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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Fifties |
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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Fifties |
1950
The 1950 Le Mans start. 2 Caddilacs lead. Jaguar XK120s are 6th, 8th & 9th. Nos 24 & 25 are Ferraris. 11 & 12 are Bentleys. 32 is a Gordini. 19 is an Aston Martin.
By the start of the Fifties Le Mans was taking on a more modern feel. This was not only in the looks of cars entered, but also in the circuit, where the new Dunlop Bridge was constructed in the shape of half a tyre. This was to become one of the most famous Le Mans landmarks. The circuit had been resurfaced with a new anti-skid material, and except for the mile long stretch from Mulsanne to Arnage, had been widened so it was very much faster. In fact 1950 saw the first 100mph plus lap record and a new distance record.
The entry was 110 cars that were whittled down to the maximum
permitted start of sixty. The majority were French, but Britain, Italy,
Czechoslovakia and America sent teams. The Czechs had Aero Minor again, but also
Skoda. The American Briggs Swift Cunningham entered two Cadillacs, a Series 61
coupe, and an ugly open top two seater dubbed La Monster, which Cunningham
drove. Both cars had two-way radios between pits and cars.
The Healey XK120
1950 also saw the first appearance of Juan Manuel Fangio, driving a Simica with Froilan Gonzalez. The diesel of the French Delettrez team returned, joined by another, the 5-litre supercharged MAP that had its engine mid-mounted (another Le Mans first). Talbot entered modified Grand Prix cars, which were too heavy for that form of racing but were fast and reliable for Le Mans. This stretched the meaning of the ‘prototype’ class and caused some concern.
There were five Ferraris barchettas entered, including two of the latest V12 2.3 litre types. In practice one of these, driven by Raymond Sommer came close to the first 100mph lap. In the race he again came close with 98mph. But the record fell to Louis Rosier in the 4.5 litre Talbot on his way to a famous win, at 102.8mph. He shared the drive with his son Jean-Louis, but in reality Louis senior drove for all but twenty minutes.
The Ferraris struggled after showing good pace, two of them retiring with electrical and mechanical problems, and one crashed. Tabots also finished second and thirteenth, the latter being of a conventional design. The British dominated the intermediate slots, but the Cadillac 61 finished tenth and La Monstre eleventh.
Fourteen of the sixteen British entries finished, they being an Aston Martin DB2 and a Jaguar XK120s. The leading Britons were Sidney Allard and Tom Cole who finished third in their 5.4 Cadillac V8 engined Allard J12, even though most of their gears were missing. Allard also won the 8-litre class, Aston Martin the 3 litre, Frazer Nash the litre and the Jowett Jupiter the 1.5 litre. Renault won the 1100cc class. Fourth overall was the 3.8 Nash Healey, Astons were fifth and sixth.
1951
Just as the 1950 race started a love affair between Le Mans and Cunningham, so it was too with Jaguar. Owner Sir William Lyons agreed that a sports racing version of the XK120 could be developed specifically for Le Mans. The car was a 3.4 litre twin cam called the XK120C, or C-Type (the C standing for competition). The aerodynamics played a special part in the design and the brakes were upgraded. Jaguar meant to win, and a huge British contingent to the crowd went to see it happen.
Three works Jaguars were entered driven by Jack Fairman and Stirling Moss, Whitehead and Walker and Johnson and Biondetti. It was the up and coming Moss who dominated the early stages. Gonzalez led briefing in the bid Talbot, but once past him, Moss stormed ahead and had lapped the field within the first couple of hours and set a lap record of 105.2mph. The other Jaguars took second and third, with Talbots and Ferraris chasing.
Jaguar's first winner Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead's 1951 XK120C
The cars of Moss and Biondetti retired with oil feed problems, and Jaguar’s hopes rested on Whitehead and Walker who hung on ahead of the Talbot. At the end, they were still there for Jaguar’s first win by 64 miles, having covered a record distance of 2244 miles. The Talbots were fast but not sufficiently durable and the Ferraris not quick enough. Aston Martin DB2s finished third and fifth and the 3-litre class. Cunningham won the biggest class in a Chrysler engined Cunningham C2-R, and had been timed at more than 150mph on the Mulsanne straight.
In 21st place was the first German entry since the war, and it marked the debut for a new Marque that would come to dominate Le Mans – a Porsche 356.
1952
Mercedes returned in 1952 with the 300SL, forerunner of the famous ‘gull-wing’ car. The depth of the side members meant that the drivers had to climb over them to get into the cockpit. The only way that the regulation opening doors could be fitted was to have them opening upwards from the centre of the roof, hence making them look like wings. The Mercedes had proved itself with the new 300SL at other events, and had given itself a reputation that in effect cost Jaguar the race before it had began.
Jaguar knew that their new version of the C Type was fast, and had new disc brakes, but still feared the 300SL. Moss told Jaguar that he needed more straight-line speed, and they modified the bodywork to include long noses and tails. The new bodywork interfered with the jaguar’s cooling, and although they modified the radiators after practice, it was not enough.
Mercedes was planning to sacrifice some speed for reliability. The engines were detuned by about 5bhp, and tactically they decided to run to their own schedule and let the others race it out.
From the start Ascari stormed away in the powerful 3-litre V12 Ferrari, setting a lap record of 107mph, before encountering clutch troubles within three hours. The Jaguars had already gone to overheating. Ironically enough they were faster than the Mercedes.
One by one the Ferraris retired and Mercedes stuck to their plan and their schedules. A Gordini led until its brakes failed, passing the lead to a 4.5 litre Talbot, driven by Pierre ‘Levegh’ (a pseudonym for a Paris garage owner Pierre Bouillion). He had been in the car from the start to the point when he took the lead, and he decided that he would be at the finish, so he kept going. After 16 hours his driving was getting slightly untidy as he tired, but he had a four-lap lead. With barely an hour to go he still led. Then he made a mistake, probably through sheer tiredness, he selected a wrong gear and broke his engine. His epic 23-hour run was over.
One Mercedes had
retired with electrical problems, but the other two carried on. Lang and Riess
inherited the lead from Levegh and stayed there, covering 2320 miles at 96.7mph.
They led the their 300SL of Helfriech and Niedermeyer by just under nine miles.
Lang and Riess in the 1952 winning 300SL
Johnson and Wilson were the best Britons in their Nash-Healy in third place, and Cunningham finished fourth. There were only 17 finishers from the field of 60, but a Porsche was one of them to record their first class win in the 100cc division.
1953
Having won in 1952, Mercedes did not return in 1953, even though this year Le Mans formed the third round of the world sports car championship. Jaguar was not to make the same mistake as last year, and concentrated their effort on this one race, as opposed to the World Series. They entered three cars with the original shorter bodywork, but they were lighter with better power and brakes. They use triple Weber carburettors instead of SU s and Dunlop disc brakes as opposed to the drums used by everybody else.
Ferrari posed their main competition in 4.1 and 4.5 litre
form were faster than the Jaguars, but the aerodynamics of the Jaguar meant that
the advantage was down to a couple of mph on the straights, while Jaguar had
better handling and brakes.
The competition was joined by Cunningham, Aston Martin Gordini, Talbot, Frazer Nash and two Bristols (described as ugly but aerodynamically efficient). Any one of perhaps six makes had a chance, but the favourite was probably Ferrari.
Ferrari raced both open and closed body shapes, and it was the latter driven by Ascari and Simon who led for the first four hours. However the race is a marathon and not a sprint, and they gradually succumbed. After setting the early pace Ascari’s car set the fastest lap at 112.9mph but fell back only to retire with clutch failure. The Hawthorn/Farina car also set as fastest lap but was disqualified after 12 laps for refuelling before the allocated distance (still a rule). The only private entry overturned at White House on Sunday morning killing Tom Cole. So in the end there was on one Ferrari among the leading finishers, the Marzotto brothers, who came in fifth, 74 miles adrift.
Other front-runners retired. All the very fast Alfas went by dawn and no Lancias or Aston Martins finished. Talbot finished eighth and Gordini sixth. Cunningham finished in third, seventh and tenth.
But this was Jaguar’s race, finishing first, second and fourth. Moss had led but when he had carburetion problems, Rolt and Hamilton took the lead and were never passed. They covered 2535 miles at an average of 105.8mph, the first 100mph Le Mans. Moss and Walker were second, three laps down and Whitehead and Stewart were fourth. A private C-type finished ninth: all C-Types finishing.
1954
Mercedes failed to enter again, nor did the team Maseratis, whose transporter broke down on the way. Alfa and Lancia did not turn up and the Talbots were not competitive.
There was however a strong Aston Martin team and British entries from Bristol, Frazer Nash, Lagonda, Kieft and Triumph. The Healeys were withdrawn by Donald Healey as a protest to the prototype rule that allowed virtually hand-built cars and the cost of preparing a competitive Le Mans entry.
Jaguar had sold their C-Type ‘prototype’ to the public and would do so again with their new car; the 3.4 litre straight six D-Type, one of the most advance racing cars seen at that time, with advanced aerodynamics. The main threat came from Ferrari and Cunningham. The latest Ferraris were 5 litre and 350bhp (100 up the D-Type). Cunningham entered two Chrysler 5.4 litre V8s (325bhp) and a third modified and re-bodied Ferrari 375LM.
Three Ferraris led and Moss chased in the early stages, but it soon rained and Jaguar’s superior handling told, allowing Moss to take the lead. The second Ferrari retired before midnight, but the Jaguars started to suffer fuel-feed problems, and Moss had brake problems too. The Ferrari of Gonzalez and Trintignant took over at the front, but the second placed Ferrari had gearbox problems, and early on Sunday morning, so too did the third Ferrari.
Trintignat and Gonzalez in the 1954 winning Ferrari 375
Rolt and Hamilton’s D-Type chased the lead Ferrari, briefly overtaking it, but suffered delays in the pits with body work damage. When the rain fell in the last two hours it caught the Ferrari again, who suffered from had a lengthy pit stop. It was exciting stuff as the rain eased and both cars were again running well, but the Ferrari held off the challenge winning by just two and a half miles. Ferrari also took a new lap record of 117.5mph.
1955
A re-match was promised for 1955, and together with the return of Mercedes; it should have been a classic. In the end, although Jaguar won, the race was a disaster.
The race was two and a half hours old, and Lance Macklin’s Austin Healey was in the lead but the two cars behind, Hawthorn’s Jaguar and Levegh’s Mercedes were very much faster. Levegh got the Mercedes drive on the strength of his heroic solo effort in 1952. As they approached the pits Macklin appeared to be giving the room to pass. Hawthorn did come past on the left and then turned to enter the pits, raising his arm to indicate his intention. Macklin became unsettled and began to swerve into the middle of the track in the path of Levegh who was travelling at full speed, not intending to pit. Fangio’s Mercedes, which was also in the group squeezed past, almost touching Hawthorn’s car in the pit lane. But Levegh hit the sliding Austin Healey and its sloping tail acted as a launch pad.
Macklin crashed into the earth and wood barriers, and although he wrecked his car, he survived. Levegh hit the barriers opposite the pits, virtually on the start line. He was killed instantly as the car broke up. The debris flew into the crowd in the standing areas, and the magnesium components caught fire with an intense white flame.
The 1955 disaster. Macklin's Austin-Healey across the track on the right. Levegh's car burns in the background
The organisers decided that the race should continue, as they did not want the departing crowds to block the roads for emergency vehicles. Mercedes continued too.
The race saw a duel between the Jaguars, Mercedes and Ferraris until the remaining Mercedes were withdrawn on 2am on Sunday. Gradually the Ferraris retired with mechanical failure, as did the other two works D-Types. The duel was between Fangio in his Mercedes and Hawthorn in his Jaguar, the two best drivers in the two best cars.
Fangio was in the lead when Mercedes withdrew their remaining cars as a mark of respect to the dead. This was now known to include over 80 spectators. The Jaguars continued with Hawthorn taking the lead and Rolt and Hamilton in the second D-Type behind him, until the latter retired. Hawthorn and Bueb won with five new class records for overall distance.
The winning Jaguar took the 5-litre class. The open Aston Martin DB3S of Collins and Frere, which finished second, took the 3-litre class. The open Bristol of Wilson and Mayers was seventh overall and 2 litre winners and Porsches took both 1500cc and 1100cc classes.
Left: 1955 Jaguar D Type - Le Mans winner 1955
Below: 1955 Porsche 550RS
But the race will be remembered for the greatest disaster in the history of motor sport. There are several estimates for the death toll, the usual one quoted is 88 including Levegh. As a result several countries temporarily banned motor sport. Switzerland banning it for good. Le Mans had to change of face extinction.
The Aston Martin DB3S leading the D- Type Jaguars
As a result the pits, only six years old were demolished. New pits were built further back to wards the White House, and further back from the roadside, leaving space for deceleration between track and pits, although there was still no separating wall. The whole area between pits and grandstand was excavated well below the original level. On the opposite side of the track in front of the grandstand a deep ‘ambulance road’ was sunk protected by a deep bank and concrete wall. New spectator terraces were built. The new pits were on three levels with hospitality boxes and viewing balconies above. The Dunlop curve was altered, and the Dunlop Bridge move to its current location.
Pit signals were not allowed from the main pits, but were moved to new ‘signalling pits’ on the exit from Mulsanne corner, on the slowest part of the course, operated by telephone wires. The cost of improvements had been 300 million francs, 12 million alone being spent on the signalling system.
The
Circuit 1956 to 1967
Length:
13.461 km
In the aftermath of the 1955 accident, the whole pit area was rebuilt. Track
width and pit lane modifications led to a change in the Dunlop curve, shortening
the track by 31 metres.
Distance record set by the 1967 winners: 5,232.90 km, average speed: 218.038
km/h.
Fastest lap was set during the 1967 race by Denny Hulme & Mario Andretti (both Ford Mk IVs) with a time of 3:23.60, an average speed of 238.014 km/h.
1956
The race was put back until 28-29th July to allow time for the building work to be completed. Just before the start there was a short speech and a minutes silence for the victims of the previous year – then the race roared off at 4pm.
Thee were some new rule changes. Maximum capacity of prototypes was limited to 2.5 litres, and the number of starters was reduced to 52. Also larger windscreens and smaller furel allowances were introduced to cut speed, but they took Le Mans so far out of step with the world sports car championship, that it lost its status as a round of the championship.
Mercedes had withdrawn from all motor sport and stayed away from this race too, as did Cunningham. Jaguars and Ferrari were there in force. Works Ferraris Maseratis, Gordinis and Talbots all complied with the 2.5 litre prototype rule, along with the Aston Martin DBR1. The D-Types did not have to comply with the prototype rules because Jaguar had produced more tan the required 50 for sale. Aston Martin could do the same with their DB3Ss.
The road surface seems to become very slippery when it rained, and led to several accidents. One claimed the life of Panhard driver Louis Hery; others put paid to the chances of several potential winners, including two Jaguars, one Ferrari, two Aston Martins and the fastest Talbot.
The works D-type of Hawthorn and Bueb lost many laps with fuel line problems, and eventually clawed back to finish sixth, on the way setting the fastest lap of 115.8mph. The winner was a privately entered D-Type from the Ecurie Ecosse Team driven by Flockhart and Collins. They won by just over a lap with the DBS of Moss and Collins second. The rest of the field were a long way adrift. A Ferrari was third, a Belgium Jaguar fourth and the best Porsche fifth, with Lotus and Cooper seventh and eighth.
1957
This was the 50th
anniversary of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the 25th running of
the 24 hours race. The organised ease their limits on prototype capacity and
fuel consumption; and regained its place in the world championship.
Ferrari and Maserati both entered powerful teams. Ferrari’s biggest works car was a 4 litre V12 335, Maserarti had 4.5 litre V8 450Ss. Both had around 400bhp. The Ferrari drivers included Hawthorn, Gendebien and Collins; Maserati had Moss and Behra with Fangio in reserve. In all Ferrari had 10 entries included the 3.8 litres 315 to the 3 litre 250 Testa Rosa.
The works Jaguar team withdrew from racing and the end of 1956, but Ecurie Ecosse and Ecurie Belguim entered. The former in a XKD606.
The winning Ecurie Ecosse Team's D-Type passes the Aston Martin DBR1 of Brooks and Reid at Tertre Rouge
The big Italians raced of from the start. With in three hours all the early leaders failed. The Jaguars raced on to take five out of the top six places. The ‘race’ was over by 7pm. Ecosse took first and second places; Flockheart ad Beub from Sanderson and Lawrence. The winners covered 2732 miles at 113.8mph and won by eight laps. The first four-minute lap was completed and Hawthorn’s Ferrari set a new lap record of 126.9mph.
This was a second consecutive win fro the tiny Ecosse team and a hat trick for the D-Type. It was to be Jaguar's last race for 31 years.
1958
Aston Martin would spearhead the British challenge this year. They had a hat trick of 3 litre class wind beyond them, and now the prototype rules were again changed to allow 3 litre entries. This was good for Aston Martin, but also for Ferrari with its Testa Rossa.
Maserati did not enter as they had major financial problems, and no works Jaguars, but there were five private D-types including two from Ecurie Ecosse. Ferrari had ten Testa Rossas including three works Entries. Aston Martin had three DBR1s, Stirling Moss driving.
Moss stormed away in the lead but his engine failed after just two hours. Both Ecosse entries had piston failure. The other two Astons also retired.
In the early evening heavy rain added to the problems, but it was a Ferrari race, with the only opposition being Hamilton and Bueb in a private D-Type. Another D-Type crashed on the approach t the Esses, the follow Testa Rossa driven by Kessler could not avoid hitting it and the Jaguar driver Jean-Marie Brousselet died from his injuries.
Mike Hawthorn in the 250 Testa Rossa - setting the fastest lap, but not finishing
The three works Ferraris dominated. Hawthorn set the fastest lap at 122.2mph, but then retired with clutch problems. The third place car ended in a ditch at Arnage at midnight. That left Gendebien and Hill in the lead followed by Hamilton and Bueb. The D –type span off in the rain at lunchtime Sunday to hand the race to Ferrari. The Whitehead brothers in a private DB3S drove Aston Martin into second, 100 miles behind the winners. The 1.6 litre Behra and Herrmann’s Porsche was a distant third, with Porsches also taking fourth and fifth.
1959
Moss in one of the three DBR1s took the early lead again in the 1959 race, and the Ferraris could not resist the challenge of the chase. Same story: same ending, as the faster cars gradually eliminated themselves. Gendebien and Hill chased first, and then Behra and Gurney rose from halfway down the field to take second and the first as Moss started to experience engine problems that would end his race. Behra and Gurney followed with transmission failure.
At around one third distance Shelby and Salvatori in an Aston Martin had a two-lap lead from the last remaining works Ferrari of Gendebien and Hill. Just before half distance the lead was down to less than a lap. By early morning, Ferrari had taken the lead and a three-lap margin; the Aston losing time with a tyre problem.
By lunchtime Sunday, with about four hours to go the Ferrari was into the pits every few laps. It retired with overheating. Shelby and Salvatori took the lead and stayed there. Trintigrant and Frere’s Aston was second, trailed by four private Porsche some way behind. Briton also had 2 litre and 1500cc class wins from AC and Lotus, to end a highly successful decade.
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