The Ford was the former 7.0 Mk IIA which finished second at the Daytona 24-hours was driven by Sir John Whitmore and Frank Gardner. With no Surtees SEFAC Ferrari gave their P3 to Lodovico Scarfiotti and Mike Parkes.
Friday practice: Sir John Whitmore recorded a sharp 3'52"7. The Ferrari 330 P3 Berlinetta, the same one that won earlier this year at the Monza 1,000-kms, in hands of Mike Parkes managed 3'52"8. The Essex Wire Ford GT40 of Skip Scott is credited with 3'53"1, a time which even the driver doubted: his correct time was probably 3'58"1. Lucien Bianchi clocked the fourth best time at the wheel of the Belgian rebodied Ferrari 365 P2 with 3'56"9.
In the second training session Ferrari's Eugenio Dragoni decided to switch the Dunlop tires for Firestone on the 330 P3. A very determined Mike Parkes and Lodovico Scarfiotti were motoring considerably faster than on Friday. Eventually Parkes got down to a time of 3'47"4, being 1"8 better than the F1 record which stands to Dan Gurney in a 1500 Brabham-Coventry Climax. The Ford MkIIA was not to be baited and Whitmore contented himself with a single lap at 3'50"7. Co-driver Frank Gardner was not hanging about and got down to 3'52".
Race day dawned bright and warm but with a strong breeze blowing down the Masta straight. Mike Parkes made a tremendous dash into Eau Rouge in his Ferrari 330P3 with Peter Revson (No.42 Essex Wire Ford GT40), John Whitmore (No. 4 Ford MkIIA), Lucien Bianchi (No. 8 Ferrari 365P2/P3) and Chris Amon (No. 44 F. English Ford F40) behind.
After 12 laps Parkes had already lapped the whole field up to 5th place. Both the Ferrari P3 and the Ford MkIIA come in for their scheduled fuel stops and driver's changes but when Bianchi brought the yellow P2/P3 in with a holed radiator the mechanics failed to make repairs.
After 30 laps the leading Ferrari had already lapped all cars except for the Ford MkIIA. Positions were: 1. Parkes/Scarfiotti (No. 1 Ferrari P3), 2. Whitmore Gardner (No. 4 Ford MkIIA) at 2 minuts, 3. Revson/Scott (No. 42 Ford GT40) at 1 lap, 4. Hobbs/Neerpasch (No. 43 Ford GT40), 5. Amon/Ireland (No. 44 Ford GT40), 6. Sutcliffe/Redman (No. 40 Ford GT40), 7. Attwood/ Guichet (No. 12 Dino) at 2 laps. Piper was running with out fifth gear and had a tire burst on Masta, being lucky to hold the car on the road. Mauro Bianchi lost 3 laps in the pits, with suspension problems. At the front Ford lost the No. 43 Essex Wire car with an overheated engine.
At mid point of the race the positions were: 1. Parkes/Scarfiotti (No. 1 Ferrari P3), 2. Whitmore/Gardner (No. 4 Ford MkIIA) at 2'25"3, 3. Revson/Scott (No. 42 Ford GT40) at 2 laps, 4. Suttcliffe/Redman, 5. Attwood/Guichet (No. 12 Dino) at 3 laps, 6. Amon/ Ireland (No. 44 Ford GT40), 7. Hermann/Glemser (No. 11 Porsche 906P), 8. Piper/Salmon (No. 9 Ferrari P2/P3), 9. Van Lennep/Van Lennep (No. 60 Porsche 906S) at 4 laps, 10. Gosselin/de Keyn (No. 52 Ferrari LM).
The Porsches were chasing the hyper fast Dino, which had been equipped with long lasting Firestone tires. Hermann lost a wheel off his No. 11 906P and was out. The Dutch 906S suffered a broken tappet (but continued) and de Udy's 906S was abandoned with a broken differential.
Eventually only one Porsche 906 was left, the orange one, nearly 20 laps (280 kms!) down on the leaders. Towards the final stages of the race the Piper Ferrari P2/P3 lost ground, having lost the use of all but two gears. When Gosselin/de Keyn had clutch problems on their No. 52 Ferrari LM, they lost their 7th place. Despite smoking throughout the race and having to be hold in the gears the No.49 Ferrari LM of Hawkins/Epstein passed the Belgian Ferrari to take 7th.
Behind the two LMs came the two factory Alpines A210 M65, going around like clockwork. No Positions changed but the works Ford MkIIA was lapped and had to change its Goodyears, suffering from the extreme wear. Mike Parkes/Lodovico Scarfiotti won in the Ferrari 330P3, its V12 4-litre engine having never missed a beat.
The Ford MkIIA finished 5 minutes down whilst the Group 4 honours went to Revson/Scott in the Essex Wire Ford GT40, preceeding a similar cars of Ireland/Amon (No. 44) and Sutcliffe/Redman (No. 40). The No. 12 Dino (a hidden works entry) won easily the 2-litre class, finishing 6th overall.
In the the 1.3-litre class the two Austin-Healey Sprites are beaten by the two Alpines M65. GT honours went to the MGB shared by Vernaeve and Hedges.
Results
1) Mike Parkes/L.Scarfiotti No.1 Ferrari 330P3
2) J. Whitmore/Frank Gardner No. 4 Ford MkIIA
3)Peter Revson/Skip Scott No. 42 Ford GT40 Coupe
6) Richard Attwood/J. Guichet No.12 Ferrari Dino 206S
Author: ArchitectPage
