1967 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the fifth and final round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship. The race was held at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, on 10th June 1967. 
The Ford of Quinn, Mackintosh and Foley won from pole, gaining the points required to beat Ferrari to the championship.
== Background ==
Ferrari entered the final round of the season leading the championship by 3 points. If Ford won, and they were favourites to do so, a Ferrari would have to place 2nd to secure the championship.
Concerns about the rigidity of the Ford GT40's suspension were raised by race officials after Peter Quinn suffered a catastrophic failure in Germany. Scrutineers checked over Ford's suspension but found it did not breach regulations.
Division 2 was set to return at Le Mans after missing the Nurburgring 1000. However, Chevrolet were prevented from entering Italy after it emerged some team members had falsified immigration papers prior to the first round at Monza.
Alfa Romeo brought a specially upgraded car for Le Mans, having removed most of the glass and interior to save weight. While it was still down on top speed compared to the Porsche, the improved 33/2 was a competitive entry.
== Race Summary ==
Quinn put his Ford on pole for the 3rd time this season, with Westland 2.706 seconds behind him in 2nd. Bisset made a good start from 6th on the grid, but crashed hard into the wall at turn 2. The fuel tank ruptured and the Ferrari burst into flames. Bisset was able to get out of the car and was taken to hospital with severe burns.
The Ferrari of Masters also retired after a brake failure 4 hours in saw the car buried in the berm on the outside of the Indianapolis corner.
The #35 Alfa of Maus also suffered brake issues and retired 10 hours into the race. The #36 of Nguyen, D'Agostino and Giacci fought a close battle with the sole Porsche entry until Johansson lost the rear through Dunlop Curve, badly damaging the nose of the Porsche. The repair cost the team 10 laps, which they were unable to recover.
The Fords of Quinn, Westland and Zupan took the lead early and the American manufacturer held all 3 podium positions until Teunissen crashed 13 hours into the race, badly damaging his suspension. The team were able to fix it, but the #3 Ford continued the race much slower as a result.
The #6 Ford of Peter Quinn went on to win the race, with the #3 and #1 completing the podium. With this result, Ford secured the Championship ahead of Ferrari. With their class win , Alfa Romeo won the Under 2000cc Championship. 
== Classification ==
Group 	# 	Name 	Team 	Points	Notes
>2000cc	1 	Peter Quinn
John Mackintosh
James Foley	Ford 	9 	
>2000cc	2 	Peter Westland
John Andrews 
Will Austin	Ford 	6 	
>2000cc	3 	Bruno Zupan
Reinout Teunissen
Jimi Ott	Ford 	3 	
>2000cc	Ret	Andreas Schultz	Ferrari 	 	Brake Failure
>2000cc	Ret	Jesse Masters 	Ferrari 	 	Crash
>2000cc	Ret	Alain Bisset 	Ferrari 	 	Crash
<2000cc	1 	Jean Nguyen
Maruzio D'Agostino
Francesco Giacci	Alfa Romeo	9 	
<2000cc	2 	Karl Johansson
Maximilian Von Albrecht
Simeon Mihailović	Porsche 	6 	
<2000cc	Ret	Bennedict Maus 	Alfa Romeo	 	Brake Failure
Category:Races