The finish to the 1966 24 hours lf LeMans is one of the most bizarre, if not controversial, finishes in motorsports history. Ford's lead driver Ken Miles had already won the 24 hours of Datyona and the 12 hours of Sebring in 1966 and was going for the elusive triple crown of Daytona, Sebring and LeMans in the same year - something that had never been done. At the same time Ford was at war with Ferrari and sought to bring an end to their dominance at LeMans.

The race played out every bit as well as Ford could have hoped: Cars 1, 2 and 5 were in the top 3 positions, with 1 and 2 on the same lap. It looked like Ken Miles was going to achieve the triple crown.

Unfortunately for Miles, Ford Racing director Leo Beebe decided he wante a dead-heat photo finish with all three cars. This is where it gets confusing. LeMans had a rule that in the event of a tie, the car that started further back would be the winner (haivng gone a longer distance). In this case, Miles and Hulme, in the #1 started about 8m further ahead than team mates Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon in the #2 - a dead heat would give the win to them. Miles was told to let McLaren catch up for the photo finish. Miles knew what this meant, and for whatever reason he backed off and let McLaren cross the finish line slightly ahead, assuring the win to McLaren and Amon in the #2.

Unfortunately we never did learn the reasoning behind Miles' actions as he was killed two months later testing the GT40s would be successor, the Ford J car.

1966 Ford GT40 Le Mans test

Driver: Ken Miles, Chris Amon, Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Lucien Bianchi, Graham Hill

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Designed for multiple GT40 Mk II kits in 1/24 and 1/12 scale. 1/24 scale conversion kit available from Classic Racing Resins.

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1966 Ford GT40 Le Mans test

Driver: Ken Miles, Chris Amon, Jackie Stewart, Bruce McLaren, Lucien Bianchi, Graham Hill

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