1965 24 Hours of Le Mans

1965 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1964 Next: 1966
Index: Races | Winners

The 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 33rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 19 and 20 June 1965. It was also the twelfth round of the World Sportscar Championship.

After the disappointing results of the previous year's race, Ford returned with an improved version of its GT. There were 11 Fords or Ford-engined cars in the field. To meet that challenge, Ferrari had no fewer than 12 of their cars. Porsche dominated the medium-engined category with seven cars and Alpine-Renault likewise dominated the small-engine categories with six entries.

Despite a strong start, in the end the Fords’ unreliability let them down again and it was an easy victory for Ferrari for the sixth successive year. After the failure of the works team, the winners were Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt in the North American Racing Team (NART) car – the first non-works team to win since Ecurie Ecosse in 1957. It was also the first international race victory for Goodyear tyres.[1] This race would also prove to be the last Ferrari victory at Le Mans until 2023.[1][2][3]

Le Mans in 1965
  1. ^ a b Spurring 2010, p.178-9
  2. ^ O'Connell, RJ (12 June 2023). "Le Mans Centenary, By The Numbers". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ Pornelos, Vince (11 June 2023). "Ferrari wins 2023 Le Mans 24 hours as Toyota streak ends". autoindustriya.com. Retrieved 19 November 2023.