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Obituary
British Race Driver in 1967 he went on to win the 84 Hour "Marathon de
la Route" event at the Nürburgring, driving on the full
Vic Elford 28 km long combined version of the track that had
has Died at Age 86 been rarely used since the 1930s. Fellow pilots Hans
Herrmann and Jochen Neerpasch preferred "the rally
British racing driver Vic Elford, nicknamed "Quick driver" to steer the Porsche 911 through the seven
Vic" by his fellow competitors because he set many lap
records, passed away on March 13, 2022. At the time hours long, four consecutive night, turns in rainy and
of his death, following a year long battle with cancer, foggy conditions.
he was a resident of south Florida where he had Elford next entered the French Grand Prix, his first F1
retired. race and finished fourth in a wet field. He had 13 F1
Although Elford was most often associated with entries with teams from McLaren, Cooper, and BRM.
Porsche because of his five years with Porsche teams, Elford's lap records included Targo Florio,
he began his career as a co-driver with David Nürburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Monza, Buenos Aires,
Siegle-Morris in a TR3A. By 1961 he felt he had Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riveside, and Le Mans.
earned the right to be in the first seat, a view Yet, despite his impressive career, it was the race
apparently not shared by the team manager, Elford where he stopped for which he will be always
struck out on his own and rallied a raced tuned Mini remembered.
that he had purchased on his own. After selling the
mini after one season, he went on to success the During the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, when he saw a
following year on the UK rally circuit driving a burning Ferrari Daytona in front of him, Elford
factory sponsored DKW Junior. stopped mid-race to save the driver. Upon opening the
door, he found an empty cockpit, as the driver already
In 1964 he returned to Triumph and, despite had escaped. Elford then saw the wreck of a Lola
disappointing reliability problems, still set among the trees, where driver Jo Bonnier had been
impressively fast times. He parlayed that year into a killed. Cameras caught the act and Elford was named
three year contract with Ford, rallying Ford Cortinas. Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by then
In 1967 he was named the European rally champion French President Georges Pompidou.
while driving a works Porsche 911 and went on in
1968 to win Rally Monte Carlo, again with Porsche, During his career Elford raced for Ford, Triumph,
and, a week, later topped the podium for the 24 Hours Lancia, Alfa-Romeo, Ferrari, Chaparral, Shadow,
of Daytona in a Porsche 907, the first overall win in a Cooper, Lola, Chevron, Subaru and Porsche. He
24 hour race for the Porsche marque. drove McLaren in F1 & CanAm, and Chevrolet in
TransAm. He also drove in NASCAR's Daytona 500.
That same year he won the Targo Florio in the 907,
when paired with Umberto Maglioli, in a famous In 2015 Elford was presented with the Phil Hill Award
come-from-behind race, having lost 18 minutes in the from the Road Racing Drivers Club. Elford was a
first lap, the result of a tire failure. great driver but will be remembered as even better
sportsman. RIP.

Vic Elford at t he wheel of an incomplet e Mclaren F-1 car, circa 1969

Image, t hrough Wikipedia common license, first appearing in t he German version.

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