RETURN TO LE MANS

[Music] on June 19th 1966 three American-made sports cars powered by modified Ford stock engines made an Incredible One two3 Sweep of the world's most coveted Endurance Championship the 24 hours of lemon on the day of their Victory the Americans announced they would return to defend their title [Music] from Paris you drive south and west for about 4 hours along Victory Road the route used by the armored divisions of General Patton in his drive to Paris during World War II in June the countryside is at its peak of pastoral Beauty a leisurely trip takes you through a number of quiet little French communities typical of the farm country in the south of [Music] France during most of the Year Lamar is one of the quietest until the month of June when nearly half a million racing enthusiasts suddenly converge and transform it into the motor racing capital of the world during most of the year the fastest thing in town is a bicycle mainly because it can squeeze through slow moving Auto traffic along narrow cobblestone streets Suddenly It's race week and along with nearly every je in the south of France comes the world's finest racing Machinery world famous drivers Mario Andrey winner of the most recent International endurance race at Sebring Dan gurnie America's most versital race driver winner at Riverside four straight years AJ fo three-time winner at Indie but here at lar he's only a rookie Bruce McLaren last year's winner at lemon AJ fyd and Dan gurny raced against each other at Indie just 12 days earlier now they are teammates driving one of the new Mark 4 [Applause] fors this is the first day of practice over the tortuous lont course and all the world's most exotic racing machines are here to qualify for a place on the starting grid F gets ready for practice in the number one markv he's never driven the track before and this is the first time he's been in the Sleek new [Music] th the scarfiotti Ferrari has already posted laps of 3 minutes 34 seconds and a tough team of Porsches are keeping Pace with the fire red Ferrari racing team gurny takes over the number one Ford and qualifies it at 329 good enough for number nine position on the starting grid Bruce McLaren in a mark two takes the pole position surprisingly the Ford Mark 2s are faster than the marvs the Ford racing team has rented space in the pujo garage near LaMore and after the first day practice the normal tear down and inspection is Complicated by a serious new problem the Mulan straightaway of the lar course has just been surfaced when the incredibly Fast Fords reach their Peak speeds in excess of 215 mph small Pebbles are picked up from the new Surface and thrown with enough velocity to crack the windshields they must all be replaced and the supply is short work goes on far into the night and hopes for another American victory depend not only on speed and durability but also on solving the unexpected problems race day at lemon it seems the entire crowd of more than 300,000 has descended onto the track for one last close-up look at the incredible racing machines Ferrari has three of their Factory p4s in the top 10 and they finished 1 2 3 in the only other 24-hour race of the Season at Daytona the candy colored Fords are the fastest with six of the top 10 starting positions And Then There are the Porsches the tough green and white cars that travel in packs waiting for failure of the faster cars to move them closer to the lead miraculously the track begins to clear as 55 drivers prepare for the world's most famous traffic jam the lon start of the 24 hours of endurance [Music] Ronnie bucknam driving the number 57 Ford Mark I leads the pack off the starting grid a snarling pack of Ferraris Fords and Porsches scream into the first turn and under the Dunlap Bridge all in pursuit of Ronnie bucknam and the privilege of being first lap leader at [Music] Lemont bucknam leads the pack down molan street from above you can see the forge accelerating up to 220 mph down the 3.6 M straightway so remarkably fast they soon move out of range of the camera helicopter from more than 200 mph buckna must quickly decelerate to less than 30 mph in order to negotiate a sharp right hand turn [Music] [Music] [Music] bucknam is the first lap [Music] leader here comes the rest of the pack two Ferrari p4s and two Fords Dan gurny driving the number one Ford markv has already moved up and is in fifth position as the second laat begins bucknam number 57 car is one of the updated Ford mark twos similar to the cars that won here at lemon last year and also made a sweep at both Daytona and SE they weren't supposed to be as quick as the Ford markv which won the 1967 Sebring race driven by Mario andreti all six of the Ford entries are powered by modified 427 cubic inch Ford engines similar to those used in stock cars on the NASCAR circuit the race is into the second hour now and some of the slower cars have already been lapped by the leaders [Music] [Music] Dan gurny driving the number one Ford markv has steadily moved through the pack [Music] now from the air we see gurnie quickly accelerating to become the leader on the 48th [Music] lap gurny has been driving for about 2 hours now and teammate AJ F waits for his turn behind the wheel the bright red Ford comes into the [Music] pits tires are checked and changed fuel is added and gurnie holds a quick conference with AJ things seem to be going well for the Ford team and everyone seems confident FY begins his two-hour stint behind the wheel his first appearance in competition at Lon and with only 10 practice laps under his belt at this stage gurnie thinks things are going too easy and the car is running flawlessly the expected Challenge from Ferrari hasn't developed maybe he set too fast a pace 15 cars have already dropped out trying to keep up with the bright red Ford and now there's a rookie driver in the [Music] car in the feeding light the Ford cars are doing incredibly well Dennis Holman Mark 24 to set a new lap record of 3 minutes 23 and 610 seconds Mario andreti equals that Mark in his Ford mark four AJ F the rookie everyone was worrying about has charged into a seven laap [Music] lead Roger mclusky and Joe schesser both in Mark two's complete a five car team of Fords that are leading the [Music] way it's midnight now and the race has been underway for 8 hours with 16 grueling hours to go P off duty drivers and pit Crews grab a few precious moments of rest and relaxation the spectators at lar have their own way of relaxing at 3:30 in the morning the whole complexion of the race changes when andreti spins his car bounces off the wall and stops in the middle of the track second later mclusky and Joe schesser spin out trying to avoid and ready no one is injured but all three cars must be retired as morning comes the only news is that Ford has already established new lap records very few are aware that the gurny fo Ford is the lone defender of the lar Championship two Factory Ferraris are in Hot Pursuit now in second and third position [Music] the long night in the steady whine of powerful engines has cast a spell over those who have braved the night and as Dawn breaks the pace picks up on the racetrack and the indomitable racing fans in the infield in their own way prepare for a new day [Music] by now the number one fort has established a lead of 32 Mi almost four full laps and once again trouble strikes Bruce McLaren is in fourth position and as he accelerates along the Mulan Street the top of his car comes loose he's forced to slow down and hold it on by hand the crowd applauds as he returns to the pits and a quick repair job gets underway only two of the pit crewman are allowed to work on the car they are kept under close surveillance by race officials to ensure that only tools and material already in the pits are used to make [Music] repairs mechanics come up with some pretty wild Innovations like adhesive tape in order to patch the car together and rules are very strict here too the car must be absolutely safe before it is permitted to return to the [Music] track the repair job is successful and McLaren leaves the pits with just a few minutes to spare in order to hold fourth position with only 6 hours to go the 24 hours of Lon becomes less a Ras of speed and more a contest of durability and endurance only 16 of the original 55 cars are still in the race Dan gurnie drives the number one Ford for his Last Ship before turning it over to AJ F waiting in the pits who is scheduled to finish the race with less than 4 hours to go gurny is leading by more than 32 MI the scarfiotti Ferrari is second another Ferrari is third and Bruce McLaren and the only other Ford is fourth the Ferraris begin to pick up the pace hoping to push the leading forward into a breakdown these are the critical hours for gurny he's been this close to winning major races many times before mechanical failure stopped him in the Lal last year after he had led the race for 18 hours and again when he was only 2 minutes from winning at Sebring in 1966 now once again he he is within a breath of winning the toughest most grueling and the most significant endurance race of them [Music] all now AJ f is driving his last shift in the final few minutes of the race F can't help but think of what happened to him just 12 days before at Indianapolis when the situation was reversed he was chasing Pell Jones who seemed unbeatable in his turbine powered car and at the last moment F the pursuer became F the winner now he is the one being pursued and his car must last for 24 hours instead of just three [Music] there's the checkered flag and gurny climbs at top the Ford markv to join teammate FY for a ride to the winner circle it's an All-American win the veteran Dan gurny from California the hard charging AJ F from Texas and the durable Mark for Ford from Dearborn Michigan together they've covered 3,267 Mi at an average speed of 135 mph both new records [Music] [Music] [Music] it's the second win in a row for Ford and the first All-American win of the grueling 24 hours of endurance at Lamont