Graham Hill - The Only Triple Crown Winner #blogpost

The Triple Crown is the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans. Only one driver has won all three, and that man is Graham Hill. This is a masterstroke that only a few drivers have the chance of completing.

1966 Indianapolis 500

Graham Hill would start second, in the middle of row 1. Mario Andretti would take pole. At the start of the race, there was a huge pile-up. Fourteen cars were damaged in the crash, eleven beyond repair. Yet even after the pile-up, the race wouldn’t escape controversy. After the race, Jim Clark’s team thought they were the rightful winners. Clark had spun twice during the race but had been able to keep going. The USAC officials had confirmed that Hill had won the race. Clark’s team filed an official complaint. Unfortunately, after more debate and review, Hill was still viewed as the official winner of the 50th Indianapolis 500

1963 Monaco Grand Prix

Graham Hill didn’t win just win one Monaco Grand Prix, but five! This record was broken in 1993 when Aryton Senna won his sixth Monaco Grand Prix. Jim Clark would win pole. Hill would win the 100 lap race driving the BRM P57.

1972 24 Hours of Le Mans

Graham Hill partnered up with Henri Pescarolo for the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Matra V12. Hill took the lead at around midnight, passing the Lola of Jon Bonnier, Gerard Larousse and Gijs van Lennep. The Matra would swap positions again with the Lola at dawn. Just before 8:30am, Jo Bonnier’s Lola came up upon the Ferrari GTB4 of Florian Vetsch. Bonnier crashed into the Ferrari and the barrier. He was launched into the trees and was killed. The tragedy left Hill and Pescarolo no competition and won the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans. This would mean that Graham Hill would be the first and only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport/