philw696
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Ken Miles' Ford GT40 1966 Le Mans
Dead heat controversy:
When Ken Miles brought his car in for service and a driver change, he was informed of the plan. Miles was crushed. And furious. To him, this was revenge by those at Ford who didn’t like him. Busy with the car, Charlie Agapiou heard none of this, but when he looked up, immediately he knew something was wrong.
“Ken said, ‘They don’t want me to win the race. They want the Amon/McLaren car to win.’ I said, ‘Ken, what are you talking about? You’re miles ahead of them, how are they going to win the race?’ You gonna’ stop on the back chute or what? That’s impossible.’
But Miles was told the dead heat finish had been okayed by the ACO. To refuse to cooperate would mean the end of his career with Ford, so grudgingly, he agreed to go along with it, perhaps even believing that he had one or more laps in hand and that it would be for appearances only. But had that lap advantage disappeared with a suspect brake disc change?
Earlier, Hulme had brought their car in for scheduled brake change. Multiple sets of bedded-in rotors (discs) were prepared in advance by the crew chiefs of each car.
The new rotors were fitted and Miles took off for his stint, still laps ahead of McLaren. But then, trouble. Miles brought the Mk II back in the next lap. Agapiou was there.
“Ken said, ‘I’ve got a vibration, a brake vibration.’ I said, ‘It can’t be a brake vibration, it must be the tires.’ He said, ‘I’m telling you, it’s a brake vibration.’”
Knowing the rotors had been bedded in, Agapiou threw on a new set of wheels and tires and Miles was sent out. Only then did Agapiou learn that the rotors he’d been given were not in fact the ones bedded in for Miles’ car. Those had been taken by the McLaren crew. There was no time to find out why. Miles was on his way in again, and another set of rotors had to be fitted. Agapiou was livid.
“We ended up having to get two more rotors and hoping they were okay. In that time, Ken lost close to two laps, I think. All this poncin’ around, because McLaren’s crew chief, who was a good friend of mine, didn’t take the time to bed rotors in and put them aside for when his car came in. And McLaren ended up with our rotors.”
“Ken was close to four laps ahead of McLaren. So there was no way he could have just slowed down for four laps. It would have looked stupid with the bloody press. I don’t know what went on, but he lost a ton of time with those two stops.”
In any case, the fix was now on near the end of the race. McLaren and Miles were told they’d finish in a dead heat and that both would be declared winner. What no one was told was that the ACO changed their mind – and notified Ford officials – that there could be no dead heat.
As instructed, Ken Miles slowed to let McLaren catch up on the final lap, and for Hutcherson in his and Bucknum’s third Mk II.
As they approached the actual timing line, short of where the flag is thrown, Miles and McLaren seemed to be nearly side by side before Miles inexplicably checked up, allowing McLaren to surge ahead – then Miles pulled forward again.
It’s fair to say that, like the French P.A. announcer, most initially believed Miles had won. He’d led so much of the race and obviously slowed to let McLaren and Hutcherson catch up at the end, and when Hulme climbed aboard, their No. 1 car certainly looked the winner.
Though first back to the podium, the No. 1 car was stopped and officials waved the Amon/McLaren car ahead – as the P.A. announcer now proclaimed them the winners. And so it stood, with an almost uncomfortable McLaren and Amon and a joyous Henry Ford II on the podium, joined only later by Miles and Hulme.
“Ken Miles was way ahead of the race. He would have been the only man in history to win Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. He should have won it.”
Charlie Agapiou, too, remained adamant that his friend was robbed, and pulled no punches as to where the blame lay.
“He did exactly what he was told, and at the end, he slowed down on the back chute and all over the place to let McLaren unlap himself. He followed his orders and then he got f***ed. That’s what happened.”
It was a bitter irony that two months later Ken Miles, was killed testing a prototype of the ultimate designed-and-made-in-USA Ford racecar with which Briggs Cunningham’s dream of a totally American car driven to victory at Le Mans by American drivers would finally be realized.
Dead heat controversy:
When Ken Miles brought his car in for service and a driver change, he was informed of the plan. Miles was crushed. And furious. To him, this was revenge by those at Ford who didn’t like him. Busy with the car, Charlie Agapiou heard none of this, but when he looked up, immediately he knew something was wrong.
“Ken said, ‘They don’t want me to win the race. They want the Amon/McLaren car to win.’ I said, ‘Ken, what are you talking about? You’re miles ahead of them, how are they going to win the race?’ You gonna’ stop on the back chute or what? That’s impossible.’
But Miles was told the dead heat finish had been okayed by the ACO. To refuse to cooperate would mean the end of his career with Ford, so grudgingly, he agreed to go along with it, perhaps even believing that he had one or more laps in hand and that it would be for appearances only. But had that lap advantage disappeared with a suspect brake disc change?
Earlier, Hulme had brought their car in for scheduled brake change. Multiple sets of bedded-in rotors (discs) were prepared in advance by the crew chiefs of each car.
The new rotors were fitted and Miles took off for his stint, still laps ahead of McLaren. But then, trouble. Miles brought the Mk II back in the next lap. Agapiou was there.
“Ken said, ‘I’ve got a vibration, a brake vibration.’ I said, ‘It can’t be a brake vibration, it must be the tires.’ He said, ‘I’m telling you, it’s a brake vibration.’”
Knowing the rotors had been bedded in, Agapiou threw on a new set of wheels and tires and Miles was sent out. Only then did Agapiou learn that the rotors he’d been given were not in fact the ones bedded in for Miles’ car. Those had been taken by the McLaren crew. There was no time to find out why. Miles was on his way in again, and another set of rotors had to be fitted. Agapiou was livid.
“We ended up having to get two more rotors and hoping they were okay. In that time, Ken lost close to two laps, I think. All this poncin’ around, because McLaren’s crew chief, who was a good friend of mine, didn’t take the time to bed rotors in and put them aside for when his car came in. And McLaren ended up with our rotors.”
“Ken was close to four laps ahead of McLaren. So there was no way he could have just slowed down for four laps. It would have looked stupid with the bloody press. I don’t know what went on, but he lost a ton of time with those two stops.”
In any case, the fix was now on near the end of the race. McLaren and Miles were told they’d finish in a dead heat and that both would be declared winner. What no one was told was that the ACO changed their mind – and notified Ford officials – that there could be no dead heat.
As instructed, Ken Miles slowed to let McLaren catch up on the final lap, and for Hutcherson in his and Bucknum’s third Mk II.
As they approached the actual timing line, short of where the flag is thrown, Miles and McLaren seemed to be nearly side by side before Miles inexplicably checked up, allowing McLaren to surge ahead – then Miles pulled forward again.
It’s fair to say that, like the French P.A. announcer, most initially believed Miles had won. He’d led so much of the race and obviously slowed to let McLaren and Hutcherson catch up at the end, and when Hulme climbed aboard, their No. 1 car certainly looked the winner.
Though first back to the podium, the No. 1 car was stopped and officials waved the Amon/McLaren car ahead – as the P.A. announcer now proclaimed them the winners. And so it stood, with an almost uncomfortable McLaren and Amon and a joyous Henry Ford II on the podium, joined only later by Miles and Hulme.
“Ken Miles was way ahead of the race. He would have been the only man in history to win Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. He should have won it.”
Charlie Agapiou, too, remained adamant that his friend was robbed, and pulled no punches as to where the blame lay.
“He did exactly what he was told, and at the end, he slowed down on the back chute and all over the place to let McLaren unlap himself. He followed his orders and then he got f***ed. That’s what happened.”
It was a bitter irony that two months later Ken Miles, was killed testing a prototype of the ultimate designed-and-made-in-USA Ford racecar with which Briggs Cunningham’s dream of a totally American car driven to victory at Le Mans by American drivers would finally be realized.
