Matra, Pesca, Hill and… Bonnier

The Équipe Matra-Simca Shell was the clear favourite for victory in the 1972 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The French team, well decided to win the legendary race, fielded four new 670’s. Competition came mainly from the works Autodelta Alfa’s 33/TT/3.

Picture above: Henri Pescarolo in the #15 Matra 670, is leading teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille #16, in the early hours of the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Matra team was composed as follow: Jean-Pierre Beltoise shared the #12 with Chris Amon, François Cevert and Howden Ganley were driving #14, Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill shared #15, while Jean-Pierre Jabouille and David Hobbs were on car #16.

Once the challenge of Alfa Romeo and Lola had dissipated overnight, Matra were able to ease off to secure a popular 1-2 victory for the home country – France’s first since 1950. Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill were the winners, with a comfortable 11-lap margin over teammates François Cevert and Howden Ganley.

However, the race was marred by the death of veteran F1 racer Jo Bonnier, who died when his Lola prototype (picture below) collided with a Ferrari GT and flew over the barriers into the trees on Sunday morning.