Vic Elford, one of the greatest sports car drivers to never win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and one of the Porsche 917 aces, has died at the age of 86.
Elford began to make his name known in rallying, most notably with Triumph and Ford cars, and later joined Porsche. He won the 1967 European Rally Championship before an incredible winning streak in early 1968.
Elford won the Monte Carlo Rally with his co-driver David Stone at the wheel of a 911T and, just a week later, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona alongside four other drivers sharing the victorious 907 longtail.
In May he got a victory that he would later choose as the best race of his life. After losing around 18 minutes due to a lost wheel and a puncture, Elford smashed Targa Florio’s lap record to win, sharing a 907 with Umberto Maglioli.
“They could have blindfolded me, put me in a helicopter, and dropped me anywhere on the Targa and I would have known where I was,” Elford said of the 72km Sicilian circuit. “The real tracks like Targa Florio and the Nurburgring Nordschleife were the best.”
Two months later he took an excellent fourth place on his Formula 1 world championship debut at the French Grand Prix in a Cooper-BRM. Despite doing a good job for the rest of the season with a failing team, Elford’s single-seater stint never quite got off the ground. He only contested 13 world championship races and that fourth place was his best result, but Elford was one of the best sports car drivers in the world.
He won the Nurburgring 1000km with Jo Siffert in May 1968. It was the first of three successes in one of the toughest endurance events for Elford, who consistently scored points at the wheel of various versions of the Porsche 908. It was perhaps no surprise that his incredible memory, combined with the experience gained from entering (and winning in 1967) the epic 84-hour Marathon de la Route, made Elford one of the true masters of the Nurburgring .
He also formed a strong relationship with Porsche’s motorsport and development chief Ferdinand Piech, the chief architect behind the historic 917. Elford became a huge fan of the legendary monster, claiming to have loved even the aerodynamically complicated 1969 version, and described it as “the ultimate Le Mans car”.
Vic Elford Cause Of Death
Vic Elford is dead. A few months ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer
Vic Elford is dead. British racing and rally driver died in the United States. He was 86 years old.Condolences from all over the world go to his wife, Anita.
Vic Elford Funeral:
No update on Elfrord’s funeral has been announced yet. His funeral arrangements are on the level of secrecy by the family.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
