Graham Hill seemed like an unlikely choice when he was selected by Equipe Matra-Simca Shell to partner with Henri Pescarolo for the debut of the Matra-Simca MS670. Hill hadn’t won a race in Formula 1 since the 1969 Monaco Grand Prix, and he hadn’t raced a sportscar since 1967. Graham Hill was 43 years old for the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Pescarolo reluctantly agreed to return to the team that sacked him the year before and then initially refused to share with Hill, who he regarded as ‘ancient’. Fortunately, the two men bonded over a shared love of flying. Soon, Hill’s utmost professionalism and sheer grit, underneath his everlasting charm, revealed itself and respect between the two drivers grew. Hill knew this could be one of his last chances to win at the Circuit de La Sarthe, something that had eluded him when he was a works Scuderia Ferrari and then Ford GT40 driver.

With no opportunity to test, Hill and Pescarolo decided to use qualifying to set the car up for the race, yet still qualified second. With the pair willing each other on, Pescarolo watched in astonishment as Hill produced a peerless drive in wet conditions. It was a stunning victory with 10 laps in hand, with Hill lifting this beautiful glass Moët et Chandon trophy on the podium. Henri Pescarolo couldn’t have put it better in a 2007 interview with Motor Sport magazine: ‘he was perfect’.