24h Le Mans
The 1965 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the return in force of American manufacturer Ford. It would once again size itself up against Ferrari who, prior to this race, had already one eight times
General Info:
Date: June 19-20, 1965
Weather: hot and sunny
Edition: 33
Starting number: 51 cars
Retirements: 37 cars
Spectators: 280,000
Start: given by M. Maurice HERZOG (French Minister of Youth and Sport).
Important Facts:
It was a revenge story over the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans at which Ford had been largely beaten. The American marque launched into battle with its new 7-liter engine prototypes (Ford Mk II). Two cars were entrusted to Phil Hill-Amon and McLaren-Miles and the Ford effort was rounded out with four GT 40s.
Ferrari officially entered 330 Ps and 275 Ps. Surtees-Scarfiotti and Guichet-Parkes shared the two 330s while Bandini-Biscaldi drove a 275. Two official 365 P2 were also present and entered by the NART (Pedro Rodriguez-Vaccarella) and Maranello Concessionnaires (Bonnier-Piper). Five 275 LM models completed Ferrari's armada.
In the end, it was total defeat for all factory cars in both Ferrari and Ford's camps. Ferrari owes its salvation, for its last victory to-date, to the 275LM entered by the NART which was not expected to take a leading role.
Some Key Numbers:
First win for Goodyear
The win in GT for Ferrari who finished third in the scratch thanks to Beurlys-Mairesse
Last victory, the sixth consecutive, to-date for Ferrari
First and only participation for Jackie Stewart, in a Rover-BRM turbine
Last participation to-date for a Maserati
Final participation for Maurice Trintignant
Death of Lucky Cassner during the April testing
Construction of concrete walls obliquely to the grandstands
Movement of the Dunlop Bridge to the top of the hill
Construction of an underground passageway from the Dunlop Bridge to the pits
Beginning of work on the future Bugatti circuit
Construction of a chapel by the Tavano company
The Winners:
Overall: Ferrari 275LM (private) driven by M.Gregory (USA) / J.Rindt (AUT), 4677.11 kms raced at an average of 194.880 km/h
Gap with second: 74.510 km
Best time at free practice: 3:33:00 for Phil Hill (USA) in a Ford MkII
Best time in-race: 3:37:5 for Phil Hill (USA) in a Ford MkII
Performance Index Winner: PORSCHE 904/6 of H. Linge and P. Nöcker
Energy Efficiency Index Winner: PORSCHE 904 GTS of G. Koch and A. Fishaber
This video is of the final race lap with the commentary at the time.
David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Source: Infos-course
Commentary in French
Video: You Tube / mscheeres
