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I worked for de Cadenet in the two months leading up to and during the race in 1976 and 1977. Fellow New Zealander John Anderson worked full time for de Cadenet and did most of the development of the cars, I arrived in time to bolt it all together!
Vintage car restorers Dick Crosthwaite and John Gardiner were also on the team during the week in France.
From photographs I have, the 1976 car in Tait and Lyle/ Hammond Sauce livery carried race no 12.The car ran without any major incidents and finished 3rd over all. The car was a modified Lola with redesigned bodywork using an elderly Nicholson built DFV.
The 1977 car carrying race no 5 was a new car still using quite a lot of Lola components with a newly built body which had been tested in the MIRA wind tunnel. Using the same DFV but to full Grand Prix spec and with more time for testing it was a far better car. Unfortunately Chris Craft was the first competetor to discover it was raining on the infield section just on dawn and hit the wall. Repairs took the best part of an hour and the car finished 5th but only minutes away from 3rd.
de Cadenet may have received scant notice in the French press but he attracted an enormous amount of English press, especially the Daily Mail due to his oversize Union Jack signage.
If you look closely at the flags you will see 4 little stars attached being the New Zealand flag!
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