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Le Mans legends: Watch how Graham Hill completed the Triple Crown
Every day, Motorsport.com invites you to rediscover a milestone edition of the greatest endurance race in the world, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Today, it’s the turn of the classic 1972 event.
Ayrton Lemaire
Edited: Jun 9, 2019, 9:46 PM
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Graham Hill is the only driver in history to win the Triple Crown (victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and either the Monaco Grand Prix or Formula 1 World Championship). An unofficial title, Hill favoured the F1 title over the Monaco GP, according to in an interview with the BBC.
Already F1 champion in 1962 and 1968, and winner of the Indy 500 in 1966, Hill triumphed at Le Mans in 1972 at the wheel of the Matra Simca MS670 #15, which he shared with Henri Pescarolo.
Four Matras were entered, including the three new MS670s. The race started badly in the French team with one car retiring after only few laps.The remaining pair of MS670s held sway at the front, but less than four hours before the finish, the #14 of Francois Cervert and Howden Ganley was involved in a collision with a GT car and then suffered a problem with its ignition in the pits.
More than 10 laps are lost, leaving the door open to the Matra #15 of the Pescarolo/Hill. It was Matra’s maiden win at Le Mans (the first of three), and is the first of Pescarolo's four victories. Hill would never return to the race.
The complete version of this race, and all the archives of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – including official films and Allan McNish's personal selections – are available on Motorsport.tv.
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