1956 Le Mans 24-hour race

Ninian Sanderson climbs into the victorious Jaguar D-Type

The Jaguar D-Type from Ecurie Ecosse, the winning car from Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart

The three factory Lotus 11s in front of the racing transporter

Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring with starting number 11; driven by Alfonso de Portago and Duncan Hamilton

The 24th Le Mans 24 hour race , the 24 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , took place from July 28th to 29th, 1956 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

Before the race

Changes to the circuit

As a result of the fatal accident during the race the year before , the racetrack was completely rebuilt in some places. The pit system was renewed and the distance between the pits and the main stands was widened. Although there was still only a white line on the road separating the stopping racing cars from racing, the track became so wide that several cars could easily drive side by side. The spectators in front of the main stands were now protected by a security fence. The radius of the first corner in front of the Esses has been changed, as has the entrance to Tertre Rouge and the infamous Maison Blanche corner. As a result of these reconstruction measures, the route length was reduced from 13.492 to 13.461 km.

Since the renovation work was not finished in time, the race had to be postponed by a month and took place in July for the first time since 1923 .

Changes to the regulations

The regulations have also been adapted. The cubic capacity of the prototypes - of which at least 50 had to be built - was reduced to 2500 cm³. The capacity of the tanks was limited to 130 liters, and a racing car had to complete at least 34 laps between two refueling stops. The windshields were enlarged and now had a height of 20 cm.

No driver was allowed to sit at the wheel continuously for more than 72 laps and not drive more than 14 hours in total. The training units were moved to the evening hours so that the drivers had to drive in the dark on Wednesday and Thursday before the race. The race director Charles Faroux was with Charles de Cortanze asked by a deputy.

The race

The race was less than two laps old when news of another serious accident caused horror in the pit lane. For the first time, Charles Faroux contemplated canceling the event immediately. When the information arrived that neither the driver nor the spectators had been harmed, there was general relief. The Belgian Jaguar factory driver Paul Frère had lost control of his Jaguar D-Type at the beginning of the Esses and touched the boundary on the right. His team-mate Jack Fairman , who was close behind , was unable to evade and crashed into the rear of the Jaguar. The chaos completed Alfonso de Portago , who with his work - Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring fully met Fairmam and both Jaguar and himself pushed to the sidelines. Two works Jaguars and one works Ferrari were eliminated within a few seconds.

No sooner had the excitement about this incident subsided than another report of the accident reached the pit facilities. However, this accident ended fatally. Louis Héry had a rollover at Maison Blanche with his little Panhard and died of his serious injuries in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. There were a total of 13 accidents in the race.

After an early long pit stop by last year's winner Mike Hawthorn in the third factory Jaguar, Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart took the lead in the Ecurie Ecosse D-Type. The Scottish Jaguar fought a fierce duel with the works Aston Martin owned by Stirling Moss and Peter Collins . The race was only decided just before the end when second gear broke on the DB3S . This handicap, which was particularly noticeable in the slow passage between the Indianapolis and Arnage corners, cost the Aston Martin team a lap. Third place went to Maurice Trintignant and Olivier Gendebien in a Ferrari; thus they saved the honor of the Scuderia. Gérard Laureau and Paul Armagnac won the important Index of Performance for Deutsch & Bonnet .

Results

Pilots by nationality

50 French	22 British	8 Germans	6 Americans	6 Belgians
2 Italians	2 Dutch	1 Australian	1 Brazilian	1 Spaniard

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 5.0	4th	Ecurie Ecosse	Ninian Sanderson Ron Flockhart	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.4L I6		300
2	S 3.0	8th	Aston Martin Ltd.	Stirling Moss Peter Collins	Aston Martin DB3S	Aston Martin 2.9L I6		299
3	S 3.0	12	Scuderia Ferrari	Olivier Gendebien Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring	Ferrari 2.5L I4	E.	293
4th	S 5.0	5	Equipe Nationale Belge	Jacques Swaters Freddy Rousselle	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.4L I6		284
5	S 1.5	25th	Porsche KG	Richard von Frankenberg Wolfgang von Trips	Porsche 550A / 4 RS Coupe	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		282
6th	S 5.0	1	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Mike Hawthorn Ivor Bueb	Jaguar D-Type FI	Jaguar 3.4L I6		280
7th	S 1.1	36	Lotus engineering	Reg Bicknell Peter Jopp	Lotus 11	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4		253
8th	S 1.1	33	Cooper Car Company	Ed Hugus John Bentley	Cooper T39	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4		252
9	S 1.5	30th	Claude Bourillot	Claude Bourillot Henri Perroud	Maserati 150S	Maserati 1.5L I4		245
10	S 750	40	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	Gérard Laureau Paul Armagnac	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		231
11	S 750	45	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	Jean-Claude Vidilles Jean Thépenier	DB HBR	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		225
12	S 750	46	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	André Héchard Roger Masson	DB HBR	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		220
13	S 1.5	34	Porsche KG	Roland Bourel Maurice Slotine	Porsche 356A / 4	Porsche 1.3L Flat-4		212
14th	S 1.1	41	Just-Émile Vernet	Jean-Marie Dumazer Lucien Campion	VP 166R	Renault 0.8L I4		210
Not classified
15th	S 3.0	14th	Aston Martin Ltd.	Tony Brooks Reginald Parnell	Aston Martin DBR1 / 250	Aston Martin 2.5L I6		246
Disqualified
16	S 5.0	6th	Robert Walshaw	Robert Walshaw Peter Bolton	Jaguar XK 140	Jaguar 3.5L I6		209
17th	S 2.0	22nd	Jean Lucas	François Picard Robert Tappan	Ferrari 500TR	Ferrari 2.0L I4		137
Failed
18th	S 3.0	17th	Automobiles Talbot	Louis Rosier Jean Behra	Talbot Sport 2500	Maserati 2.5L I6		220
19th	S 3.0	9	Aston Martin Ltd.	Peter Walker Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin DB3S	Aston Martin 2.9L I6		173
20th	S 1.5	32	Lotus engineering	Colin Chapman Herbert MacKay-Fraser	Lotus 11	Coventry Climax 1.5L I4		172
21st	S 1.5	24	Porsche KG	Umberto Maglioli Hans Herrmann	Porsche 550A / 4 RS	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		136
22nd	S 1.1	37	René Breuil	Jean Py Yves Dommée	RB	Fiat -OSCA 1.1L I4		116
23	S 3.0	4th	Scuderia Ferrari	André Simon Phil Hill	Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring	Ferrari 2.5L I4	E.	107
24	S 2.0	23	Automobiles Frazer Nash Ltd.	Richard Stoop Tony Gaze	Frazer Nash Sebring	Bristol 2.0L I6		100
25th	S 3.0	16	Automobiles Gordini	Hernando da Silva Ramos André Guelfi	Gordini T23S	Gordini 2.5L I6		90
26th	S 1.1	35	Lotus engineering	Cliff Allison Keith Hall	Lotus 11	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4		89
27	S 3.0	19th	Jean-Paul Colas	Serge Nersessian Georges Monneret	Salmson 2300S	Salmson 2.3L I4		80
28	S 3.0	15th	Automobiles Gordini	Robert Manzon Jean Guichet	Gordini T15S	Gordini 2.5L I8		80
29	S 2.0	20th	Equipe Nationale Belge	Alain de Changy Lucien Bianchi	Ferrari 500TR	Ferrari 2.0L I4		76
30th	S 1.5	29	Automobiles Gordini	André Milhoux Charles de Clareur	Gordini T17S	Gordini 1.5L I6		67
31	S 750	48	Moretti Automobili	Marcel Lauga Jean-Michel Durif	Moretti 750 Grand Sport Zagato	Moretti 0.7L I4		62
32	S 1.5	26th	Porsche KG	Max Nathan Helm Glöckler	Porsche 356 Carrera 1500	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		61
33	S 2.0	21st	Pierre Meyrat	Pierre Meyrat Fernand Tavano	Ferrari 500TR	Ferrari 2.0L I4		61
34	S 3.0	7th	Prince Paul Metternich	Prince Paul Metternich Wittigo von Einsiedel	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	Mercedes-Benz 3.0L I6		58
35	S 750	49	Automobiles Panhard	Pierre Hémard Pierre Flahault	Monopoles X89	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		50
36	S 1.5	27	Wolfgang Seidel	Mathieu Hezemans Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche 550A / 4 RS	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		48
37	S 750	50	Automobiles Panhard	Pierre Chancel André Beaulieux	Monopoles X88	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		46
38	S 1.5	28	Gonzague Olivier	Claude Storez Helmut Polensky	Porsche 550/4 Spyder	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		45
39	S 750	52	Automobili Stanguellini	René Philippe Faure Gilbert Foury	Stanguellini 750 Sport	Fiat 0.7L I4		36
40	S 1.5	31	Louis Cornet	Louis Cornet Robert Mougin	Maserati 150S	Maserati 1.5L I4		35
41	S 3.0	18th	Automobiles Talbot	Goffredo Zehender Jean Lucas	Talbot Sport 2500	Maserati 2.5L I6		32
42	S 750	53	Automobili Stanguellini	Pierre Duval Georges Guyot	Stanguellini 750 Sport	Fiat 0.7L I4		23
43	S 750	47	Moretti Automobili	Marceau Esculus Francois Guillaud	Moretti 750 Grand Sport	Moretti 0.7L I4		22nd
44	S 750	51	Louis Héry	Louis Héry Lucien Pailler	Monopoles x86	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		5
45	S 750	42	Automobili OSCA	Jean Laroche Rémy Radix	OSCA Sport 750	OSCA 0.7L I4		4th
46	S 5.0	3	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Jack Fairman Ken Wharton	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.4L I6		3
47	S 5.0	2	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Paul Brother Desmond Titterington	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.4L I6		2
48	S 3.0	11	Scuderia Ferrari	Alfonso de Portago Duncan Hamilton	Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring	Ferrari 2.5L I4	E.	2
49	S 750	44	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	Fernand Carpentier Pierre Savary	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		2
Not started
50	S 3.0		Scuderia Ferrari	Juan Manuel Fangio Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari 625LM Spyder Touring	Ferrari 2.5L I4	E.	1

¹ driver fell ill

Only in the entry list

Here you can find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race, but did not take part for various reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires
51	S 2.0				ERA G-Type
52	S 1.5		Automobili OSCA	Giulio Cabianca Luigi Villoresi	Osca MT4	OSCA 1.5L I4
53	S 3.0		Jacques Pollet	Jacques Pollet	Mercedes-Benz 300SL	Mercedes-Benz 3.0L I8
54	S 2.0		Phoenix	Raymond Flower Mike Llewellyn	Phoenix Turner 2SR6
55	S 1.1		Cooper Car Company	Jack Brabham Michael Taylor	Cooper T39	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4
56	S 750		Littery	Robert Chancel	Panhard monopolies
57	S 3.0		Automobiles Frazer Nash Ltd.		Frazer-Nash
58	S 1.1		Automobili Stanguellini		Stanguellini Bialbero	Fiat 0.7L I4
59	S 3.0		Michel Dubonnet	Michel Dubonnet Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 250 GT	Ferrari 3.0L V12
60	S 1.5		Dick Fitzwilliam		MG A

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	Gérard Laureau	Paul Armagnac	DB HBR5	Rank 10
22nd Biennial Cup	Gérard Laureau	Paul Armagnac	DB HBR5	Rank 10
3001-5000 cc	Ron Flockhart	Ninian Sanderson	Jaguar D-Type	Overall victory
2001-3000 cc	Peter Collins	Stirling Moss	Aston Martin DB3S	Rank 2
1101-1500 cc	Wolfgang von Trips	Richard von Frankenberg	Porsche 550A / 4 RS Coupé	Rank 5
751-1100 cc	Reg Bicknell	Peter Jopp	Lotus 11	Rank 7
501-750 cc	Gérard Laureau	Paul Armagnac	DB HBR5	Rank 10

Racing data

• Registered: 60
• Started: 49
• Valued: 14
• Race classes: 7
• Spectators: 250,000
• Honorary starter of the race: Simon de Peyerimoff, President of the Automobile Club de France
• Weather on the race weekend: warm, occasional rain showers
• Route length: 13.461 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 300
• Total distance of the winning team: 4034.929 km
• Winner's average: 168.122 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Mike Hawthorn - Jaguar D-Type (# 1) - 4.20.000 = 186.383 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• RM Clarke: Le Mans. The Jaguar Years 1949-1957. Brooklands Books, Cobham 1997, ISBN 1-85520-357-X .
• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : Le Mans 24 Hours 1956  - Collection of images, videos and audio files