Can anyone help me debunk this statement?

Mark Worthington · 12-23-03, 09:09 PM

From www.weismann.net/sportscars.html

[ QUOTE ]
A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney teamed up in 1967 and crushed the opposition. Both A.J. and Dan were not to excited about staying up and racing for the 24 hours, so secretly between themselves, they decided to run the car as hard as they could in the hopes of breaking it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no proof, but since both Gurney and Foyt were professionals, and professionals really really like to win races, I can't help but reach the conclusion that the above quote is complete and utter bullshit.

jimbo · 12-23-03, 09:22 PM

Mark, I could not agree more. Moreover, Gurney in particular had NOT won LeMans at that time in spite of leading the race several times for long periods. Clearly, he had a very strong desire to win- and did. Basically, their car just ran like a train and outlasted and outran everyone. Saying anything otherwise is, like you say, total bullshit. Both of them are still alive and kicking vigorously. I hope whoever wrote it gets a letter from them.
I think Foyt DID say that he wondered if was going to get the rookie of the year award at LM, which I think is pretty funny. No one expected him to drive as well as he did, which just goes to show you how much they underestimated how damn good he was.

Mike Dozier · 12-23-03, 10:12 PM

On one of my tapes Shelby says something to the effect that there were two schools of thought to running Lemans.

1. Run as hard as you can , break the car ASAP, go home
2. Run 3/4 speed for 12 hours then evaluate and adjust

Maybe someone heard the same tape and lost something in the translation. Shelby also goes on to say 1967 was the
the smartest piece of driving (by Dan Gurney) he ever saw.
Gurney purposely lapped only as fast as AJ could go, so
AJ wouldn't feel challenged and overdrive the car.

MikeD

Dan Weilacher · 12-24-03, 12:31 AM

On wind tunnel with dave dispain on speed, Gurney said he paced the same as Foyt would run,, he also said he lost two previous years because he pushed the car too hard and he wasnt going to do that again. He wanted the equipment to last , and Foyt relized that after a couple stints and didnt push as hard either.

**J What?** · 12-24-03, 12:46 PM

Everything ever written about that race as well as statements made by Gurney and Foyt all refute the "go till it broke" idea. If that were true and anyone found out about it, their careers would have been over. I don't believe they would risk that nor do I believe anyone goes to Lemans to break. It sounds like Wiseman is just trying to sell the durability of their product and a little BS makes the story sound better.

Lynn · 12-29-03, 02:40 PM

Statements on "Reunion at the Glen" directly contradict this. At one point, one of the Ferrari drivers was trying to push Gurney to go quicker than his planned lap speed. Gurney got tired of the guy on his tail, so he pulled over and just sat there. So did the Ferrari. After it finally rejoined the race, Gurney caught it and passed it some laps later and the Ferrari never got on his tail and played with him again.

DON S. · 12-29-03, 04:41 PM

I am away from home and don't have it with me, but I remember an article in Road & Track magazine a few years ago on GT40s (might have been 1996 or '97, the anniversaries of the Mk II and Mk IV wins at Le Mans) that was co-authored by Gurney. In it, Gurney said that neither he nor Foyt ever really pushed the Mk IV during the race. For example, nearing the end of the Mulsanne, Gurney simply got off the throttle and let engine compression do a lot of the work of slowing the car, rather than using the brakes for all of the deceleration. According to Gurney, the car never ran within 10 SECONDS PER LAP of its full potential at Le Mans. WOW! Gurney also said that, at the 1967 Le Mans, he had finally figured out how to win: run only as hard as you needed to to stay in front, not as hard as you could. He also commented about how comfortable (I guess relative to other race cars) the Mk IV was to drive.