Siffert, Gurney and the Origins of Podium Champagne

The culmination of any motorsport event is the podium presentation and while the crowd may cheer as the trophy is handed over, what they really want to see is the champagne. Either the winner spraying the runners-up and the fans or, if the sponsor is generous enough, a three-way spray-fight ensues amongst the placed drivers. This winner’s tradition has spread to other sports, but where does it come from and who began it? A trip to Google will supply the name of Dan Gurney, an American racing driver, constructor, and team owner, but is this really true?

Since the dawn of F1 in the 1950s the French Grand Prix, held at Reims-Gueux, saw the winner presented with a bottle of the local produce, in this case Moët et Chandon. This became a commonplace gesture at most circuits, with the winning drivers decorously downing their drinks. The transition from sipping to spraying came after a truly epic race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967. Ford had beaten Ferrari for the second consecutive time with Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt forming the only all-American driver team to win Le Mans. Spirits were high and instead of pouring from the presented bottle, the notoriously mischievous Gurney shook it up and proceeded to drench his teammates, Carroll Shelby, and Henry Ford II and his wife.

So, what inspired this change of tradition? The answer lies with one of the other drivers soaked by Gurney on that day in 1967, Jo Siffert. It also shows that Gurney was only the first to spray his champagne deliberately, not the first to do it at all. A year earlier Siffert and his team-mate Colin Davis were celebrating their win of the 24hrs of Le Mans in the Porsche 906 2-liter prototypes class. Presented with his customary bottle of fizz, Siffert stood as the national anthems echoed around the track. Whether it had been shaken inadvertently, or maybe the heat of a June day intervened, but the cork shot out of the bottle, showering the closest spectators. Maybe the presence of Siffert next to Gurney the following year jogged his memory and prompted the re-enactment.

To watch collectors, Siffert’s name is well known – forever associated with the Heuer Autavia panda dial 1163 and its reissues. Siffert helped fund his racing by selling Heuers to other drivers and helped establish the brand as the paddock favourite. He worked closely with Steve McQueen for the film Le Mans, with McQueen copying his racing overalls, but choosing the Monaco watch over the Autavia.

Gurney is not known as a watch man, but he should be. He has been pictured sporting Rolex pre-Daytonas, Datejusts, and Bulova Accutron Astronauts. The rarity of some of his his wrist-wear has thrown the watch spotters off the scent as, sometimes, his choice of watch was not considered a driver’s brand, or even a chronograph. Dan Gurney has been pictured wearing a rare diver’s watch from Breguet.

At the time Breguet was struggling, only producing a few pocket watches for connoisseurs, and surviving on orders from the French Naval Airforce for their Type 20 chronograph which was produced under license by another company. The diver was a limited production of 60 pieces made in 1965. What we will never know is how Gurney, an American, came by such a rare watch and why he chose it, but if you are going to soak yourself in champagne, a luxury dive watch has to be the perfect choice.