Jackie Oliver reveals secrets behind the iconic GT40 Le Mans victories
Jackie Oliver praises the well-proven GT40, which broke the Ferrari stranglehold at Le Mans in 1966-67. He describes it as easy to drive, stable, and reliable. He also shares his experience racing it and winning with Jacky Ickx in 1969.
Car to remember
Ford GT40
“By the time I raced a GT40, it was a well-proven car,” says Jackie Oliver. He’s not kidding. First came the terrifying stories of aerodynamic instability, later the debacle of Le Mans 1965. But then Ford threw the kitchen sink at it. The 7-litre cars finally broke the Ferrari stranglehold in 1966-67 – and then a rule change outlawed them. Group 4 gave the 5-litre GT40 a second wind and JW Automotive scored two more victories. The legend was complete.
Oliver had his first taste of the GT40 in 1968. “I was in a third JW car,” he recalls. “Brian Muir put it in the sand at Mulsanne and lost two hours.”
In 1969, sharing with Jacky Ickx, Oliver scored what he later realised would be the biggest win of his life. That closest-ever finish, with Ickx and Hans Herrmann’s Porsche 908 separated by just 120 metres, followed the Belgian’s safety protest of strolling to his car at the traditional sprint start. “When Jacky told me what he was going to do, I just said ‘if you want’,” says Oliver. “I was quicker than Jacky at night for some reason. David Yorke always said that won us the race.”
With his enthusiasm for Ickx and long-distance racing in general well under control, Oliver reserves high praise for JW and the GT40. “John Wyer and David Yorke had got Le Mans down to a fine art by the time I joined,” he says. “It was unusual for the day, such a well-run team. But long-distance racing never appealed, which is why I broke my contract at the end of 1971. I wish I could have maintained it now and kept a car at the end of my time – one of the JW GT40s has just sold for £11m!
“A good, reliable old lady that wasn’t fast enough to win unless others broke.” That’s how Oliver describes one of history’s most beloved Le Mans cars. “It was easy to drive, very flexible. But we had to look after the brakes and did a lot of work with Girling on that, allowing us to increase pedal pressure as the race went on. The ZF gearbox had synchromesh, which was rare for a racer. But you could crack the casing if you changed down too soon. It had a lot of stability, like a comfy armchair. Because it was heavy it was stable at speed. When I raced one at Le Mans Classic in 2005 I was doing almost 200mph with the chicanes. Without them we used to reach 220.
“When Ford built the GT I bought one and had it for five years. I didn’t like it much. The appeal was the styling, but it was a much bigger car than the GT40 and Ford put a truck engine in it.”
Stars of the decade
Olivier Gendebien
An oft-forgotten genius, and the first four-time winner. The Belgian opened the 1960s with a hat trick of victories, one with Paul Frère and two with Phil Hill, all aboard some truly wonderful Ferraris.
Phil Hill
Ferrari’s other ace won Le Mans three times with Gendebien before joining Ford’s GT crew and then Jim Hall’s ground-breaking Chaparral outfit. He was the first American-born driver to win Le Mans.
Ken Miles
One of Shelby and Ford’s key drivers. Only company hubris and a rules quirk stopped him and Denny Hulme winning in 1966. He was killed while testing the ‘J-car’, the next evolution of the GT40.
John Surtees
Ferrari’s F1 star was unlucky at Le Mans, ever suffering from mechanical failures and politics. He was in the right team at the right time – and very quick – but a victory proved elusive to him.
The winners
1960
Ferrari 250 TR59/60
Paul Frère/Olivier Gendebien
4218km
1961
Ferrari 250 TR61
Olivier Gendebien/Phil Hill
4477km
1962
Ferrari 330 LM Spyder
Olivier Gendebien/Phil Hill
4451km
Final win for a front-engined car
1963
Ferrari 250P
Lorenzo Bandini/Lodovico Scarfiotti
4562km
Ferrari fills top six. Rover-BRM turbine appears, but isn’t eligible for classification
1964
Ferrari 275P
Jean Guichet/Nino Vaccarella
4695km
Ferrari/Ford battle commences
1965
Ferrari 250 LM
Masten Gregory/Jochen Rindt
4677km
Ferrari’s most recent outright Le Mans victory
1966
Ford MkII
Chris Amon/Bruce McLaren
4843km
Ford’s maiden Le Mans win. Winning race average tops 200kph for the first time
1967
Ford MkIV
Dan Gurney/AJ Foyt
5233km
1968
Ford GT40
Pedro Rodríguez/Lucien Bianchi
4453km
Chicane added before pit straight. Political unrest delays the race until September
1969
Ford GT40
Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver
4998km
Jacky Ickx walks across to his car, in protest against the traditional Le Mans start, then goes on to win by just 120 metres
Gallery
The field of 1966 assembled ahead of action. This would prove to be Ford’s golden year as it finally humbled Ferrari with its troublesome GT40. After this, the Fords would go on to dominate for the next four years, until rule changes and the arrival of Porsche changed the game
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A view of the exit of Tertre Rouge as a Bizzarini heads onto the Mulsanne
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The still primitive refuelling of 1962. Looks so odd when compared to the pressurised rigs of today
An historic moment for both Ferrari and Belgian star Olivier Gendebien. The Belgian became the first four-time winner aboard this Ferrari 330TR/LM, co-driven by Phil Hill, in 1962
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Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt celebrate their Le Mans win in 1967. Gurney’s celebration of spraying the champagne in the general direction of Henry Ford II (and his new wife!) has endured and spread across the sport
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Perhaps the most undeserving Le Mans loser? Ken Miles should have won in 1966, but for questionable rules and a contrived marketing strategy. He’s pictured with Carroll Shelby here
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Henry Ford II is all smiles at Le Mans in 1966. After some early disappointments, Ford’s kitchen sink approach to the GT40 programme had finally paid off
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Maserati Tipo 151 of André Simon/Lloyd ‘Lucky’ Casner leads the Ferrari 250P of John Surtees/Willy Mairesse at Tertre Rouge early in the 1963
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Ferrari 330 P4s being stripped down at Le Mans, 1967
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Three 1960 Ferrari 250TRs exit from Mulsanne. Leading is Wolfgang von Trips, who would run out of fuel and retire; following is Richie Ginther, whose gearbox would eventually break; and then the NART car of Ricardo Rodríguez, who would finish second alongside André Pilette
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One of the closest finishes ever in 1969 as the Ickx/Jackie Oliver Ford beats the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann/Gérard Larrousse by a matter of metres
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And they’re off... sort of! Jacky Ickx nonchalantly walks toward his Ford GT40 at the start in 1969 in protest at the traditional Le Mans starting proceedure, which he deemed dangerous
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