The then new Circuit Bugatti was chosen as the venue for the French Grand Prix in 1967, which included the famous start / finish straight as well as the first long right-hand bend of the circuit, which is used in the 24-hour race of Le Mans . The rest of the route consisted of a series of mostly tight turns, which resulted in a relatively low average speed. Since the course was not popular with either the drivers or the spectators, the track was only used this once for a Grand Prix.
training
About a month after the first victory of the Lotus 49 , Graham Hill drove the car into pole position again. The car was fast, but still very unreliable over the race distance.
The reigning world champion Jack Brabham and the winner of the previous World Championship round in Belgium , Dan Gurney , also qualified for the front row of three cars. Hill's team-mate Jim Clark followed alongside Bruce McLaren , who this weekend did not compete in his own car, but with a second Eagle as a team-mate of Dan Gurney. The third row on the grid was made up of Denis Hulme in the second works Brabham , Chris Amon in the only Ferrari that raced that weekend, and Cooper works driver Jochen Rindt .
run
Hill finished the first lap in the lead before Brabham overtook him. A lap later, Clark passed Gurney. The two Lotus works cars then gradually caught up with the reigning world champion.
In the fifth lap, Clark took the lead and Hill completed a double lead for the Lotus team . Hill briefly took the lead on the eleventh lap before he had to retire due to a differential damage. Nine laps later, Clark was prevented from continuing the race because of the same problem, so that Brabham regained the lead without a fight. Gurney and Amon were now his closest pursuers, with Hulme overtaking the Ferrari a little later and taking third place. When Gurney had to retire on lap 40 due to a problem with the fuel supply, Brabham took a one-two lead, which ultimately held up to the finish.
Amon was unable to hold third place due to a problem with the throttle linkage. As Pedro Rodríguez also retired due to technical reasons, Jackie Stewart finally reached the podium. Chris Irwin in the privately entered BRM P83 of the Reg Parnell Racing Team only lost fourth place in the fourth from last lap to Jo Siffert, who was also competing in a non-factory-supported car . Despite the failure, he was still classified fifth due to the distance covered.