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 2023^[update] 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 miles)
Distance	80 laps, 354.40 km (220.24 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:36.2
Fastest lap
Driver	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford
Time	1:36.7 on lap 7
Podium
First	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco
Second	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco
Third	Jackie Stewart	BRM
Lap leaders

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 13.461 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

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hulme 22 4 2 Jack Brabham 16 1 3 Pedro Rodríguez 12 1 4 Chris Amon 11 1 5 Jim Clark 10 Source:[4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Brabham-Repco 27 2 Cooper-Maserati 17 3 3 BRM 11 1 4 Ferrari 11 1 5 Lotus-Ford 10 Source:[4]

• 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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