50 years ago today: Gurney's all-American F1 win

It was 50 years ago today that Dan Gurney took one of the most significant wins of his legendary career, in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps with his own Eagle-Weslake – making him a winner both as a driver and a constructor. And it came just a week after another of Gurney's iconic wins – winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Ford GT40 Mk.IV he co-drove with A.J. Foyt!

Gurney qualified second with his Eagle-Weslake to Jim Clark's Lotus Ford. Clark pulled away to a substantial early lead but was forced to pit for a plug change. This handed the lead to Jackie Stewart's BRM, which appeared to be in control of the race after Gurney, too, was delayed by fuel pressure problems.

However, the sleek Eagle – featuring a magnesium skin, titanium suspension and custom-engineered Weslake V12 engine – was at its best on the fast Spa circuit and, with the fuel pressure issues resolved, Gurney cut into Stewart's lead, setting a new lap record and reaching an estimated 197 mph on the back straight. That was a particularly impressive number given that the Weslake produced under 400 horsepower.

As Stewart's pace slowed due to gearshift problems, Gurney swept past with eight laps to go and went on to claim the "all-American victory."

In the following episode from RACER's 2014 video series, "Dan Gurney, All American Racer," Dan tells Robin Miller about taking the Eagle into Formula 1 and about the challenge of  Spa-Francorchamps, which he considered one of the two most daunting tracks on the grand prix schedule at that time.