1959 Le Mans 24 hour race

Aston Martin DBR1 / 300

Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta

The 27th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 27 ^s Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , and 24 Heures du Mans Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , was held at from 20 to 21 June 1959 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

The race

The 1959 24-hour race brought the first overall victory for an Aston Martin , a brand that first competed in this endurance race in 1928 . Of the 53 vehicles that started, only 13 crossed the finish line, and only three of the 31 sports prototypes.

The six Testa Rossa Ferraris were 50 kg lighter than the previous year's models, and the new Ferrari Dino 196S had a 2-liter V6 engine . In addition to the Lotus Elite , the Swedish brand Saab also made its Le Mans debut. In addition to the Jaguar D-Type used by the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse , the Trojeiro and the Lister designed by Frank Costin also had a Jaguar engine. There was a debacle for Porsche - none of the vehicles used reached their destination.

With his factory Aston Martin, Stirling Moss had taken on the task of rushing the Ferrari into defects with a high initial speed. A tactic that only partially worked, because in addition to three Ferraris, Moss himself also retired with a defect. Roy Salvadori's lead was also short-lived, as race director Reg Parnell allowed the Aston Martin to continue driving for seven laps with a slipping clutch in order to save an additional pit stop. As a result, last year's winners Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill took the lead in the race. However, at lunchtime on Sunday, the Ferrari pitted for an unexpected stop. The engine had overheated and the mechanics were trying to cool the unit. In vain: after the car started the race again, it stopped on the same lap with the cylinder overheated and had to be taken out of the classification.

This cleared the way for the DBR1 / 300 of Salvadori and Carroll Shelby , who drove to victory under the leadership of John Wyer and Reg Parnell.

Results

Pilots by nationality

36 British	25 French	14 Americans	8 Belgians	4 Germans
4 Italians	3 Sweden	2 Brazilians	2 Mexicans	2 Swiss
1 Argentine	1 Moroccan	1 Monegasse	1 Dutch	1 New Zealander
1 Venezuelan

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 3.0	5	David Brown Racing Dept.	Carroll Shelby Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Aston Martin 3.0L I6	A.	323
2	S 3.0	6th	David Brown Racing Dept.	Maurice Trintignant Paul Frère	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Aston Martin 3.0L I6	A.	322
3	GT 3.0	11	Equipe Nationale Belge	Jean Blaton Léon Dernier	Ferrari 250 GT LWB Coupe	Ferrari 3.0L V12	E.	297
4th	GT 3.0	18th	North American Racing Team	André Pilette George Arents	Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta	Ferrari 3.0L V12		296
5	GT 3.0	16	Fernand Tavano	Fernand Tavano Bob Grossman	Ferrari 250 GT California	Ferrari 3.0L V12		294
6th	GT 3.0	20th	Lino Fayen	Lino Fayen Gino Munaron	Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta	Ferrari 3.0L V12		293
7th	GT 2.0	29	Rudd Racing Ltd.	Ted Whiteaway John Turner	AC Ace	Bristol 2.0L I6		273
8th	GT 1.5	41	William S. Frost	Peter Lumsden Peter Riley	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4		270
9	GT 750	46	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	René Cotton Louis Cornet	DB HBR4	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		258
10	GT 1.5	42	Border Reivers	John Whitmore Jim Clark	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4		257
11	GT 750	45	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	Bernard Consten Paul Armagnac	DB HBR4	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		247
12	GT 750	44	Stubborn Nottorp	Stubborn Nottorp Gunnar Bengtsson	Saab 93 Sport	Saab 0.7L I3		232
Not classified
13	S 750	55	Automobili Stanguellini	Roger Delageneste Paul Guiraud	Stanguellini 750 Sport BA	Fiat 0.7L I4		220
Failed
14th	S 3.0	14th	Scuderia Ferrari	Phil Hill Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250TR59	Ferrari 3.0L V12	E.	263
15th	S 2.0	25th	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Peter Jopp Richard Stoop	Triumph TR3S	Triumph 2.0L I4		245
16	S 1.5	37	Ed Hugus	Ed Hugus Ray Erickson	Porsche 718 RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		240
17th	S 1.5	35	Jean Kerguen	Jean Kerguen Robert La Caze	Porsche 550 RS	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		229
18th	S 1.5	36	Baron Carel Godin de Beaufort	Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Heins	Porsche 718 RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		186
19th	GT 2.0	33	FWR Lund	Ted Lund Colin Escott	MG MGA Twin Cam	MG 1.6L I4		185
20th	S 2.0	31	Porsche KG	Joakim Bonnier Wolfgang von Trips	Porsche 718 RSK	Porsche 1.6L Flat-4		182
21st	S 1.1	48	Roger Masson	Roger Masson Jean Vinatier	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.9L Flat-2		179
22nd	GT 750	48	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	René Bartholoni Francois Jaeger	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		169
23	S 1.5	34	Porsche KG	Edgar Barth Wolfgang Seidel	Porsche 718 RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4		168
24	S 750	53	Team Lotus Engineering	Alan Stacey Keith Greene	Lotus 17	Coventry Climax 0.7L I4		156
25th	S 3.0	8th	Ecurie Ecosse	Ron Flockhart John Lawrence	Tojeiro	Jaguar 3.0L I6		137
26th	S 3.0	12	Scuderia Ferrari	Dan Gurney Jean Behra	Ferrari 250TR59	Ferrari 3.0L V12	E.	129
27	S 3.0	1	Brian Lister	Ivor Bueb Bruce Halford	Lister LM	Jaguar 3.0L I6		121
28	S 3.0	30th	Team Lotus Engineering	Graham Hill Derek Jolly	Lotus 15	Coventry Climax 2.0L I4		119
29	GT 2.0	27	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Ninian Sanderson Claude Dubois	Triumph TR3S	Triumph 2.0L I4		114
30th	S 3.0	19th	Edwin D. Martin	Edwin D. Martin William Kimberly	Ferrari 250TR58	Ferrari 3.0L V12		108
31	GT 1.5	38	Los Amigos team	Jean-Claude Vidilles Jean-François Malle	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4		105
32	S 750	52	OSCA Automobili	Jean Laroche André Testut	OSCA 750 Sport	OSCA 0.7L I4		88
33	S 2.0	24	Cooper Car Company	Jim Russell Bruce McLaren	Cooper T49 Monaco Mk1	Coventry Climax 2.0L I4		79
34	S 2.0	32	Porsche KG	Hans Herrmann Umberto Maglioli	Porsche 718 RSK	Porsche 1.6L Flat-4		78
35	S 3.0	3	Ecurie Ecosse	Innes Ireland masts Gregory	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.0L I6	A.	70
36	S 3.0	4th	David Brown Racing Dept.	Stirling Moss Jack Fairman	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Aston Martin 3.0L I6		70
37	GT 750	50	Alejandro de Tomaso	Alejandro de Tomaso Colin Davis	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		63
38	S 2.0	23	Scuderia Ferrari	Giulio Cabianca Giorgio Scarlatti	Ferrari Dino 196S	Ferrari 1.9L V6		63
39	S 750	62	Société EFAC	René Philippe Faure Georges Guyot	Stanguellini Efac SP	Fiat 0.7L I4		58
40	GT 1.1	59	Jacques Faucher	Jacques Faucher Gérard Leffargue	DB HBR4	Panhard 0.9L Flat-2		53
41	S 3.0	2	Brian Lister	Walt Hansgen Peter Blond	Lister LM	Jaguar 3.0L I6		52
42	S 3.0	7th	AG Whitehead	Graham Whitehead Brian Naylor	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Aston Martin 3.0L I6		52
43	S 3.0	10	Equipe Nationale Belge	Lucien Bianchi Alain de Changy	Ferrari 250TR58	Ferrari 3.0L V12		47
44	S 3.0	15th	Scuderia Ferrari	Cliff Allison Hernando da Silva Ramos	Ferrari 250TR59	Ferrari 3.0L V12	E.	41
45	S 750	56	Automobili Stanguellini	René Louis Revillon Joseph Dieu	Stanguellini 750 Sport Bialbero	Fiat 0.7L I4		37
46	GT 750	43	SA Hurrell / RM North	Sydney H. Hurrell Roy North	Saab 93 Sport	Saab 0.7L I3		35
47	GT 2.0	26th	Standard Triumph Motor Company	Peter Bolton Mike Rothschild	Triumph TR3S	Triumph 2.0L I4		35
48	S 750	51	OSCA Automobili	Pedro Rodríguez Ricardo Rodríguez	OSCA Sport 750TN	OSCA 0.7L I4		32
49	GT 2.0	60	John Dashwood	John Dashwood William Wilks	Frazer-Nash Le Mans	Bristol 2.0L I6		30th
50	S 750	54	Team Lotus Engineering	Michael Taylor Johnathon Sieff	Lotus 17	Coventry Climax 0.7L I4		23
51	S 3.0	17th	North American Racing Team	Gilbert Geitner Rod Carveth	Ferrari 250TR58	Ferrari 3.0L V12		21st
52	GT 3.0	21st	Écurie Trois Chevrons	Hubert Patthey Renaud Calderari	Aston Martin DB4 GT	Aston Martin 3.0L I6		21st
53	GT 750	47	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	Pierre Chancel Gérard Laureau	DB HBR4	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2		9
Not started
54	GT 1.5	58	Richard Stoop	Douglas Graham Mike McKee	Lotus Elite MK14	Coventry Climax 1.5L I4		1

¹ not started

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
55	S 3000	9	Equipe Nationale Belge	Lucien Bianchi Mauro Bianchi André Crosier Paul Nokin	Lister	Jaguar 3.0L V12
56	S 3000	19th	Ed Hugus	Ed Hugus Ray Erickson	Ferrari 250TR	Ferrari 3.0L V12
57	GT 2000	28	Equipe Nationale Belge	Armand Blaton André Pilette	AC Ace	Bristol 2.0L I6
58	S 2000	38	Los Amigos team	Jean-Claude Vidilles Jean-François Malle	Cooper T49 Monaco Mk1	Coventry Climax 2.0L I4
59	GT 1300	49	Squadra Virgilio Conrero		Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Conrero	Alfa Romeo 1.3L L4
60	GT 1300	40	Squadra Virgilio Conrero	José Rosinski Claude Bobrowski	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Conrero	Alfa Romeo 1.3L L4
61	S 750	45	Alfonso Papani	Alfonso Papani Mario Poltonieri	Fiat-Abarth 750	Fiat 0.7L L4
62	S 750	51	Alejandro de Tomaso	Alejandro de Tomaso Isabel Haskell Colin Davis	OSCA Sport 750
63	S 750	57	Team Lotus Engineering	Innes Ireland Colin Chapman Pete Lovely Graham Hill	Lotus Elite Mk19	Coventry Climax 2.7L I4
64	S 750	57	Team Lotus Engineering	Innes Ireland Colin Chapman Pete Lovely Graham Hill	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 0.7L I4
65	GT 750	16	G. Faucher		DB
66	S 2000		Georges Guyot	Michel Parsy Roger Castelain Paul Guiraud	Maserati 200SI	Maserati 2.0L L4
67	S 2000		Team Lotus Engineering	Innes Ireland Alan Stacey	Lotus 17	Coventry Climax 0.7L I4
68	S 1500		Jean Lucas		Cooper T49 Monaco	Coventry Climax 1.5L I4
69	S 3000		Equipe Nationale Belge	Freddy Rousselle Jacques Croisier	Lister LM	Jaguar 3.0L I6
70	S 1100		Cooper Car Company	Jim Russell George Wisdom Ian Burgess	Cooper T49 Monaco	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4
71	S 1100		Cooper Car Company	Percy Crabb	Cooper T49 Monaco	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4
72	S 750		Automobili Stanguellini		Stanguellini Bialbero	Fiat 0.7L I4
73	S 3000		Team Lotus Engineering	Innes Ireland Colin Chapman Pete Lovely Graham Hill	Lotus Mk19	Coventry Climax 2.7L I4
74	S 750		Maurice van der Bruwaene	Maurice van der Bruwaene André Beaulieux	Panhard X84
75	GT 3000		North American Racing Team	Lance Reventlow	Ferrari 250GT	Ferrari 3.0L V12
76	GT 5000		Leslie Johnson	Leslie Johnson	Jensen 541R	Austin Sheerline 4.0L I6
77	GT 3000		Fernand Tavano		Ferrari 250GT	Ferrari 3.0L V12
78	S 1500		José Behra	José Behra	Porsche 718RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4
79	S 750	58	André Héchard	André Héchard Michel Legourd	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.9L Flat-2
80	S 1100	62	Automobili Stanguellini		Stanguellini HP13	Fiat 1.1L I4
81	S 3000		Michael Taylor	Michael Taylor Jonathan Sief	Lister LM	Jaguar 3.0L I6
82	S 3000		Daniel Pouget	Daniel Pouget René Bourrely	Aston Martin DBR1	Aston Martin 3.0L I6
83	S 1500		Christian Goethals	Christian Goethals	Porsche 718RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4
84	S 1100		Tojeiro	RF Taylor LA Camage	Tojeiro MK.II
85	S 750		Daniel Lewis	Daniel Lewis	Mirromac	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4
86	GT 1100		Kenneth MacKenzie & Tom Barnard	Kenneth MacKenzie Tom Barnard	Porsche 718RSK	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4
87	GT 1100		Kenneth MacKenzie & Tom Barnard	Kenneth MacKenzie Tom Barnard John Gaston	Austin-Healey Sprite
88	S 1100		Dorchester Service Station	David Piper John Campbell-Jones Derek Randall	Lotus 17
89	S 1500		John Ogier	Peter Blond Peter Ashdown	Tojeiro Mk.III
90	S 3000		Maurice Charles	Maurice Charles	Jaguar D-Type	Jaguar 3.0L I6
91	GT 2000		David Dixon	Michael Blond Kenneth MacKenzie John McKenchnie	MG A
92	S 750		Marcel Lailler	Marcel Lailler Lucien Pailler	Panhard X86	Jaguar 3.0L I6
93	S 750		Just-Émile Vernet	Jean-Marie Dumazer	VP 156R	Renault 0.7L I4
94	S 3000		David Dixon	Michael Blond Richard Stoop David Dixon	Aston Martin DB3S	Aston Martin 3.0L I6
95	S 1100		René Bartholoni	René Bartholoni	DB HBR5	Panhard 0.7L Flat-2
96	S 1100		Bernard Duval	Bernard Duval	Lola MK1
97	GT 1300		Alfa Romeo SpA		Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Conrero
98	S 750		Société EFAC		Stanguellini EFAC SP5601
99	S 1500		Maurice Slotine		Porsche 550RS	Porsche 1.5L Flat-4
100	S 1100		René Breuil		RB isolates

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	René Cotton	Louis Cornet	DB HBR4	Rank 9
25th Biennial Cup	René Cotton	Louis Cornet	DB HBR4	Rank 9
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Bernard Consten	Paul Armagnac	DB HBR4	Rank 11
Sports prototypes 2001–3000 cm³	Roy Salvadori	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Overall victory
GT 2001-3000 cc	Jean Blaton	Leon Dernier	Ferrari 250 GT LWB Coupe	Rank 3
GT 1501-2000 cc	Thed Whiteaway	John Turner	AC Ace	Rank 7
GT 1101-1500 cc	Peter Lumsden	Peter Riley	Lotus Elite MK14	Rank 8
GT 501-750 cc	René Cotton	Louis Cornet	DB HBR4	Rank 9

Racing data

• Registered: 100
• Started: 53
• Rated: 13
• Race classes: 8
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: Maurice Herzog , French Minister for Youth and Sport
• Weather on the race weekend: warm and dry
• Route length: 13.461 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 323
• Total distance of the winning team: 4347.900 km
• Winner's average: 181.163 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Jean Behra - Ferrari 250TR59 (# 12) - 4: 00.900 = 201.161 km / h
• Racing series: 4th round of the 1959 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• 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 1959  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Previous race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1959

Sports car world championship

Successor RAC Tourist Trophy 1959