This Week in Racing History (June 14-20)

This Week in Racing History

June 14 - John Miles born (1943).

- Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood drive a Porsche 917 to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Porsche's first overall win at Le Mans (1970).

June 15 - A gypsy fortune teller predicts that Wilbur Shaw will die on this day. She was off by almost 25 years (1930).

- World Driving Champion James Hunt dies from a heart attack (1993).

June 17 - Bob Sweikert killed during sprintcar race at Salem, Indiana, USA (1956).

June 18 - Al Herman killed during midget race (1960).

June 19 - Lance Reventlow becomes the first man to race a car of his own manufacture in an F1 race. He started his Scarab 15th in the Belgian Grand Prix, but did not finish (1960).

- Ford GT40s finish 1-2-3 as Ford wins their first 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bruce McLaren & Chris Amon first, Denny Hulme & Ken Miles second, and Ronnie Bucknum & Dick Hutcherson third (1966).

June 20 - Saverio de Bartolo, driving an Ansaldo, wins the first Coppa della Sila road race, at an average speed of 30.3 mph/48.8 kph (1926).

Previous installments of This Week in Racing History can be found at the Motorsport News International website (http://www.motorsport.com/).

Michael Stucker Anadrill Schlumberger, Sugar Land, Texas stucker@$sugar-land.spc.slb.com Remove "$" from email address above. Copyright Michael J. Stucker 1998

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