He formed his own team, John Woolfe Racing, with his business partner, Arnold Burton, and in 1968 he bought a Chevron B12, specially adapted to be fitted with a Repco V8 engine, similar to the unit which had won the Formula One World Championships in 1966 and 1967.

The climax of his season was the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he entered himself alongside Digby Martland, but retired after only 27 laps, persistent overheating problems causing an engine failure.

The 917 was a new car, built by Porsche to exploit a loophole in the entry requirements for the race, and was the fastest vehicle to take part in the event up to this point in its history.

It was capable of 220 miles per hour (350 km/h) on the long Mulsanne Straight, but, with minimal downforce, suffered from an aerodynamic imbalance that made it challenging and unstable to drive at high speed.

At the very fast Maison Blanche curve, however, towards the end of the lap, Woolfe lost control of the 917, which crashed heavily into the barriers, overturned and caught fire.

Amon was able to bring his car to a halt and evacuate the cockpit, narrowly escaping serious injuries, though sustaining minor burns.