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Thursday 27 December 2018

Musée des 24 heures du Mans - Le Mans 24 Hours Museum

Part of the current 70 years of Porsche display at the museum.
Just before Christmas, I decided to make a return visit to the Le Mans 24 Hours museum.  On a Sunday morning, I was one of about a dozen people at the museum and thus was able to take my time and see everything I wanted, without others getting in the way.  The museum really does cover every period of the great race and at the moment is hosting a special exhibit commemorating Porsche at Le Mans.

Below see some of the photos I took and some reminders of the history of Le Mans and motor racing.

1906
Le Mans first played a major part in motor racing history as early as 1906, when it hosted the world's first ever Grand Prix race.  It was won by a Hungarian driver, Ferenc Szisz in a Renault.   Le Mans also held the French GP in 1921, 1929 and 1967.

Le Mans facts No.1 - The 1906 French GP was boycotted by the British manufacturers as they considered it as a French publicity stunt.  Some of the early motoring pioneers like Charles Jarrott (winner of the 1902 Circuit des Ardennes) already considered motor racing as too commercialised by 1906. 
A wonderful diorama of the 1906 Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France at Le Mans.  It was made by Yvon Laurent.  This is the Mercedes team at the weigh-in.   No.6A is the car Camille Jenatzy drove.  His mechanic was an Englishman called Burton.
1920s
The world famous 24 Heures du Mans motor race was first held in 1923 when the car that covered the greatest distance was a  Chenard & Walcker Sport 3 litre driven by a team of French drivers.  In 1924 a privately entered Bentley won.  From 1927 to 1930 the works Bentley's driven by the "Bentley Boys" won four times in a row.

Le Mans facts No.2 -  There was no official winner of the 1923 24 Heures du Mans as it was just the first part of a triennial competition for the Coupe Triennale Rudge-Whitworth Cup.  Eventually, in 1925 the first of these cups was awarded to a Chenard & Walcker.
Detail of a 1923 Chenard-Walcker similar to the first ever winner of the 24 Hours.
Another diorama, this time of the pits during the 1927 race.
The actual Bentley that won Le Mans in 1924.
1930s
The early thirties saw Alfa Romeos win from 1931 to 1934.  Tazio Nuvolari won at his first and only attempt in 1933.  Lagonda scored a surprise win in 1935 and then Bugatti ansd Delehaye won the last three races before WWII.

Le Mans facts No.3 -  The winning Alfa Romeo of Sommer and Nuvolari in 1933 had to have a fuel leak plugged by chewing gum which was applied whilst racing.  They eventually won by less than 10 seconds.
The winning Alfa Romeo in 1931 passing an accident at Les Hunaurdieres.  Another amazing diorama.
Nuvolari's helmet and googles.   He won in 1933.
Lagonda were the surprise winners in 1935.

A representation of the great Robert Benoist.  He won in 1937.
A beautiful sporting Peugeot Darl' Mat from 1937.
1940s
There were no 24 Heures du Mans from 1940 to 1948.  The race returned in 1949 and provided the first of nine wins for Ferrari.

Le Mans facts No.4 - The 1949 race was the first LM24 won by a V12 engine and the first won by an under 2 litre engine.  Luigi Chinetti drove for nearly 23 hours.  As well as winning the race, the Ferrari also took the Index of Performance (a handicap classification based on engine size). 
The actual Ferrari that won in 1949 is in the museum.
The French DB marque first took part in Le Mans in 1949.
1950s
Jaguar took five wins in the nineteen fifties, two with the C Type and three with the D Type.

Le Mans facts No.5 - In 1957 privately entered Jaguar D-Types scored a 1-2-3-4-6 finish, completely beating the works teams from Ferrari, Maserati and Aston Martin.
A representation of a Jaguar D Type.

A 1951 DB Panhard Barquette Antem.  This car had a displacement of just 745cc.

Diorama of the 1952 Le Mans.  Porsche racing past a Cunningham.


1956 Lotus XI.



Diorama of some pitstops in the 1957 race.
1960s

The early sixties saw Ferrari dominate from 1960 to 1965 and Ford win from 1966 to 1969.

Le Mans facts No.6 - The tradition of the winner spraying Champagne on the podium was started at the 1967 race by Dan Gurney.  His team mate AJ Foyt is the only person to have won the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Sebring 12 Hours, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.  
Ferrari 250 GTO reconstruction.
1962 René Bonnet DJet class winner.

Porsche 906 

Porsche 907/8K
1970s
Porsche took its first outright win at Le Mans  in 1970 having competed since 1951.  It took five wins during this decade.    Matra took three wins from 1972 to 1974 and Alpine Renault took one in 1978 to keep French interest alive.

Le Mans facts No.7 - In winning the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hourrs, Hans Herrmann became the first winner of the Endurance Triple Crown.   He had won the Sebring 12 Hours in 1960 and the Daytona 24 Hours in 1968.  Amazingly he also won the Targa Florio in 1960 and was also a class winner in the 1954 Mille Miglia and the 1954 Carrera Panamericana.   Added to this he finished second in the 1,000km races at Nurburgring, Spa, Brands Hatch and Monza.  Thus a truly unique set of results in ten of the toughest endurance races.

Diorama showing a Matra pitstop during the 1973 race.

1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo.

Renault Alpine A442A.  This was the fourth placed car in 1978.
1980s
The 1980s was the Group C era at Le Mans with Porsche dominating but Jaguar and Sauber-Mercedes also winning.  A number of Group C cars were on display.

Le Mans facts No.8 - In winning the 1980 LM24hrs, Jean Rondeau became the only man to win the race in a car bearing his own name.

The winning Rondeau M379 of 1980.

WM-Peugeot P79/80
1990s
The nineties saw Mazda, Mclaren and BMW score their only LM24Hr wins.

Le Mans facts No.9 - By competing in the 1999 edition Henri Pescarolo took part in a record 33 Le Mans 24 hour races.  He won four times and had another two class wins.

Overalls ofd the great Henri Pescarolo.

Toyota 94CV.  This car nearly won in 1994.

1998 Porsche 911 GT1.
2000s
The 24 Hours of Le Mans in the early 21st century was dominated by Audi.

Le Mans facts No.10 - The Volkswagen Group won Le Mans nine times in the 2000s with eight wins by Audi and one by Bentley.   Peugeot spoilt the run by winning in 2009.

2009 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP.

2003 Bentley Speed 8.
2010s
Audi, Porsche and Toyota have all taken wins this decade.

Le Mans facts No.11 - Porsche has the most wins at Le Mans with nineteen overall wins between 1970 and 2017.  They took seven consecutive wins between 1981 and 1987.

2013 Audi E-Tron Quattro R18H.  The occasion of Tom Kristensen's sixth victory in the race.
2016 Morgan onroak LMP2 car.  This car was adapted for quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset.

I hope this article will give you a flavour of what you might see at the museum.  Definitely worth a trip.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page. 

Sunday 4 November 2018

Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI - Single Seaters

Patrick Long demonstrating a 1990 March-Porsche Indy Car at Rennsport Reunion VI.
Porsche is well known for racing its GT cars and sports racing cars.  Sometimes we are apt to forget its forays into single seater racing.  Thus, I was pleased to see a few reminders at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI.

FORMULA TWO
Since its beginnings in 1948 Porsche had had success with small capacity Sports and GT racers.  This had culminated in an overall victory in the 1956 Targa Florio with a 1.5 litre 550 RS Spyder driven by Umberto Maglioli.   Then in 1957 the regulations for Formula Two changed to a maximum capacity of 1,500cc and it was announced that this would become the new Formula One from 1961.  Porsche produced a centre steer 718 RSK with all-enveloping bodywork for both sports car racing and F2.  Jean Behra shocked the World by winning in the car in a F2 race at Reims in 1958.   Masten Gregory repeated the triumph in a F2 race at the banked Avus later in the year.  Elsewhere, the heavy body disadvantaged the car but on fast circuits the streamlined body was an advantage.
Centre steer Porsche 718 RSK at Laguna Seca.
For 1959 Porsche produced a proper open wheel 718 F2 car and this had some success over the next few years.  Notable was a 1-2-3 victory in the 1960 Aintree 200 for Moss, Bonnier and Hill, a 1-2 in the German GP on the Sudschliefe for Bonnier and Von Trips, a 1-2-3 at Zeltweg for Moss, Herrmann and Barth, and a win for Bonnier at Modena beating the Ferraris on home-turf.

FORMULA ONE
In 1961 a new 1.5 litre era of Formula one commenced.  Apart from Ferrari nobody was particularly ready.  Porsche had its rather bulbous 718 F2 car chassis and its 160 bhp 4 cylinder engine but its attempt to produce a more powerful flat eight failed.  However, this proved relatively competitive except against the Ferraris.Bonnier won a heat at the Brussels GP, Gurney came second at Syracuse, and Bonnier came second at Solitude, Karlskoga and Modena.  In the World Championship races, Gurney came second in France, Italy and the USA to finish fourth in the drivers championship.  Porsche finished third in the constructors championship.
The Porsche 804 F1 car on display at Laguna Seca.
For 1962 Porsche produced a new sleek 804 F1 car with a 180bhp air cooled flat eight engine.  After retiring from the first two grand prix of the season, Dan Gurney won the French GP at Rouen through reliability.  This remains Porsche's only World Championship GP victory for chassis and engine.  Dan Gurney took pole position for the German GP at the Nurburgring but could only finish third.    In a non-championship race at the Solitude circuit, near Porsche's home town of Stuttgart, Dan Gurney led Jo Bonnier to a 1-2 victory.  Carel Godin de Beaufort finished fifth in a 718 which he continued to campaign in F1 until killed at the 1964 German GP.  At the end of 1962 Porsche concluded its F2 programme due to reasons of high cost compared to results and went back to its roots of Sports Car racing.
The 1962 Solitude GP winning car.
Porsche 804 F1.
INDY CAR
Having produced a successful turbocharged engine for Sports Car racing in the seventies, it was perhaps no surprise that Indy Car was a temptation for Porsche in 1980.  The plan was to cooperate with Ted Field's Interscope team.  They provided a modified Parnelli VPJ6B Indy Car chassis and Porsche provided a Type 935/72 turbo charged flat 6 engine developed by Valentin Schaffer.  Interscope clocked up a lot of testing miles and Danny Ongais would have been the driver.  This was a time of conflict in Indy Car racing between CART and USAC.  Eventually Porsche withdrew because of a ruling that it would have to run the same boost level as the Cosworth DVX V8.   Thus the project was still born.
Stillborn Interscope - Porsche Indy Car project from 1980.
The first Porsche indy Car project.
PIKES PEAK
Porsche has been associated with many hillclimb special over the years.  In 1981 one of these nearly won the Pike's Peak International Hillclimb - probably the most prestigious hillclimb in the World.  Bruce Canepa was originally a dirt track racer and in 1981 decided to tackle Pike's Peak in a single seater open wheel type racer powered by a twin turbo Porsche 911 engine.  He qualified first and eventually finished second after a spin to avoid a spectator who was crossing the track.
The Caneopa Nearman-Dreager Porsche special that came second at Pike's Peak in 1981.
RETURN TO FORMULA ONE AS AN ENGINE PROVIDER
The nineteen eighties was the era of the dominance of turbo charged engines in Formula One.  As a successful producer of turbo charged engines for Sports Cars, it is not that surprising that McLaren approached Porsche to provide a turbo-charged F1 engine.  The project was funded by TAG a Saudi Investment company.  Thus Porsche designed and developed the twin turbocharged V6 1,449 cc TAG-TTE P01.  It made its debut in the Dutch GP of 1983 bolted on to a McLaren MP4/1E in the capable hands of Niki Lauda but retired.  By the end of the year the car had started to become competitive with Lauda running second in the South African GP.  For 1984  and 1985 the Porsche engine would produce more power and was installed in the carbon fibre MP4/2.  This was a potent combination and in addition the drivers were old hand Niki Lauda and a promising new talent in Alain Prost.  Together they won twelve Championship races and Lauda pipped Prost to the championship by half a point.  McLaren-TAG were constructors champions with the Porsche developed engine.  In 1985 they won the Constructors Championship again  but this time Alain Prost took the drivers championship.  In 1986 Prost again won the championship but Williams-Honda had become the dominant car and won the constructors championship.
Prost's championship winning 1985 McLaren-TAG MP4/2b car.
A reminder of Porsche's eighties F1 success at Laguna Seca.

INDY CAR PROJECT PART TWO
Following their F1 success with McLaren-TAG, Porsche decided to return to Indy.  Thus a Porsche 2708 Chassis and 2708/80 engine were built for an assault on the 1988 Indy 500.  This time Porsche under the guidance of Hans Mezger chose a V8 engine.   The car made its debut at Laguna Seca in 1987 in the hands of Al Unser Snr but the debut was not a success. Al Holbert failed to qualify for the final race of the season so in 1988 the Porsche chassis was dumped in favour of one from March.  The March-Porsche raced in Indy Car from 1988 to 1990.  In 1988 Teo Fabi finished tenth in the championship, but in 1989 this had improved to fourth place in the championship.  The highlight was a win at Mid Ohio.  For 1990 a two car team was entered by Porsche North America with Teo Fabi (No.4) and John Andretti (No.41) as the drivers.  This season was not as successful as in 1989 and John Andretti finished tenth in the championship and Teo Fabi fourteenth.  Best finish was a third place at Meadowlands for Teo Fabi.   Both cars from the 1990 season were at Laguna Seca. 
Two 1990 March-Porsche Indy Cars
Teo Fabi's 1990 Porsche Indy Car.
John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.


John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page. 

Perhaps Porsche's least well known single seater programme is the one shown below!   They produced tractors from 1956 to 1963.
Jeff Zwart in his tractor driving through the paddock to the Porsche Tractor race on Saturday at Laguna Seca.

Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI - PCA Scholar-Friedman Cup

John Seidell in a 1997 Porsche Boxster leads a 911 at the Corkscrew.
The Porsche Club of America (PCA) is the largest single marque racing series in the World with 2000 licensed racers and 32 sanctioned races a year.  This is amateur club racing but forms one of the seven races at the Rennsport Reunion.  At this meeting they race for the Scholar Friedman Cup, which is named after two of PCA's founders who started the racing series in the early nineties.  One of those founders, Alan Friedman, was actually racing.  As you will see below a large variety of cars take part.
Alan Friedman racing a 1973 Porsche RSR.
The Porsche Rennsport Reunion is a unique event, that is held once every three or four years, dedicated just to classic and more modern racing Porsches, their drivers and the men and women who made it all possible.    Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI held over four days in September 2018 was again located at Laguna Seca like the last one in 2015.  No surprise as Laguna Seca is in California, which also happens to be the biggest market for Porsche.   This year the event was subtitled The Marque of Champions - a name that speaks for itself.  The event was also part of Porsche's 70th birthday celebrations.
A large variety of cars take part.  Here a fairly standard Porsche 944 is overtaken by a RileyDaytona prototype.
On the wonderful 2.238 mile Laguna Seca road course, seven groups of Porsche cars raced over the weekend.  The PCA Scholar-Friedman Cup event was for the amateur club racers of the PCA.  Fifty cars started the race.
The lead cars on their pac e lap at the Corkscrew.
The Race
What was nice about this race was that we saw a number of cars that we hadn't seen race all weekend.  It was also nice to see the fastest car have to fight for victory.  Great club racing.
Eventual winner was this 2008 Riley Daytona Prototype driven by Pierce Marshall.
The early leader was Robb Todd in a 2018 Porsche GT3 Cup car.  He eventually came second.
Third place went to a 2015 Porsche GT3 Cup driven by Jesse Menczer.  He won his class.
In sixth place came a 2016 Porsche GT4 CS driven by Chris Bellomo.
This 2012 Porsche Cayman R came ninth driven by Geoff Isringhausen.
Rich Polk finished tenth in this 1973 Porsche 911
A 2000 Porsche Boxster driven Jan Sussman finished thirteenth.
Claudio Kaempf came seventeenth in this 1970 Porsche 911.
A very popular car was this 2000 Boxster S in Highway Patrol colors driven by Chris Murray.  It finished nineteenth.
Twentieth was this 1981 Porsche 911 driven by Sean Neal.
A 1986 Porsche 911 driven by Evan Close  came 35th.
A spin for this 1972 Porsche 911 RSR in qualifying.
A beautiful 1981 Porsche 911

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.


John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page. 
A 1998 Porsche Boxster driven by Trygve Isaacson.