 5 other Abarths. That means that at the on the eve of the decisive Nürburgring 500-kms, Abarth leads Alpine in S1 with 4.5 points.
Result - 1. Lodovico Scarfiotti (2.0 Ferrari Dino 206S) 12'59"4, 2. Gerhard Mitter (2.0 Porsche 910FL8 Bergspyder) 13'03"2, 3. Hans Hermann (2.0 Porsche 910FL8 Bergspyder) 13'28"1, 4. Sepp Greger (2.0 Porsche 906S, 1st S2) 13'38"3, 5. Rudi Lins (2.0 Porsche 906S, 2nd S2) 14'02"6, 6. Dieter Spoerry (2.0 Porsche 906S, 3rd S2) 14'07"6, 7. André Wicky (2.0 Porsche 906S, 4th S2) 14'17"2, 8. Denis Borel (1.6 Abarth 1600SP) 14'22"4, 9. Xavier Perot (1.8 Lotus-BMW 23B)14'25"4, 10. Eberhart Mahle (2.0 Porsche 911, 1st GT), 11. Jean-Daniel Grandjean (1.3 Simca-Abarth 1300 Bialbero, 1st S1) 14'45"9, 12. Peter Schetty (5.3 Shelby Mustang 350GT) 14'46"5, 13. Karl Foitek (Lotus Elan S3) 14'53"0, 14. Bruno Hoffman (1.3 Simca-Abarth 1300 Bialbero, 2nd S1) 14'55"0, 17. Aldo Bardelli (1.6 Alfa Romeo TZ1, 5th S2), 20. Peter Maron (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 3rd S1), 22. Karl Federhofer (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 4th S1), 23. Guido Nicolai (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 5th S1), 25. Joseph Robert Kretchi (1.0 Fiat-Abarth 1000 Bialbero, 6th S1).  

Round #12: Abarth wins from Alpine at Nürburgring 500-kms

September 4 - The Nürburgring 500-kms, only open for under 1.3-litre cars of Groups 6, 4, 3 and 2 (prototypes, sportscars, grand touring and touring cars), over 22 laps, is somewhat the annual world championship for all cars with a reduced engine capacity. Last year the Alpines A210 of Renault-Sports boss Jean Rédelé could eventually stop the list of consecutive wins by the Scorpion (1962: Eberhart Mahle, 1963 Teddy Pilette and Hans Hermann, 1964: Hans Hermann). This year Alpine is present with no less than four works cars for res. Roger Delageneste, Mauro Bianchi, Henri Grandsire and Jean Vinatier - not four Berlinettes A110 but four prototypes A210 M66. That proves that Alpine and Renault are not interested in winning FIA's S1 championship - which they were strongly leading after Le Mans - but much more in a repetition of last year's success in the Eifel.
Rival Abarth Corse is present with ... eight works cars. Three of them are prototypes: a 1300SP for Johannes Ortner and for Udo Schütz, and a 1000SP for Klaus Steinmetz/Herbert Müller. Four are traditional closed 1300 OTCs for Rolf Stommelen, Ernst Furtmayr, Siegfried Dau and Erich Bitter. A Fiat-Abarth 1000S is ready for Karl Murdoch. Abarth-Deutschland has a 1000TCR in Group 2 for Willy Kauhsen/Fritz Jüttner. Three other Abarths are private entries. Richard Groves is present with his two ex-works Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite prototypes for John Moore and for Alec Poole. There are ten Glas 1204 or 1204TS at the start, all private entries; also eight BMW 700 (all from privateers), seven Mini-Coopers (all private), five NSUs, two Mini-Marcos and two Minijem BMC (all works cars), two Steyr Puchs 600TR, two Divas GT, two Lancias Fulvia HF, and a complete variety of other cars going from Opel Kadett, over Alfa Romeo GTA Junior and Honda S600, to Fletcher Ogle BMC or Emery GT - all at one copy, good for a total entry of 64 cars. Of them all Mauro Bianchi (Alpine A210) is the fastest at practice in 9'25"1.
Start is given in a fog as thick as peasoup, with Mauro Bianchi going in the lead and followed by the Abarth prototypes of Ortner and Schütz, and by the second works Alpine of Grandsire. But before the end of the first lap (22.81 km) Grandsire, trying to avoid a collision with the two Abarth prototypes in front of him, goes off the road. Three laps further he will have to retire. One Mini-Marcos and one Minijem are already out. Three laps further, when fog is clearing away, Ortner has to abandon his Abarth 1300SP with a broken gearbox. Vinatier moves now in second position with his A210. One lap further he will retire with a broken chassis.
After six laps, Mauro Bianchi (Alpine A210), rocketing like a devil, has an advance of nearly one minute on the Abarth 1300SP of Schütz, and always 20" on his runner-up. During the following lap Abarth Corse looses two other works cars: the 1300 OTC of Stommelen with a broken transmission and the similar machinery of Erich Bitter with a broken transmission. One has to wait the second refuelling of the Belgian ace to see Schütz taking the lead and setting the pace. After 15 laps out of 22 the Abarth works prototype as already an advance of 35" over the Belgian Alpine A210. Two laps further Mauro Bianchi can pass Schütz, in visible problems. The German comes into the pits with a broken transmission and is out now. Ernst Furtmayr in the Group 4 Abarth 1300 OTC is now second, followed by Delageneste (Alpine A210), by Herbert Müller (Fiat-Abarth 1000SP) and by John Moore, driving his Austin-Healy Sebring Sprite as spectacularly as quick. With still five laps to go Alpine and Abarth Corse lost each half of their factory cars?

ALPINE A210 (#45) finishing second and Abarth 1000SP, finishing second and third. RIGHT UP: Abarth 1300 OTC of the winner, and Group 2 winning Fiat-Abarth 1000TCR.

With less than three laps to go, and having a comfortable advance (nearly 3 minutes) over Furtmayr, Bianchi comes in the pits with serious suspension problems. He tries to go away, but the car refuses and is to be abandoned. That brings Ernst Furtmayr in the works Abarth 1300 OTC on the lead. He's followed at more than 2 minutes by the lonely surviving works Alpine A210 of Roger Delageneste. The only Abarth prototype still in the race, the Herbert Muller/Klaus Steinmetz Abarth 1000SP spyder follows at one lap, being threatened by the Austin-Healey Sebring (#22 car on the pic below) of the superbly driving John Moore. The other Sebring, Alec Poole's, was retired with engine bothers after 16 laps. Two laps behind the leader there is a sharp duel between Willy Kauhsen in the Fiat-Abarth 1000TCR and no less than three Glas 1204 touring cars and one Mini-Cooper S for Group 2 honours. Positions change no longer and Furtmayr wins ahead of Delageneste and Müller/ Steinmetz. Group 2 is won by Kauhsen and the Abarth Deutschland 1000TCR.
Result - 1. Ernst Furtmayr (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 1st S1), 22 laps in 3h39'17"3, 2. Roger Delageneste (1.3 Alpine A210 M66, 1st P1) in 3h41'00"4, 3. Herbert Müller/Klaus Steinmetz (1.0 Abarth 1000SP, 2nd P1) 21 laps, 4. John Moore (1.3 Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite, 3rd P1) 21 laps, 5. Siegfried Dau (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 2nd S1) 21 laps 21, 6. Sergio Morando (1.3 Abarth 1000 OTC, 3rd S1) 21 laps, 7. Hans-Dieter Dechent (1.3 Abarth 1300 OTC, 4th S1) 20 laps, 8. Willy Kauhsen (Fiat-Abarth 1000TCR, winner in T) 20 laps, 9. Karl-Heinz Becker (1.2 Glas 1204, 2nd T) 20 laps, 10. Gerhard Bodmer (1.2 Glas 1204GTS, 1st GT) 20 laps, 13. Mauro Bianchi (1.3 Alpine A210 M66, 4th P1) 19 laps. Of the 64 starting cars, 37 were classified.

1.3 AUSTIN-HEALEY SEBRING SPRITE, finishing fourth.

Road America: Porsches 906 bests behind "Big Bangers"

Elkhart Lake, September 4 - Road America is the eighth and last round of the USSRC Championship. Although open for big bangers several privateers enter Group 4 cars. Among them Scooter Patrick (Porsche 904GTS and Porsche 906S), Al Whatley (Ford GT40), the late Ken Miles (...Porsche 906S), Dick Thompson (Ford GT40), William Wonder (Ford GT40), Peter Gregg (Porsche 906S), Herb Wetanson (Porsche 906S), Joe Buzetta (Porsche 906S), Bob Grossman (Ferrari 330P), Eppie Wietzes (Ford GT40), Charlie Kolb (Porsche 906S and Ferrari Dino 206S), Don Wester (Porsche 906S), Doug Revson (Porsche 906S), Mike Fischer (Porsche 906S), Ralph Treischman (Porsche 906S), Lee Hall (Porsche 906S), etc. Of those nine rounds, Round America (500 miles) is the only endurance race.
At the start we find Buck Fulp (Lola T70) who won rounds 2 and 5, Charlie Hayes (McLaren M1B) who won round 3, and Lothar Motschenbacher (McLaren M1B) who won round 8. Three winners are absent: John Cannon (Genie-Ford Mk10), winner of round 1; Jerry Grant (Lola T70), winner of round 4, and Mark Donohue (Lola T70), winner of round 6. Group 4 entries at Road America are the Ford G40 of Dick Thompson/Ed Lowther and the Porsches 906S of Joe Buzetta/Gunther Klass, of Doug Revson/Peter Revson, of Lee Hall/Mike Hall, of Ralph Treischman/Chuck Dietrich, of Mike Fischer/Pete Lovely. In Group 6 there is the Ferrari Dino 206S of Charlie Kolb and the Ferrari 275P of Bill Cooper.
The race is dominated by the #10 5.9 McLaren-Chevrolet M1B of Chuck Parsons. Earlier this season he was racing the #10 Genie-Ford Mk10 in which he finished as runner-up at rounds 1 and 3, and third at round 2. Up from round 6 he switched to McLaren machinery good for a third place. At round 7 he brought the new car home as second. And now he's setting the pace, followed by Charlie Hayes/Earl Jones and Lothar Motschenbacher in similar machinery. Then comes Skip Hudson in a Lola T70. Until mid-race the Thompson/Lowther GT40 leads Group 4 on place 6. When Buck Fulp has to retire that becomes rank 5. When the GT40 is out with broken transmission, the Porsches 906 conquer ranks 5 to 8 with Joe Buzetta/Gunther Klass as 5th at the finish, followed by Treischman/Dietrich, by Fisher/Lovely and by Hall/Hall. Bill Cooper's old Ferrari 275GTB finishes as 9th. Overall win, plus the Championship, go to Chuck Parsons, followed by Hayes/Jones, by Skip Hudson and by Motschenbacher. At all previous rounds Porsches 906, always finishing in the top-6, won Group 4.

Round #13: New Walkover by Porsche 906 at Austrian GP

September 4 - For Enzo Ferrari this is a crucial day. At the Gran Premio d'Italia, already the seventh round for the F1 World Champion-ship we find no less than three Ferraris V12 3000 at the start: for Lorenzo Bandini, for Michael Parkes and for ...Lodovico Scarfiotti, the ward of the Milanese cosmetics manufacturer, a team manager and faithful hatchet-man, without pay: Eugenio Dragoni. Since he humiliated Ferrari's best F1 driver, John Surtees, resulting in the withdrawal of the last named, he - the nationalist among nationalists - was dreaming of two Italians in two F1 Ferraris. However, the boss himself opted always for Parkes as substitute for Surtees. But now that, on the holy home ground, three Ferraris are aligned, "Lulu" has his chance to prove that he's faster than Parkes. TQ, however, goes to Parkes - ahead of "Lulu" who's second. Ahead of Surtees. At the finish we'll find Dragoni - never laughing - with the biggest smile of all people at Monza. Indeed, Scarfiotti wins ahead of Parkes, while Surtees had to retire. Although it's only the second win this year, at Maranello it is celebrated as if it was the win of the world championship.
Of course Scarfiotti is not present at the last round of the Europa-Bergmeisterschaft, contested today at Gaisberg (Austria). Gerhard Mitter will win his fifth hill-climb out of seven, ahead of Hans Hermann and Sepp Greger, again Group 4 winner. Group 3 goes to Peter Schetty (Shelby Mustang), heading Willy Huth in a similar car and Karl Foitek in his Lotus Elan. The new European champion is of course Mitter, ahead of Scarfiotti (who missed three rounds) and Hans Hermann.

September 11 - On the rough airfield circuit of Zeltweg, this year's last round of FIA's International Sportscars Championships is contested. It's only the second endurance race of the year reserved exclusively for Group 4 cars in the three divisions: S3, S2 and S1 [The other exclusive Group 4 race was the Ilford Films 500 at Brands Hatch, the day of the 50th Targa Florio, and not counting for the FIA Championships]. Although the champions are already known in the three divisions - Abarth in S1, Porsche in S2 and Ford in S3 - there is qualitatively a good entry. Porsche System Engineering has two works cars 906S at the start for Mitter/Hermann and for Jo Siffert. Udo Schütz and Herbert Linge share the #15 906S of Lufthansa Racing. The four other Porsches are private entries for Mike de Udy, Joachim Bonnier/Sten Axelsson, Gijs van Lennep and Ben Pon. In S2 they have only one competitor after the Alfa Romeo TZ1 was withdrawn before the start: a private Lotus Elan S3. More competition is expected in S3 with five Fords GT40, three Ferraris 250LM and two Shelby Cobras - none of them all being a works entry. In S1 Alpine gives no show, letting the five Abarths 1300 OTC (among them four works cars) alone.
Pole position goes to Innes Ireland (1'09"66) in Bernhard White's GT40, ahead of Austria's Jochen Rindt who - noblesse oblige! - inherited the F English GT40, normally raced by ...Ireland.
Race day is hot and dry with Rindt and Salmon (ex-Essex Wire GT40) struggling with the Ferraris LM of Piper (his own) and Parkes (in George Drummond's). But when all that hairy S3 has to come in to have their tires changed, the lighter Porsches 906S, having no tire problem on the abrasive track, can continue their race, overhauling all that big machines. The two Chequered Flag Cobras are already out, John Reaburn with an oil leak and Bob Bondurant with a broken engine. They are followed by Piper when he looses a wheel, by Mike Spence in Nick Cussom's GT40 (catching fire) and by David Hobbs, retiring Bernhard White's overheated LM. We find three Porsches setting the pace, the Mitter/Hermann and Siffert 906S, followed by the Lufthansa Porsche and Mike Salmon's GT40. Rindt and Ireland loose 10 laps in the pits with tire bothers. Mike de Udy goes off the road and Ben Pon has abandoned his 906S with clutch problems. Order changes no longer with Mitter and Hermann as overall winners. For Porsche it's already its fourth endurance victory this year (after the Targa Florio, Hockenheim and Watkins Glen). Salmon wins S3 ahead of Mario Casoni in the Scuderia Brescia GT40 and the Parkes Ferrari LM. Finishing 11th Ortner (Abarth 1300 OTC) wins S1, ahead of the Lufthansa Abarth of Dechent.
Result - 1. Gerhard Mitter/Hans Hermann (Porsche 906S) 3h07'52", 2. Jo Siffert (Porsche 906S) at 5"84, 3. Udo Schütz/Herbert Linge (Porsche 906S) at 3 laps, 4. Mike Salmon (Ford GT40, 1st S3) at 4 laps, 5. Jo Bonnier/Sten Axelsson (Porsche 906S) at 5 laps, 6. Gijs van Lennep (Porsche 906S), 7. Mario Casoni (Ford GT40, 2nd in S2), 8. Mike Parkes (Ferrari 250LM, 3rd S3) at 6 laps, 9. Jochen Rindt (Ford GT40, 4th S3) at 9 laps, 10. Innes Ireland (Ford GT40, 5th S3) at 10 laps, 11. Johannes Ortner (Abarth 1300 OTC, 1st in S1) at 19 laps, 12. Hans-Dieter Dechent (Abarth 1300 OTC, 2nd in S2) at 27 laps, etc.

Ferrari 250 LM wins 1000-kms of Paris

October 16 - The two last F1 Grand Prix (USA and Mexico) going on the American Continent, several top-racers decide to stay in North-America. Indeed, there is organised for the first time the CANAM, a series of six races with "big bangers" in the States and Canada. Money incentives and prizes are much higher than what is usual in Europe, even in England. That implies that the two last important endurance races of the season - the 1,000-kms of Paris and the Kyalami 9-hours - will miss some top guns at the start.  Meantime at Watkins Glen, at the one but last round of the F1 World Championship, Jack Brabham is crowned world champion with still one round to go, despite the fact that he's not finishing. Indeed, since Dennis Hulme fails to finish, Jack's advance over the second (Jochen Rindt) is now 14 points with one race to go. Typical for the financial problems of Ferrari is that they send only one car to Watkins Glen. The race is won by Jim Clark, only the first season victory for the 1965 world champion.
The entry
The 1,000-kms of Paris, contested at the banked oval of Linas-Montlhéry, were organised a first time in 1956. In 1962 the FIA considered that the race on the autodrome had enough prestige to put it on its calendar for the International Championship for GT Manufac-turers. In 1964 however two racers, Peter Lindner (GB, Jaguar) and Franco Patria (I, Abarth) died after a terrible accident, with three killed marshalls. The FIA judged that the banked oval - designed for a maximum speed of 230kph in the bankings - was too dangerous. So there was no 1965 edition. This year the prestgious former FIA-race is no FIA Championship's round. With some of the best European racers on American soil, entry misses somewhat pigment. At the start we find six Ferraris, with the yellow 365P2/P3 of Écurie Francorchamps as top favourite, despite the fact that on ten outings the car finished only twice (second at the Grote Prijs van Limburg behind a Ford GT40, and second at the Coupes du Salon behind an Abarth 2000SP). There are two LMs, Piper's green ex-Filipinetti and Écurie Francorchamps' yellow one. Two old GTO Ferraris and Paul Vestey's ex-Maranello 275GTB/C, having finished 8th at Le Mans complete the Prancing Horse entry.
Three Fords GT40 are present: Scuderia Filipinetti's for Mairesse/"Beur-lys", Ford France's for Schlesser/Attwood and Scuderia San Ambroeus for Casoni/Vaccarella. The two litre class annouces a triple combat between Porsche, Matra and Chevron. Of them Porsche System Engi-neering  is present with two works cars: a fuel-injected 906P for Hermann/Schütz and a 906S for Gerard Koch/Jochen Neerpasch. Other Carrera Six Porsches are Wicky's, Mike de Udy's, Jean Guichet's (!), and Buchet's.  Matra Sports has two improved works cars. One week earlier an MS620 was only beaten by Ireland's Ford GT40 at the Coupes de Paris. New is the 1.6 Chevron-BMW B8. At its first outing at Crystal Palace (August 7) the car was only beaten by Piper's LM, and at the BARC Croft Trophy it won ahead of the best British Lotus Elans.
The under 1.3-litre class is good for ten entries. Among them four works cars of  Société Automobiles Alpine, Richard Grove's Sebring Sprite having finished fourth at the Nürburgring 500, and two Mini-Marcos, one having finished Le Mans as 15th. There are also two 1.0 CD-Peugeots and Mazzanti's Abarth 1000SP having finished third at such sprint races as Magny Cours, Coupes de Nogaro, Coupes de Vitesse et Coupes de Paris.
Qualifications
On practice the Bianchi Bros take it quiet in the yellow Ferrari P2/P3, realising with 2'50"5 the fourth best time. On the grid they are preceded by the Parkes/Piper Ferrari LM, TQ-ing in 2'49"0 and by the Fords GT40 of Schlesser/Attwood and Casoni/Vaccarella. Fifth on the grid and first under-2-litre car is Beltoise's Matra-BRM MS620 in 2'51"9, followed by four Porsches and the first Ferrari LM. The Chevron disappoints in 3'05"9, hardlt faster than the fastest 1.3-litre machine: Grandsire's Alpine A210 M66 in 3'07"9.

TOP: Shot of David Piper's Ferrari 250LM, probably at the Springbok Series. MID: Robert Neyret's Ferrari 250GTO/62 caused a stir by finishing third. BOTTOM: Delageneste's Alpine A210 M66, finishing fourth.

The Race
In total 33 cars are allowed to start, the maximim capacity of the autodrome after one added an S at the top of the banking in order to slow speed at the most dangerous point. During the warm-up lap some cars, with too much fuel in the tank, loose petrol at the Virage de la Ferme where one quits the ancient oval, avoiding the second banking. Wen on lap 1, the leaders come again in that curb, they are all involved  in a giant number of spins. Parkes (Ferrari LM) is the first to spin off, however without touching, while the Fords GT40 of Schlesser and Casoni are packed up in the pile-up, enforced to retire. Others like Beltoise (Matra-BRM MS620) and Koch (Porsche 906S) can continue with a slightly thorn body.
At the end of lap 2 Parkes has a 7" lead over Lucien Bianchi (Ferrari 365P2/P3), closely followed by the Carrera Six Porsches of Klass, Davis and Guichet, and by the Ford GT40 of Mairesse. With 10 laps gone Bianchi, despite announcing clutch problems (again and again, Jacques Swaters!) follows on 12". Mairesse, who has overtaken the Porsches 906S of Guichet and Davis is now fifth, having been passed by Beltoise's Matra, now fourth. Gosselin (Ferrari LM), Wicky (906S) and Koch (906S) follow on ranks 8-9-10. All other cars are already lapped, the works 906P of Schütz/Hermann, having engine problems, included. Three laps later Beltoise comes into the pits after a small collision with Klass in his fight for the third place. The exhaust pipe is broken and the engine refuses to be fired. The other Matra (Jassaud/Pescarolo) is already out with electrical bothers.
On lap 22 Parkes receives a 20" stop and go penalty, leaving Klass (906S) on the lead, since shortly before he could pass the Ferrari 365P2/P3. Two laps later Parkes sets again the pace, increasing his advance, especially wen the others come in for petrol.  He has already a complete lap over the Filipinetti GT40 of Bianchi/"Beurlys", the P2/PE and the Carreras of Klass/Buchet and Guichet/Ballot-Lena. Refuelling on the leading Ferrari LM being finished, we find, a full hour long, four cars together in the same lap. Buchet (5th) looses two laps when he has to pit with a gear selection problem. After 3 hours positions are:
1. Parkes/Piper (Ferrari 250LM), 2. Bianchi/Bianchi (Ferrari 365P2/P3) at 2'01", 3. Mairesse/ "Beurlys" (Ford GT40), 4. Guichet/Ballot-Lena (Porsche 906S) at 1 lap, 5. Klass/Buchet (Porsche 906S) at 3 laps, 6. Schütz/Hermann (Porsche 906P), 7. de Udy/Davis (Porsche 906S), 8. Koch/ Neerpasch (Porsche 906S), 9. Gethin/Lepp (Chevron B8) at 4 laps, 10. Neyret/Terramorsi (Ferrari 250GTO), etc.
The lowest class is led by Grandsire/Vinatier (Alpine A210 M66) ahead of a similar car of Delageneste/Cheinisse and the rebodied M20 of Weber/Piot. Not the CD-Peugeots or the Sebring Sprite (already out), but the 1.0 Abarth 1000SP of Mazzanti/Vidal is their direct rival.
Shortly after mid-race we loose three Porsches: the green Davis/de Udy on distribution problems, the metallic grey Klass/Buchet which went off the road after a seat came off, and the white works 906P of Schüz/ Hermann with a broken crankshaft. Lucien Bianchi in Swaters 365P2/P3 attacks now the LM on the lead, but spins off at Farm Bench, loosing three laps on body repairs. When the Filipinetti GT40 is to be aban-doned with an overreved engine after 85 laps of 127, situation is as follows:
1. Parkes/Piper (Ferrari 250LM), 2. Guichet/Ballot-Lena (Porsche 906S) at 3 laps, 4. Koch/ Neerpasch (Porsche 906S) at 3 laps, 4. Bianchi/Bianchi (Ferrari 365P2/P3) at 4 laps, 5. HanriouD/ Wicky (Porsche 906S) at 4 laps, 6. Noblet/Gosselin (Ferrari LM) at 5 laps, 7. Gethin/Lepp (Chevron-BMW M8) at 5 laps, 8. Neyret/Terramorsi (Ferrari 250GTO) at 6 laps.
On its way to a third and potential second place, the Ferrari P2/P3 has its motor exploded. Swaters now decides that his yellow LM has to speed up. In front Guichet's 906S breaks a direction rod and retires. Despite a first gear missing (since the start) Noblet passes veteran Wicky for the third place. At that moment Piper (Ferrari 250LM) comes into the pits with screaming tires and a jammed alternator. He looses six minutes on repairs. When he resumes the track his advance over the Koch/ Neerpasch works Porsche 906S is down to 1'34". The Germans decide to attack the green Ferrari, alas overreving the engine. After five hours of racing only one of the six Porsches is left, the Swiss 906S, shared by Hanrioud and Wicky, now one lap down to the leader. Noblet/Gosselin are, with 100 laps accomplished, third at three laps, suffering more and more from their blocked gearbox. Fourth at seven laps is the class-leading Alpine A210 M66 of Grandsire/Vinatier, heading the Chevron. When on the same blue car the motor explodes, Gethin is unable to make the move into fourth with his Chevron, as he has to slow down with a broken gear shift, costing him 20 minutes in the pits.

Another candidate for fourth, Sylvain Garant, in his Ferrari 250GTO, falls out with a broken gasket. So the brother car, superbly driven by Robert Neyret, is now an unexpected fourth, ahead of Delageneste's Alpine A210 and the Lotus Elan of the Belgian Lotus distrubtor, Firmin Dauwe. Several laps behind Paul Vestey (Ferrari 275GTB/C), Roger Enever (MGB) and Andrew Hedges (MGB) are fighting for GT honours. Positions change no more and Parkes/Piper win the race ahead of the Swiss Porsche and Neyret's Ferrari GTO.
Preparing an attack on the lonely surviving Swiss Porsche, Pierre Noblet has suddenly only one gear left, the highest. Up from now he creeps to the line, losing 13 laps and dropping in the standings to rank 7.
Result - 1. Mike Parkes/David Piper (3.3 Ferrari LM), 2. Jean Pierre Hanriod/André Wicky (2.0 Porsche 906S, winners in S2) at 1 lap, 3. Robert Neyret/Terramorsi (3.0 Ferrari 250GTO, 2nd in S3) at 10 laps, 4. Roger Delageneste/Henri Cheinisse (1.3 Alpine A210 M66, winners in P1) at 12 laps, 5. Firmin Dauwe/Kehrman (1.6 Lotus Elan S3) at 14 laps, 6. Paul Vestey/Carlos Gaspar (3.3 Ferrari 275GTB/C, winners in GT) at 18 laps, 7. Pierre Noblet/Taf Gosselin (3.3 Ferrari 250LM), 8. Peter Gethin/John Lepp (1.6 Chevron-BMW B8, 2nd in P1), 9. Robby Weber/ Jean-François Piot (1.3 Alpine A210 M64), 10. Mazzanti/Philippe Vidal (1.0 Abarth 1000SP), 11. Bertault/Guilhaudin (1.0 CD-Peugeot), 12. Roger Enever/Alec Poole (1.8 MGB Roadster 1800MkI, 2nd GT), 13. Andrew Hedges/Julien Vernaeve (1.8 MGB Roadster 1800MkI), 15. Gerhard Koch/Jochen Neerpasch (2.0 Porsche 906S), 17. Sylvain Garant/Frank Ruara (3.0 Ferrari 250GTO), 21. Lucien Bianchi/Mauro Bianchi (4.4 Ferrari 365P2/P3, 1st in P2), etc. 26 of the 33 starters were ranked.

The MATRA-BRM demonstrated once more its capacities, but remains also now highly unreliable.

APPENDIX 2: THE 1966 SPRINGBOK SERIES

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