The only winning driver of Le Mans to do so with a car and team bearing his name.
To complete the fairytale, he was also born in... Le Mans.
1980 Le Mans winner
Team: Le Point Jean Rondeau
Drivers: Jean Rondeau, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud
Car: Rondeau M379
The birth of the champagne spraying celebration...
Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt won the race in 1967 in a Ford GT40 MKIV. It is the only time an 'all American' driver duo, team and car have done so. When the winners mounted the victory stand, Gurney was handed the traditional magnum of champagne. Looking down, he saw Ford CEO Henry Ford II, team owner Carroll Shelby and their wives, as well as several journalists who had predicted disaster for the high-profile duo of Gurney and Foyt. Many of the journalists had predicted the two drivers, who were heated competitors in the United States, would break their car in intramural rivalry. Instead, both drivers took special care to drive the car with discipline and won easily. On the victory stand, Gurney shook the bottle and sprayed everyone nearby, establishing a tradition reenacted in victory celebrations the world over ever since.
Paul Newman...
In the business of 'one upmanship', Hollywood icon Paul Newman would do something in reality that his friend and professional rival Steve McQueen could only do on the big screen... compete in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans. Not only that, he finished second.
Le Mans 1979: Dick Barbour Racing's 2nd placed Porsche 935: Drivers:- Dick Barbour, Paul Newman, Rolf Stommelen. 
Paul Newman
January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008
Actor, Racing Driver, Philanthropist.
The Ford Capri...
At least one Ford Capri was entered in the race between 1972 & 1975. In the 1972 race they came in a very commendable 10th and 11th place. A car from the streets of my childhood competing in The World's Greatest Motor Race!
The Triple Crown Of Motorsport...
Is an unofficial motorsport achievement, it involves winning the acknowledged three most pretigious races in motorsport:-
- The Monaco Grand Prix
- The 24 Hours of Le Mans
- The Indianapolis 500
There is an alternate (older) definition, which replaces The Monaco Grand Prix with the F1 World Championship.
There is only one man who has achieved this, and he qualifies using either definition...
Graham Hill
15 February 1929 - 29 November 1975
15 February 1929 - 29 November 1975
- Indianapolis 500 - 1966
- Le Mans - 1972
- Monaco Grand Prix - 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
- F1 World Championship - 1962, 1968
Project 400...
In qualifying for the race, they broke through the 400 kph mark and hit a speed of 405 kph (253 mph) at the end of The Mulsanne Straight. With no one beating it a year later, and the arrival of the chicanes a year after that, the record remains in the posession of the French! (Unless FIA reverse there directive and remove the chicanes in the future, which is highly unlikely) Vive Le France!Martin Brundle...
Martin Brundle returns to compete in 2012 with his son Alex, the father-son will be team mates for the Greaves Motersport Nissan Zytech LMP2 car.
It will be 11 years since Brundle snr. last competed in the race, which he won in 1990 for Jaguar in the XJR 12. Brundle 52, said "This is an unexpected pleasure, heightened by the fact I will be team-mates with my son. I'm eagerly anticipating a very special feeling when handing the car over to Alex during one of the world's greatest motor races. Class victory in front of the fanatical Le Mans spectators is the goal!"
Bentley in the dining room...
Following the eventful 1927 Le Mans win for Bentley, a dinner was held in their honour on their return to London at The Savoy Hotel. Eccentricity was something the 'Bentley Boys' never had in short supply, and it was decided the Bentley 3 Litre winning car should be present too..... in the dining room. The revolving main door was temporarily removed and 'The Old No.7' car was hauled (in pieces) into to the dining room & re-assembled ready for the arriving diners. Splendid.
Following Bentley's thrilling return to the top of the podium at Le Mans in 2003 after a 73 year gap, there was only one way to celebrate surely? dinner at The Savoy?? with the Bentley Speed 8 in the dining room? Why of course....
NASCAR comes to Le Mans...
"You're not from round here, are ya boy?"
In 1975, the ACO were looking to add an extra dynamic to the '24 Hour' entry list. so approached the then doyen of US NASCAR, Bill France Snr. (owner of the Daytona Speedway). The product of this Franco-American negotiation was to be called 'The Grand International Class' and it's trial was scheduled for June 1976.
Two teams were selected by NASCAR, one would be bring an OLYMPIA BEER sponsored DODGE CHARGER, the other team arriving with a FORD Torino, NASCAR and the ACO paid for the two teams expenses and transportation.
DODGE CHARGER
(Edit: I knew I'd seen it somewhere before...)
FORD TORINO
(Edit: I knew I'd seen it somewhere before...)
According to American sportswriter following the event, "The hulking beasts from Detroit caused a stir from the moment they arrived in France, fans flocked around the cars wherever they went. Indeed, they looked as out of place as if they'd been beamed down from some hovering starship - and got almost as much attention."
Unfortunately, NASCAR at Le Mans didn't live up to it's advanced billing and immense popularity. The Dodge Charger's engine blew on the 2nd lap and was the first car out of the race. The Ford Torino faired a little better, but a blown transmission in the 11th hour ended their race. The circuit at Le Mans at the time would require on average 22 gear changes per lap, for a car used to circuits in the US where barely 22 gear changes were made in an entire race, it was always going to test the debutants to the the limit.
However, Dodge driver Herschel McGriff didn't have regrets: "It was just a great experience, the most impressive thing was the sound! The Porsches sounded like bumblebees, and then we'd roll by with those big-block V8s running straight pipes and no mufflers, it shook the ground and people loved it... I love the end of that race, people go crazy, they flood the grandstands, they drink, they have sex on the grass!" (?)
Then and now...
Le Mans pit stop 1958
Le Mans pit stop 2011
