1964 Reims 12 hour race

Ferrari 250LM with starting number 7; Graham Hill and Joakim Bonnier's winning car

# 4 Ford GT40 at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed ; Ridden in Reims by Bruce McLaren and Phil Hill

The still existing pit systems of the Circuit de Reims-Gueux

The sixth 12-hour race of Reims , also Championnat du Monde des Constructeurs Trophée France-Amérique, Les 12 Heures Internationales de Reims , took place on July 5, 1964 on the Reims race track and was the 10th round of the sports car world championship this year.

Before the race

In 1964 , too , the world championship was primarily a GT championship. As in previous years, GT, sports car and hill climb races were combined into one championship. Five sports car races had already taken place before the event in Reims. The season opener, the 2000 km race at Daytona , won Pedro Rodriguez and Phil Hill on one of North American Racing Team reported Ferrari 250 GTO / 64 . The second race of the season also took place in the United States . The 12-hour race at Sebring ended with the victory of Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli in work - Ferrari 275P .

The Targa Florio was won by Porsche factory drivers Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis . This was followed by victories by Ludovico Scarfiotti and Nino Vaccarella in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring and by Jean Guichet and Vaccarella in the 24-hour race at Le Mans . Both successes were achieved on a factory Ferrari 275P.

The race

In 1964 , Formula 1 carried out the World Championship race for the French Grand Prix on the Rouen-les-Essarts circuit . The AC de Champagne activated the 12-hour race so that an international race could also take place on the racetrack near Reims . The last time the race had taken place was in 1958 . Two weeks after the long-distance classic in Le Mans, the event in the Marne département also had an excellent field, although the Ferrari works team decided not to take part due to deadlines.

The sports car manufacturer from Maranello was prominently represented by the British racing team Maranello Concessionaires and Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team. Maranello Concessionaires reported a brand new Ferrari 250LM with a 3.3 liter V12 engine for Graham Hill and Joakim Bonnier and a 250 GTO / 64 for Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti . A 250LM and two GTO came from the North American Racing Team. Drivers: John Surtees , Lorenzo Bandini , Pedro Rodríguez, Nino Vaccarella, Bob Grossman and Skip Hudson .

After the breakdowns of the new Ford GT40 at Le Mans, it was clear to the team leadership around John Wyer that the racing cars still needed development time in order to become fully competitive. Wyer also reported the three chassis used in Le Mans in Reims. The driver crews were Bruce McLaren / Phil Hill , Richie Ginther / Masten Gregory as well as Richard Attwood and Jo Schlesser . The team leaders from Alpine and Automobiles René Bonnet brought three works cars to the track.

The course of the race

The uniqueness of the Reims 12 hour race was the start at midnight. Driving off at night without any significant artificial lighting was made even more difficult by the Le Mans star's procedure . The first laps were marked by a three-way battle between the two Ferrari drivers Graham Hill and John Surtees with Richie Ginther's Ford. For almost an hour, at average speeds well over 200 km / h, the three drivers regularly overtook each other in front of the Virage de Thillois. The three-way battle lasted until 1:25 in the morning, then Ginther had to head for the pits with problems with the power transmission on the Ford.

At 6 a.m., after the sun had long since risen, John Surtees led by 56 seconds over Joakim Bonnier , Graham Hill's team-mate. At this point the three factory GT40s and two Shelby Daytonas had failed. The exciting course of the race in the different racing classes took a back seat against the duel between the two Ferrari 250LMs that lasted until the end of the race. All four participating drivers drove record lap after record lap. The lead changed mainly due to the different pit stop tactics. Just before 11 a.m. Surtees pitted to refuel. However, the documents on the front brakes also had to be changed. Although the NART mechanics worked quickly, the team lost two minutes in the process. With new brake pads, Surtees seemed to be able to make the impossible possible. He caught up a lot of time on Bonnier in a short time, sometimes he was five seconds per lap faster than the Swede. When Bonnier pits for the last refueling stop half an hour before the end of the race and handed the car back to Hill, Surtees took the lead. He had made all the necessary stops and could have finished the race without stopping. He had driven the Ferrari at and in some cases over the limit for more than an hour, putting extreme demands on vehicle technology. At Surtee's last stop there was no tire change due to time constraints, which she is now avenging. 10 minutes before the end he came into the pits with a flat left front tire. When he returned to the track he was 1 ½ laps behind the Hill / Bonnier-Ferrari and the race was decided.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	P + 3.0	7th	Maranello Concessionaires	Graham Hill Joakim Bonnier	Ferrari 250LM	296
2	P + 3.0	8th	NART	John Surtees Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 250LM	295
3	GT 3.0	25th	Maranello Concessionaires	Mike Parkes Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari 250 GTO / 64	279
4th	GT 3.0	24	David Piper Racing	David Piper Tony Maggs	Ferrari 250 GTO	273
5	GT 2.0	44	Andrea Vianini	Andrea Vianini Nasif Estéfano	Porsche 904 GTS	273
6th	GT 2.0	42	Porsche system	Gerhard Koch Gerhard Mitter	Porsche 904 GTS	271
7th	GT 2.0	39	Racing Team Holland	Ben Pon Rob Slotemaker	Porsche 904 GTS	270
8th	GT + 3.0	16	Protheroe Cars	Dick Protheroe John Coundley	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	270
9	GT 3.0	28	Ecurie Francorchamps	Lucien Bianchi Pierre Dumay	Ferrari 250 GTO / 64	269
10	GT 2.0	36	Auguste Veuillet	Robert Buchet Guy Ligier	Porsche 904 GTS	268
11	GT 3.0	26th	NART	Pedro Rodríguez Nino Vaccarella	Ferrari 250 GTO / 64	264
12	GT 2.0	38	Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Müller André Knörr	Porsche 904 GTS	262
13	GT 2.0	37	Auguste Veuillet	Annie Soisbault Claude Dubois	Porsche 904 GTS	262
14th	GT + 3.0	17th	Peter Sutcliffe	Peter Sutcliffe William Bradley	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	261
15th	GT 2.0	40	Racing Team Holland	Henk van Zalinge David van Lennep	Porsche 904 GTS	260
16	GT 2.0	43	Jacques Dewez	Jacques Dewez Jean Kerguen	Porsche 904 GTS	250
17th	GT 3.0	17th	Ulf Norinder	Chris Amon Jackie Stewart	Ferrari 250 GTO	248
18th	P 1.3	51	Automobiles Alpine	Roger Delageneste Henry Morrogh	Alpine M64	241
19th	P 1.3	50	Automobiles Alpine	José Rosinski Henri Grandsire	Alpine M64	239
20th	P 1.3	49	Automobiles Alpine	Mauro Bianchi Jean Vinatier	Alpine M64	218
Failed
21st	P 2.0	33	Porsche system	Edgar Barth Colin Davis	Porsche 904/8	52
22nd	P + 3.0	2	Bizzarrini	Pierre Noblet Edgar Berney	Iso Grifo A3C
23	P + 3.0	3	John Simone	Maurice Trintignant André Simon	Maserati Tipo 151/3
24	P + 3.0	4th	Ford Division	Bruce McLaren Phil Hill	Ford GT40
25th	P + 3.0	5	Ford Division	Richie Ginther Masten Gregory	Ford GT40
26th	P + 3.0	6th	Ford Division	Richard Attwood Jo Schlesser	Ford GT40
27	P + 3.0	9	Ecurie Francorchamps	Gérard Langlois van Ophem Jean Blaton	Ferrari 250LM
28	GT + 3.0	14th	Shelby American	Innes Ireland Jochen Neerpasch	Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
29	GT + 3.0	15th	Shelby American	Dan Gurney Bob Bondurant	Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe
30th	GT 3.0	27	NART	Bob Grossman Skip Hudson	Ferrari 250 GTO / 64
31	GT 2.0	41	Heinz Schiller	Joseph Siffert Heinz Schiller	Porsche 904 GTS
32	GT 2.0	46	Wicky Racing Team	Bernard Collomb André Wicky	Lotus Elan
33	P 1.3	52	Automobiles Alpine	Philippe Vidal Jacques Maglia	Alpine M63
34	P 1.3	53	Automobiles René Bonnet	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Gérard Laureau	René Bonnet Djet
35	P 1.3	54	Automobiles René Bonnet	Robert Bouharde Jean Vinatier Eric Offenstadt	René Bonnet Aérodjet
36	GT 1.3	56	Standard triumph	Jean-François Piot Alain Bertaut	Triumph Spitfire
37	GT 1.3	60	Automobiles René Bonnet	Philippe Farjon Serge Lelong	René Bonnet Djet
Not started
38	P 3.0	22nd	ATS Francis	Mário Cabral Teodoro Zeccoli	ATS 2500 GT	1

¹ accident on arrival

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
39	P 2.0		Ian Walker		Lotus Elan 26R
40	GT + 3.0		AC Cars		AC Cobra Coupe
41	P + 3.0	1	Shelby American Inc.	Dan Gurney Bob Bondurant	Shelby Cobra
42	P + 3.0	10	Quivers	Umberto Maglioli Jochen Rindt	Ferrari 250LM
43	GT 2.0	43	Royal Elysees	René Richard Pierre Gelé	Lotus Elan
44	GT 2.0	47	Equipe Nationale Belge Lotus	Henri Quernette Georges Hacquin	Lotus Elan
45	P 1.3	55	Automobiles René Bonnet	Jacques Bigrat R. Verdier	René Bonnet Djet
46	GT 1.3	61	Automobiles René Bonnet	Roland Charrière Pierre Monneret	René Bonnet Djet

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P + 3.0	Graham Hill	Joakim Bonnier	Ferrari 250LM	Overall victory
P 2.0	no participant in the finish
P 1.3	Roger Delageneste	Henry Morrogh	Alpine M64	Rank 18
GT + 3.0	Dick Protheroe	John Coundley	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Rank 8
GT 3.0	Mike Parkes	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari 250 GTO / 64	Rank 3
GT 2.0	Andrea Vianini	Nasif Estéfano	Porsche 904 GTS	Rank 5
GT 1.3	no participant in the finish

Racing data

• Reported: 46
• Started: 37
• Rated: 20
• Race classes: 7
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 8.301 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 296
• Total distance of the winning team: 2448.933 km
• Winner's average: 204.078 km / h
• Pole position: John Surtees - Ferrari 250LM (# 8) - 2: 19.200 = 214.681 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Graham Hill - Ferrari 250LM (# 7) - 2: 19.200 = 214.681 km / h
• Racing series: 10th round of the sports car world championship in 1964

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race report
• Results

Previous race 24 Hours of Le Mans 1964

Sports car world championship

Successor mountain race Freiburg-Schauinsland 1964