1967 24 Hours of Daytona

1967 24 Hours of Daytona

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The 1967 24 Hours of Daytona was an endurance sports car race that took place on 4 and 5 February 1967 at the 3.8-mile (6.1 km) Daytona International Speedway road course in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the sixth running of the Daytona Continental endurance race, and the second time the event was held as a 24-hour race. It was also the opening round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship.

A replica of the winning Ferrari 330 P4

Chris Amon and Lorenzo Bandini won the race for Ferrari with its new 330 P4 model, leading a 1–2–3 finish for the marque.

Race

In the 1960s, Ford and Ferrari were involved in an endurance racing rivalry, which arose after the Italian manufacturer refused to be bought by the Americans. Thus, Ford decided to enter endurance racing in 1964, which eventually paid off in 1966 with victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the overall victory in the World Sportscar Championship. For the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967, Ford entered as many cars as possible to maximize its chances of another victory. There were six factory cars at the start, three each from Shelby American and Holman & Moody, supplemented by a number of private entries. The factory teams used Mk.II Ford GT40s, while the private teams participated with Mk.I models. However, Ferrari had not stood still in the winter of 1966 either. Technical director Mauro Forghieri was given complete freedom by team boss Enzo Ferrari to design new cars and engines. As a result, the team introduced the new Ferrari 330 P4, of which two examples were entered into the race: an open-top "Spyder" numbered 23 and a closed-top "Berlinetta" numbered 24. The former was an ex-P3 chassis converted to P4 specifications (sometimes referred to as a P3/4), while the latter was a brand new P4. In addition to the two works entries, privateer teams entered two 412 P models, which was a less sophisticated version of the P4 intended for customers. Despite the high costs, Ferrari traveled to Daytona for a test session in December 1966.

In qualifying, the Ford of Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt took pole position, just two tenths ahead of the Chaparral 2F of Phil Hill and Mike Spence. Ferrari's first factory car, the No. 23 of Chris Amon and Lorenzo Bandini, started fourth, behind the private entry of Pedro Rodríguez and Jean Guichet. Immediately after the start, Hill took the lead, and after half an hour he had a twenty second lead over Gurney. Ford and Ferrari, meanwhile, focused on their own lap times and decided not to push hard for the lead unless the it increased to more than five laps.

After three hours the Chaparral spun and had to retire, allowing the No. 24 Ferrari of Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti to take the lead. The other Chaparral of Bob Johnson and Bruce Jennings also had to abandon the race. Ford's cars suffered from many mechanical problems, such as defective seals and transaxles, and had to be brought in one by one for long pit stops or retirements. Ford's mechanics made more and more repairs, but eventually almost all of the manufacturer's cars had to retire. Gurney and Foyt had to have a transmission replaced and were still fifth, but six hours before the finish they also had to give up. The only Ford factory car that could still threaten Ferrari, the No. 1 of Bruce McLaren and Lucien Bianchi, had to significantly reduce its speed due to overheating. This entry eventually finished the race in seventh place, 73 laps behind the winner.

External image
Ferraris cross the finish line three abreast

With half an hour remaining until the finish, three Ferraris occupied the first three positions. They reduced their speed so that they could cross the finish line side by side. This was in response to Ford's photo finish at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unlike in that race, where the two leading cars had completed the same distance and it was not initially clear who had won, the leading No. 23 Ferrari was three laps ahead of the second-placed No. 24 entry, while the NART-entered 412 P finished a further 26 laps behind in third. The photo taken of this finish was kept in Enzo Ferrari's office for a long time. The first Ford, the private J. W. Automotive entry of Dick Thompson and Jacky Ickx, finished sixth, behind two Porsches. The race is referred to as "Enzo's revenge" by various media outlets. Ferrari led for more than twenty hours during the entire race.

Official results

Sources:

Finishers

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Laps
1	P + 2.0	23	Ferrari s.p.a.	Lorenzo Bandini Chris Amon	Ferrari 330 P4	666
2	P + 2.0	24	Ferrari s.p.a.	Mike Parkes Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari 330 P4	663
3	P + 2.0	26	North American Racing Team	Pedro Rodríguez Jean Guichet	Ferrari 412P	637
4	P 2.0	52	Porsche of Stuttgart	Hans Herrmann Joseph Siffert	Porsche 910	618
5	P 2.0	55	Squadra Tartaruga Switzerland	Dieter Spoerry Rico Steinemann	Porsche 906LH	608
6	S + 2.0	11	J. W. Automotive	Dick Thompson Jacky Ickx	Ford GT40	601
7	P + 2.0	1	Shelby American	Bruce McLaren Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40	593
8	S + 2.0	20	William Wonder Inc.	William Wonder Raymond Caldwell	Ford GT40	573
9	GT 2.0	54	RBM Motors	Jack Ryan Bill Bencker	Porsche 911S	555
10	T 2.0	61	George Drolsom	George Drolsom Harold Williamson	Porsche 911S	542
11	T + 2.0	72	Ring Free Oil Racing Team	Paul Richards Ray Cuomo John Norwood	Ford Mustang	526
12	T + 2.0	19	Howmet Corp.	Ray Heppenstall Bill Seeley	Ford Falcon	518
13	GT 2.0	73	Peter Marinelli	John Tremblay Larry B. Perkins	Volvo P1800	500
14	GT + 2.0	43	Cannons Auto Service	Dana Kelder Ara Dube	Triumph TR4A	499
15	T + 2.0	21	Brock Yates	Brock Yates Charles Krueger	Dodge Dart	498
16	T + 2.0	66	Tom Yeager	Tom Yeager Walt Hane Peter Feistman	Ford Mustang	498
17	GT 2.0	86	Kenneth G. Chambliss	Bill Eve Ernie Croucher Pete Glenn	MGB	493
18	GT + 2.0	42	Cannons Auto Service	Steven Sommer Guido Levetto	Triumph TR4A	491
19	T 2.0	75	Ike Maxwell	Ike Maxwell William Martin	Volvo 122S	485
20	T + 2.0	71	Ring Free Oil Racing Team	Anita Taylor Smokey Drolet Janet Guthrie	Ford Mustang	484
21	S + 2.0	32	Peter Clarke	Peter Clarke Edward Nelson	Ferrari 250LM	484
22	T 2.0	89	Ross Bremer	Ross Bremer Don Kearney Billy Turner	Ford Cortina Lotus	477
NC	T 2.0	77	Precision Auto Inc.	John Bentley Brian Beddow	Alfa Romeo GTA	465
NC	P 2.0	96	Jim Baker	Donna Mae Mims Suzy Dietrich	ASA 411	459
NC	P 2.0	84	Jim Baker	Dick Ganger Al Weaver Ken Goodman	MGB GT	406
NC	T 2.0	74	Arthur Mollin Racing Ent.	Arthur Mollin Art Riley	Volvo 122S	400
NC	T 2.0	90	Del Russo Taylor	Del Russo Taylor Bob Pratt Charles Lyon	Alfa Romeo GTA	360
NC	GT + 2.0	46	Richard Robson	Richard Robson Rajah Rodgers Bill Buchman	Jaguar XKE	320
NC	GT + 2.0	48	Atlas Van Lines	Tim Burr Buell Owen Clint Cavin	Triumph TR4	264

Did not finish

Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Laps
P + 2.0	3	Shelby American	A. J. Foyt Dan Gurney	Mercury GT40	464
T + 2.0	36	Roger Penske	George Wintersteen Joe Welch Bob Brown	Chevrolet Camaro	456
P + 2.0	33	Ecurie Francorchamps	Willy Mairesse Jean Blaton	Ferrari 412P	401
GT + 2.0	18	Roger West	Roger West Bobby Allison	Shelby GT350	343
P 2.0	34	Harrah Modern Classic Motors	Charlie Kolb John Fulp	Ferrari Dino 206S	341
P + 2.0	28	North American Racing Team	Jo Schlesser Masten Gregory Peter Gregg	Ferrari 365P2	338
P + 2.0	14	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Bob Johnson Bruce Jennings	Chaparral 2D	334
GT + 2.0	67	Dos Caballos Racing Inc.	Fred van Beuren Paul Jett Don Pike	Shelby GT350	313
T + 2.0	76	John McComb	John McComb Dave Dooley	Ford Mustang	312
P + 2.0	31	David Piper	David Piper Richard Attwood	Ferrari 365P2/3	311
P + 2.0	6	Holman & Moody	Lloyd Ruby Denis Hulme	Ford GT40	299
P + 2.0	5	Holman & Moody	Mario Andretti Richie Ginther	Ford GT40	298
P + 2.0	2	Shelby American	Ronnie Bucknum Frank Gardner	Ford GT40	274
T + 2.0	40	Craig Fisher	Craig Fisher George Eaton	Chevrolet Camaro	258
P + 2.0	4	Holman & Moody	Mark Donohue Peter Revson	Mercury GT40	236
P 2.0	51	Porsche of Stuttgart	Gerhard Mitter Jochen Rindt	Porsche 906E	194
T + 2.0	16	Joie Chitwood	Joie Chitwood junior Jack McClure	Chevrolet Camaro	186
GT + 2.0	45	Joe Hines	C. C. Canada Joe Hines T. J. Kelly	Triumph TR4	186
P 2.0	53	Porsche of Stuttgart	Udo Schütz Rolf Stommelen Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 906	170
S 2.0	56	Charles Vögele	Charles Vögele Walter Habegger	Porsche 906LH	146
GT + 2.0	29	Pedro Rodríguez	Carlos Salas Guterrez Hector Rebaque senior	Ferrari 275 GTB/C	136
P 2.0	47	Fred Opert Racing	Peter Gethin Fred Opert Roy Pike	Chevron B4	106
S + 2.0	9	Brescia Racing Corse	Umberto Maglioli Mario Casoni	Ford GT40	93
P + 2.0	15	Chaparral Cars	Phil Hill Mike Spence	Chaparral 2F	93
P + 2.0	8	Jim White Chevrolet Inc.	Tony Denman Bob Brown	Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport	72
T 2.0	82	Harry Theodoracopulos	Harry Theodoracopulos Sam Posey Jim Haynes	Alfa Romeo GTA	69
S + 2.0	7	Herb Byrne	Herb Byrne Dick Thetford Russell Beazell	Shelby Cobra	56
GT + 2.0	44	Ray Stoutenburg	Ray Stoutenburg James Taylor Roger McCluskey	Triumph TR4A	22
T 2.0	87	Chet Freeman	Chet Freeman Al Weaver John Marshall	Ford Cortina Lotus	18
GT 2.0	63	Dockery Ford Inc.	Bob Grossman Martin Krinner	Shelby GT350	1

Did not start

Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis
T + 2.0	22	JoKar Racing Associates	Frank Karmatz Raymond Caldwell	Plymouth Barracuda
S 2.0	58	Rod Savyer	Tony Dean Trevor Taylor	Porsche 906
T 2.0	85	Jim Baker	Ken Goodman Jim Baker	Alfa Romeo GTA

External links

• Race report on The Morning Call