A garage in town (2)
The 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans was won by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell in their Gulf-Mirage GR-8, finishing just a lap ahead of the Ligier JS2 of Jean-Louis Lafosse and Guy Chasseuil. Traditionally at Le Mans, the teams used garages in the city, so everybody had the chance to observe the two gorgeous Gulf-Mirages, for instance, on the ‘place du village’, a very pittoresque view, in my opinion (picture above).
Although John Wyer had semi-retired, he saw an opportunity for his Gulf-Mirage cars with the fuel-formula and the lack of big opposition. So he and JWA designer John Horsman set about adapting and optimising a new model, the Gulf GR-8 for this single event. Once again, Wyer was able to call upon Jacky Ickx (who had a difficult year in F1 at Lotus) to drive, partnered with Derek Bell (picture below), while the other car had endurance specialists Vern Schuppan and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud.