I am sure there is a thread about this somewhere but if there isn't it is certainly worth mentioning.
I believe it was 40 years ago to the day that my Dad and A.J. won at LeMans!
Justin
Le Mans 1967
Started by
Justin Gurney
, Jun 11 2007 21:17
17 replies to this topic
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#2
sterling49
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Posted 11 June 2007 - 21:43
1967 was a great year for Dan, I was at the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, and read avidly about the Eagle's win in Belgium.......Bravo on all counts!
Sterling U.K.
Sterling U.K.
#3
Doug Nye
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Posted 11 June 2007 - 21:46
Justin - I remember it so well - the one thing I really hold against your Dad is all that hooligan Champagne showering.... What an example to set the impressionable?!! That's when the neighbourhood really began to go widdershins....
DCN
DCN
#4
David M. Kane
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Posted 11 June 2007 - 21:57
Justin:
I met your parents at a talk he gave at the Research Center in Watkins Glen a few years. I've always been impressed by your father; but your mother really impressed my wife and I that day.
I remember when he won LeMans, it was a really big deal to see an American do it. Hopefully Alex will some day duplicate the feat. He seems to be driving really well these days!
I met your parents at a talk he gave at the Research Center in Watkins Glen a few years. I've always been impressed by your father; but your mother really impressed my wife and I that day.
I remember when he won LeMans, it was a really big deal to see an American do it. Hopefully Alex will some day duplicate the feat. He seems to be driving really well these days!
#5
Hugewally
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#6
Ray Bell
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Posted 11 June 2007 - 22:44
Originally posted by Hugewally
Well, someone had to start the tradition...
Sorry...
The caption to the photo reads:
HILL PLAYS UP - AS USUAL. Asked to share out his bottle of champers, Hill did just that, spraying a closely packed group of photographers from the dais.
Photo by Ivan Bush, published page 19 of Racing Car News April 1966. Race date was 20th February, 1966. The party was held that night and Graham had the waitresses blushing.
These matters have been covered previously on TNF.
#7
Bruno
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 07:51
Originally posted by Justin Gurney
I am sure there is a thread about this somewhere but if there isn't it is certainly worth mentioning.
I believe it was 40 years ago to the day that my Dad and A.J. won at LeMans!
Justin
Yes Justin.
the race of the Century.
Daniel Sexton Gurney and Antony Joseph Foyt / Red Ford MK IV number 1
#9
Robert Bailey
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 11:36
Big time for AJ to Indy the week before.
#10
Barry Boor
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 16:09
Early June 1967 was the best of times!
Say hello to Dad from his old fan and a big WELL DONE to Alex for the Glen last weekend.
Say hello to Dad from his old fan and a big WELL DONE to Alex for the Glen last weekend.
#11
Doug Nye
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 19:32
Ray - good spot!
But to establish such 'a tradition' an action has to occur upon a major stage. I recall Champagne showers after a club rally here in Hampshire circa 1961 - one on a clubbie podium at Brands Hatch circa '64 - given the pyrotechnic possibilities of victory bubbly there will have been hundreds of other precedents ... but it was Dan's at Le Mans which captured imagination and was aped so frequently thereafter that 'a tradition' took root. I loved Clay Regazzoni's (albeit enforced) soft-drink celebration after Williams's first GP win at Silverstone. It made such a change after what had become tediously meaningless normality. I would love to see 'it' restricted now to first-time winners - like young Lewis last Sunday - or to Championship title clinchers. Then perhaps it would mean as much as Le Mans '67 did to Dan and A.J. - and their team. Hooligan!
DCN
But to establish such 'a tradition' an action has to occur upon a major stage. I recall Champagne showers after a club rally here in Hampshire circa 1961 - one on a clubbie podium at Brands Hatch circa '64 - given the pyrotechnic possibilities of victory bubbly there will have been hundreds of other precedents ... but it was Dan's at Le Mans which captured imagination and was aped so frequently thereafter that 'a tradition' took root. I loved Clay Regazzoni's (albeit enforced) soft-drink celebration after Williams's first GP win at Silverstone. It made such a change after what had become tediously meaningless normality. I would love to see 'it' restricted now to first-time winners - like young Lewis last Sunday - or to Championship title clinchers. Then perhaps it would mean as much as Le Mans '67 did to Dan and A.J. - and their team. Hooligan!
DCN
#12
JohnS
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 20:00
Maybe Bernie could take note of what Michel Platini has done in football.
Platini was recently elected head of UEFA and one of the first things he did was change the way the Champions League trophy is presented. Years ago, it was always presented in the stand. The players made their way up the stairs, hemmed in on each side by the fans, and were presented with the trophy in the midst of thousands of supporters. It was all a bit chaotic but charming.
In recent years, the presentation of the trophy has become an over-choreographed affair on a specially built podium in the middle of the pitch.
Well, Platini didn't like that and they've gone back to doing it the old way.
Wouldn't it be lovely if Formula One did the same, like they did in the sixties? A huge garland around the winners neck and a few sips of champagne. I really can't stand the podium presentations as they do them these days.
Ah well, dream on!
John
Platini was recently elected head of UEFA and one of the first things he did was change the way the Champions League trophy is presented. Years ago, it was always presented in the stand. The players made their way up the stairs, hemmed in on each side by the fans, and were presented with the trophy in the midst of thousands of supporters. It was all a bit chaotic but charming.
In recent years, the presentation of the trophy has become an over-choreographed affair on a specially built podium in the middle of the pitch.
Well, Platini didn't like that and they've gone back to doing it the old way.
Wouldn't it be lovely if Formula One did the same, like they did in the sixties? A huge garland around the winners neck and a few sips of champagne. I really can't stand the podium presentations as they do them these days.
Ah well, dream on!
John
#13
Hugewally
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 20:25
Have to make sure everyone has the proper hat on...
#14
Kerb Bouncer
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 20:32
Another fan remembering that victory! My pal and I used to joke about knowing who did all the night driving in that race. That was before AJ won the Daytona 24 hrs. a couple of times.
Two great drivers from a era I well remember.
Congratulations are again in order !
Mike
#15
Ray Bell
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 21:01
Originally posted by Doug Nye
.....to establish such 'a tradition' an action has to occur upon a major stage. I recall Champagne showers after a club rally here in Hampshire circa 1961 - one on a clubbie podium at Brands Hatch circa '64 - given the pyrotechnic possibilities of victory bubbly there will have been hundreds of other precedents ... but it was Dan's at Le Mans which captured imagination and was aped so frequently thereafter that 'a tradition' took root.....
Like you, I dislike the 'tradition' that has grown...
But didn't Autosport give major coverage to Hill's win at Lakeside that day? Didn't 15,000 people turn out to see the event? Wasn't it a part of the second most important FIA racing car series of the era?
I certainly feel that there was some importance or stature in the 'stage'... maybe not quite as much as at the Sarthe, but it's probably more important that a descriptive photograph made headlines of its own, as far as publicising the act goes.
I also wonder if Hill had done it somewhere previously?
#16
bradbury west
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 22:09
Originally posted by Doug Nye
Justin - I remember it so well - the one thing I really hold against your Dad is all that hooligan Champagne showering.... DCN
But didn't he have 100 bottles of the stuff at Brands RoC 67 for fastest lap in practice IIRC?
Roger Lund
#17
scheivlak
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Posted 12 June 2007 - 22:45
And for Dan the week after http://www.forix.com...04&c=49&p=2&o=1Originally posted by Robert Bailey
Big time for AJ to Indy the week before.
#18
AAA-Eagle
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Posted 13 November 2011 - 06:19
Another old RAI film reel has been digitally converted:
XXXV Grand Prix d´Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1967
XXXV Grand Prix d´Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1967
