This is the Ford GT40 used by Jacky Ickx to win the 24 hours of Le Mans and this is the story of that incredible victory:"In 1969 Jacky Ickx raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time. This race also saw the first appearance of the Porsche 917 in Le Mans, which was regarded by far as the favourite. The Ford GT 40 that Ickx drove with Jackie Oliver appeared at that time was an obsolete car, outperformed by the new Porsche 917 but also by the older Porsche 908 and the new generation of 3-liter prototypes from Ferrari, Matra and Alfa Romeo.
As Ickx was opposed to the traditional Le Mans start which he considered to be dangerous, he slowly walked across the track to his machine, instead of running. He locked the safety belt carefully and thus was the last to start the race, chasing the field. In lap one, a tragic event proved that Ickx was right: private driver John Woolfe had a fatal accident in his new and powerful 917 and fellow countryman Willy Mairesse had an accident which ended his career. Neither of them had taken time to belt himself in.
During the race the Porsche 917 proved unreliable, and none was to finish. The last four hours of the race turned into a duel between the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann/Gerard Larrousse and the Ford GT-40 of Ickx/Oliver. In the last hour, Ickx and Herrmann continually leapfrogged each other, the Porsche being faster on the straights owing to having less aerodynamic drag, while being passed again under braking as the brake pads were worn and the team reckoned there was not enough time left to change them. Ickx won the race by the smallest of competitive margins ever, with less than 100 meters between the two cars, despite having lost a bigger distance intentionally at the start. He also won his case for safety: from 1970, all drivers could start the race sitting in their cars with the belts tightened properly.
As Ickx was opposed to the traditional Le Mans start which he considered to be dangerous, he slowly walked across the track to his machine, instead of running. He locked the safety belt carefully and thus was the last to start the race, chasing the field. In lap one, a tragic event proved that Ickx was right: private driver John Woolfe had a fatal accident in his new and powerful 917 and fellow countryman Willy Mairesse had an accident which ended his career. Neither of them had taken time to belt himself in.
During the race the Porsche 917 proved unreliable, and none was to finish. The last four hours of the race turned into a duel between the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann/Gerard Larrousse and the Ford GT-40 of Ickx/Oliver. In the last hour, Ickx and Herrmann continually leapfrogged each other, the Porsche being faster on the straights owing to having less aerodynamic drag, while being passed again under braking as the brake pads were worn and the team reckoned there was not enough time left to change them. Ickx won the race by the smallest of competitive margins ever, with less than 100 meters between the two cars, despite having lost a bigger distance intentionally at the start. He also won his case for safety: from 1970, all drivers could start the race sitting in their cars with the belts tightened properly.
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