United Autosports entered the Porsche 962 into the prestigious historic event – the same Porsche 962 that won on its debut at the Six Hours of Riverside in 1986 for US team, Dyson Racing. The car scored a further seven podiums that year. This helped Price Cobb to second place in the 1986 Camel GTP Championship.

On Friday morning, Zak Brown clinched pole for the C1b class and cemented his pole position later that evening, by improving on his time set earlier that day. Zak also scored the fastest lap of the race on lap eight with a time of 4:07:656.

The United Autosports historics team make their way to Silverstone next for the Silverstone Classic (30-31 July) with the March 701 and McLaren MP4-16A.

Zak Brown, Driver and Team Owner, United Autopsorts:
“I’m thrilled with how this weekend went. A pole position, fastest lap and the win is a great result for all the team. The Porsche 962 is a great car and it ran perfectly all weekend. To race at Le Mans is a real privilege and it feels even more special in a car like this Porsche. Bring on the Silverstone Classic at the end of the month.”

Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports:
“Zak did a great job at Le Mans in the Porsche against some tough competition, especially getting pole by nearly five seconds over the second placed guy. The team had worked hard to get the Porsche 962 running perfectly, so I’m glad they were also rewarded with a win. We are looking forward to the Silverstone Classic at the end of the month with Jackie Stewart’s March 701 and Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren MP4-16A.”

The Porsche 962 made a winning race debut in the Six Hours of Riverside in April 1986 for US team Dyson Racing and went on to place seven more times on the rostrum (Laguna Seca, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Sears Point, Road America, Watkins Glen and Daytona). These results helped to earn American Price Cobb the runners-up position in the 1986 Camel GTP Championship. The 962, which also won at Watkins Glen the following year, will be raced by United Autosports Co-Owner Zak Brown. The American, Group Chief Executive Officer of CSM Sport & Entertainment, was due to race to the 962 in the Group C event supporting the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours but a mechanical gremlin in qualifying side-lined the Porsche.

The Le Mans Classic is a biennial sportscar event held on the same 8.4-mile track as used by the Le Mans 24 Hour race competitors each June. The Classic began in 2002 and runs every two years in July. That year’s Classic was the first time since 1923 that the full 24 hour circuit, part of which is public roads the rest of the year, was closed specifically for an event other than the annual running of the 24 heures du Mans with contemporary sportscars and prototypes.

Zak Brown (USA). Born: Los Angeles, California, USA. Lives: London, England:
“I can’t wait to get back to Le Mans and race the Porsche 962. It’s a great car with lots of history. The Le Mans Classic is a great event – the atmosphere is fantastic so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.”

Richard Dean (GB). Born/Lives: Leeds, England:
“Zak and I are excited to take United Autosports back to Le Mans only a few weeks after such a successful weekend with our LMP3 team. The 962 round Le Mans will look pretty impressive too. We love our historic racing so this Le Mans Classic event is perfect for teams like ours.”

Jaguar has a long and successful history at Le Mans, with the marque first winning there back in 1951 with Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead driving the C-type – affectionately known as XKC 003.

A one-two finish followed this in 1953 with the duo of Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton taking overall honours. Jaguar dominated Le Mans for three consecutive years in 1955, 1956 and 1957 in the D-type.  A further two race victories were to follow years later in 1988 and 1990 in the XJR-9LM and XJR-12 respectively.

Along with the inclusion of the Le Mans Classic in the calendar, the Jaguar Classic Challenge, run in conjunction with the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC), will also adopt new technical regulations based on the FIA’s Appendix K framework for cars competing in international historic racing competitions. These regulations pay particular consideration to a car’s period specification and are in keeping with the true spirit of historic motor racing.

Drivers participating in this year’s Classic Challenge will now also qualify to enter many other international historic races that run these standardised set of rules.

The dates for the 2016 Jaguar Classic Challenge are as follows:

Donington Historic Festival: 30^th April – 2^nd May

Silverstone International Trophy: 21^st – 22^nd May

Le Mans Classic: 8^th – 10^th July

AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix, Nürburgring: 12^th – 14^th August

Oulton Park Gold Cup: 27^th – 29^th August

Tim Hannig, Director, Jaguar Land Rover Classic, said: “Jaguar’s wonderful history of racing at Le Mans will add to the spectacle of the Jaguar Classic Challenge. Watching a diverse array of pre-1966 Jaguars racing on the iconic circuit, some of which even raced there in period, will surely be a sight not to be missed.

“The racing and camaraderie between the drivers during the inaugural season was fantastic to witness and the new regulations will enhance the experience for both competitors and fans alike making it a fitting tribute to the brand’s rich racing pedigree.

“The Jaguar Land Rover Classic business specialises in cars, services, parts and experiences to maintain and nurture the passion for the Jaguar brand and its iconic models for decades to come.”

Peter Auto, which already has four remarkable historic racing grids, Classic Endurance Racing, Sixties’ Endurance, Trofeo Nastro Rosso and the Heritage Touring Cup, is widening its horizons even further with the arrival of Group C Racing in 2016. Up to now the sports prototypes of the 80s were invited to certain events like Spa-Classic and the Dix Mille Tours on an occasional basis. Henceforth, these incredible cars will be present at each event on the calendar as the Group C Racing Association and Patrick Peter have decided to unite their forces with the avowed intention of putting together a field of 25 cars on the European circuits – among them the Le Mans 24 Hours at Le Mans Classic!

LEGENDARY CARS!

In force from 1982 to 1993, the Group C regulations led to the creation of legendary cars that wrote some of the most glorious pages in the history of the Le Mans 24 hours and the Endurance World Championship. In the early years the Porsche 956s dominated despite stout resistance from the Lancia LC2s. Then the competition gradually became stronger with the momentum generated by the arrival of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda when it reached its apogee. In addition to the major manufacturers, constructors like Cougar, Dome, Rondeau, Spice and WM were able to shine thanks to a clever interpretation of the very liberal regulations based on strict fuel consumtion limits. The fabulous Group C epoch ended in the early 90s after a brief period of cohabitation with the 3.5 sports prototypes (Peugeot 905, Jaguar XJR-14, Toyota TS010, etc.). It remains a true golden era for many endurance specialists.

LE MANS CLASSIC WITH THE GROUP C!

With their modern looks, their windscreens like fighter plane canopies, their doors in elytron and their huge rear wings, the Group Cs hold an irrestible fascination for people of all ages; they are still capable of performances very close to those of the present-day prototypes, as their top speeds exceed 300 km/h! They will certainly be the stars of the Peter Auto meetings whose 2016 calendar will be announced at the end of September and will include not-to-be-missed events like Spa-Classic, the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, the Dix Mille Tours and Le Mans Classic!

The cars were grouped into six “plateaus” according to their age, in two of these groups Kaufmann got to compete. Plateau 4 saw him in the Jaguar E-Type 3.8 litre FHC he was already familiar with after his strong performance with the powerful coupé at CER Dijon earlier in the year. The car he drove in plateau 2 was completely new to the professional sportscar driver – a 1953 Jaguar XK120. “Drum brakes all round, a giant steering wheel”, Kaufmann sums up his initial impression of the car, “completely different, but fascinating and fun to drive!” Both cars were shared by Siam Sassi and Alexis de Beaumont.

Three races were scheduled for every group, each running over 45 minutes, some in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours. A real challenge for every driver! The team left the qualifying sessions to pro driver Kaufmann who put both cars among the front runners of their respective groups. Sadly, this performance was not rewarded with the E-Type. As the car had been accepted into the event from the reserve list, therefore the team had to take the start from the back of the grid, in spite of an excellent qualifying result. But Kaufmann lived up to his nick name “Fighter”. He move through the pack and up the order was only stopped with four laps to go, by the Safety Car. Nevertheless, the E-Type was classified in 10th place among the GTS cars. Technical trouble had the team sit out race 2, so Kaufmann was on the attack again in the third race, again from the back of the grid. But his motto was “never give up, never surrender!” The man from Germany picked off competitor by competitor and steered the valuable coupé all the way to 5th position!

Kaufmann also started his races with the unfamiliar XK120. After the traditional Le Mans start (the drivers sprint across the main straight to their cars, jump in and fire the engines) he directly made up a number of places. Kaufmann relished the new challenge of the XK120, and put the Jaguar in the lead group before bringing it back to the pits for the driver change. His team mate Alexis de Beaumont took over for the second half of the race, and saw the chequered flag in 8th position in his class! The other races were driven by Siassi / de Beaumont, with Kaufmann concentrating on the E-Type.

“I have driven a few races at Le Mans, in the GT2 class and with prototypes; but this is also an amazing event”, Kaufmann sums up his impression of the Le Mans Classic, “it stands out among the great events of classic motorsport, as a completely different kind of racing!”
 
And the season continues in a classic vein, with the next assignment on July 19/20 in the Youngtimer Trophy at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where Wolfgang Kaufmann will drive  the Ford Escort Mk.I BDA.

This weekend the weather in the Sarthe wasn’t all that great. However, this didn’t put off the spectators who flocked to the famous Le Mans circuit in large numbers, and the attendance figure didn’t fall compared to the 109 000 spectators who watched the event in 2012, the first time that the 100 000-barrier had been broken in the history of Le Mans Classic (96 250 in 2010).

This repeat success in 2014 proves that the joint Le Mans Classic organisers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and Peter Auto, have got it right.

The recipe consists of a few vital ingredients:

High-quality grids giving rise to battles between 450 cars in the hands of more than 1 000 drivers, including seven former Le Mans 24-Hours winners, on the big Le Mans 24-Hours circuit,
-    Some 8000 fantastic cars on display around the Bugatti circuit, the setting for a mouth-watering gathering of historic and exceptional cars,
-    Very popular sideshows like the race for children Little Big Mans with almost 100 cars,
-    The new drive-in cinema for more entertainment in the evenings,
-    An auction held by Artcurial Motorcars whose overall sales figure was 13 million euros,
-    An increasingly comprehensive and diversified village full of carefully selected entertainment, side shows and exhibitions to immerse the visitor in the magic of the history of the motor car,
-    The accessibility and proximity of the men and their machines for the public.

Three weeks after the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours record crowd of 263 300 spectators who attended the 82nd running of the most famous endurance race in the world, Le Mans Classic has confirmed its status as the second-biggest event organised at the ACO circuit.

Thus, less than a month afterwards no fewer than 373 300 fans came to the Le Mans circuit united by their common passion for the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2012, the combined figure for the two events was 349 000 people and in 2010, 334 400.

The chapter of the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, whether that of the blue riband event itself or of the retrospective, is now closed. In two weeks the Le Mans Bugatti circuit will host the sixth leg of the Coupes de France Promosport Moto 2014 before the big endurance race for two wheelers, the 37th 24 Heures Moto on 20-21 September.

The eighth Le Mans Classic will take place in 2016.

Having already spent much time behind the wheel of the Leventis family-owned DBR1, Gregor – who runs London’s foremost historic automobile specialist Fiskens – was once again entrusted to race the car at Le Mans where he has made previous appearances in both the contemporary 24 Hours and Classic driving Aston Martins. Last weekend’s changeable weather saw each of the category’s three races held in different conditions. Not that it bothered Fisken who, having qualified seventh, revelled in Saturday night’s combination of heavy rain and darkness to bring the DBR1 home third overall.

The Scot was on the move once again on Sunday morning when, amongst some of the slipperiest track conditions he could remember at Le Mans, Fisken finished fourth after starting fifth. The sheer volume of water that had fallen at Le Mans over the weekend was beginning to take its toll on the Aston’s electrics however and, having suffered from an intermittent ignition problem during the opening laps of the afternoon’s final race, it was forced into the pits for an early stop. A superb effort though from Tim Samways and his team saw the issue remedied in no time, allowing Gregor to continue setting fast lap times and a top speed in excess of 160mph from Mulsanne to Indianapolis en route to second on the road and runner-up in the combined classification.

Gregor Fisken: “It’s been an honour and a privilege to drive the DBR1 this weekend. Its history alone is incredible but when you consider the recent passing of Carroll Shelby, Roy Salvadori and Ted Cutting then it really does make driving the car here feel even more special. For me, it’s the best front-engined sportscar of its era to drive, and of course it looks just fantastic. It ran faultlessly in the first two races that were held in very tough conditions so perhaps, on this weekend of all weekends, we earned that good fortune in the final race.”

Source : Gregor Fisken

Grid 4 : 1962-1965

One of the 2008 starts for Grid 4…

…won by Christian Gläsel’s Ford GT40.

This period was completely dominated by Ferrari, with three wins for the works Ferraris and another for the North American Racing Team. Olivier Gendebien claimed the last of his four wins, while it was the third one for Phil Hill. It was the first appearances of Ford, with first of all AC Cobras and then the first GT40 entries in 1964.

Six GT40s are entered this year in grid 4, for Monteverde/Pearson, tireless, Hans Hugenholtz, Christian Gläsel, regular Group C Racing driver and winner at Le Mans Classic two years ago, among others…There will be too many Ferraris including Luis Perez-Companc’s 330LM and Claudia Hürtgen’s 330P, many Cobras for Eric de Doncker or for Miguel Amaral and the De Mello Brynner brothers. Some Alpine-Renault will be racing too : one M63 for Hiroki Katoh, one M65 for Jean Ragnotti and Alain Serpaggi; Leventis/Verdon Roe/Fisken will drive a Dino Ferrari; David Hart, second at Le Mans in the GT1 category, will drive a powerful Bizzarrini…Jaguars, Lotus, Porsches, MGs, Morgans will be on the grid too.

As we already said, Christain Gläsel was winner in 2008 aboard the #44 Ford GT40.

Grid 5 – 1966-1971

Olivier Cazalières and his Ferrari 512S were winners of Grid 5…

But beware of the Porsche 917s !

1966 is the first Ford win at Le Mans with Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon’s Mk II, followed next year by another victory, Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt, winners with a Ford Mk IV, being over the 5000 kms mark for the first time, with a new record : 5232,900. The next two years, Ford claims still the win. In 1969, Jacky Ickx is winner for the first time, partnered by Jackie Oliver behind the wheel of a JohnWyer’s Ford GT40. Everyone remembers of course Jacky Ickx walking slowly -and not sprinting- towards his car at the start…1970 and 1971 have been Porsche races, with the famous Porsche 917. In 1970, Hans Herrmann -with Richard Atwood- takes his revenge of his 1969 second place and in 1971 Austrian Helmut Marko and Dutch Gijs Van Lennep set a new record for the event with 5335,313 kilometers, a record improved only last June by Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller, on a circuit definitely less quick than in 1971.

Five GT40s have been entered and two Porsche 917 only, but the Porsches will have some strong line-ups : one 917 will be driven by the Portuguese Amaral/De Mello Brynner/De Mello Brynner, and the other one will be driven by two former Le Mans winners : Vern Schuppan (winner in 1983 and three more podiums at Le Mans) and Richard Atwood (winner in 1970 and second in 1971 with a Porsche 917). Many other Porsche models will be on the track : 911, 906, 908 -including one 908 for Sascha Maassen/Willy Kauhsen/Hervé Regout-. Among Porsche and Ford’s opponents, there will be of course Ferrari, with 4 Ferrari 512 -Monteverde/Pearson, inevitably…- and a Ferrari P3 for Leventis/Verdon Roe/Fisken, other stakhanovist drivers too….One Matra 660 is entered for Guenat/Mahé, one Alfa Romeo TT, many Lola T70s…In this grid, always popular with the audience at Le Mans Classic, one of the stars will be Jean Marc Luco’s Ligier JS3. The Swiss driver will share the wheel of the Ligier with Jacques Nicolet. Some Chevrons, Alpine-Renaults or Corvettes are entered too, more several GT Ferraris, including Paul Knapfield and Jamie Campbell-Walter’s Ferrari 365 GTB4.

Olivier Cazalières had been winner of grid 5 in 2008 with a Ferrari 512S.

Grid 6 – 1972-1979

Jean-Marc Luco’s Porsche 936 will still be looking for the win in Grid 6…

Henri Pesacarolo will drive one of the Inalteras.

Matra took the first of three wins in a row in 1972. Henri Pescarolo claimed three wins too, two with Gérard Larrousse and one partnered by Graham Hill, each of the these victories with a Matra 670-. Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell secured the win with a Mirage-Cosworth in 1975, Porsche winning in 1976 and 1977 with the Porsche 936. Jacky Ickx added a new win to his record in 1976 with Gijs Van Lennep and next year he shared his victory with Hurley Haywood and Jürgen Barth. 1978 saw the long awaited Renault victory with the Alpine Renault A442B, with the famous acrylic glass bubble canopy, driven by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi, Next year, it was the only win at Le Mans of a Porsche 935, a Kremer Racing K3 which was shared by the Whittington brothers and by Klaus Ludwig.

Unfortunatey, there is not any Matra entered but no less than nine Porsche 935 will be on the track, including two “Moby Dick”, one for Yvan Mahé and the other one for a Porsche expert, Helmuth Freisinger while Norbert Singer himself will be behind the wheel of another Porsche 935. There is not anymore any Alpine-Renault A442 or A443 but their great contender of the previous Le Mans Classic events will be there, the former Ickx/Joest Porsche 936 driven by his current owner Jean-Marc Luco, again partnered with Jacques Nicolet. Two Inalteras -the prototypes built by the late Jean Rondeau- will be in this field too, with Henri Pescarolo aboard one car. In this grid, there are too several Ferraris 512BB, including one for Knapfield/J-C W, many Chevrons and Lolas, a Sauber C5 for the Scemama brothers and Walter Brunn, a rare Duckham’s LM for Olivier Cazalières, one Gulf-Mirage, one Cheetah, one Toj…French Prime Minister François Fillon will drive a BMW M1…

Jean-Marc Luco and Jürgen Barth had been winners of the 2008 event in grid 6 with the Porsche 936.

Claude Foubert

Grid 1 : 1923-1939

Grid 2 : 1949-1956

Grid 3 : 1957-1961

Grid 4 : 1962-1965

Grid 5 : 1966-1971

Grid 6 : 1972-1979

68 cars have been selected for each grid, so 408 cars are in the final entry list, 55 cars being reserve cars. The cars must have raced – or must be a model of the same type- at Le Mans between 1923 and 1979. The winner of the Le Mans Classic event will not be however a car but a team, each one having a car in each grid (with the same race number).

The winning #65 team on the podium in 2008.

In 2008, the winning team had been the #65 Team, with drivers and cars as follows :

Grid 1 : Nigel Osmond-Smith/Neil Davies (Bentley 4,5l Tourer 1924)

Grid 2 : Jos Fernandes Sousa/Sam Stretton/Cecil Schumacher (Talbot Lago T26 1951)

Grid 3 : David Bennett/Chris Woodgate (Aston Martin DB3S 1956)

Grid 4 : Jo Bamford/Alain De Cadenet/Greg Fisken (Ferrari 275GTB 1965)

Grid 5 : Pascal Gaudard/Eric de Doncker (Chevrolet Corvette 1971)

Grid 6 : Richard Bryan (Chevron B36 1976)

Green flag for grid 1…

… where the 1931 Talbot 105 had been winning overall.

Grid 1 : 1923-1939

It would be too long to write a complete review of this first Le Mans era, for Pre-War cars. Just remember that, after the inaugural win of a Chenard & Walcker at Le Mans in 1923, with a 92,064 kmh speed average on a circuit of which the layout and the surface were far different from now, Bentley and the Bentley Boys won five times between 1925 and 1930 -Lorraine-Dietrich winning in the meantime in 1926 and 1927-. Then, Alfa Romeo won four times in row from 1931 to 1934. Lagonda claimed their only win in 1935. In 1936, the event was cancelled due to the strikes, while Bugatti was winner in 1937 and 1939, Delahaye in 1938.

So, this is an “oldies” field, some of them having an impressive size as a well a huge engine capacity, as the Bentleys, Invictas or Lagondas, while others are smaller like the Bugattis, all of them being very well prepared.

In this grid the Evelyne Heisé’s Simca 8 will be racing in the event for the second time in a row. Evelyne Heisé will be still partnered by the two-times Le Mans winner Jean-Pierre Jaussaud. In this grid, the rare 1932 Citroën C4 Roadster has not, of course, the output and the capacity of the Bentleys…

Eventful start for grid 2…

…where Pearson/Webb took the win with a C-type Jaguar.

Grid 2 : 1949-1956

After a long break due to the Second World War, the first post-war event was held in 1949. Luigi Chinetti -who was to found later on the famous North American Racing Team (NART) and who will be named Honoured Citizen of Le Mans- claimed his third win at Le Mans. Next year, Louis Rosier wrote a part of the Le Mans legend, winning the race behind the wheel of a Talbot Lago. He had been driving the car for twenty-three hours and a half, his son Jean-Louis turning a few laps only!! Jaguar took their first win in 1951, winning three other races in 1953, 1955 – a very sad memory indeed, with the dramatic accident of Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes and the death of more than 80 spectators- and 1956. Mercedes had won the 1952 event with a Mercedes 300SL, and Maurice/Trintignant/José Froilan Gonzales had been winners in 1954 behind the wheel of a Ferrari 375.

The non-specialist spectators will be more used to these post-war cars, Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars, Maseratis, Aston Martins, Lancias. The Jags should be in the limelight with some strong line-ups : Gary Pearson/Carlos Monteverde (1955 D-type Jaguar), Gary Pickering (D-type Jaguar too), Chris and Alex Buncombe (1952 C-type)…

Two rare cars will be racing too : a 1951 4CV Renault -which had some spectacular offs in the previous Le Mans Classic editions- and a 1949 Skoda 1101.

Gary Pearson and Nigel Webb had been overall winners of the grid 2 in 2008, with a 1952 C-type Jaguar.

Pearson/Webb also won in grid 3 with a D-type.

Welcome back to the gorgeous 250 Berlinetta Ferraris.

Grid 3 : 1957-1961

1957 was still a Jaguar win, with the D-type driven by Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb, the second win in a row for Ecurie Ecosse and for the Scot Ron Flockhart. In 1958, the pairing Olivier Gendebien/ Phil Hill claimed the first of their three wins with a Ferrari 250TR. Belgian Olivier Gendebien was again winner in 1960, partnered by his fellow countryman Paul Frère. He was again on the top spot of the podium next year, with Phill Hill, who will be besides Formula One World Champion in 1961 too. In the meantime, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori had given to Aston Martin its only Le Mans win so far, behind the wheel of a DBR1.

Four Ferraris 250 are entered in this grid 3 and only one D-type Jaguar. Ther will be too some Maseratis, Lister Jaguars – with strong line-ups : Nick Leventis/Greg Fisken or Carlos Monteverde/Gary Pearson-, Porsches, Lotus, Dino Ferraris…

Gary Pearson and Nigel Webb were also winners of the grid 3 two years ago, with a D-type Jaguar.

Claude Foubert