Writing a review for DSC of Bob Wollek – En marge de la gloire, so going back through the archives…………1983 Brands Hatch 1000 Kilometres, is it me or was there always rain at those endurance races? Anyhow, buy the book, it is a warts and all production.
Salut Bob.
John Brooks, July 2012
Folks have rightly been enthusiastic about the Group C race at this year’s Silverstone Classic. Back in the day it was pretty impressive too……………..
John Brooks, July 2012
Finding my way up to the Rally Stages at the Festival of Speed on Friday, I found the spot where the cars get airborne, well everyone likes a nice jumper……
John Brooks July 2012
TS Eliot declared that “April is the cruellest month” well he never worked at Le Mans, the Great Race sucks the life force out of you, so poor DDC and its reader have been neglected.
During two days at the Goodwood Festival of Speed I have seen the usual cornucopia of goodies, so here as a taster is the Lotus Position. On the front lawn no less…….
John Brooks June 2102
Our Special Correspondent has been in France at the Great Race. Here he shares some of his observations and discoveries.
In the days leading up to the 24 Hour race it is rewarding to look out for interesting cars round about Le Mans. Here are some that caught my eye and my delight:
This is “Zig”, one of the Aston Martin Zagato prototypes, lurking in the Le Mans paddock still wearing its Nürburgring 24 Hours clothing, waiting to have a go in the Aston Martin Festival Challenge support race. It finished 11th.
I can never resist a visit to the Museum at Le Mans and they do vary the exhibits so it is usually worth a call. They have a superb example of that extraordinary French car, the Panhard Dynamic. Introduced in 1936, it featured a unit-construction body, a sleeve valve six-cylinder engine, torsion bar suspension and, unusually, a central driving position.
Notice the three windscreen wipers and three-piece windscreen.
The bodywork was designed by Louis Bionier and had semi-enclosed wheels. Some 40 six-light limousines were made on the eve of the Second World War for the military chiefs.
Toyota have returned to Le Mans for the first time since their huge effort to win this race with the GT-One cars in 1998-99. These yielded at best only a second place and they had come very close to winning in 1994 with this car, the 94CV.
Gearbox trouble robbed it of almost certain victory in the last hour of the race.
It is 40 years since Matra scored the first of three consecutive victories in the 24 Hour race in 1972. This was recognised at various events around the city. The winning car of Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill was to be seen in the Village at the circuit as was the 1974 winner of Pescarolo and Gérard Larrousse.
At the traditional A.C.O. Press Conference Gérard Larrousse was awarded the Spirit of Le Mans Trophy – appropriately the 1973 winning Matra accompanied the occasion.
The popular Drivers’ Parade also remembered Matra’s achievements and no less than nine examples of their first proper production car, the 530, endured the incessant rain. The column of cars was led by a 530LX on board of which was Henri Pescarolo who had many successes in Matra cars.
Named after Matra’s R530 air-to-air missile, the 530 had a mid-mounted German Ford V4 engine shared with the contemporary Taunus and for the first two years production was entrusted to the French coachbuilder Brissonneau et Lotz at Creil.
Invariably one comes across a gem in the Parade and for this writer the favourite was the Morris Léon Bollée. This was one of William Morris’s failures. He was anxious to break into the French market and purchased the Léon Bollée factory at Le Mans. The cars were produced as Morris Léon Bollées but did not sell well, although he was able to put his factory at the disposal of the Bentley team when they came to compete in the 24 Hour race. Later models used Hotchkiss engines before production finally ceased.
Tailpiece
Spotted in Falaise on the way home from Le Mans, this Quale Mangusta is reputed to be the only right-hand drive example. The Mangusta started life as the De Tomaso Biguà which appeared at the Geneva Show in 1996. Kjell Quale, the West Coast of America importer of many European prestige cars, agreed to fund the production for which a factory in Modena was used on condition that the car was called the De Tomaso Mangusta. Quale and De Tomaso soon had disagreements and the car was re-named the Quale Mangusta. It had a chassis designed by Enrique Scalabroni and bodywork by Marcello Gandini and under the bonnet lay a 4.6-litre DOHC Ford V8. About 284 cars were made between 2000 and 2001. The Mangusta platform was used as the basis of the MG X-Power SV.
David Blumlein, June 2012
The classic view from Terte Rouge, now gone forever, but with the right kind mind set you can stand at the launch pad for the Mulsanne Straight and still hear the past………………you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
John Brooks, June 2012
In recent years the films, Truth in 24 have quite rightly paid tribute to the fantastic victories scored by Audi in 2008 and 2011, against all odds. However even those achievements are dwarfed when set against the performance of Jacky Ickx, Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood some 35 years ago.
The story of how this trio climbed from 42nd place to win against a huge squad of Renaults is an epic one and the drama continued right to the final lap as the Porsche’s engine suffered piston failure while in the lead. Jürgen Barth coaxed the 936 round the track twice to take the flag while one cylinder was blanked off.
Jacky Ickx’s contribution was recorded by the Great Man, Norbert Singer, in his book 24:16
“Ickx amazed us all. He was in the car for more than seven and half hours during the night, and he broke the lap record time after time in the dark. He spent a total of eleven hours in the car, having taken it over four and half hours after the start. Later he told us that it was the hardest race of his life.”
Real Men, Real Racing………….that is the Truth in 24.
John Brooks, June 2012
Slick pitwork is the key to success at Le Mans, arguably more important than outright speed on the track. All the teams use every opportunity to rehearse their routines, so that the whole process becomes seamless.
This is the part of the job that the fans do not see, nor truly appreciate, but it is nonetheless vital.
John Brooks, June 2012
Our Special Correspondent has been over to Germany for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. As usual he kept his eyes open and his ears pinned back, here is some of the knowledge he acquired on the trip.
The 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours
In their reports of this wonderful race the general motoring press tend to mention the winners and the main contenders and tell us very little else. But there were 169 cars in this year’s race, so here is a brief selection of some of the other cars that took part:
The weather was in fact nice and warm in the early afternoon on the Sunday so this Porsche had no real need for extra ventilation! A replacement door was indeed fitted shortly after this picture was taken and the Frikadelli Racing Team car went on to be the highest placed Porsche at the finish, taking a well deserved 6th overall. The factory Porsche drivers were not so lucky this year, suffering all sorts of problems.
Three of the McLaren MP4 12C cars started the race, this Gembella Team car having no less than Nick Heidfeld and three times winner Klaus Ludwig on the driving strength. Alas, none of the cars survived into the Sunday, falling victims to accidents.
And this Ford GT did not last the race either!
The Peugeot RCZs are regulars at the Nürburgring 24 Hours these days. Although its team-mate failed to finish this year, this car went on to win its class. They are assembled by Magna Steyr in Austria.
Aston Martin are also regulars in this race and last year they ran their two new prototype Zagato cars, nicknamed “Zig” and “Zag”. This year they brought along just “Zig” which ran steadily into 26th place and 2nd in class. Here it is seen with a backcloth of the famous Nürburg Schloss.
Toyota love to use the 24 Hour race as a workout for their forthcoming and new models – for them it provides the best test session they can have. The Lexus LFA was here as usual, winning its class, but we also saw the new GT86 cars, Toyota’s rear-wheel driven sporting car developed in conjunction with Subaru whose flat-four engine powers it:
This car won its class.
Hyundai adopt a similar attitude. Here is their Genesis Coupé which finished 105th.
Jaguar saloons are not new to success in endurance races at the Nürburgring. In the 1962 12 Hours and 1963 12 Hours on the Nordschleife, Peter Lindner drove his 3.8 Jaguar Mk 2 saloon to victory, first with Peter Nöcker and secondly with Hans-Joachim Walter (European Rally Champion). This was the longest event held at the Nürburgring at the time – the 24 Hours did not start until 1970.
This Jaguar XF saloon therefore carries on a Jaguar tradition and it not only won its class but was the first diesel car to finish the race. Privately entered by Carvell Motorsport, it had a 3-litre V6 diesel and completed 109 laps finishing 92nd.
One of the attractive features of endurance racing is that the teams are invariably reluctant to give up if there is the slightest chance of keeping the car going. Having received a considerable mauling, this BMW 135D managed to reach the finish scoring 2nd in the diesel class.
This Ford Fiesta, clearly proud of its heritage and managing to hide its ravaged nearside bodywork from the crowds in the main stands, finished 110th and 2nd in its class.
TAILPIECE
The no. 11 Manthey Porsche, one of the original favourites and crewed by three former winners, had a troubled race and suffered the indignity at the end of being towed away after being rammed just before the finishing line by a Renault Clio.
David Blumlein, May 2012
The Nurburgring 24 Hours was, as ever, a proper race. The stars get their due recognition but just important are the supporting cast, so just before we turn our attention towards La Sarthe here is a full roll call, including two who did not make the start.
Mainly my work, but gaps generously filled by David Blumlein, David Lord, Peter May and David Stephens.
John Brooks, May 2012
