Official race results, once confirmed, are seldom questioned. This is certainly true of the most prestigious surviving road race of them all, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Back in 1965 the frontline battle between Ferrari and Ford meant the pace-setting prototypes struck trouble, leaving outright success to the minor category contenders, the rear-engined Ferrari 250 LMs entered by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) and by privateer Pierre Dumay and the Equipe Nationale Belge. Their battle was resolved when the latter’s LM burst its right-rear tyre, which cost it five laps. The NART LM co-driven by veteran Masten Gregory and fast-rising new Formula 2 star Jochen Rindt then paced home to present Luigi Chinetti with his fourth Le Mans 24 Hour race victory, three times before as a driver, but this time as an entrant.

It was a popular result. Bespectacled Masten Gregory, the little 33-year-old ‘Kansas City Flash’ with his improbably deep bass voice, was immensely experienced in both sports and Formula 1 cars. This was his 10th Le Mans. For 23-year-old Jochen Rindt, this was only his second.

Their great win sat peacefully in the record books for 34 years, until our friend János Wimpffen’s remarkable twin-volume endurance-racing history Time & Two Seats was published in 1999. János is a most diligent researcher, so when he wrote: “During the early hours when it was Gregory’s turn to drive, he became concerned about his rather poor night vision and asked reserve driver Ed Hugus to spell him briefly until first light” – we all sat bolt upright, and took notice.