| 1967 French Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 2 July 1967 (1967-07-02) | ||
| Official name | 53e Grand Prix de l'ACF[1] | ||
| Location | Bugatti Circuit,Le Mans,France | ||
| Course | Permanent race track | ||
| Course length | 4.430 km (2.753 miles) | ||
| Distance | 80 laps, 354.40 km (220.24 miles) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | ||
| Time | 1:36.2 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | |
| Time | 1:36.7 on lap 7 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Brabham-Repco | ||
| Second | Brabham-Repco | ||
| Third | BRM | ||
Lap leaders | |||
The1967 French Grand Prix was aFormula One motor race held at theBugatti Circuit,Le Mans on 2 July 1967. It was race 5 of 11 in both the1967 World Championship of Drivers and the1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the firstFrench Grand Prix to be held in Le Mans since the race in1929, and as of2025[update] is the only time the Bugatti Circuit has been used for the Grand Prix, though the circuit continues to host theFrench motorcycle Grand Prix.
The new Bugatti circuit opened in 1965 and used the main pit straight at Le Mans, which back in 1967 did not have the Dunlop Chicane. After the start and the Dunlop Curve, instead of the left turn at the Esses at the bottom of the hill, the Bugatti Circuit instead turned right at "La Chapelle" into an infield section comprising the third gear "Le Musée" left hander and the second gear "Garage Vert" corner which led onto the back straight, whose only distinctive feature was the "Chemin Aux Boeufs" left hand kink (now a left-right chicane) some two-thirds along, before heading back to the pit straight via the "S Bleu" and "Raccordement" corners near the entrance to the pits.
The Bugatti circuit was seen as somewhat boring and was universally unpopular with both drivers and crowds, with only a reported 20,000 attending the race. Some of the drivers were reported to have privately wished the race was run on the full 13.461 km (8.364 mi) longCircuit de la Sarthe, where the 5.7 km (3.5 mi)Mulsanne Straight was actually 1.3 km (0.81 mi) longer than the entire Bugatti circuit. At the time, circuit lengths of 10 km (6.2 mi) or longer were common in Grand Prix racing, including the 14.120 km (8.774 mi)Spa-Francorchamps used for theBelgian Grand Prix and the 22.835 km (14.189 mi)Nürburgring used for theGerman Grand Prix, so many drivers felt that using the full24 Hours circuit should have been considered as the venue by theAutomobile Club de France.
Graham Hill was on pole and led away for the first lap untilJack Brabham took over. On lap 7Jim Clark took the lead and Hill passed Brabham to make it aLotus 1–2. Hill then retook the lead until his crown-wheel and pinion failed on lap 14. The same problem caused Clark's retirement from the lead on lap 23, leaving Brabham ahead ofDan Gurney,Chris Amon andDenny Hulme. On lap 41 a fuel line broke on Gurney's car, making it a Brabham 1-2 and Amon's throttle cable broke several laps later. Brabham drove home serenely to win his first race in eight Grands Prix by 49.5 seconds from teammate Hulme, and over a lap in front of theBRM ofJackie Stewart.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 1:36.2 | — |
| 2 | 3 |  Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 1:36.3 | +0.1 |
| 3 | 9 |  Dan Gurney | Eagle-Weslake | 1:37.0 | +0.8 |
| 4 | 6 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Ford | 1:37.5 | +1.3 |
| 5 | 8 |  Bruce McLaren | Eagle-Weslake | 1:37.6 | +1.4 |
| 6 | 4 | Denny Hulme | Brabham-Repco | 1:37.9 | +1.7 |
| 7 | 2 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 1:38.0 | +1.8 |
| 8 | 12 |  Jochen Rindt | Cooper-Maserati | 1:38.9 | +2.7 |
| 9 | 15 | Chris Irwin | BRM | 1:39.4 | +3.2 |
| 10 | 10 | Jackie Stewart | BRM | 1:39.6 | +3.4 |
| 11 | 18 |  Jo Siffert | Cooper-Maserati | 1:40.1 | +3.9 |
| 12 | 11 | Mike Spence | BRM | 1:40.3 | +4.1 |
| 13 | 14 |  Pedro Rodríguez | Cooper-Maserati | 1:40.5 | +4.3 |
| 14 | 17 | Bob Anderson | Brabham-Climax | 1:44.9 | +8.7 |
| 15 | 16 |  Guy Ligier | Cooper-Maserati | 1:45.2 | +9.0 |
| Source:[2] | |||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | 80 | 2:13:21.3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | 4 | Denny Hulme | Brabham-Repco | 80 | + 49.5 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 10 | Jackie Stewart | BRM | 79 | + 1 Lap | 10 | 4 |
| 4 | 18 | Jo Siffert | Cooper-Maserati | 77 | + 3 Laps | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | 15 | Chris Irwin | BRM | 76 | Engine | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 14 | Pedro Rodríguez | Cooper-Maserati | 76 | + 4 Laps | 13 | 1 |
| NC | 16 | Guy Ligier | Cooper-Maserati | 68 | + 12 Laps | 15 | |
| Ret | 2 | Chris Amon | Ferrari | 47 | Throttle | 7 | |
| Ret | 9 | Dan Gurney | Eagle-Weslake | 40 | Fuel Leak | 3 | |
| Ret | 12 | Jochen Rindt | Cooper-Maserati | 33 | Engine | 8 | |
| Ret | 8 | Bruce McLaren | Eagle-Weslake | 26 | Ignition | 5 | |
| Ret | 6 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Ford | 23 | Differential | 4 | |
| Ret | 17 | Bob Anderson | Brabham-Climax | 16 | Ignition | 14 | |
| Ret | 7 | Graham Hill | Lotus-Ford | 13 | Differential | 1 | |
| Ret | 11 | Mike Spence | BRM | 9 | Halfshaft | 12 | |
| WD | 1 |  Ludovico Scarfiotti | Ferrari | ||||
| WD | 5 | John Surtees | Honda | ||||
| WD | 19 |  Jo Bonnier | Cooper-Maserati | ||||
| WD | 20 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | Matra-Ford | ||||
| WD | 21 | Johnny Servoz-Gavin | Matra-Ford | ||||
Source:[3] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 1967 Belgian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1967 season | Next race: 1967 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1966 French Grand Prix | French Grand Prix | Next race: 1968 French Grand Prix |
