• Latest
  • Trending
1966 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Le Mans, France. 18th - 19th June 1966.
Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon (Ford GT40 MkII), 1st position, action. 
World Copyright: LAT Photographic.
Ref: L66 - 384 - 1A.

Amon Cup to be launched in the UK for new historic GT40 series

November 19, 2020

Mixed fortunes for Kiwis in chaotic Supercars race: Payne secures podium, Evans endures another DNF

July 12, 2025

Bewley clinches podium in thrilling scrap as Robb cracks Top 10, Exton retires

July 12, 2025

Kostecki claims commanding Townsville win as Kiwi Payne just misses podium in Supercars Sprint opener

July 11, 2025

Kostecki claims pole as Kiwi contenders battle through tight Townsville qualifying

July 11, 2025
2023 VAILO Adelaide 500, Event 12 of the Repco Supercars Championship, Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. 24 Nov, 2023.

Celebration of life planned for Tim Miles as Supercars paddock pays tribute

July 11, 2025

Randle tops Practice 2 as Matt Payne leads Kiwi charge in Townsville

July 11, 2025

Ryan Wood tops Practice 1 as Brown crashes late in Townsville

July 11, 2025

Bewley to make street circuit debut in Townsville Porsche Sprint Challenge Round

July 11, 2025

Rally Debut: Liam Lawson gets a taste of WRC in 2025 Ford Puma Rally1 car at Goodwood

July 11, 2025

Motorsport Diary: Kiwis racing overseas this weekend

July 12, 2025

LIVE: Goodwood Festival of Speed – Watch Liam Lawson, Greg Murphy, Mad Mike & more

July 10, 2025
Saturday, July 12, 2025
VelocityNews
Subscribe
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard
No Result
View All Result
VelocityNews
No Result
View All Result

Amon Cup to be launched in the UK for new historic GT40 series

by Zane Shackleton
November 19, 2020
in Historic Racing, International, News
0

A new one-make Ford GT40 race series is set to go ahead next year in the UK in honour of Chris Amon’s 1966 Le Mans 24 Hour victory.

Launched by Motor Racing Legends, two 80-minute races for pre-1966 GT40 will go ahead at Donnington Park and Silverstone early next year. The driver with the best results after the two races will be the recipient of the inaugural Amon Cup.

The Amon family will be at both races in-person to gift the trophy to the winning driver.

Partnered with fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren, Amon famously headed a 1-2-3 victory for the American manufacturer, beating the imperious Ferrari outfit who had claimed wins in the previous five iterations of the endurance classic.

Amon and McLaren were instructed to stage an orchestrated photo finish with the sister Ford of Denny Hulme and Ken Miles.

Amon and McLaren were only later declared the winners because they had started eight metres behind Hulme and Miles 24 Hours earlier. The race has also been immortalised in Hollywood with the award-winning Le Mans ’66 film (Ford vs Ferrari).

“All the works Fords were on Goodyears except ours: we were contracted to Firestone,” later recalled Amon.

“It rained off and on during the night, and by Sunday morning we were in the lead, about a minute ahead of the Ken Miles/Denny Hulme car.

“Ford then hung out the EZ sign which Bruce took some notice of, but Ken didn’t slow down one iota and brought back the advantage we had.

“Then something weird happened: at the next pitstop, when we weren’t due a tyre change, the Goodyear guy, without even looking at the tyres, ordered the mechanics to change one of the fronts, which delayed us. I guess he didn’t want Firestone-contracted drivers winning.

“So, Ken was back in the lead. Bruce was getting aggravated now. It rained some more, and it was unbelievably slippery.

“Bruce got past Ken again, and then Ford told us they wanted to stage a dead-heat. The two cars crossed the line more or less side-by-side, but the French decided we were the winners, because we’d been 20 yards behind Ken in the starting line-up.”

The victory was the just the first of four consecutive triumphs between ’66 and ’69 for Ford and the GT40.

Amon has also been recognised as one of the greatest Grand Prix drivers of his era. That is despite bearing the unfortunate title of the ‘world’s unluckiest driver’ given every time he was destined to win, some wave of events outside of his control would reverse this fate.

“He was one of the most prolific drivers of all time,” said Duncan Wiltshire from Motor Racing Legends.

“Chris Amon will forever be associated with the GT40 and we are deeply honoured that the Amon family will present the awards at each round in person.”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.

No Result
View All Result
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.