Mega Gallery: Celebrating the Le Mans 24 Hours at the Epic 2016 Le Mans Classic!
By Marcel Hundscheid/Speed-O-Graphica.com
Sit back and enjoy our comprehensive coverage of the 2016 Le Mans Classic, featuring Sports, GTs and super touring cars as well as the phenomenal Group C prototypes from the eighties and nineties.
The event, Europe’s largest and most important classic motorsport festival, saw 123,000 spectators gather to celebrate the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) jointly organized the 8th edition of the biennial Le Mans Classic over the 8th to 10th of July. As proven in earlier editions, the event has became a true crowd-puller. As both in quantity, quality and atmosphere the Le Mans Classic is unique.
123,000 spectators relived the glorious history of the world’s greatest endurance race over the period 1923-1993. The weather was exceptional over the weekend with temperatures reaching around 30° C.
550 cars and 1000 drivers found their way to the track. Amongst them were 10 former winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours including the winner of the recently held 2016 edition, Porsche driver Romain Dumas. One of the curtain-raisers was the presence of Group C Racing, with nearly 40 cars on the grid and the Jaguar Classic Challenge racing for the first time at Le Mans.
Around the paddock 8500 cars represented 180 makes, including BMW’s centenary and the 50th anniversary of the Ford GT40’s first victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
In the paddock a large collection of privately owned GT40s could be seen. Besides this the Concours Le Mans Heritage Club, Little Big Mans, and the F.F.V.E.’s special exhibition devoted to racing team transporters were present.
The 2016 Le Mans Classic saw some changes in comparison with the 7th edition back in 2014. This year the track opened on Friday morning for five additional hours of practice session for the different grids, as well as a practice session for Group C, representing the Golden Age of endurance racing.
Another new feature was a vast field of around 60 Jaguars from the Jaguar Classic Challenge including iconic cars like the C, D, E, XK and Mk Types. 1988 Le Mans winner Andy Wallace grabbed victory at the wheel of a D-Type.
Eight other former winners saw action over the weekend including Emanuele Pirro, five-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi back in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2007. Emanuele drove an Alfa Romeo T33/3 (1969), a Lola T290 (1972) and a Lancia Beta Gr. V from 1979.
Three-time winner Marco Werner from Germany saw action in a Lotus IX (1955), a Maserati T63 Birdcage (1961), and Maserati A6 GCS Barchetta (1954). Besides these cars, Werner entered grid 6 with a Kremer-Porsche 936 that was driven by the late Stefan Bellof. Werner claimed victory during all three races in Grid 6.
Current works Porsche-driver Romain Dumas won the Le Mans 24 Hours back in 2010 driving an Audi. Over the weekend the Frenchman competed in Group C Racing with a Porsche 962C.
The son of the late Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Julien Beltoise raced together with Henri Pescarolo in the same Inaltera that Jean-Pierre drove back in 1976. Current president of the Drivers’ Club, Gerard Larrousse entered the grid in a Porsche 550 Spyder from 1958. Frenchman Eric Hélary who saw action with Peugeot in 1993 had a busy time driving a 1970 Chevrolet Corvette C3, a Lancia Beta Gr. V (1979) and a Alfa Romeo T33 TT from 1971.
Andy Wallace’s former team-mate Jan Lammers from Holland entered the race in an Austin Healey 3000. Frenchman Emmanuel Collard participated in a Porsche 908/3 (1971) and a Porsche 911 Turbo RSR from 1974. German Jochen Mass won the race back in 1989 and was back in a De Tomaso Pantera Gr. IV (1971). Dutchman Gijs van Lennep who scored victories back in 1971 and 1976 drove a Porsche 908 LH from 1968.
A few hours before the start of the race the auction held by Artcurial Motorcars raised 9,007,016 euros under the hammer of Maître Hervé Poulain, with 72% of the lots sold. Highest price achieved was 1.3 million euros for a client competition works Porsche 935 that raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours three times.
Thirty minutes before the start of the 2016 Le Mans Classic, Yohan Blake, Jamaican sprinter and ambassador of the watch brand Richard Mille gave the start of the Little Big Mans. 90 kids aged between 6 and 10 entered the grid for a lap around the Bugatti Circuit in 1/3 scale limited series produced cars, powered by an internal combustion or electric engine.
American singer, rapper, composer and producer Pharell Williams waved the French flag at 16:00 to unleash the drivers in grid 1 for pre-war cars (1923-1939). From that particular moment the race for the 6 different grids was under way and it would continue until 17:00 the next day.
Results different grids including Group C Racing and the Jaguar Classic Challenge:
Grid 1 (1929-1939) 59 entries
Race 1
1) Christian Traber/Spencer Trenery – Talbot Lago ex Monoplace décalée (1939)
2) Julian Bronson/Gareth Burnett – Talbot 105 BGH21 (1934)
3) Jean-Jacques Bally/Bertrand Leseur – BMW 328 (1938)
Race 2
1) Christian Traber/Spencer Trenery – Talbot Lago ex Monoplace décalée (1939)
2) Julian Bronson/Gareth Burnett – Talbot 105 BGH21 (1934)
3) Martin Bugler – Lagona LG45 (1937)
Race 3
1) Christian Traber/Spencer Trenery – Talbot Lago ex Monoplace décalée (1939)
2) Julian Bronson/Gareth Burnett – Talbot 105 BGH21 (1934)
3) Jean-Jacques Bally/Bertrand Leseur – BMW 328 (1938)
Grid 2 (1949-1956) 74 entries
Race 1
1) Andy Wallace – Jaguar D-Type (1955)
2) Nicolas Chambon – Maserati 300S (1955)
3) Serge Kriknoff-Seiss – Lotus XI 1500 (1956)
Race 2
1) Chris Ward – Jaguar C-Type (1952)
2) Andy Wallace – Jaguar D-Type (1955)
3) Nicolas Chambon – Maserati 300S (1955)
Race 3
1) Andy Wallace – Jaguar D-Type (1955)
2) Chris Ward – Jaguar C-Type (1952)
3) Nicolas Chambon – Maserati 300S (1955)
Grid 3 (1957-1961) 74 entries
Race 1
1) Chris Ward – Lister Costin (1959)
2) Ulrich Schumacher/Marco Werner – Maserati T63 Birdcage (1961)
3) Tom Alexander/Adrian Willmott – Aston Martin DB4 GT (1960)
Race 2
1) Chris Ward – Lister Costin (1959)
2) Steve Brooks/Patrick Blakeny-Edwards – Lister Jaguar flat iron (1958)
3) Tom Alexander/Adrian Willmott – Aston Martin DB4 GT (1960)
Race 3
1) Chris Ward – Lister Costin (1959)
2) Steve Brooks/Patrick Blakeny-Edwards – Lister Jaguar flat iron (1958)
3) Ivan Vercoutere/Andrew Wolfe – Lotus XV (1959)
Grid 4 (1962-1965) 81 entries
Race 1
1) Christophe van Riet – Ford GT40 (1965)
2) Richard Meins – Ford GT40 (1967)
3) Shaun Lynn – Ford GT40 (1965)
Race 2
1) Shaun Lynn – Ford GT40 (1965)
2) Richard Meins – Ford GT40 (1967)
3) Diogo Ferraro/Jesus Fuster – Ford GT40 (1965)
Race 3
1) Shaun Lynn – Ford GT40 (1965)
2) Richard Meins – Ford GT40 (1967)
3) Ludovic Caron – Shelby Cobra 289 (1963)
Grid 5 (1966-1971) 79 entries
Race 1
1) Claude Nahum/Bernard Thuner – Lola T70 Mk.III (1968)
2) Eric de Doncker – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB (1969)
3) Carlos Monteverde/Gary Pearson/Andrew Smith – Porsche 917 (1969)
Race 2
1) Eric de Doncker – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB (1969)
2) Bernard Thuner – Lola T70 Mk.III (1968)
3) Shaun Lynn – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB (1969)
Race 3
1) Bernard Thuner – Lola T70 Mk.III (1968)
2) Eric de Doncker – Lola T70 Mk.IIIB (1969)
3) Toni Seiler – Lola T70 Mk.III (1968)
Grid 6 (1972-1981) 75 entries
Race 1
1) Ulrich Schumacher/Marco Werner – Kremer Porsche 936 (1982)
2) Yves Scemama – TOJ SC 304 (1976)
3) Chris MacAllister – Gulf Mirage (1973)
Race 2
1) Ulrich Schumacher/Marco Werner – Kremer Porsche 936 (1982)
2) Chris MacAllister – Gulf Mirage (1973)
3) Dominique Guenat – Lola T286 (1976)
Race 3
1) Ulrich Schumacher/Marco Werner – Kremer Porsche 936 (1982)
2) Patrice Lafargue – Lola T298 (1979)
3) Carlos Barbot – Lola T280 (1972)
Group C Racing 42 entries
Race
1) Julien Piguet – Spice SE89C (1989)
2) Eric de Doncker – Spice SE90C (1990)
3) Tommy Dreelan-Aaron Scott – Porsche 962 (1987)
Jaguar Classic Challenge 63 entries
Race
1) Julian Thomas – Jaguar E-Type (1962)
2) Carlos Monteverde/Andrew Smith – Jaguar E-Type (1965)
3) Andy Wallace – Jaguar D-Type (1955)
Besides racing there was another highlight, the prestigious Concours Le Mans Heritage Club, compromising 24 hand-picked cars. All of the cars had taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours between 1923 and 2016. The jury awarded the following prizes:
Best of Show: Ford GT40 Mk2 (Robert Kauffman)
1st Class 1923-1939: Lorraine-Dietrich (Philippe Leroux)
1st Class 1949-1953: DB HBR53 (Dominique Lanlaud)
1st Class 1954-1964: Frazer Nash (Bill Holroyd)
Special Prize: Panhard X86 (Pierre Mouette)
1st Class 1965-1971: Ford GT40 (Frédéric Collot)
Special Prize: Nomad BRM (Christophe Brunhes)
1st Class 1972-1982: Inaltera 001 (Edgar Richoz)
Special Prize: Lola T600 (Jacques Sicotte)
Special Prize “Fidélité”: Porsche 934 RSR (Claudio Roddaro: 6 outings in the le mans 24 Hours)
1st Class 1983-2016 : McLaren F1 GTR (François Perrodo)
Special Prize: Marcos LM600 (Emeric Bordet)
F.I.V.A. Prize: CD Peugeot SP66 (L’Aventure Peugeot)
F.F.V.E. Prize: Delage 3L (Jean-Michel Collet)
The Concours des Clubs also rewarded several winners and awarded the following prizes:
1st Prize: Historic Lotus Club
2nd Prize: Club ”Qui N’en Veut” (Camping rétro)
3rd Prix : 205 GTI Club de France Special
F.F.V.E. Prize : Renault Classic
The 8th edition of the Le Mans Classic was a great success. The atmosphere of this great event is unique and can’t be found anywhere else. The biennial event is unique and a must see for every motorsports fan. We are eagerly awaiting the 9th edition in 2018!
