1967 – Marathon de la Route

The key word in the title was ‘marathon’. What began life in the ’30s as the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally morphed into the Spa-Rome-Liège before the complexities of staging such an event – and trying to maintain high average speeds on public roads – ensured a change of ethos. In 1965 the event switched to the Nürburgring for what was essentially a regularity event. Competitors were obliged to drive around the full 17.6-mile circuit encompassing both the Nord and the Südschleife with a maximum time limit specified for each car and for each lap related to displacement and seating capacity. There were, however, harsh penalties should you screw up your bogey time. Oh, and the event ran for 84 hours.

The ever-versatile Vic Elford led the event in 1966 aboard an Alan Mann Ford Cortina, only for the head gasket to blow with 12 hours left to run. A year later, he was armed with a Porsche 911R Sportomatic; he and his co-drivers Jochen Neerpasch and Hans Herrmann formed part of a three-car works attack on the August event. Starting on a Tuesday night, within six hours they had a full lap’s lead over one of the sister cars and were still out in front 48 hours later. Then the fog descended. Visibility was so poor that one competitor ended up driving the wrong way down the pitlane before connecting with a retaining wall. Despite momentarily losing the lead on the Friday morning when a cracked front disc needed replacing, Elford and co swiftly moved back into first place where they would remain until the chequer fell at midday on the Saturday. The trio had completed 323 laps and covered 5652 miles at an average speed of 67mph.

Not that Elford stayed around to take in the festivities. He was already en route to Brands Hatch for the Guards International meeting…