Mirage M1
The Mirage M1 was a sports car prototype that was developed by John Wyer Automotive and was regularly used in sports car races from 1967 to 1969.
Racing history
1967
The M1 made its debut in April 1967 during the test days for the Le Mans 24 Hours of that year at the Circuit de la Sarthe . In the M10001 chassis sat David Piper and Richard Attwood , who achieved the sixth fastest time of the entire test weekend. Piper also drove a few laps in the second vehicle, chassis number M10002. Both cars were first used at the end of April at the 1000 km race in Monza , this year the third round of the sports car world championship . David Piper and Dick Thompson drove the 2-series chassis, while Jacky Ickx and test driver Alan Rees shared the car with the number M10001. Both cars suffered from technical problems during the race, which ultimately led to the Ickx / Rees car failing due to ignition damage. Piper and Thompson finished ninth; Eight laps behind the victorious Ferrari 330P4 of Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon . Already the second race lead to an overall victory. Jacky Ickx, this time with partner Dick Thompson, got a new vehicle for the 1000 km race in Spa , chassis number M10003. Ickx and Thompson won by one lap over the Porsche 910 owned by Joseph Siffert and Hans Herrmann . David Piper had an accident in the second car. After a double retirement in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring this year , the team came to the Le Mans 24-hour race with a competitive vehicle.
As is so often the case, it turned out that there can be major differences between the times achieved on the test days in April and the actual training times. This was mainly due to the fact that many vehicles were further developed between the test weekend and the race. Not so with Wyer, so that the M1, which were still in the top field during testing, only achieved 15th and 16th places in the qualification. Le Mans was a failure overall. Both M1s, the 1-series and the 3-series vehicle, were at the start and failed early due to defects. A broken valve stopped the Piper / Thompson; Ickx and Brian Muir's car broke down with an overheated cylinder.
End of August won Jacky Ickx the counting no longer World Sportscar Championship Grand Prix of Sweden for sports cars Joakim Bonnier , one month later the Stockholmsloppet on a circuit in the Stockholm district Skarpnäck won. Paul Hawkins finished second in the 3-series M1, so within a few weeks there was the second double victory for the John Wyer team in a sports car race in Sweden .
In the meantime, the season for John Wyer, John Horsman and David Yorke had developed into a very successful one, which ended with two more overall victories. Jacky Ickx and Paul Hawkins won the 1000 km race in Paris and Ickx, this time with Brian Redman , also won the Kyalami 9-hour race in November .
1968 and 1969
At the end of 1967, John Wyer developed the M2 with a 12-cylinder BRM engine for the 1968 World Sports Car Championship. In addition, the Ford GT40 was used again in some races, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans , so that the M1 was only used in a factory. This was very successful, however, as Jacky Ickx was able to repeat his previous year's victory in the 9-hour race in Kyalami. With this success he shared the cockpit with David Hobbs .
After the race, the M10001 chassis was sold to the British racing driver and team owner Malcolm Guthrie . Guthrie also hired drivers David Hobbs, Peter Gethin and Mike Hailwood and competed with the car in sports car races in South Africa and Rhodesia . A few podium finishes were achieved, including overall victory in the 3-hour race in Lourenço Marques in December 1968 .
1973
Aside from events for historic racing vehicles, the last time an M1 appeared in races was in 1973. The Briton Anthony Hutton had meanwhile acquired the chassis M10001 and used the car in two races in the interseries . at Silverstone he was eliminated and at Brands Hatch he was sixth.
literature
- John Horsman: Racing in the Rain . Bull Publishing Ltd., Phoenix 2006, ISBN 1-893618-71-4 .
