1967 French Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:France
Grand Prix:French
Year:1967
Official Name:53e Grand Prix de l'ACF[1]
Location:Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, France
Course:Permanent race track
Course Km:4.430
Course Mi:2.753
Distance Laps:80
Distance Km:354.40
Distance Mi:220.24
Pole Driver:Graham Hill
Pole Country:GBR
Pole Team:Lotus-Ford
Pole Time:1:36.2
Fast Driver:Graham Hill
Fast Team:Lotus-Ford
Fast Time:1:36.7
Fast Lap:7
Fast Country:GBR
First Driver:Jack Brabham
First Country:AUS
First Team:Brabham-Repco
Second Driver:Denny Hulme
Second Country:NZL
Second Team:Brabham-Repco
Third Driver:Jackie Stewart
Third Country:GBR
Third Team:BRM

The 1967 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans on 2 July 1967. It was race 5 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the first French Grand Prix to be held in Le Mans since the race in 1929, and is the only time the Bugatti Circuit has been used for the Grand Prix, though the circuit continues to host the French motorcycle Grand Prix.

The new Bugatti circuit used the main pit straight at Le Mans, which back in 1967 did not have the Dunlop Chicane, but then turned right at "La Chapelle" into an infield section comprising the third gear "Le Musée" left hander and the second gear "Garage Vert" corner which led onto the back straight, whose only distinctive feature was the "Chemin Aux Boeufs" left hand kink (now a left-right chicane) some two-thirds along, before heading back to the pit straight via the "S Bleu" and "Raccordement" corners near the entrance to the pits.

The Bugatti circuit was seen as somewhat boring and was universally unpopular with both drivers and crowds, with only a reported 20,000 attending the race. Some of the drivers were reported to have privately wished the race was run on the full 13.461km (08.364miles) long Circuit de la Sarthe, where the 5.7km (03.5miles) Mulsanne Straight was 1.3km (00.8miles) longer than the entire Bugatti circuit. At the time, circuit lengths of 101NaN1 or longer were common in Grand Prix racing, including the 14.12km (08.77miles) Spa-Francorchamps used for the Belgian Grand Prix and the 22.835km (14.189miles) Nürburgring used for the German Grand Prix, so many drivers felt that using the full 24 Hours circuit should have been considered as the venue by the Automobile Club de France.

Race report

Graham Hill was on pole and led away for the first lap until Jack Brabham took over. On lap 7 Jim Clark took the lead and Hill passed Brabham to make it a Lotus 1–2. Hill then retook the lead until his crown-wheel and pinion failed on lap 14. The same problem caused Clark's retirement from the lead on lap 23, leaving Brabham ahead of Dan Gurney, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme. On lap 41 a fuel line broke on Gurney's car, making it a Brabham 1-2 and Amon's throttle cable broke several laps later. Brabham drove home serenely to win his first race in eight Grands Prix by 49.5 seconds from teammate Hulme, and over a lap in front of the BRM of Jackie Stewart.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
17 Graham HillLotus-Ford1:36.2
23 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco1:36.3+0.1
39 Dan GurneyEagle-Weslake1:37.0+0.8
46 Jim ClarkLotus-Ford1:37.5+1.3
58 Bruce McLarenEagle-Weslake1:37.6+1.4
64 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco1:37.9+1.7
72 Chris AmonFerrari1:38.0+1.8
812 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati1:38.9+2.7
915 Chris IrwinBRM1:39.4+3.2
1010 Jackie StewartBRM1:39.6+3.4
1118 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati1:40.1+3.9
1211 Mike SpenceBRM1:40.3+4.1
1314 Pedro RodríguezCooper-Maserati1:40.5+4.3
1417 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax1:44.9+8.7
1516 Guy LigierCooper-Maserati1:45.2+9.0
Source:[2]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
13 Jack BrabhamBrabham-Repco802:13:21.329
24 Denny HulmeBrabham-Repco80+ 49.566
310 Jackie StewartBRM79+ 1 Lap104
418 Jo SiffertCooper-Maserati77+ 3 Laps113
515 Chris IrwinBRM76Engine92
614 Pedro RodríguezCooper-Maserati76+ 4 Laps131
NC16 Guy LigierCooper-Maserati68+ 12 Laps15 
Ret2 Chris AmonFerrari47Throttle7 
Ret9 Dan GurneyEagle-Weslake40Fuel Leak3 
Ret12 Jochen RindtCooper-Maserati33Engine8 
Ret8 Bruce McLarenEagle-Weslake26Ignition5 
Ret6 Jim ClarkLotus-Ford23Differential4 
Ret17 Bob AndersonBrabham-Climax16Ignition14 
Ret7 Graham HillLotus-Ford13Differential1 
Ret11 Mike SpenceBRM9Halfshaft12 
WD1 Ludovico ScarfiottiFerrari 
WD5 John SurteesHonda 
WD19 Jo BonnierCooper-Maserati 
WD20 Jean-Pierre BeltoiseMatra-Ford 
WD21 Johnny Servoz-GavinMatra-Ford 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Denny Hulme22
42 Jack Brabham16
13 Pedro Rodríguez12
14 Chris Amon11
15 Jim Clark10
Source:[3]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 Brabham-Repco27
2 Cooper-Maserati17
33 BRM11
14 Ferrari11
15 Lotus-Ford10
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1967 . The Programme Covers Project . 20 October 2017.
  2. Web site: 1967 ACF GP Qualification. www.chicanef1.com. 26 August 2020.
  3. Web site: France 1967 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 15 March 2019.