Victor Henry Elford (10 June 1935 – 13 March 2022) was an English sports car racing, rallying, and Formula One driver. He participated in 13 World Championship F1 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 July 1968. He scored a total of 8 championship points.

Vic Elford
Elford in 2010 at Watkins Glen
Born(1935-06-10)10 June 1935
Peckham, London, England[1]
Died13 March 2022(2022-03-13) (aged 86)
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityBritish
Active years19681969, 1971
TeamsCooper, McLaren, BRM
Entries13
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points8
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1968 French Grand Prix
Last entry1971 German Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19671974, 1983
TeamsPorsche System
Porsche Salzburg
Martini Racing
Autodelta SpA
Automobiles Charles Pozzi
Robert Buchet
Rondeau
Best finish6th (1973)
Class wins2 (1967, 1973)

Nicknamed "Quick Vic" by his peers Elford was mainly a famous sports car competitor as well as a successful rally driver, associated often with Porsche.

Career

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Elford started as a co-driver, partnering David Seigle-Morris in a Triumph TR3A.[2] By 1961 he had acquired the confidence to see himself as a potential driver in his own right: the confidence was not shared by team manager Marcus Chambers, and Elford purchased a race-tuned Mini which he rallied as a privateer with limited success before selling it at the end of the season.[2] 1962 found him achieving success in several UK rallies driving a factory sponsored DKW Junior.[2] The next year saw a return to Triumph and Elford achieved impressively fast times with the Triumph TR4s, although reliability of the cars in Elford's hands was disappointing, and the following year Elford switched to Ford: this was the beginning of a successful three-year rallying stint with the Ford Cortinas.[2]

In 1967 Elford was European rally champion in a works Porsche 911S. Among other victories he won the 1968 Rally Monte Carlo in a Porsche 911S and only a week later the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 907, Porsche's first ever overall win in a 24-hour race.

 
Winning the 1968 Targa Florio in this Porsche 907 with Umberto Maglioli.

Later that year, he also won the Targa Florio teamed with veteran Umberto Maglioli in a famous come-from-behind race after he lost 18 minutes in the first lap due to a tyre failure. Elford then entered the French Grand Prix and finished fourth in his first F1 race – a wet one, too.

By finishing the 1969 Monaco Grand Prix despite troubles, he became the only driver to do well in both famous events in Monte Carlo since Louis Chiron.

Racing in the World Sportscar Championship for Martini Racing against the mighty JWA Gulf team, he was clocked at over 380 km/h in the Porsche 917LH in practice for the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. He went on to win the 1971 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 917K, as well as several 1000km Nürburgring races.

During the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, when he saw a burning Ferrari Daytona in front of him, Elford stopped[3] in mid-race to save the driver. When opening the door, Elford found an empty cockpit, as the driver already had escaped. Elford then noticed the wreck of a Lola among the trees, with Jo Bonnier having been killed. Cameras caught the act and Elford was named Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by French President Georges Pompidou.

A Targa Florio, Sebring and Daytona winner, his favourite track was nonetheless the Nürburgring despite the disappointing results in his three F1 attempts there, of which the first two ended in lap 1 accidents. His two last GPs were at the Nürburgring. In addition to the 1000 km, Elford won some 500 km races there, winning a total of 6 major races. Only Rudolf Caracciola and Stirling Moss beat that record.

Elford lap records included: Targa Florio, Nürburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Norisring, Monza, Buenos Aires, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riverside and Le Mans.

On 4 February 1967 at Lydden Circuit, he won the first ever Rallycross event. Later that year he won the 84 Hour "Marathon de la Route" event at the Nürburgring, on the full 28 km long combined versions that was rarely used since the 1930s. Fellow pilots Hans Herrmann and Jochen Neerpasch preferred "the rally driver" to steer the Porsche 911 through the 7 hours long, four consecutive night turns in rainy and foggy conditions. The winning car was fitted with a semi-automatic Sportomatic transmission, as was another Porsche 911S entered by the factory team.

 
Elford in a Porsche 908/3, in practice for the 1971 1000km Nürburgring

Although he raced five years for Porsche, Elford also raced for Ford, Triumph, Lancia, Alfa-Romeo, Ferrari, Chaparral, Shadow, Cooper, Lola, Chevron, and Subaru. He also drove McLaren in F1 & CanAm, Chevrolet in TransAm.

Overseas, Elford was also racing in CanAm and the Daytona 500 of NASCAR.

On 25 January 2015, Elford received the 2015 Phil Hill Award from Road Racing Drivers Club. It was presented to him by club president Bobby Rahal.[4]

Personal life

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After retiring, Elford lived in South Florida in the United States. Elford died on 13 March 2022, at the age of 86. At the time of his death he had been suffering from cancer for roughly a year.[5]

Racing record

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Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts Class
1961 Don Moore Morris Mini Minor A SNE GOO AIN SIL CRY SIL BRH OUL
?
SNE 21st 6 8th
1967 AFN Porsche 911 C BRH
3
SNE
Ret
SIL
Ret
SIL
2
MAL SIL
5
SIL
5
BRH
3
OUL
5†
BRH
Ret
7th 40 1st
1968 Bill Bradley Porsche 911 L C BRH
2
THR
17
SIL
3
CRY MAL BRH SIL CRO OUL BRH BRH 14th 18 4th

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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Vic Elford in the cockpit of an incomplete McLaren M7B, prior to the 1969 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Pts.
1968 Cooper Car Company Cooper T86B BRM P101 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA
4
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
5
USA
Ret
MEX
8
18th 5
1969 Antique Automobiles Racing Team Cooper T86 Maserati 10/F1 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON
7
14th 3
McLaren M7B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 NED
10
FRA
5
GBR
6
GER
Ret
ITA CAN USA MEX
1971 Yardley Team BRM BRM P160 BRM P142 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER
11
AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1967   Porsche System Engineering   Ben Pon Porsche 906K Carrera 6 S
2.0
327 7th 1st
1968   Porsche System Engineering   Gerhard Mitter Porsche 908 S
3.0
111 DNF DNF
1969   Porsche System Engineering   Richard Attwood Porsche 917L S
5.0
327 DNF DNF
1970   Porsche KG Salzburg   Kurt Ahrens Jr. Porsche 917L S
5.0
225 DNF DNF
1971   Martini Racing Team   Gérard Larrousse Porsche 917LH S
5.0
74 DNF DNF
1972   Autodelta SpA   Helmut Marko Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT3 S
3.0
232 DNF DNF
1973   Automobiles Charles Pozzi   Claude Ballot-Léna Ferrari 365 GTB/4 GT
5.0
316 6th 1st
1974   Robert Buchet   Claude Ballot-Léna Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GT
117 DNF DNF
1983   Automobiles Jean Rondeau   Joël Gouhier
  Anny-Charlotte Verney
Rondeau M379C Gr. C 136 DNF DNF

Bibliography

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Elford has authored a number of books on the subject of motorsport:

  • Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook ISBN 0-87938-849-8 (1994)
  • Vic Elford: Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsports ISBN 1-893618-52-8 (2005)

References

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  1. ^ "Database - Vic Elford". Motor Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Vic Elford profile". Autocar. Vol. 127, no. 3731. 17 August 1967. pp. 12–13.
  3. ^ [1] Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Vic Elford receives RRDC's Phil Hill Award for 2015". Racer.com. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ^ Euwama, Davey (13 March 2022). "OBITUARYVic Elford Passes Away at 86". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by European Rally Champion G3 Class
1967
Succeeded by