1967 French Grand Prix

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 as of 2020 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.

1967 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 2 July 1967 (1967-07-02)
Official name 53e Grand Prix de l'ACF[1]
Location Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, France
Course Permanent race track
Course length 4.430 km (2.753 mi)
Distance 80 laps, 354.40 km (220.24 mi)
Pole position
Driver
Lotus-Ford
Time 1:36.2
Fastest lap
Driver Graham Hill Lotus-Ford
Time 1:36.7
Podium
First
Brabham-Repco
Second
Brabham-Repco
Third
BRM

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 Boeups" 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 13.461 km (8.364 mi) long Circuit de la Sarthe, where the 5.7 km (3.5 mi) Mulsanne Straight was 1.3 km (0.81 mi) longer than the entire Bugatti circuit. At the time, circuit lengths of 10 km (6.2 mi) or longer were common in Grand Prix racing, including the 14.120 km (8.774 mi) Spa-Francorchamps used for the Belgian Grand Prix and the 22.835 km (14.189 mi) 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
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 7 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 1:36.2 —
2 3 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 1:36.3 +0.1
3 9 Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake 1:37.0 +0.8
4 6 Jim Clark Lotus-Ford 1:37.5 +1.3
5 8 Bruce McLaren Eagle-Weslake 1:37.6 +1.4
6 4 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 1:37.9 +1.7
7 2 Chris Amon Ferrari 1:38.0 +1.8
8 12 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 1:38.9 +2.7
9 15 Chris Irwin BRM 1:39.4 +3.2
10 10 Jackie Stewart BRM 1:39.6 +3.4
11 18 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 1:40.1 +3.9
12 11 Mike Spence BRM 1:40.3 +4.1
13 14 Pedro Rodríguez Cooper-Maserati 1:40.5 +4.3
14 17 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 1:44.9 +8.7
15 16 Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 1:45.2 +9.0
Source:[2]

Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3 Jack Brabham Brabham-Repco 80 2:13:21.3 2 9
2 4 Denny Hulme Brabham-Repco 80 + 49.5 6 6
3 10 Jackie Stewart BRM 79 + 1 Lap 10 4
4 18 Jo Siffert Cooper-Maserati 77 + 3 Laps 11 3
5 15 Chris Irwin BRM 76 Engine 9 2
6 14 Pedro Rodríguez Cooper-Maserati 76 + 4 Laps 13 1
NC 16 Guy Ligier Cooper-Maserati 68 + 12 Laps 15  
Ret 2 Chris Amon Ferrari 47 Throttle 7  
Ret 9 Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake 40 Fuel Leak 3  
Ret 12 Jochen Rindt Cooper-Maserati 33 Engine 8  
Ret 8 Bruce McLaren Eagle-Weslake 26 Ignition 5  
Ret 6 Jim Clark Lotus-Ford 23 Differential 4  
Ret 17 Bob Anderson Brabham-Climax 16 Ignition 14  
Ret 7 Graham Hill Lotus-Ford 13 Differential 1  
Ret 11 Mike Spence BRM 9 Halfshaft 12  
WD 1 Ludovico Scarfiotti Ferrari  
WD 5 John Surtees Honda  
WD 19 Jo Bonnier Cooper-Maserati  
WD 20 Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Ford  
WD 21 Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra-Ford  
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1967". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. "1967 ACF GP Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  3. "1967 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  4. "France 1967 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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1967 Belgian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1967 season		 Next race:
1967 British Grand Prix
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1968 French Grand Prix
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