Triumph Spitfire - 1965 Le Mans 24hrs (19th June 1965)

Every year enjoy the attention of the automotive world that is focused here and the manufacturer that enters its cars in the highest stakes in recent years the Coventry Standard Triumph team has been a regular visitor its goal is not the outright victory reserved for specialized high-capacity racing machines that the opportunity to gain armor in its capacity class and, above all, demonstrate and develop high-speed reliability, its winning

1965

Spitfires in the 1150 CC Grand Touring class with aerodynamic body with hardtop and engines basically like those from the Road stage tomb spit bars but with the four-port cylinder head intended for later production use in the 1300 saloon, a total of 51 entries were accepted, the pre-race drama had focused on America's toughest challenger, five Ford pod Cobras inspired by Carol Shelby and the official Ford America inscription.

Incidentally, 272 GT prototypes were built in Britain backed by four more 4.7-litre versions and their stated intention to beat Ferrari. Curiously, the Prancing Horse of the modern ER matched them numerically with three efficiency package interests and teams as fearsome for levels as the North American Racing Marinella team. and of course the Belgians from Germany the Porsches from Italy Alfa Romeo to back Ferrari with British racing wins the greens Austin Healey and the pride of France the French as the pre-race tension built towards its climax and a almost unnoticed ceremony recalled the tragic past ten years ago since the LeMond disaster competing for the first time on equal terms with alternative engines, the BRM gas turbine rover for Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart supposedly built in less than a month the Maserati five-liter and the Chevrolet Pardis a mourner, the demanding crowd had a lot to see and there were many of them, estimated at more than 400,000 and by no means the least enthusiastic student reformed, while Donald Stokes's French CEOs thought for his gestures what the young French driver Du Bois was explaining.

No one knows, so as the countdown progresses towards four, the meticulous routine, the final preparation is complete, the experience of years and the effort of many months at the drawing table and workshop have made the Spitfires, now it's private David's turn. Hobbs and the Dutchman Robbie's Latimer, the Swiss tuna from Georgia and the Finnish ice racing champion Simba lantano with reserve driver Boyd fiddler the York Sherman Peter Bolton and Bill Bradley and the French Pierre Pierre and Du Bois well, no one else but The brave deserved the fair and rarely It is fairer than that, soon all men will reach their mark, but who would be a marked man with so much surrounding the pre-departure atmosphere?

Lamar has no equal as the race director undertakes his final inspection tour Chris Amon first in the fourth centimeter followed by pop-under and Bruce McLaren and the cities for the first time through the two Ford GTS and two official and attentive Ferraris the Cobra on the outside line column Davis with the 8-cylinder Porsche the only man left in the line finally breaks at the counter in the

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pit the shortest directors' meeting in history is interrupted in less than four minutes the order of the first laps is the McLaren urnament in the cities of Forbes and its modeling bodies reflecting on ford rint ferrari wins cobra siberts maserati in the esses the Ford 72 GTS is moving away from the factory Ferraris and the battle joins the ni Gregory and Rindt's RT Ferrari lets the leaders go four balls past the pits and the leading Spitfire is Robbie Massacre.

Marcus Duma's Ferrari leaves after the first pit stop of the race. to heal his rights upon meeting the downtrodden line, Peter Bolton carefully watches his replacement engine installed overnight and in the small private wars behind the leaders, the cross pattern begins to emerge with the Spitfire album and Healy now running in close company, Joe's lesser and Jack's Cobras. Sears rots there is more BMW Trantino sward Rodriguez for us Peter Harper with the Philly Phanatic Cobra sees that the yellow flags are false if it is the empty Maserati Rouge and the alphas are one less with Zuko Lee trapped in the sand at will to the south Josaphat gets Meza to run to the pits to retire and forget that his race is also over when the new Dino is pushed with the rev counter showing an astronomical figure and here are the first alkenes, he stopped his muscles while the tunas spit fire and Dubois watches to co-pilot Bo. the field of

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is quickly established in the team's control work, three timers for the car on each timed lap and the drivers respond with a florid and regular left massage at 100 miles per hour.

The problem is clutch slippage and the team leader of the Spitfire's main rival is in trouble as Bruce McLaren in the leading Ford sets a blistering pace and the fast guys are already making the small fire bets that the Sears Thomson Cobra and Peter Harper number 59 have left it so fast-paced number three is now the term of the Pasha while Rodríguez approaches Linga with Masten Gregory is not Ferrari and the principles of the arms of his 250 LM peers from Jimes differ, in any case, a little faster through Mulsanne uh Nagy again, a slow corner there, maybe a little faster than Moore and with a less hair-raising approach, again bulliraju missile calls to the alpena pit but misfortune arrives - and peter potions engines spare coming into the world in a straight line meanwhile McLaren and Eamonn in the leading force have made their first pit stops of routine thirties and prestige have taken the lead for Ferrari and the city retains the number 19 wheel after refueling in the pits , warm up, here's the cheesy 1600 CC g alpha from the Luxembourg Finkle coolant and now it's the Spitfires' turn to replenish themselves from John Lloyd calls his leader George Art Turner quickly gets up from the seat and immediately joins the driver's conference . and the pit manager, who are in a central part of the well-ordered routine, pump fuel from the common supply, safety and regulations keep a close eye on L'Amour, no more than two mechanics can work on the car at At the same time, each one has his assigned task.

Oil or water can be taken at any time only after 25 consecutive laps and now it seemed that old Anton had turned to make his lamonta boot and, like every top rally driver, his seat belt was conscious, it was completed a clever piece of teamwork and the car often under two minutes, but already the second split bar has been dragged from the signaling area at mon-sol and Robby, Julie brings the number 52 again, seconds saved thanks to the carefully crafted routine and no matter how brilliant the drivers and how good the car, it is the pit crews who meant success or failure at Lamothe.

David Hobbs springs into action and, coming from a racing rather than rally background, is less aware of the braces on him now that it's the term for chips. POA, the young enthusiast had his chance with the tramps. the year before but his partner crashed at the end of the race for a dampening kill, naturally he's eager as mustard for this his second chance and no one complained when he brought his fan club the official plan the burger gets the filler cap a broken seal means instant disqualification and it's full on, you see what I mean, the fan club is already in control of Ferrari in the race.

Taiki after his first pit stop, the big thoughts were never to regain his lead and Chris Amon Phil Hill's car fell behind the stretcher Grant Cobra R. becomes the focus of the American troops even the Porsches are feeling the rhythm and the BRM rover has had to head the width turn a little down the number 18 Rodriguez Ferrari and Jos less is Cobra enter a long duel seventh place but done in the Aces is there is never a dull moment Manny Hopkirk in the beam ng number 39 believes that this is the only interesting place on the circuit, but now the McLaren miles Ford has gearbox problems in the Alpena pit the man shows a commendable calm in all this excitement and is absolutely right to 24 Las Lamoure's hours may be a long time, but suddenly there is excitement in triumph when Huaah brings up the number 54: a stop not immediately scheduled.

He reports the high oil temperature to John Lloyd. Harry Webster Engineering Director is available shortly. The oil cooler is removed, a fracture is diagnosed, and crew chief Ray Henderson takes instructions from him. Thanks to the driver's monitoring of the instruments, no serious damage occurs. A further final check is carried out and the car is reinstated without any disastrous loss of time. Consolation for the Anxious Dead by Harry Webster. his little daughter Jean and an explanation from Peter Bolton to Bill Bradley, who doesn't even put his hands on the wheel, sima London and reflexively binds his books, it can be a long way back to the mall, backup driver Roy Fiddler has time, but do they have the inclination?

This time it's a scheduled stop, but China better have a clear conscience with all those cops arriving in car number 52 of the kill market and the drivers confirmed throughout the race that they are only together for a few seconds before everything goes away good like Robbie. rejoins the race David Hobbs explains the situation to your mother and the French boys come for their part. George for Jabbar reports that the replaced oil cooler seems perfectly satisfactory, but he doesn't regret arriving at the end of an anxious shift around half past. ten laughs six and a half hours of racing at dusk and already 13 cars of the 51 that started have been left on the road again disgrace for the trial in the treacherous darkness of the one hundred and twenty miles per hour of the dog-legged White House Robby's kill market ran out generous with his DIP switch for the result of a passing car, a triumph written often, a lucky driver only to be shaken in the meantime at midnight with the race only 1/3 of the challenge Ford had been wrecked by Ferrari Mike Parks was leading from Bandini Rodriguez and the cities and the Sears Thompson AC entered.

Cobra was in form at dawn, the casualty list had increased by 224, almost half the field and only two Ford-powered cars remained, but lost time in the pits had wiped out Harry from qualifying and the factory Ferraris were under pressure . the private entrance lunch and Turner Spitfire was sanding crisp as always all the class leaders were being hotly contested and the triumphant dupois pio was still on the same lap as his teammate the hard core of enthusiasts had stirred earlier but still There are 10 hours left so you don't have to go less and it is prudent to conserve your energy.

The target time is from shop to shop but in the pits there is still no rest and there never has been now the Gosselin 250 LM Ferrari has a two lap advantage over the North The American Racing 275 p2 team from rental Masten Gregory Maris and the rallies are third and the cold morning shudders with anxiety. Dubois is more than ready for the coffee complaint from him, but first there's some serious work on him, refueling is a matter of seconds once again, it's reports. file correctly to handle the lightning another replacement oil cooler is required and it is at times like this that good mechanics are worth their weight in gold, the journeyman plumber retains an icy neutrality, but has been nearby, but things are warming up with A Revenge with the oil cooler safely replaced, is also giving the transmission and brakes a quick check because these rarely take a beating at L'Amour, in the pits the cleanliness is almost divine, but in the circuit three Ferraris fought desperately for the sheet.

Maris pursues rent and rent. He has the leader in his sights, while the leading Porsche is fifth. The two-liter classified BRM rover has only accumulated a black need for fire in the Spitfires. Both vagabonds continue practically to the left and in the pits. reports that everything is under control the MGB 1,800 of Hopkirk and the hitches have stolen a turn of the prize and the three are now splitting the Alpena Perry of course will try with anyone the two Heelys fights are also well on their individual calendar as begins the crowd returns en masse for what for them is the second day and shows all the promises of being well now, even the GT category, which he must have looked at, said to the cobras, is firmly in the hands of karate and villa Maris receives a sign that you've been waiting for the gym.

A #26 Gosselaar and the Grigory rental Ferraris are ahead and fighting for the lead, but it was #20 Mike Fox in the surviving factory Ferrari who threatened Maris' third place, suddenly braking and the battered Sears Thompson Cobra 2 appears. in its final stages meanwhile four-liter Ferrari with cams, inwhich John Surtees and Scarviotti broke before spotting and dominating the first half of the race, are pushed to try and find space in the dead car section, the Alfas, who had shown so much promise, now finding themselves in serious trouble. and Paul Hawkens Healey number 49 has to make a long stop, as does the rent gregory na RT ferrari number 21 which now starts two and a half laps behind the leader, you can and Gosselaar unknown competitive drivers with number 26, are entering privately. 250 LM sorry, they are in the lead and ready for victory in the triumph pit, it is business as usual as Turner takes charge of Spitfire number 60 once again from SEMA London, how Spitfires the race They in no way outperform their rivals in the 1150 GT cars.

The beans are still in the hunt and now a sudden disaster for the leader: a flat tire on the Mulsanne straight can make the car adjust and, after desperate efforts to clean the damaged bodywork, it roars, but now only for a few seconds ahead of Masten Gregory. John lied indifferent to this dramatic battle for the lead with Nava, three hours of racing until the checkered flag, calls Jean-Jacques Tuna, who does not show the slightest sign of fatigue, back in the orderly maintenance routine, but when The mechanics get to work for the break. and the transmission checks have more viewers than they expected: the French television radio cameraman closes in semo lante in his last spell now, but as the fire recedes once again, Dumais has had to stop again and the Ferrari Gregory's rental takes the leadership from him.

Now William Eris thinks he could be second and end up with a GT car, but the Porsches are ready and Mike's Ferrari parks and Georgie Shea follows his teammates to the paddock, so all the cars that had raced in the first 12 ounces are pushed away, the crude French Spitfire enters the pit counter for the last time. Harry Webster's face betrays the The tension of the responsibility that he can and now Lebanon brings the number 60 and he is also showing signs of where the tension of those finals is. Pit stops must be seen up close to be understood with so much effort behind them, success is so close, but still. tantalizingly still out of reach all is well in any case with Turner Lampinen's car and Jack Sears not yet gone with the sole survivor of the Cobra there is still plenty to reward the student of form and the leaders are still shining in the pits straight ahead 150 miles an hour, but the British eyes in the stands are focused eagerly on triumph, a wave of excitement and this is what they come to see in Lamont, a fitting reward for such tenacity of purpose, a minute to fall to the petty Hopkirk and the leader.

At Millsaps, the Masten Gregory Jochen Rindt Ferrari takes victory two miles per hour faster than Doom and the diminutive number 26 Ferrari, third, the GT Ferrari of Maris and Bailey's, ahead of the Lingga NACA Porsche and its teammate driven by Posada, then two more come. Ferraris and the brave Sears and Thompson Cobra, but any Healey ends up with poor Hawkins and John Rhodes, the pain of the ISA. Oh is still a racer and so is the BRM gas turbine rover in a Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in just 14 cars of the 51 that started taking the checkered flag and two of them are Spitfires, the leading Spitfire runs 2282 miles in those grueling 24 hours.

Turner and London and Du Bois and Pio are first and second in their class and, in fact, fifth and sixth overall in the Grand Touring Car ket an. an achievement of which Sir Donald Stokes and all associated with the Spitfires en l'amour may well be proud