1993 24 Hours of Le Mans

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1993 24 Hours of Le Mans
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Le Mans in 1993 Circuit de la Sarthe Le Mans 1990-2001.png
Le Mans in 1993

The 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 61st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 19 and 20 June 1993.

Contents

The race was won by Peugeot Talbot Sport, with drivers Geoff Brabham, and Le Mans rookies Éric Hélary and Christophe Bouchut completing 375 laps in their Peugeot 905 Evo 1B. Brabham became just the third Australian to win the French classic after Bernard Rubin in 1928, and Vern Schuppan in 1983.

A class for Grand Touring (GT) style cars was included for the first time since the 1986 race. [1] With the extra class, the entry list expanded from 30 cars in 1992 to 48 in 1993.

Regulations and Entries

The 1992 race had seen the lowest number of entries since the iconic race's advent in the 1920s, and in October 1992 the FIA officially cancelled the Sportscar World Championship - a series that had been running, in various guises, continuously since 1953. The idea to run the premier class on F1-derived engines had proved a spectacular failure with negligible interest from the major car manufacturers that had been anticipated, and too high costs for small teams. Soon after the series cancellation, and with no alternative international series proposed, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) took matters into its own hands, drafting up regulations for a new "Le Mans Prototype" category: open-cockpit, flat-bottomed cars powered by regular production or restricted race engines. Early in 1993 the American IMSA federation also announced a new "World Sports Car" category along very similar (but crucially, not identical) lines.

In March however the ACO only had 21 entrants, but with no formal championship to adhere to, the ACO was now free to set its own invitation list to the great race and so it revised its entry parameters to offer four distinct divisions: [2]

This marked the return of GT cars to Le Mans, since the solitary Group B BMW M1 raced in 1986. The revision worked and soon a number of Group C and GT teams lined up. When entries closed in April, it had a full field of 58, including the first Ferrari (a GT) to appear since 1984. They also revived the May Test Day (last run in 1987), attracting 32 cars. A number of current and future F1 drivers were in the driver list. A new rule was also included that teams had to qualify the car to be used in the race, to stop abuses with specialised test-cars, and that reserve cars could be qualified in case of accident to the primary cars.

Qualification

Over a sunny race week, unsurprisingly the Category 1 works Peugeots and Toyotas set the pace. In attempting to better their Wednesday times, both teams damaged their chances: Philippe Alliot wrote his Peugeot off in a big accident doing nearly 200 km/h in the Porsche Curves, while Eddie Irvine had a spin at Mulsanne corner with his car using a special qualifying engine. Expecting to have to use their reserve car, Peugeot instead returned a fully repaired car the very next day. People suspected a replacement had been built on a spare monocoque but nothing could be proven. [3] In the end, Alliot's earlier time of 3:24.94 won pole and the six works cars locked out the front rows. The elderly Porsche 962s in Category 2, hampered by engine restrictors were at least 13 seconds slower. In GT, the latest variant of the Porsche 911, the 964-series Turbo S Le Mans from the Porsche works team, was fastest ahead of the three new Jaguar XJ220C of Tom Walkinshaw Racing. 48 cars survived Qualifying however neither the Ferrari (punted off in Warm-up by Irvine's Toyota) nor a new MiG (Russian designed, and the first all-carbon GT) reached the starting grid. [4]

The race

Start

From flagfall, Alliot and Irvine dueled at the front, with the latter's Toyota taking the lead on the eighth lap when the Peugeot spun at Mulsanne corner. Irvine continued to hold the lead through two driving shifts until a slow pitstop (Sekiya lost 2 laps waiting for his drinks bottle to be secured [5] ) handed the lead back to the Peugeot, now driven by Mauro Baldi. At 6.30pm Raphanel brought in the second Toyota, while running third, with an engine misfire. Half an hour later the lead Peugeot lost 35 minutes and 8 laps with a broken oil pipe. The to and fro battle between the works teams was then picked up by Geoff Lees' Toyota and the Peugeot of Boutsen/Dalmas/Fabi. In GT, one of the TWR-Jaguars was out with a blown head-gasket after only half an hour. After the works Porsche was held up for 20 minutes with a sticking throttle, [6] the other two Jaguars dominated the class, around 15th place, mixing it with the Group C (Category 2) cars, ahead of a raft of works and private Porsches. In the works Porsche, Walter Röhrl had driven hard to make back 2 of the 5 laps by 10pm when he rammed the back of the Debora in the Mulsanne chicanes. Losing oil, the engine seized before it could reach the pits. [7]

Night

Juan Manuel Fangio II had been closing in on the leader into the night until 11pm when he was hit from behind by Yojiro Terada's Lotus GT missing its braking point at the 2nd Mulsanne chicane. Repairs cost it 35 minutes, dropping it to 10th. Through the night Boutsen and his co-drivers held the lead over the third team car of steady teammates Brabham/Bouchut/Hélary, with a recovering Irvine a lap behind. At 2.30am, Fabi bought his Peugeot into the pit with smoke in the cockpit from faulty wiring. Though fixed in five minutes they lost the lead to their sister-car. When Irvine's Toyota lost more time with electrical problems, the two Peugeots had a comfortable lead, swapping the lead depending on the pit strategy. In Category 2, brilliant night-time driving by Roland Ratzenberger in the Toyota 93C-V of Shin Kato's SARD team kept them the lead, ahead of the Porsche 962s, that he had got them soon after 5pm.

Morning

At 7am Hélary had his rear wing damaged by debris, losing the lead, then at 8.50am Boutsen lost a lap with a fractured exhaust handing the lead back. Irvine, meanwhile, was driving blisteringly fast, breaking the lap record and making back a lap. But battery and clutch issues affected the Toyotas: Wallace's car came to a stop out at the Dunlop curves at 7.45am with gearbox problems, then Irvine's challenge ended after midday with a 30-minute engine repair, and finally Lees' car, despite all three drivers doing triple stints to save pit-time, needed gearbox repairs dropping it from 4th to 9th. In GT, the private Porsche of Jean-Pierre Jarier's Monaco Média team had been leading for 6 hours, chased by the remaining Jaguar who finally passed it in the 21st hour.

Finish and post-race

So with Toyota's problems, Jean Todt's Peugeots finished a convincing 1-2-3, with Alliot's car making its way back up through the field to 3rd (still 8 laps behind). Toyota ended up finishing 4-5-6, with the older Category 2 (Group C) cars heading the rest of the field home with a big lead over the Porsche 962s, with Roland Ratzenberger and Mauro Martini holding on for the Japanese SARD team. In the battle of the 962s, the Obermaier team's reliability beat its bigger brothers: the Joest and Kremer teams.

Sir Jack Brabham had two of his sons on the podiums when David, along with fledgling test-driver David Coulthard and veteran John Nielsen bought the Jaguar XJ220C as the first GT home. However, it had raced under waiver due to scrutineering concerns on its lack of catalytic converters like its production-model had (although no other GT cars used them, nor the racing-spec version of the Jaguar). A month later, they were disqualified on a technicality- Jaguar's evidence and appeal had been filed correctly with the ACO, but not on time with the French motorsport authority (FFSA). [8] The record thus shows the GT win went to the Porsche 911 of Jürgen Barth that had finished 2 laps behind.

In the small Category 3 field of 3 LMP cars, Gérard Welter's latest WR-Peugeot prototype had started well, staying in the top 20 well ahead of its rivals until delayed by wheel-bearing problems. Didier Bonnet's Debora SP93 took the category lead until the WR overtook it again just before dawn, until delayed again - this time replacing a driveshaft. The Debora took over again until halted the engine broke with just over an hour to go, handing the win to the long-suffering WR drivers. [9]

With consecutive wins, this was the last Le Mans for the works Peugeot team for 14 years. After the race, Jean Todt immediately left Peugeot to manage the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. [10] Back in Japan, blame was laid at the engine engineering department. A month later, Toyota bought out Anderson Motor Sports, running its rally cars and set up Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne for a European racing programme. [11]

Included in the GT field were seven new Venturi 500LM supercars, coming out of the French one-make race series. Although not on the pace with the Porsche 911s or Jaguars, five of them finished. It was a success for the brand though: Jürgen Barth's German Porsche series joined Patrick Peter and Stéphane Ratel's Venturi series in 1994 to create the BPR Global GT Series (named for their surname initials) - the only major international sports car series running that year, piquing FISA's interest.

Official results

PosClassNoTeamDriversChassisTyreLapsTime/Reason
Engine
1C13 Flag of France.svg Peugeot Talbot Sport Flag of France.svg Éric Hélary
Flag of France.svg Christophe Bouchut
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Geoff Brabham
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B M 37523:54:12.590
Peugeot SA35 3.5 L V10
2C11 Flag of France.svg Peugeot Talbot Sport Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen
Flag of France.svg Yannick Dalmas
Flag of Italy.svg Teo Fabi
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B M 374+ 1 Lap
Peugeot SA35 3.5L V10
3C12 Flag of France.svg Peugeot Talbot Sport Flag of France.svg Philippe Alliot
Flag of Italy.svg Mauro Baldi
Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B M 367+ 8 laps
Peugeot SA35 3.5L V10
4C136 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine
Flag of Japan.svg Toshio Suzuki
Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Sekiya
Toyota TS010 M 364+ 11 laps
Toyota RV10 3.5 L V10
5C222 Flag of Japan.svg Y's Racing Team
Flag of Japan.svg SARD Co. Ltd.
Flag of Austria.svg Roland Ratzenberger
Flag of Italy.svg Mauro Martini
Flag of Japan.svg Naoki Nagasaka
Toyota 93C-V D 363+ 12 laps
Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8
6C225 Flag of Japan.svg Nisso Trust Racing Team Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg George Fouché
Flag of Sweden.svg Eje Elgh
Flag of Sweden.svg Steven Andskär
Toyota 93C-V D 358+ 17 laps
Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8
7C221 Flag of Germany.svg Obermaier Racing GmbH Flag of Germany.svg Otto Altenbach
Flag of Germany.svg Jürgen Oppermann
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Loris Kessel
Porsche 962C G 355+ 20 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
8C138 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Geoff Lees
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers
Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Manuel Fangio II
Toyota TS010 M 353+ 22 laps
Toyota RV10 3.5 L V10
9C218 Flag of Germany.svg Joest Porsche Racing Flag of France.svg Bob Wollek
Flag of France.svg Henri Pescarolo
Flag of Germany.svg Ronny Meixner
Porsche 962C G 351+ 24 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
10C214 Flag of France.svg Courage Compétition Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Bell
Flag of France.svg Lionel Robert
Flag of France.svg Pascal Fabre
Courage C30LM G 347+ 28 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
11C213 Flag of France.svg Courage Compétition Flag of France.svg Pierre Yver
Flag of France.svg Jean-Louis Ricci
Flag of France.svg Jean-François Yvon
Courage C30LM G 343+ 32 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
12C210 Flag of Germany.svg Porsche Kremer Racing Flag of Germany.svg Jürgen Lässig
Flag of Italy.svg Giovanni Lavaggi
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Wayne Taylor
Porsche 962CK6 D 328+ 47 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
13C211 Flag of Germany.svg Porsche Kremer Racing Flag of the United States.svg Andy Evans
Flag of Spain.svg Tomás Saldaña
Flag of France.svg François Migault
Porsche 962CK6 D 316+ 59 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
14C223 Flag of France.svg Team Guy Chotard Flag of France.svg Denis Morin
Flag of France.svg Didier Caradec
Flag of France.svg Alain Sturm
Porsche 962C G 308+ 67 laps
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
15C447 Flag of France.svg Monaco Media International
Flag of France.svg Larbre Compétition
Flag of France.svg Joël Gouhier
Flag of Germany.svg Jürgen Barth
Flag of France.svg Dominique Dupuy
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 304+ 71 laps
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
16C478 Flag of France.svg Jack Leconte
Flag of France.svg Larbre Compétition
Flag of Spain.svg Jesús Pareja
Flag of France.svg Jack Leconte
Flag of France.svg Pierre de Thoisy
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR G 301+ 74 laps
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
17C465 Flag of Germany.svg Heico Dienstleistungen Flag of Germany.svg Ulrich Richter
Flag of Germany.svg Dirk Rainer Ebeling
Flag of Germany.svg Karl-Heinz Wlazik
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Y 299+ 76 laps
Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
18C477 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Scuderia Chicco d'Oro Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Claude Haldi
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Olivier Haberthur
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Charles Margueron
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 299+ 76 laps
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
19C462 Flag of Austria.svg Konrad Motorsport Flag of Austria.svg Franz Konrad
Flag of Japan.svg Jun Harada
Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Hermann de Azevedo
Porsche 911 Carrera RS Y 293+ 82 laps
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
20C224 Flag of France.svg Graff Racing Flag of France.svg Jean-Bernard Bouvet
Flag of France.svg Richard Balandras
Flag of France.svg Bruno Miot
Spice SE89C G 288+ 87 laps
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
21C466 Flag of Germany.svg Mühlbauer Motorsport Flag of Germany.svg Gustl Spreng
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Sandro Angelastri
Flag of Germany.svg Fritz Müller
Porsche 911 Carrera RS P 276+ 99 laps
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
22C440 Flag of Germany.svg Obermaier Racing GmbH Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Philippe Olczyk
Flag of Germany.svg Josef Prechtl
Flag of France.svg Gerard Dillmann
Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup P 274+ 101 laps
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
23C455 Flag of Italy.svg Agusta Racing Flag of Italy.svg Onofrio Russo
Flag of Italy.svg Riccardo Agusta
Flag of Italy.svg Paolo Mondini
Venturi 500LM D 274+ 101 laps
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
24C333 Flag of France.svg Welter Racing Flag of France.svg Patrick Gonin
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Bernard Santal
Flag of France.svg Alain Lamouille
WR LM93 M 268+ 107 laps
Peugeot 2.0 L Turbo I4
25C457 Flag of France.svg Écurie Toison d'Or Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Marc Duez
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Éric Bachelart
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Philip Verellen
Venturi 500LM D 267+ 108 laps
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
26C449 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Team Paduwa Flag of France.svg Bruno Ilien
Flag of France.svg Alain Gadal
Flag of France.svg Bernard Robin
Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup D 266+ 109 laps
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
27C470 Flag of France.svg Éric Graham Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Pascal Witmeur
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Michel Neugarten
Flag of France.svg Jacques Tropenat
Venturi 500LM D 262+ 113 laps
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
28C491 Flag of France.svg Alain Lamouille Flag of France.svg Patrice Roussel
Flag of France.svg Édouard Sezionale
Flag of France.svg Hervé Rohée
Venturi 500LM D 246+ 129 laps
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
29C492 Flag of France.svg BBA Compétition Flag of France.svg Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière
Flag of France.svg Michel Krine
Flag of France.svg Patrick Camus
Venturi 500LM D 243+ 132 laps
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
30C335 Flag of Italy.svg Sport & Immagine SRL Flag of Italy.svg Fabio Magnani
Flag of Italy.svg Luigi Taverna
Flag of Italy.svg Roberto Ragazzi
Lucchini SP91 P 221+ 154 laps
Alfa Romeo 3.0 L V6
DNFC217 Flag of Germany.svg Joest Porsche Racing Flag of Germany.svg Manuel Reuter
Flag of Germany.svg Frank Jelinski
Flag of Germany.svg "John Winter" (Louis Krages)
Porsche 962C G 282engine
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNFC334 Flag of France.svg Didier Bonnet Racing Flag of France.svg Yvan Muller
Flag of France.svg Gérard Tremblay
Flag of France.svg Georges Tessier
Debora SP93 P 259engine
Alfa Romeo 3.0 L V6
DNFC137 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of France.svg Pierre-Henri Raphanel
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kenny Acheson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Wallace
Toyota TS010 M 212gearbox
Toyota RV10 3.5 L V10
DNFC471 Flag of France.svg Jacadi Racing Flag of France.svg Jacques Laffite
Flag of France.svg Michel Maisonneuve
Flag of France.svg Christophe Dechavanne
Venturi 500LM D 210engine
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNFC215 Flag of Germany.svg Porsche Kremer Racing Flag of Italy.svg Almo Coppelli
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robin Donovan
Flag of the United States.svg Steve Fossett
Porsche 962CK6 D 204fuel pump
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNFC452 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg TWR Jaguar Racing Flag of France.svg Paul Belmondo
Flag of the United States.svg Jay Cochran
Flag of Germany.svg Andreas Fuchs
Jaguar XJ220-C D 176overheating
Jaguar JV6 3.5 L Turbo V6
DNFC228 Flag of France.svg Roland Bassaler Flag of France.svg Roland Bassaler
Flag of France.svg Patrick Bourdais
Flag of France.svg Jean-Louis Capette
Sauber SHS C6 G 166accident
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
DNFC444 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lotus Sport
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chamberlain Engineering
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Piper
Flag of France.svg Olindo Iacobelli
Flag of France.svg Ferdinand de Lesseps
Lotus Esprit S300 D 162head gasket
Lotus 2.2 L Turbo I4
DNFC227 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chamberlain Engineering Flag of the United States.svg Andy Petery
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nick Adams
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Hervé Regout
Spice SE89C G 137engine
Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8
DNFC212 Flag of France.svg Courage Compétition Flag of Japan.svg Tomiko Yoshikawa
Flag of El Salvador.svg Carlos Moran
Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Gini
Courage C30LM G 108puncture => accident
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNFC445 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lotus Sport
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chamberlain Engineering
Flag of Japan.svg Yojiro Terada
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Hardman
Flag of Denmark.svg Thorkild Thyrring
Lotus Esprit S300 D 92overheating
Lotus 2.2L Turbo I4
DNFC456 Flag of France.svg Stéphane Ratel Flag of Greece.svg Costas Los
Flag of the United States.svg Johannes Bardutt
Flag of France.svg Claude Brana
Venturi 500LM D 80accident
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNFC446 Flag of Germany.svg Le Mans Porsche Team Flag of Germany.svg Walter Röhrl
Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck
Flag of the United States.svg Hurley Haywood
Porsche 911 Turbo S LM-C4 G 79accident damage => engine
Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6
DNFC476 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Cartronic Motorsport Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Enzo Calderari
Flag of Italy.svg Luigino Pagotto
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Lilian Bryner
Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup P 64accident
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
DNFC448 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Team Paduwa Flag of Germany.svg Harald Grohs
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jean-Paul Libert
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Didier Theys
Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Cup D 8overheating
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
DNFC451 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg TWR Jaguar Racing Flag of Germany.svg Armin Hahne
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Win Percy
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Leslie
Jaguar XJ220-C D 6overheating
Jaguar JV6 3.5 L Turbo V6
DSQC450 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg TWR Jaguar Racing Flag of Denmark.svg John Nielsen
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard
Jaguar XJ220-C D 306disqualified/illegal exhaust
Jaguar JV6 3.5 L Turbo V6
DNSC472 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Simpson Engineering Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robin Smith
Flag of Italy.svg Stefano Sebastiani
Flag of Japan.svg Tetsuya Ota
Ferrari 348 LM P -accident in warm-up
Ferrari 3.4 L V8
DNSC441 Obermaier Racing GmbH Flag of Italy.svg Ruggero Grassi

Flag of Italy.svg Sergio Brambilla

Flag of Italy.svg Renato Mastropietro

Porsche 964 Carrera 2 Cup P -accident in practice
Porsche 3.6 L F6
[12]

† - #50 finished first in the C4 category but was disqualified a month after the race for failing to utilize catalytic converters on the XJ220C.

Statistics

Notes

  1. Automobile Year, 1993/94, page 195
  2. Spurring 2014, p.119
  3. Spurring 2014, p.120
  4. Spurring 2014, p.140
  5. Spurring 2014, p.123.
  6. Spurring 2014, p.128
  7. Spurring 2014, p.128
  8. Spurring 2014, p.126
  9. Spurring 2014, p.134-5
  10. Spurring 2014, p.122
  11. Spurring 2014, p.124
  12. "Le Mans 24 Hours 1993 - Photo Gallery" . Retrieved 22 August 2020.

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The 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 54th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the third round of the 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on 31 May and 1 June 1986. This year saw the return of a full Jaguar works team, to take on the strong Porsche works and customer teams. However, with the fuel regulations relaxed, the turbo-charged cars would be able to use more of their potential power to outrun the normally-aspirated 6-litre Jaguars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 53rd 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance, as well as the fourth round of the 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on 15 and 16 June 1985. The works Porsche team returned, with a Group C version of the 962. As favourites, they could expect from their customer teams and the works Lancias. In qualifying, Hans-Joachim Stuck set a new lap record in his works Porsche, with an average speed over 250 km/h for the first time. Mercedes returned for the first time in 30 years, as engine supplier to the Sauber team. The return was short-lived though, as the car got airborne in practice and crashed. With tighter fuel regulations this year from FISA, the teams would have to be more mindful of fuel economy and speed. However, from the start the Joest and Richard Lloyd Racing teams had the measure of the field. Working in tandem, Klaus Ludwig and Jonathon Palmer took turns leading and slipstreaming behind the other. Then at 9pm Jean-Claude Andruet had a major accident when his WM had a tyre blow out a high speed at the Mulsanne kink, sending him into the Armco barriers. Andruet was uninjured, but the race went behind the pace-cars for a half-hour as repairs were done. Just as the race resumed James Weaver pitted the RLR Porsche with an engine misfire. Traced to a faulty sensor, they returned to the race in 7th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1984 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 52nd 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 40th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 38th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1963 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 31st 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 31st Grand Prix of Endurance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans series and took place on 15 and 16 June 1963. It was also the tenth round of the 1963 World Sportscar Championship season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1961 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 29th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 28th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 28th 24 Hours of Le Mans Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 25 and 26 June 1960, on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was the fifth and final round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship as well as being the fifth round of the inaugural FIA GT Cup. It was held just a week after the tragic Belgian F1 GP in which two drivers were killed and Stirling Moss and another driver were seriously injured. The prospect of a duel between the 3-litre (180 cu in) Ferrari versus the 2-litre (120 cu in) Porsche championship-leaders was enough to draw large crowds to the 24 Hours race and some 200,000 spectators had gathered for Europe's classic sports car race, around the 13.5 km (8.4 mi) course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1959 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 27th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 27th 24 Hours of Le Mans, Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1959, on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. The prospect of an exciting duel between Ferrari, Aston Martin and giantkillers Porsche was enough to draw large crowds and some 150,000 spectators gathered for France's classic sports car race, around the 8.38-mile course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 24th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans was a race for Sports Cars which took place on 28 and 29 July 1956 on the Circuit de la Sarthe. The race was won by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson driving a Jaguar D-Type for the new Ecurie Ecosse team. This race also marked the golden jubilee of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) founded in 1906, however because of the previous year's disaster, celebrations were deferred to 1957 to go along with the imminent 25th anniversary of the race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 24 Hours of Le Mans</span> 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race for teams of three drivers each fielding Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) cars held from 12 to 13 June 2010 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, before 238,150 spectators. It was the 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans as organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).

References