Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help

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Image for article titled Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help
Photo: Porsche

Famed racer Vic Elford is unfortunately facing a cancer recurrence and is in need of support from his friends and fans. A GoFundMe page is live right now, with a goal of $150,000 to cover Elford’s medical expenses.

To make matters worse, not only is the 85-year-old English racer facing his second battle with prostate cancer, but he is also dealing with a broken leg which impairs his mobility. A fall disabled the racer and has made it difficult for him to speak or attend automotive events, according to a report from Racer.

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Image for article titled Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help
Photo: Vic Elford
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Those events are Elford’s source of income so now that he is unable to attend those, he needs some help. It’s very unfortunate, but I am happy to see the support the community has provided Elford so far.

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Elford is an icon in the world of motorsport, with wins across various racing segments from endurance racing to rally to Formula 1. He’s competed and won in races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monte Carlo Rally, the 24 Hours of Daytona and also Sebring, among many, many others.

Image for article titled Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help
Photo: Getty (Getty Images)
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His own biography summarizes his prolific racing career best, highlighting one string of victories from the golden age of motorsport, which many consider to span the ‘60s and ‘70s:

Consider Vic’s 1968 season. It began with his win in the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally followed by a win the next weekend in the Daytona 24 Hours. He was second at Sebring a month later, then in May scored an epic victory at the Targa Florio, which is considered the greatest win in Targa history. Two weeks later Vic won the Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers. Then in his first F1 race in July Vic took a badly out-classed Cooper T86B to a stunning fourth-place finish in the soaking-wet French Grand Prix.

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Not only is Elford one of the great racers of the auto racing golden age, but he’s also a good dude. That much susses out by his account of Jo Bonnier’s crash during the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, from the documentary film The Speed Merchants.

After a fatal accident between a Ferrari Daytona and Lola T280-Cosworth, Elford stopped his Alfa Romeo mid-race and jumped out to rescue the driver in the burning Ferrari. The driver was no longer in the car, having escaped the wreckage and sheltered behind the guardrail, but Elford risked his life to pull the the driver from the Ferrari.

Elford was knighted by the French President, Georges Pompidou, for his bravery on the track. He was given the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.

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When asked about that event in a later interview Elford said, “I didn’t feel I had done anything special — if a driver’s life was at risk I thought it was absolutely normal to try and save him.”

Wow. Talk about sportsmanship and courage. Absolute humility, too.

You can read more about Elford’s situation and make a donation on the GoFundMe page, which was organized by Marshall Pruett on behalf of Quick Vic Elford, according to the details therein.

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Image for article titled Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help
Photo: Porsche
Image for article titled Motorsport Icon Vic Elford Is Fighting Cancer And He Needs Our Help
Photo: Porsche