1040P at Monza - 1967

Mark Charlton's GTD GT40

A MKIV car

Original Prototype #3

 

 

History (Continued)

The Gulf/JWA Partnership (continued)

 

The Mirage’s first success came at the rain-soaked Spa race. Chassis M.10001 retired early after crashing, but the latest chassis, M.10003, powered by a new Holman & Moody 351-inch engine led the race from start to finish.  Success was short lived, however, as M.10002 was destroyed 4 weeks later at Nurburgring. M.10003 faired better, but lost two tires to punctures and failed to finish the race.

 

Le Mans 1967

 

The two remaining Mirages were both fitted with the 351-inch Holman & Moody engines.  However, M.10001 smoked a piston after only three laps during the practice runs.  The team decided to switch the engines in both cars back to the 302-inch versions for the race.  Again, troubles plagued the Mirages when M.10003 blew a cylinder head gasket after only 22 laps, then retired seven laps later to finish near the end.  M.10001 soon followed with a broken intake valve.

 

The next entry for the Mirages was the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch.  Pedro Rodriquez and Dick Thompson drove M.10003 fitted with the 351-inch motor.  But it failed to finish after Thompson crashed the car after 87 laps.

 

In two shorter races in Sweden that year, the Mirages were successful and won handily.  In the Swedish GP support race at Karlskoga, Jackie Ickx brought home M.10003 21 seconds ahead of M.10001 driven by Jo Bonnier.  Next was Skarpnack, and again the Mirages placed 1^st and second.  This time M.10001 won, driven by Bonnier and M.10003 was second driven by Paul Hawkins.

 

Paris 1000 Kilometers 

 

The Paris 1000K race provided the Mirage with its second major race victory.  M.10003 was the lone entry and led the race from start to finish.  A Ferrari P3/4 placed second with a GT40 Mark II from Ford France placing 4^th.

 

Kyalami 9 Hours

 

Towards the end of the year, M.10001 was entered in the Kyalami 9 Hour race in South Africa.  Ickx was again the driver as the Mirage team contested for the last long distance race of the year.  M.10001 finished 13 laps ahead of the second place Lola T70 of Hawkins/Love. 

 

So after a shaky start, the Mirage team had come through to win their last four races.  Hopes were high for the 1968 season, but it turned out to be a swan song for the Mirages.  The new 3.0-liter engine limit on meant the Mirage was obsolete.  And the Mark II and Mark IV cars were also obsolete.  This meant that the original Mark I GT40’s fitted with the 302-inch engine could again race.

 

Gulf/JWA in 1968

 

Agreement was reached with JWA to run a team of Mark I GT40’s for Gulf in 1968.  Two of the Mirage cars were rebuilt as lightweight Mark I GT40’s – these being M.10003 and M.10002, the car which had crashed at Nurburgring.  M.10001 would remain a Mirage, and is the only remaining Mirage configured GT40 today.  It’s easy to understand why its priceless.

 

In January 1968, M.10003 emerged as GT40 mark I chassis 1074P and M.10002 emerged as chassis 1075P.  The cars retained their lightweight Mirage chassis and suspension but now had a lightweight roof structure and carbon-fiber reinforced front and rear body sections.

 

Daytona and Sebring

 

1968 didn’t start off with any success for these cars.  1075 and 1074 retired early in the Daytona 500 race. Then at Sebring, 1074 had suspension failure eight hours into the race and 1075 went out with a broken clutch after only 2 hours. Gulf Oil executives must have wondered if they made the right decision to sponsor these cars for 1968.

 

Brands Hatch

 

Things began to turn around for the Gulf Oil/JWA team at Brands Hatch.  Jackie Ickx and Brian Redman drove 1075 to a 22 second win over the Porsche of Scarfotti and Mitter.  Three weeks later, Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs secured another victory for Gulf/JWA with a convincing win in the Monza 1000.  Next up, the Nurburging 1000 Km race.

 

Nurburgring

 

The Gulf/JWA team wasn’t as successful at Nurburging.  The tight course favored the lighter Group 6 Porsche team, lead by one of their new 908 cars.  Second went to an older 907.  1075 finished a respectful 3^rd.

 

A third car was added to the lineup and would be used as a spare in case one of the race cars couldn’t race.  GT40P/1004 was rebuilt to 1968 race specifications and renumbered as GT40P/1084.

 

Watkins Glen

 

At Watkins Glen, the cars were fitted with the new Gurney-Weslake 5.0 liter engines. The race began with a Porsche 908 in the lead followed by Jackie Ickx in 1075.  The Porsche held the lead for 12 laps after which the 1075 took the lead. At the end of 6 hours, the Gulf cars were 19 laps ahead of the competition.  1074 and 1074 finished 1^st and 2^nd respectfully.

 

Le Mans 1968

 

The Gulf/JWA entries for Le Mans in 1968 included 1074 and 1075, and a brand new car 1076. 1074 was driven by Hawkins and Hobbs; 1075 was driven by Pedro Rodriquez and Lucien Bianchi.  1075’s regular drivers, Jackie Ickx and Brian Redman, were both injured from other races and unable to participate. The new car, 1076, was driven by Brian Muir and Jackie Oliver.

 

After only 12 laps, 1076 had to retire when Brian Muir slid the car in the sand at the end of the Mulsanne straight.  It took Muir nearly three hours to dig the car out of the sand. It would be unable to cover the required minimum 53 laps in the first 6 hours of the race in order to continue and was withdrawn.

 

This left Gulf/JWA with two cars – 1074 and 1075.  Both were running strong until 1074 blew a clutch.  Replacing the unit took 80 minutes and dropped 1074 well down the field.  Then just past midnight, 1074’s engine blew up.  All hopes now rested on 1075 which was pulling away from the competition. In the end 1075 won Le Mans by 5 laps over the Porsche 907 of Steinemann and Spoerry.

 

1075’s accomplishments for 1968 were incredible by race standards.  It not only won Le Mans, but the World Championship for Ford.  Along with its impressive string of victories, 1075 had garnered a place in history. But more prestige was awaiting 1075 in 1969.