Le Mans 1979

[markjtaylor]

This was my first trip to the great 'British Race' held in France. Has anybody got photos or links to any sites that may have some. What a fabulous event, 935's etc. As an amusing aside, I was fearfull that my XJ6 might cause me problems, as did my mate who I went with, he had an XJ6 as well, not bad for two blokes aged 21. Thoughts of recovering them if there were problems prompted us to buy 'an old smoker' for the trip. we bought a Morris A60, for £60, did 1200 miles through France, came back and sold it for a profit. Never made any money on cars since though!

[Peter Mallett]

Possibly in the wrong forum but IIRC Renault won this one.

[John Turner]

I'll move this to History where it will probably gain a bigger audience/response.

[markjtaylor]

The winners in 1979 were Klaus Ludwig and the 'drug baron' Whittington brothers in a Porsche 935, not Renault as stated by Peter Mallet. sorry

[Peter Mallett]

Ah so it was Renault 1978 then?

[Graz]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Ah so it was Renault 1978 then?

Oui

[tlracing]

1979 was one of the first years the ACO had a proper yearbook published after the race. It's probably not the easiest to get hold of (although there is one on eBay in the US right now for about £35.00) but would give you a load of memory-jogging pics, etc.

The complete entry, with pics, stats, chassis numbers etc. is here:

http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...979-06-10.html

[chunterer]

Was the '79 event the one where the late, great Paul Newman finished 2nd in another 935?

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Was the '79 event the one where the late, great Paul Newman finished 2nd in another 935?

yes, with Stommelen & Barbour

[Alfie72]

This particular year was blighted by the weather. It was absolutely foul - even for La Sarthe.

For a variety of strange reasons, I was in Alain de Cadenet's pit crew and we lasted precisely 11 laps before we terminally cooked the gearbox and posted the official retirement. First car out. I got lots of spectating time as a result.

Stand-outs for me that year -

The pushing and shoving match I got into with Paul Newman in the back of the pits when we were trying to clear our pit.
How well Mark Thatcher drove the little Osella(IIRC?) in the wet - he was a revelation.
The result, it really was a fluke, but who cares, the results book doesn't say that does it?
Our trouble starting the race car Saturday morning. Wouldn't start on the battery for some reason so we towed it out on to the inner ring road, where we bump started it, and drove it up to the paddock. On the way, some big wig came past in a motorcade with Police outriders, so we just hooked on to the tail and sailed right through.
Not getting paid!!

[markjtaylor]

In reply to earlier threads, Paul Newman was second, also the weather was foul, we were campoing within the circuit I remember that it took about a week for our clothes to dry as we toured leasurely back.

[markjtaylor]

Alfie 72, Maybe my memory is wrong, I thought Mark Thatcher only raced as far as the pits to the Dunlop Bridge, lost it and left the rear wing and other bits of the car by the barriers, then limped off, wasn't it Dorset Racing? Perhaps this happened on a later race?

[Alfie72]

Mark,

My memory of the event is not sufficiently precise to argue with you; the reason I seem to think about Thatcher in such a positive light was that it was very close on the heels of his "escapade" with Marie-Claude Beaumont in the desert. But you may be right about his final demise

Jokes about getting lost were flying and yet his drive stood out - but I have been mistaken in the past - well once anyway!

I can't remember what Dorset did that year.

[markjtaylor]

Alfie 72 Its all coming back to me now, it was after the Paris/Dakar debacle. Very naughty i know, but his crash was viewed by a large British contingent as being hilarious, on the basis that this time he could not even find his way around one lap!!! I think it was a green car, entered by Dorset Racing, seem to remember hat the entrant and main driver was Martin????, who I think tragically lost his life a few years later in a racing accident, was it Martin Sheldon???

[markjtaylor]

Wrong again, Thatcher shared an Osella with Lombardi, nothing to do with Dorset racing Sorry

[Alfie72]

Mark,

Don't apologise, you didn't say anything out of order. Memory can play funny games and I could not be certain.

I am also away from my Le Mans yearbooks so I couldn't check my recollections beyond that point.

[Graham Clayton]

The Newman Barbour/Stommelen/Newman 935 was running a strong second when it came into the pits for its last scheduled pit stop, which included a driver and tyre change. One of the centre-locking wheel nuts jammed solid. As the wheel could not be removed, the entire suspension upright was replaced, which took 22 minutes.

The car suffered a blown head gasket with 20 minutes to go, and started to slow appreciably. Stommelen parked the car just short of the finish line with 10 minutes to go, and kept the engine running (One of the rules of the 24 hours was that the final lap needed to be completed in a time of less than 15 minutes). He then crossed the line at the end of the 24 hours to finish 2nd overall.