GT40 Mirage : 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014

The 1970/71 season

Although the Gulf / JWA GT40 won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1969, JWA knew that its days were numbered. The Mirages didn't show any potentiel so Gulf and John Wyer signed with Porsche for the following 2 seasons. Porsche who won the 1969 manufacturer championship with its 908 developed a program for Le Mans. Its 917 model although too young in '69 showed an incredible potential. The GT40 was still legal to race and a few had been used that season. The regular privateers raced AMGT2 - 1033 - 1049 - 1010 until the 12 hours of Sebring. After that only a handfull of cars (mainly 1033 - 1038 - 1017) had been seen mostly in club races in the UK.
Gulf sold its GT40 (Chassis 1074) to Solar Productions which used it as a camera car for the filming of the movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen. The car did a few laps prior to the start to film some ambiance scenes. It was then driven by Johnny Servoz Gavin who wore for the occasion the famous green helmet borrowed from Henri Pescarolo. Servoz Gavin had recently quit racing in Formula One and thrown all his trophies and equipment in the Seine River
A GT40 (Chassis 1048) came to the Le Mans trials in 1971. It has a elegant and curious tail end nicknamed at the time "a miniskirt" (It was the fashion back then). Unfortunatly it caught fire after a rushed pit stop. It would have been the last chance to see a Ford GT40 at Le Mans.

The models :

Ford GT - Chassis GT 103 - 8th Daytona 1970
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Ford Gt40 Mk1 - Chassis 1082 - Ret. Tour de France Automobile 1970
(Kit STARTER modified - decals GP)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 _ Chassis 1048 - Le Mans trials 1971 -
(Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)
As driven by J. Servoz Gavin prior to the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans 1970

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)

With a hand held camera used for the movie "Le Mans"

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)
With a compressed air controlled camera used for the movie "Le Mans"

The same

Ford G7A - Chassis J10 - Can Am 1970 - (Kit MARSH MODELS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis # 1078 - DNF Nurburgring 1970
(Kit TENARIV modified)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis # 1010 - DNF Daytona 1970
(Kit TENARV with decals GP)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMGT2 - DNF 1000 Km Buenos Aires 1970
(Kit MARSH MODELS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1010 - DNF Sebring 1970
(Kit TENARIV Modified - Decals GP)

The same

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The 1969 season

For the 1969 season John Wyer knowing that the GT40 had reached the limits of its development charged Len Bailey to design a new car conformed to the new 3 liter prototype category : The Mirage M2. It used a V12 BRM engine. It was not their first choice but Alan Mann got the exclusivity on the 3 liter Ford engine for its F3L/P68 racing car.
Daytona started the season. No luck there for the Gulf team with an engine failure and a crash. At Sebring Jacky Icks again with 1075 got the win. The next race was the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, 1074 was entered with the first Mirage M2 driven by Icks and Oliver. 1074 finished 5th but the Mirage performances and reliability were disappointing. No cars were sent at Monza and for Spa and the Nurburgring JWA sent 2 Mirages M2 with poor results ( a 7th place and 3 DNF). The Mirages were obviously not ready for Le Mans. They preferred to send the more reliable GT40 (the trusty 1075 with 1076).
Close to the end of the 24 hours 1076 was leading the race when some braking problems occurred and after being repaired it found itself at the 3d place which it kept to the end. 1075 took the lead with a Porsche 908 on its tail. After an homeric 2 1/2 hours battle with the 908 driven by Larousse / Herman 1075 driven by Icks / Oliver passed the finish line with only a 100 meter gap.
The Ford GT40 #1075 was the first car to win twice back to back the 24 hours of Le Mans.
For the last race of the season at the Watkins Glen JWA sent the new Mirage M3 (in fact a M2 with an open body) with finally the 3 liter Ford ( a detuned formula 1 engine) Again with no success. Gulf and JWA signed with Porsche for the two following seasons and put an end to the Mirage project.
A few privateers raced the GT40 in 1969: GT 103 (W.Wonder) 1049 (F.C. Grant) AMGT2 (Escuderia Montjuich) 1010 (P. Sadler) 1081 (IGFA) 1033 (ESCA) 1038 (J.Jordan) were among the most regular.
The Chassis J10 developed for the Can Am has been sold to the Agapiou Brothers who raced it without any success in a few Can Am races in 1969 and 70.

The Le Mans line up:

#6 - Mk1 - Chassis 1075 - Winner - Entered by Gulf / JWA
   #7 - Mk1 - Chassis 1076 - 3rd - Entered by Gulf / JWA
   #68 - Mk1 - Chassis 1081 - 6th - Entered by DAZ
   #9 - Mk1 - Chassis 1009 - DNF - Entered by Guthrie / Alan Mann
   #8 - Mk1 - Chassis 1010 - DNF - Entered by P. Sadler
   #58 - Mk1 - Chassis 1033 - DNF - Entered by ESCA
    - Mk1 - Chassis 1082 - DNS - Entered by Ford France

The Models: