Le Mans 24 hour race 1963

Aston Martin DP215. Driven by Phil Hill and Lucien Bianchi, the car broke down after 29 laps due to a gearbox failure.

Ferrari 330LMB. The best-placed 330LMB was Jack Sears and Mike Salmon's Maranello Concessionaires car in fifth place overall.

The 31st 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 31 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , took place from June 15 to 16, 1963 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

The race

After only one year , the Automobile Club de l'Ouest gave up the experimental classes and reintroduced the categorization of the prototypes . The Ferrari and especially the works team themselves were clear favorites to win . In Maranello , three new sports cars, the 250P , were prepared for use on the Sarthe. The strongest opponents for the overall victory were the Maserati Tipo 151 reported by Maserati France and the new factory Aston Martin . A gas turbine vehicle was also at the start at Le Mans for the first time. Rover had been experimenting with this technology since 1950 . A racing car was brought to Le Mans, the chassis of which was developed and built by the British Formula 1 racing team BRM . The two Formula 1 drivers Graham Hill and Richie Ginther were used as drivers . The car received the double zero as its start number and had to start out of competition. The vehicle's tank was so big that the car didn't fit the regulations. The two Grand Prix drivers managed the ACO premium of 25,000 francs without any problems. This was due when the car reached the 3600 km total distance. The Rover managed 573 km more and would have been seventh in the final classification.

AC continued his new Cobras , where the car with the start number 3, the Peter Bolten and Le Mans winner of 1956 Ninian Sanderson drove Stirling Moss worked as a team manager.

The Lola GT came far too late for technical acceptance and then did not fully comply with the regulations. Under the critical eyes of the ACO officials, the racing car had to be converted so that David Hobbs and Richard Attwood could still start the race. The three factory Ferraris carried a shovel and wooden panels on the passenger seat in the race, as all three cars got stuck in the dreaded sandbank of the Mulsanne during training.

Serious accidents

After the first lap, the Mexican Pedro Rodríguez , who had started the race from pole position , was in the lead. But already in the second lap, the Le Mans veteran André Simon took the lead in the Maserati and kept it until he retired after two hours of racing. The Surtees / Mairesse Ferrari then took the lead.

Just before 21:00 am bursting Aston Martin DP214 by Bruce McLaren at the Les Hunaudières the engine and flooded the road with oil. This triggered a series of serious accidents. Jean Kerguen, Roy Salvadori and Jean-Pierre Manzon lost control of their vehicles. While Kerguen only slightly damaged his Aston Martin and was able to drive back to the pits, the other two cars were completely destroyed. The worst accident happened to the Brazilian Christian “Bino” Heins , who was trapped in the wreck of his Alpine M63 and burned helplessly. During the night, Fernand Tavano and Joakim Bonnier had an accident in close succession, but were uninjured.

Bon Olthoff was seriously injured in another accident at Maison Blanche. The last accident occurred on Sunday at 10 a.m. The dominant leader Willy Mairesse was just coming out of the pits from a refueling stop when he crashed into a barrier in Indianapolis. Since there was too much fuel in the tank, it spilled over and the Ferrari went up in flames. The Belgian got away with burns on his hands.

In the end, Ferrari won for the seventh time. It was the first win for a rear-engined racing car at Le Mans, and the first time two Italians won for the Scuderia. The honor of France once again saved René Bonnet by winning the Thermal Efficiency Index.

Results

Pilots by nationality

26 British	26 French	15 Americans	9 Italians	7 Belgians
3 Germans	3 Swiss	2 Dutch	2 South Africans	1 Australian
1 Brazilian	1 Irish	1 Mexican	1 New Zealander	1 Swede

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	P 3.0	21st	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Lorenzo Bandini Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari 250P	Ferrari 3.0L V12	D.	339
2	GT 3.0	24	Equipe Nationale Belge	Jean Blaton Gérard Langlois van Ophem	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12		323
3	P 3.0	22nd	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Mike Parkes Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 250P	Ferrari 3.0L V12	D.	323
4th	GT 3.0	25th	Fernand Tavano	Pierre Dumay Léon Dernier	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12		322
5	P + 3.0	12	Maranello Concessionaires Ltd.	Jack Sears Mike Salmon	Ferrari 330LMB	Ferrari 4.0L V12		314
6th	GT 3.0	26th	North American Racing Team	Masts Gregory David Piper	Ferrari 250 GTO LMB	Ferrari 3.0L V12		312
7th	GT + 3.0	3	AC Cars Ltd	Peter Bolton Ninian Sanderson	AC Cobra 289 Coupé	Ford 4.7L V8		310
8th	P 3.0	28	Porsche System Engineering	Herbert Linge Edgar Barth	Porsche 718/8 WRS Spyder	Porsche 2.0L Flat-8		300
9	GT + 3.0	15th	Briggs Cunningham	Briggs Cunningham Bob Grossman	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Jaguar 3.8L I6		283
10	GT 1.3	39	Team elite	John Wagstaff Pat Ferguson	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4		270
11	P 3.0	53	Automobiles René Bonnet	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Claude Bobrowski	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	Renault - Gordini 1.1L I4		269
12	GT 2.0	31	Alan Hutcherson	Alan Hutcherson Paddy Hopkirk	MG MGB hardtop	MG 1.8L I4		264
Not classified
13		00	Owen Racing Organization	Graham Hill Richie Ginther	Rover BRM	Rover 2.0L gas turbine		310
14th	P 3.0	41	Automobiles René Bonnet	Bruno Basini Robert Bouharde	René Bonnet Aérodjet	Renault-Gordini 1.1L I4		211
Disqualified
15th	GT + 3.0	4th	Ed Hugus	Ed Hugus Peter Jopp	AC Cobra Coupe	Ford 4.7L V8		127
16	P 3.0	44	Lawrence Tune Engineering	Chris Lawrence Chris Donor	Deep Sanderson 301	BMC 1.0L I4		110
17th	P 3.0	58	Jean-George's branch	Jean-Georges branch Claude Dubois	Fiat-Abarth 850TC	Fiat 0.8L I4		96
18th	GT 1.6	35	Scuderia St. Ambroeus	Giampiero Biscaldi Sergio Pedretti	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ	Alfa Romeo 1.6L I4		70
Failed
19th	P 3.0	23	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	John Surtees Willy Mairesse	Ferrari 250P	Ferrari 3.0L V12	D.	252
20th	P 3.0	50	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Bernard Boyer Guy Verrier	Alpine M63	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		227
21st	GT 1.6	32	Sunbeam Talbot	Jackie Lewis Keith Ballisat	Sunbeam Alpine	Sunbeam 1.6L I4		200
22nd	GT 1.3	38	Team elite	Frank Gardner John Coundley	Lotus Elite Mk14	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4		167
23	GT 1.6	34	Scuderia St. Ambroeus	Giancarlo Sala Romolo Rossi	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ	Alfa Romeo 1.6L I4		165
24	P + 3.0	6th	Lola Cars Ltd.	Richard Attwood David Hobbs	Lola Mk6 GT	Ford 4.6L V8		151
25th	P 3.0	7th	Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.	William Kimberly Jo Schlesser	Aston Martin DP214	Aston Martin 3.7L I6		139
26th	P + 3.0	11	North American Racing Team	Dan Gurney Jim Hall	Ferrari 330LMB	Ferrari 4.0L V12		126
27	GT 2.0	30th	Porsche System Engineering	Heinz Schiller Ben Pon	Porsche 356B 2000GS GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-4		115
28	P + 3.0	10	North American Racing Team	Pedro Rodríguez Roger Penske	Ferrari 330TRI LM	Ferrari 4.0L V12		113
29	P 3.0	27	Porsche System Engineering	Joakim Bonnier Tony Maggs	Porsche 718/8 GTR Coupe	Porsche 2.0L Flat-8		109
30th	GT 3.0	20th	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Fernand Tavano Carlo-Maria Abate	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12		105
31	P 3.0	42	Donald Healey Motor Company	Sir John Whitmore Bob Olthoff	Austin-Healey Sprite 1100	BMC 1.1L I4		94
32	GT 2.0	29	Porsche System Engineering	Gerhard Koch Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche 356B 2000GS GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-4		94
33	GT 1.6	33	Sunbeam Talbot	Peter Harper Peter Procter	Sunbeam Alpine	Sunbeam 1.6L I4		93
34	P + 3.0	9	Pierre Noblet	Pierre Noblet Jean Guichet	Ferrari 330LMB	Ferrari 4.0L V12		75
35	GT + 3.0	19th	Jean Kerguen	Jean Kerguen Jacques Dewez	Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato	Aston Martin 3.8L I6		69
36	P 3.0	49	Société des Automobiles Alpine	René Richard Piero Frescobaldi	Alpine M63	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		63
37	GT + 3.0	8th	Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.	Innes Ireland Bruce McLaren	Aston Martin DP214	Aston Martin 3.7L I6		59
38	P 3.0	48	Société des Automobiles Alpine	José Rosinski Christian Heins	Alpine M63	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		50
39	P 3.0	52	Urbain Fabre	Jean-Pierre Manzon Jean Rolland	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		47
40	P + 3.0	2	Maserati France Johnny Simone	André Simon Lloyd Casner	Maserati Tipo 151/3	Maserati 4.9L V8		40
41	GT + 3.0	16	Briggs Cunningham	Paul Richards Roy Salvadori	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Jaguar 3.8L I6		40
42	P + 3.0	17th	Peter J. Sargent	Peter Sargent Peter Lumsden	Lister Coupe	Jaguar 3.8L I6		29
43	P + 3.0	18th	Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.	Phil Hill Lucien Bianchi	Aston Martin DP215	Aston Martin 4.0L I6		29
44	P 3.0	54	Automobiles René Bonnet	Gérard Laureau Jean Vinatier	René Bonnet RB5	Renault 0.7L I4		25th
45	GT + 3.0	14th	Briggs Cunningham	Walt Hansgen Augie Pabst	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Jaguar 3.8L I6		8th
46	GT 1.6	36	Scuderia Filipinetti	Karl Foitek Armand Schäfer	Alfa Romeo Giulietta GZ	Alfa Romeo 1.6L I4		7th
47	P 3.0	51	Automobiles René Bonnet	Roger Masson Pierre Monneret	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		4th
48	P 3.0	55	"Sarayac"	Guy Flayac Lucien Barthe	Fiat-Abarth 1000SP	Fiat 1.0L I4		3
49	P3.0	56	Auto Union GmbH	Alain Bertaut André Guilhaudin	CD 3	DKW -Manztel 0.7L I3		1

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
50	GT + 3.0	1	Grady Davis		Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 5.4L V8
51	GT + 3.0	1	Alan Green	Jerry Grant Don Campbell	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 5.4L V8
52	GT + 3.0	2	Mickey Thompson	Dick Thompson Bill Krause	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 5.4L V8
53	P + 3.0	4th	Chaparral Cars	Jim Hall Hap Sharp	Chaparral 2A	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
54	P + 3.0	5	Chaparral Cars	Bob Donner Ronnie Hissom	Chaparral 2A	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
55	P + 3.0	5	Broadley Lola Cars	John Love Tony Maggs	Lola Mk6 GT	Ford 4.6L V8
56	GT + 3.0	9	Shelby American		Shelby Cobra	Ford 4.8L V8
57	P + 3.0	15th	David Brown	Bruce McLaren Jo Schlesser Lucien Bianchi William Kimberly	Aston Martin DP214	Aston Martin 3.7L I6
58	P 3.0	23	Ferrari SEFAC Spa		Ferrari 250P	Ferrari 3.0L V12
59	GT 3.0	25th	North American Racing Team	Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12
60	GT 3.0	26th	North American Racing Team		Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12
61	P 3.0	27	Donald Healey Motor Company		Austin-Healey 3000	BMC 3.0L L6
62	P 3.0	37	OSCA Automobili		OSCA 1600GT	OSCA 1.6L I4
63	GT 1.3	38	Abarth Corse & Cie	Herbert Demetz	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	Simca 1.3L I4
64	GT 1.3	38	Abarth Corse & Cie	Hans Herrmann Mauro Bianchi	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	Simca 1.3L I4
65	GT 1.3	40	Equipe Nationale Belge	Claude Dubois George Harris	Lotus Elite	Coventry Climax 1.2L I4
66	P 3.0	43	Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Müller Jean-Jacques Thuner	ASA 1100
67	P 3.0	45	Lausannoise team	Bernard Collomb	Deep Sanderson 301	BMC 1.0L I4
68	P 3.0	46	Scuderia AS Elmo D'Argento	Paul Condrillier Jean Vinatier	ASA Mile
69	P 3.0	47	Scuderia AS Elmo D'Argento	Giorgio Bassi Carlo Facetti	ASA Mile
70	P 3.0	50	Abarth	Gianni Balzarini	Fiat-Abarth 1000	Fiat 1.0L L4
71	P 3.0	53	Automobiles René Bonnet		René Bonnet Djet	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4
72	P 3.0				Tojeiro Mk.II	Buick 3.0L V8
73	P 3.0		Falcon		Falcon 515	Ford 3.0L V8
74					Lancia
75	GT + 3.0				Shelby Cobra	Ford 4.7L V8
76	GT + 3.0				Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 5.4L V8
77	P 3.0		Falcon		Falcon 515	Ford 3.0L V8
78	P 3.0				Marcos Mini GT
79	GT 3.0		Jo Schlesser	Jo Schlesser	Ferrari 250 GTO	Ferrari 3.0L V12
80	GT + 2.0				TVR Grantura
81	P 3.0		Falcon		Falcon 515	Ford 3.0L V8
82	P 3.0				Auto Union 1000S

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 250P	Overall victory
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Claude Bobrowski	René Bonnet Aerodjet LM6	Rank 11
Special ACO Award	Graham Hill	Richie Ginther	Rover BRM	out of competition at the start
Prototype 2001-3000 cm³	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari 250P	Overall victory
Prototype 1601-2000 cm³	Herbert Linge	Edgar Barth	Porsche 718/8 WRS Spyder	Rank 8
Prototype 1001-1 150 cm³	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Claude Bobrowski	René Bonnet Aerodjet LM6	Rank 11
GT 4001-5000 cc	Peter Bolton	Ninian Sanderson	AC Cobra 289 Coupé	Rank 7
GT 3001-4000 cc	Jack Sears	Mike Salmon	Ferrari 330LMB	Rank 5
GT car 2001-3000 cc	Jean Blaton	Gérard Langlois van Ophem	Ferrari 250 GTO	Rank 2
GT car 1601–2000 cm³	Paddy Hopkirk	Alan Hutcherson	Morgan MBG hard top	Rank 12
GT car 1151-1300 cm³	John Wagstaff	Pat Ferguson	Lotus Elite MK14	Rank 10

Racing data

• Registered: 82
• Started: 49
• Valued: 12
• Race classes: 11
• Spectators: 300,000
• Honorary starter of the race: Comte Hadelin de Liedereke-Beaufort, President of the Automobile Club de France
• Race weekend weather: warm and sunny
• Route length: 13.461 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 339
• Total distance of the winning team: 4561.710 km
• Winner's average: 190.071 km / h
• Pole position: Pedro Rodríguez - Ferrari 330 TRI LM (# 10) - 3: 50.090 = 209.873 km / h
• Fastest race lap: John Surtees - Ferrari 250P (# 23) - 3: 53.300 = 207.714 km / h
• Racing series: 10th round of the sports car world championship in 1963

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 1963  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Previous race mountain race Rossfeld 1963

Sports car world championship

Succession race three-hour race at Monza in 1963, the first race