Immersed in Matra

Nearly 50 years ago I stood on the bank at Mulsanne Corner and watched the bright French sun flash on the windscreen of the #24 Matra driven by Henri Pescarolo and Johnny Servoz-Gavin. There were so many things that made a lasting impression on my first visit to Le Mans all those years ago, but it never occurred to me that that Matra would make such a lasting impact, and that years later I would have developed friendships with both Pescarolo and “Servoz,” that I would end up writing a book about Matra sports cars, be involved in a serious film about the cars, and get to drive some of those fantastic machines.

In those early days of 1968, the racing side of Matra was getting going, but the dominance that came later was still a dream. Matra had decided, however, that they would win at Le Mans and that target spurred the company on for several years until, of course, they achieved that goal, having failed to finish the 24 Hours in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Then they managed 4th, 5th and 7th in 1969, again failed in 1970 and 1971, before the famous win for Graham Hill and Pescarolo came in 1972. Then they did it again in 1973 and 1974! In 1973, I was able to do some endurance races in Europe at Spa, Nürburgring and Österreichring. At Spa, my team spent four days in the pit next to Matra, and as exciting as that was it also had an effect on my hearing. The shriek of the great 12-cylinder engine was wonderful…but painful. At the Nürburgring, my co-driver moved over to let François Cevert in his Matra MS670 past and ended up in the bushes, and at Spa I had a close encounter with Pescarolo when we both were suddenly rushing toward an upside-down Capri at Stavelot. In avoidance, we brushed each other and many years later Pescarolo reminded me that I still owed the French government (which owned Matra) a replacement mirror!