Friday 12th June 2015

Vic Elford: Pic Of The Week

The first man to average 150mph at Le Mans turned 80 this week - POTW pays tribute

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Multi-discipline motorsport success just doesn't happen anymore, which makes the achievements of days gone by all the more remarkable. In 1968 Vic Elford won - deep breath - the Monte Carlo rally, the Daytona 24 Hours (seven days after the Monte), the Targa Florio and the Nurburgring 1000 Kilometres. There was also a second at the Sebring 12 Hours and a fourth place at the French Grand Prix driving a Cooper that was off the pace. In his first F1 race.

Quite some season, and quite some career as well. Vic was the only person to drive every version of 917 and also dabbled in NASCAR and CanAm as well as the rallying, F1 and sports cars. In 1970 he was the first driver to average 150mph around a Le Mans lap. Bit of a legend then.

With 'Quick Vic' turning 80 this week and that Le Mans record too, this Friday was the ideal one to celebrate Mr. Elford's achievements. So here he is on the way to victory in that 1968 Nurburgring 1000KM, very airborne in a Porsche 908. Many happy returns Vic Elford!

Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone etc)

 

[jamespink]

Fabulous Pic of the Week! Happy Birthday Mr Elford, I am in awe of your achievements!

[soad]

I heard The Speed Merchants [DVD] is really good!

[dc2rr07]

Fantastic photograph especially when you think there was no digital cameras back then to quickly check what you have just taken.

[toobusy]

and in his spare time wrote the Porsche High-Performance Driving Handbook. Amazing. Happy birthday.

[DJRC]

toobusy said:

and in his spare time wrote the Porsche High-Performance Driving Handbook. Amazing. Happy birthday.

To be fair, he and Brian Redman did pretty much write the handbook on the track for Porsche They were nigh on unbeatable for a while.

Then Porsche hired some other young Brit towards the end of their time, some bloke called Bo Derek or Bell Derek or something like that, wonder whatever happened to him...

[tony993]

Around the time I graduated from track days to racing, I read every driving technique book I could find. Vic's book (mentioned above) was the best by miles; a great mix of instruction manual & autobiography. The Speed Merchants DVD is great too.

[Alex Langheck]

An absolute legend. One of the greatest 'All rounders' of motorsport. I'd be astounded if anybody else was to do what he did in January 1968; win the Monte and Daytona within a week of each other - and for the same Manufacturer.
Also, managed to talk the top brass at Porsche into using the 911 for motorsport.

[dinkel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wnZq9KBBfc

Vic Elford inboard footage - Targa Florio.