Jacky Ickx

6 times winner (1969,1975,1976, 1977,1981 1982)

Fifteen times Jacky Ickx took part in Le Mans. His first appearance was in 1966, but his first win came in the John Wyer entered Gulf GT40 in 1969. It was the first time that the event would be broadcast worldwide and there were cameras mounted on helicopters to track the cars around the circuit. "I remember Breguet-Atlantique flying over us and cutting through the curves and turns to keep us in sight." From late morning, after the faster 917s had dropped out, it was touch and go between the Ickx/Oliver GT40 and the Hermann/Larousse Porsche 908. They were very evenly matched and the lead changed hands many times over the last few hours and even several times in the last few laps. To win, Jacky needed something to outfox his opponent, which is why he let Hermann overtake him at the start of the Mulsanne straight on the last lap. He knew he could outbrake him into the corner at the end of the straight and probably hold him off until the end of the lap, which is exactly what happened and the rest is history. "It was the only way to beat him and it worked! People all over the world still talk to me about it." With the worldwide fuel crisis at its height in the early/mid 70s, Le Mans introduced rules in 1975 regarding fuel consumption to stave off the critics who said that racing was wasteful. Twenty laps were required between refueling stops. For that year, John Wyer provided Jacky with a Gulf Mirage, which was powered by a Cosworth DFV engine derived from Formula 1, hardly the most economical! Both he and partner Derek Bell drove with very light feet and also endured terrible vibration, which threatened to shake the transmission to pieces. "The car made a horrendous noise in all the right-handed curves. We ended up 'driving on egg-shells'. I must confess, as wins go, it did not have a great impact on me!." With the John Wyer era over, Jacky joined the ranks of Porsche. Teaming up in 1976 with Dutch veteran and 1971 winner Gijs van Lennep to drive the new Porsche 936, the pair led virtually from start to finish. It was van Lenneps farewell race and Ickx gave him the greatest leaving present ever, handing the car over to him for the final stint to take the flag approximately 100 miles ahead of the second placed car. "It was beyond a doubt the easiest of our wins." By far Jacky's fondest and most vivid memories are of the epic drive that netted him his 4th win in 1977. "Frankly, talking about it even today gives me a special feeling of pleasure! It was the most perfect race that anyone could ever have the opportunity to experience, both drivers and team members. There was a kind of spirit that enshrouded us all and gave us all an uplifting feeling." Early problems had ended the race for the 936 he shared with Henri Pescarolo, so he jumped across to share the sister car of Hurley Haywood and Jurgen Barth. At that time they were also delayed and down in 42nd place! "From there, something exceptional happened; something I have never encountered at any other time in my career. I drove like I had never driven before and the entire team outdid themselves. There was a kind of a state of grace that reigned and translated into a win and that last lap by Jurgen riding on five cylinders with whom, for all the gold in the world I would not have traded places."

After Jean Rondeau's historic win in 1980 where Jacky and Reinhold Joest had so nearly taken the honours, Ickx had announced his retirement. "I will only come back to Le Mans as a spectator." But a year later to everyone's surprise, the Belgian was once again back at Le Mans. Porsche had a new programme for the incoming Group C regulations in 1982 and as a forerunner had entered two very updated 936s (now called 936-81s, photo above) and had persuaded Jacky out of retirement and his main stipulation had been to have Derek Bell back as a co-driver as the transmission would need careful treatment. After the first hour, the two disappeared into the distance and won by an even greater margin than in 1976, in blisteringly hot conditions. For 1982, Porsche had dropped the bombshell of the 956 to the stunned sports car racing world. So this was how they had tempted Jacky back! He had been heavily involved from the very beginning of the car's development which went on to steamroller the Group C era for many years. Not least of which was a massively impressive 1-2-3 for the factory 956s at Le Mans that year, led by Ickx and Bell in the number 1 car. Jacky's last race at Le Mans so very nearly gave him win number 7. In 1983, he again shared with Derek Bell in the number 1 Rothmans Porsche 956. After recovering from delays, the pair were closing quickly on the sister number 3 car of Haywood/Schuppan/Holbert who were dramatically slowing over the last few laps with a dying engine.

 

As Al Holbert started his last lap, there were tell tale signs of smoke exiting the exhausts and Bell sensed that maybe he could give Jacky the perfect leaving present, just as Ickx had done to van Lennep back in '77. Derek really piled on the pressure as Holbert nursed the stricken 956 round one final lap. Bell was closing in hand over fist and was less than half a lap back as Holbert's engine expired for the world to see in a mass of smoke as he crossed the line. If one more lap had been required we would have been celebrating Jacky as a seven-time Le Mans winner!

 

One of the most famous moments of Jacky's career was his safety protest at the start of the 1969 event, when rather than run to his car at the start, he walked; a calculated risk to show up the now dangerous practice as many drivers would start their cars and drive off without properly fastening their racing harnesses.

That year was to be Jacky's first win in the Gulf Ford GT40 with Jackie Oliver in the closest ever 'real' (not photo-staged) finish in the race's history, with the winning margin of just over 100 metres. This has been talked about for years, questioning what if he had lost by 100 metres, would he have cursed himself for the walked start? The answer would undoubtedly be "no". Jacky is a man of great belief in principles and a huge and necessary point had been made.

 

 

 

 

Links to pages

 

Driver's Index

 

Team quail Home