The 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 42nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 15 and 16 June 1974. It was the fifth round of the 1974 World Championship for Makes. After Alfa Romeo had won the first race of the season at Monza, it had been Matra all the way and they came to Le Mans as firm favourites for a third consecutive outright victory, especially after Alfa Romeo withdrew its cars just before raceweek.
In a fairly lacklustre race, the Matra of Henri Pescarolo and Gérard Larrousse led virtually from start to finish for their second successive victory.[1] It was also the third in a row for Pescarolo and the Matra team. The race was enlivened on Sunday morning when the leading car was delayed for a long time by engine and gearbox troubles. But such was the lead they had built up that they were not headed. Second place, six laps back was the works-supported Martini Porsche 911 turbo of Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Müller while third went to another Matra of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and François Migault.
The Group 4 (GTS) category was a battle between Porsche and Ferrari. It was won by the French-privateer Ferrari of Cyril Grandet and Dominique Bardini as the leading Porsches fell out with problems.
Le Mans in 1974
Regulations
There was negligible change to the regulations this year. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) reduced the eligible classes back to six, removing the intermediate divisions of Group 2 and 5.[2] Qualification was tightened, such that each driver, not just each car, had to be within 133% of the fastest times of the top three different car types.[3]
Modern Motor magazine reported at the time that the event cost near to £1 million to hold. Of that, most was paid by Chrysler-France (£500000) and the French government (£300000) with the rest coming from sponsorship. It also noted the declining interest in the racing formula by the manufacturers and fans alike.[4]John Wyer had noted that it cost more than a full season of Formula One to put one of his cars on the grid.[5]
Entries
The fuel crisis triggered by the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East had dramatically affected motor-racing, including the cancellation of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. The lack of interest in the 3-litre “universal race-engine” formula was evident and the ACO received only 81 applications, and just 50 turned up for qualification on race-week. Ferrari had quit Sports cars at the end of 1973 to focus on Formula One and Autodelta, the Alfa Romeo works team, again withdrew this time just days before the event. This left only eleven works entries, all from Group 5.[2] This year there were six female drivers across three teams, the most since 1938's six female starters.[6]
Category
Sports-Prototype Group 5
Special GT Groups 4
Special Touring Group 2
Total Entries
Large-engines >2.0L classes
24
22
4
45
Medium-engines < 2.0L classes
10
0
0
5
Total cars
34
22
4
60
Matra-Simca MS670C
With the non-appearance of the Alfa Romeo works team, Matra became the strong favourites. They arrived confident, holding a firm command of the Manufacturers’ Championship, with a strong 4-car line-up. Three of them were the long-tail MS670B, while the fourth chassis was modified with side radiators allowing a more aerodynamic nose. It was called the MS680 and driven by Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Jean-Pierre Jarier. Although slower on the straights it made up time being quicker through the corners.[7] The others were also manned by all-French driver lines-ups, including the 1973 race-winners Henri Pescarolo/Gérard Larrousse and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud/Bob Wollek/José Dolhem, Jean-Pierre Jabouille/François Migault. The V12 engines got tuned down to 460bhp to better preserve them, but still gave about 320kp/h (200mph).[8]
In Alfa Romeo's absence, Matra's biggest challenger would be from John Wyer’s Gulf Research Racing. The company had dropped the Mirage name and the new car was called the Gulf GR7 designed by Len Bailey,[9] a much lighter version of the M6, but still 40kg heavier than the Matras.[10] Although the Cosworth V8 (with 450bhp) gave away acceleration torque to the Matra V12,[11] reliability would be the biggest concern although they had traded up to stronger ZF gearboxes.[12] Two cars were at Le Mans, driven by team regulars Derek Bell/Mike Hailwood and joined by Vern Schuppan/Reine Wisell.
Gulf GR7
After a successful foray into the Can-Am scene, Porsche returned to Sports-car racing this year. The Martini-sponsored works team bought the evolution of the Carrera RSR. It was now powered by a new 2142cc flat-6 engine, augmented by the exhaust-driven KKK (Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch[13]) turbo used in their Can-Am cars, that pushed out 490bhp (and was equivalent to 2999cc using the x1.4 equivalency). It also featured improved aerodynamics (front spoiler, wider wheel arches, full rear wing) and upgraded transmission and braking which all made them slightly quicker than the Matras in a straight line.[14][12] The two cars were driven by Gijs van Lennep/Herbert Müller and Manfred Schurti/Helmuth Koinigg. There were also older Porsches in the Group 5 field: including a non-turbo RSR special from Mexican Héctor Rebaque and two 908/02s returning from the previous year run by Swiss André Wicky and Ecuadorian Guillermo Ortega.
Porsche 911 RSR Turbo
Guy Ligier arrived with a much-improved version of his JS2 sports car, still running in the prototype class. Designer Michel Têtu had done much with the aerodynamics including a big rear aerofoil and flared wheel arches allowing wider tyres. The Maserati engine had been developed to put out 300bhp. The team was also encouraged by finishing second in the two heats of the March Testing Weekend race, and being declared overall winner. This year the team-owner was not racing, and the two cars were driven by veteran Guy Chasseuil with Michel Leclère, and Jacques Laffite with Alain Serpaggi.[15]
There were also several one-off prototype specials: Alain de Cadenet was back at Le Mans, having fixed the aerodynamic problems that plagued him the year before. It was now in British racing green without its Duckhams Oil sponsorship. However, after being injured in a motorcycle accident, his place alongside Chris Craft was taken by McLaren and Cosworth-engine developer John Nicholson.[16][7] A new Lola, the T284 (also running a Cosworth engine), was entered by Michel Dupont Racing alongside his Chevron in the 2-litre category.[7] Unable to secure a new 312PB from the factory in 1971, the North American Racing Team (NART) had developed their own spyder version of the 312P. This was subsequently developed in-house to PB-specification in 1972 and arrived at this year's race for Jean-Claude Andruet/Teodoro Zeccoli.[16] The successor to the Dino 246 was the 308 GT4 and NART also prepared a special racing version using engine components taken from the 512BB and 365 GTB/4. The 3-litre engine now pushed out 250bhp, capable of 285kp/h (175mph).[17] The Japanese Sigma rotary returned with an updated model, and now with stronger financial backing from Mazda. Their drivers included the debut race for future Le Mans stalwart Yojiro Terada.[18]
Once again there was a small turnout for the S2.0 class. One of the Chevrons featured the first all-female driver line-up since 1951, led by Belgian Christine Beckers. After getting frustrated with the unreliability of the 2-litre racing engines, French privateer Fred Stalder set up his own company, Société Racing Organisation Course (ROC) to build engines. His first engine, designed by Mario Illien and based on a Chrysler-Simca block,[7] could develop 280bhp and was put into his Lola T292 as well as a French GRAC car.[19]
The Group 4 GT category would be a battle between Ferrari and Porsche. NART had three of the five 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” entries alongside Charles Pozzi, the French importer who had won the previous year's GT prize (using Raymond Touroul's entry-card).[20] With Porsche's refocus on production racing, they had manufactured the requisite 1000 copies of the Carrera RS cars to get homologation in Group 3. The Group 4 RSR version was very popular with privateers and no less than 13 arrived for the race. Cars included the now-regular team-entries from Kremer and Gelo (West Germany), ASA-Cachia and Claude Buchet (France), Porsche Club Romand and Claude Haldi (Switzerland), Ecurie Francorchamps of Belgium and the Spanish Escuderia Montjuïch.[21] Henri Greder again had his Corvette, now starting to show its age, and the Wicky team also entered a De Tomaso Pantera.[17]
With the withdrawal of the Ford and BMW works teams because of reduced racing budgets,[22] this year the Group 2 class comprised just four entries: two BMWs for the Italian Jolly Club team and Frenchman Jean-Claude Aubriet (giving up his Corvette), the Ford Capri of the Shark Team[22] and Claude Buchet's Mazda twin-rotary RX-3.
Practice
The Alfa Romeos had been the fastest cars at the March test weekend, with Arturo Merzario recording a 3:31.0, but then they failed to arrive.[12] So, unsurprisingly, the Matras were the fastest cars in qualification. Pescarolo got pole position as early as Wednesday night, with a lap of 3:35.8 and teammate Jarier in the new MS680 claimed second on Thursday with a 3:36.8. The Gulfs were third and fourth, Schuppan ahead of Bell with the other two Matras next.[23] There was then a sizeable eight-second gap back to Müller's Porsche turbo and Craft in the De Cadenet (both recording 3:52.4).[2] The Ligiers really impressed themselves, qualifying 10th and 12th on the grid with Chasseuil a full 27 seconds faster than the previous year proving the new aero pack was working and the run at the Test Weekend was no fluke.[15]
The Lola-ROC was quickest of the 2-litre class with 4:07.9 (14th). Fastest GT was the Kremer-Porsche (15th with 4:11.3) not far ahead of the Jolly Club Group 2 ex-works BMW (17th with 4:14.2).[24] Disappointments were the NART-Ferrari specials with the 312P recording 4:18.0 and the 308 GT4 down in 38th with 4:25.3. The big old Corvette was in the middle of the GT-pack (4:24.7 for 36th) while the De Tomaso was last qualifier with a sluggish 4:43.6. Of the two rotaries, the Sigma had a number of problems during practice and its 4:20.4 was nine seconds slower than the year before;[18] while the RX-3 was the only car too slow to qualify.[25]
Race
Start
Once again, like the previous year's race, the sunshine in race week became dark clouds on race-day.[26][24] Henri Pescarolo moved into the lead from the start but Jarier overtook him at Mulsanne corner just as the rain started on the first lap. But it didn’t last and no-one came in to change tyres. By the fourth lap, Matra were running 1-2-3-4 when Schuppan had already bought his Gulf in to change sparkplugs and Jabouille and Jaussaud had overtaken Bell in the other Gulf.[26] One of the NART Ferraris left its braking too late and clouted both barriers at the Esses putting it out.[20] Chasseuil also brought the leading Ligier in for a plug change early on.[24]
Pescarolo retook the lead and the Matras kept their positions beyond the first driver changes, a lap ahead of the Gulf. Schuppan's day never improved as the other Gulf's ongoing issues culminated in a broken CV-joint after three hours, stranding Wisell out on the track. In fact a number of cars had early mechanical issues, spreading the field wide apart.[24] The GT battle was very close, with the Buchet Porsche running just ahead of the Montjuïch, Kremer and ASA-Cachia cars. But the troubles that were to afflict most of the Porsches started early when Ballot-Lena and Haldi brought the leading two cars in for repairs.[21] Then in the fourth hour, just as Jarier blasted out of the pits to start his second stint, he collided with the GT-leading Kremer Porsche (leaving twin 22m lines of rubber as it tried to stop[27]). While the Matra was losing 45 minutes getting repaired, Jabouille's car also came in the pits with water leaking from its engine. When the remaining Gulf also broke its CV joint (fortunately, within coasting distance of the pits, but dropping it to 12th after 45 minutes), it was the turbo Porsches that moved up to 3rd and 5th, split by the De Cadenet now running well after an initial delay to fix a loose wheel.[24][26]
Night
At 11pm, the engine of Schurti/Koinigg's Porsche, running 5th, blew up on the Mulsanne Straight. Such was the smoke trail that officials initially put its retirement down to a fire.[14][27] Within the hour, the Matras of Jarier (12th) and Wollek (2nd) also lost their engines.[26] By 1am Pescarolo had a 6-lap lead over the Müller/van Lennep Porsche, with the De Cadenet four laps further back in third. After its delays, the Gulf of Bell/Hailwood had got back up to fourth, ahead of the Gelo Porsche of Loos/Schickentanz/Barth (leading the GT class in a surprising fifth overall) and the Jabouille/Migault Matra also coming back through the field. Consistency had got the Romand Porsche up to seventh ahead of the Pozzi Ferrari.[25]
Then shortly after 1.30am Craft brought the De Cadenet in with suspect handling. As he was leaving a suspension bolt broke but, not being allowed to reverse up the pitlane, Craft had to spend half an hour changing the steering arm himself. After some cautious laps and further repairs he resumed in 11th place and carried on through the night.[16][27] At 2am, the Gelo Porsche (now running 4th) was out with engine problems – when a loose screw fell into the distributor.[21][28]
So by halftime at 4am, Pescarolo/Larrousse had done 179 laps, with a comfortable lead over the Porsche (172) and the Gulf (166). Jabouille/Migault had fought back up to fourth (165 laps). Just two laps back the Swiss Romand Porsche was fifth, pursued by the Pozzi Ferrari and the Francorchamps Porsche. The NART Ferraris were eighth (312P) and tenth (365 GT) with the second Gelo Porsche splitting them.[28][25]
Morning
Just as dawn came at 5.30am, the De Cadenet's suspension broke again. However, this time Nicholson was travelling at speed down the pit straight and it slammed him into the pit-barriers and slid 200 metres down the road. Nicholson was able to get out unhurt.[16][27] The Jolly Club BMW had been the fastest of the Group 2 cars in practice but had been slowed in the very first hour with a gearbox issue. Having driven back through the field up to 17th, it was forced to retire just after dawn when the engine overheated.[22] The Ford Capri leading the class broke its clutch after 7am while running 13th overall.
The back-and-forth Porsche-Ferrari battle in GT got clearer at 7am when the 5th-placed Romand Porsche had to spend a half-hour repairing a universal joint, handing the class lead back to the Pozzi Ferrari.[21][28] After a four-hour engine rebuild, the Sigma got back into the race, much to the appreciation of the crowd. Although unlikely to be classified, the team were determined to get to the finish.[28]
At 8am, the trouble-free run of the leading Matra ended when Larrousse bought the car in with a misfire. Several stops were needed to fix the issue, costing three-quarters of an hour, but they were able to keep their lead.[29] The Gulf then also lost almost 45 minutes fixing its starter motor, dropping to fourth.[28] Around 10am the Porsche developed a steering problem and then lost all but its fourth and fifth gears. Running around 40 seconds a lap slower, it fell eleven laps behind the leading Matra.[14][23]
Then just before 11am, Pescarolo had a gearbox failure. The Porsche-designed Matra gearbox problem was easy to repair, but it still took 45 minutes. When Larrousse resumed, their 11-lap lead had been cut to just one.[26][30]
Finish and post-race
However, from then on, the Matra ran smoothly and between them Pescarolo and Larrousse rebuilt their lead over the ailing Porsche. Their pursuers were in damage-control mode, just trying to limp to the finish. The Gelo Porsche's engine finally gave out with less than three hours to go.[30] Even though rain briefly returned in the last hour, Larrousse took the chequered flag[31] a full six laps ahead of Müller and van Lennep. The remaining Matra of Jabouille/Migault, which had kept its third place since daybreak, was a further ten laps behind with a four-lap margin over the Bell/Hailwood Gulf. Both cars had endured troubles right through the race, and every pit-stop needed attention – extra water for the Matra's leaking engine and grease added to the Gulf's fragile CV-joint.[10]
First GT home from a close race-long battle was the Charles Pozzi Ferrari 365 of Cyril Grandet/Dominique Bardini finishing fifth. They had had a very reliable run, spending only 30 minutes in the pits over the whole race.[20] Sixth was the NART Ferrari of Dave Heinz/Alain Cudini that had managed to chase down and pass the ailing Porsche Club Romand car of Chenevière / Zbinden / Dubois in the last quarter-hour.[26]
Jacques Laffite and Alain Serpaggi gave Ligier its best finish to date coming in eighth,[15] despite a fuel-fire at the last pit-stop.[30] Ninth was the NART Ferrari 312 special, having endured six broken throttle cables. The sole surviving Group 2 car was Jean-Claude Aubriet's BMW finishing fifteenth.[16] Likewise, there was only a single finisher in the S-2000 class. The all-female crew in the third Dupont entry ran a conservative race but outlasted all their opposition to finish 17th and, perhaps more importantly, prove that the fragile engines could run 24 hours.[19] They finished ahead of the Corvette of Marie-Claude Beaumont, which had numerous issues and ran 49 laps less than it had completed the year before.[17]
Technically, the Matra mechanics had replaced the gearbox housing on the winning car, which was against regulations. The officials decided not to disqualify the car unless someone protested, and no team did. It was a Porsche gearbox.[32] Henri Pescarolo became only the third driver to win three Le Mans in a row, after Woolf Barnato (1928–30) and Olivier Gendebien (1960-62). Having won Le Mans those three years in a row, and then the World Championship (with nine wins out of ten), Matra announced its retirement from racing at the end of the season with mission accomplished.[23][29]
Official results
Finishers
Results taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO[33] Class winners are in Bold text.
The 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 52nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 – 17 June 1984. It was also the third round of the 1984 World Endurance Championship. There were two big stories going into the race weekend: the absence of the Porsche works team and their drivers, and the return of Jaguar. Bob Tullius had commissioned the new Jaguar XJR-5 to run in the IMSA series and entered two for Le Mans. Earlier in the year, FISA had announced abrupt changes to the fuel regulations to bring them more in line with IMSA. Porsche and Lancia objected strongly because of their strong investment in the existing rules. In the absence of dominant Porsche works team, the race was left wide open between Lancia and the number of strong Porsche customer teams.
The 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 50th Grand Prix of Endurance, which took place on 19 and 20 June 1982. It was also the fourth round of the 1982 World Endurance Championship. As well as a significant anniversary, this was a watershed year for Le Mans, with the highly anticipated advent of the FIA's Group C regulations, the essence of which was to allow an open engine formula but a minimum weight for safety and a proscribed fuel allocation.
The 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 49th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 13 and 14 June 1981. It was also the eighth round of the World Endurance Championship of Drivers, and the fifth round of the World Championship for Makes.
The 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 48th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1980. It was the seventh round of both the World Championship for Makes and World Challenge for Endurance Drivers. With neither the Porsche nor Renault works teams contesting the big Group 6 sports-cars for outright victory, it left the prospects open for a privateer victory from Joest, Rondeau or De Cadenet, or from Group 5 again, if they were to fail. The wet weather throughout the race further added to the uncertainty, reducing the advantage of the more powerful cars.
The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1979. With no other major works cars this year, the Porsche team were the strong favourites to win. Their competition would be from Cosworth-powered Mirages and Rondeaus and a swarm of Group 5 and IMSA-class Porsche 935s. The other big talking point was the presence of Hollywood actor Paul Newman, driving for Dick Barbour Racing.
The 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 46th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1978. In many ways it was a continuation of the race from the year before – the two main protagonists would be the very evenly-matched works teams of Alpine-Renault and Porsche, with four cars each. The race was not valid for any championship.
The 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 45th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 11 and 12 June 1977. The second year of the FIA Group 5 and Group 6 regulations, it produced an exciting race right up to the end. Porsche had withdrawn from the Group 6 Championship, citing a lack of broad competition. Renault, before their move into Formula 1, decided to put its main racing focus for the year onto Le Mans. The two works teams were the pre-race favourites.
The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 44th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1976. This year the FIA introduced its new Group 5 and Group 6 regulations and the race was now open to nine distinct classes, although it was still not part of the World Championship seasons. Porsche introduced its new models, the 936 in Group 6, the 935 in Group 5 and the 934 in Group 4. In response, BMW had its modified 3.0 CSL in Group 5. It was the year that turbos arrived in considerable numbers, with over a dozen turbocharged entries, led by the Renault Alpine A442. It saw the arrival of French prototype manufacturers Jean Rondeau and Gérard Welter in a new GTP class and a first-time invitation to American IMSA and NASCAR entries.
The 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 43rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1975. Colloquially called the “Le Mans Economy Run”, stringent refuelling regulations were put in place. Unable to match the requisite 7mpg fuel economy the manufacturer teams from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo withdrew and Matra had retired from the sport at the end of 1974. Therefore, this only left Gulf and Ligier as front-running works-teams.
The 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 41st Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on 9 and 10 June 1973. It was the eighth round of the 1973 World Championship of Makes.
The 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1972. It was the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the ninth race of the 1972 World Championship for Makes.
The 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 39th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1971. It was the ninth round of the 1971 International Championship for Makes.
The 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 38th Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on 13 and 14 June 1970. It was the 8th stage of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 14 and 15 June 1969. It was the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance and was the eighth round of the 1969 International Championship for Makes. The race was open to Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars.
The 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 36th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 28 and 29 September 1968 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France.
The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 35th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1967. It was also the seventh round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship.
The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1966. It was also the seventh round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season. This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the Ford GT40 as well as the first win for an American constructor in a major European race since Jimmy Murphy's triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix. It was also the debut Le Mans start for two significant drivers: Henri Pescarolo, who went on to set the record for the most starts at Le Mans; and Jacky Ickx, whose record of six Le Mans victories stood until beaten by Tom Kristensen in 2005.
The 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 32nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1964. It was also the ninth round of the 1964 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race for Sports cars and Grand Touring cars staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1961. It was the 29th Grand Prix of Endurance and the fourth race of the 1961 World Sportscar Championship. Ferrari and Maserati were the main contenders, with Aston Martin an outside chance.
The Matra-Simca MS670 was a Group 5 prototype race car introduced in 1972 for the World Championship for Makes. The MS670 replaced the previous Matra-Simca MS660C.
References
Armstrong, Douglas – English editor (1975) Automobile Year #22 1974-75 Lausanne: Edita S.A.
Clarke, R.M. - editor (1997) Le Mans 'The Ford and Matra Years 1966-1974' Cobham, Surrey: Brooklands Books ISBN1-85520-373-1
Clausager, Anders (1982) Le Mans London: Arthur Barker Ltd ISBN0-213-16846-4
Laban, Brian (2001) Le Mans 24 Hours London: Virgin Books ISBN1-85227-971-0
Spurring, Quentin (2011) Le Mans 1970-79 Yeovil, Somerset: Haynes Publishing ISBN978-1-84425-539-9
Wimpffen, János (2007) Spyders and Silhouettes Hong Kong: David Bull Publishing ISBN1-893618-83-8
External links
Racing Sports Cars– Le Mans 24 Hours 1974 entries, results, technical detail. Retrieved 6 Jul 2018
Le Mans History– Le Mans History, hour-by-hour (incl. pictures, quotes, YouTube links). Retrieved 6 Jul 2018
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