A new historic racing event, the Dijon Motors Cup, was held for the first time July 12-13 at the French circuit. Warm temperatures and a slight breeze greeted competitors in the six races scheduled over the weekend, producing a delightfully relaxed atmosphere.
The event’s featured race was the one-hour Stirling Moss Trophy race, which produced plenty of action. Even before the green flag fell things began to happen as Gary Pearson’s polesitting Lister Knobbly threw a rod and was unable to take the start. Then an early duel between Bobby Verdon-Roe’s Ferrari 246S and the Lotus 17 prototype of Dion and Gabriel Kremer was short-circuited because the latter was forced to pit when it was discovered the wrong fuel pump had been switched on. After that the Ferrari drove away, putting a lap on the field before the checker.
Behind Verdon-Roe, however, a fierce last-lap fight for 2nd ensued between the Lister Knobbly driven by Stefan Ziegler/Sam Hancock and the Lola Mk1 Prototype of Keith Ahlers/James Bellinger, which finished in that order. The top five was filled out by Jean-Jacques Gravier’s Lotus XI in 4th and the 5th-placed Lotus XI Le Mans of Philip Champion/Sam Stretton.
