1968 Le Mans 24 hour race

Ford GT40. Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi won the overall standings in one of these 5-liter racing cars.

The Howmet TX gas turbine racing car, starting in Le Mans with starting numbers 22 and 23. Both vehicles retired in the race.

The Howmet TX with starting number 22 in its original condition. The car was driven in 1968 by Dick Thompson and Ray Heppenstal, retired due to an accident after 84 laps.

The 36th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 36 ^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 28 to 29 September 1968 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

New regulations in the sports car world championship

Startled by the record distance of the victorious Ford GT40 MK IV at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 and the 24-hour average of 218.038 km / h, the CSI announced a drastic change in the regulations for 1968. The most significant component was the reduction in displacement, which led to the withdrawal of the Ford and Ferrari factory teams from the world championship of sports cars.

This meant that the Ferrari 330P4 could no longer be used in addition to the 7-liter Ford racing car . Ferrari was far from building the required 40 pieces of the P4, and the fast prototypes went to the museum. The Chaparral 2F , with its mighty rear wings and powered by a 7-liter Chevrolet engine, also disappeared from the race tracks.

Delayed start and new section of the route

As a result of the Paris student protests (see: May 1968 ) there was a wave of strikes in France. It was therefore impossible to hold the race in June. Once before - in 1936 - the race had to be canceled after a general strike and in 1968 a cancellation was also to be feared, but after Charles de Gaulle gave in , the situation in France calmed down in late summer.

The event took place at the end of September and therefore only for the second time since 1923 - when it was driven in May - not in June.

Even those responsible for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest were worried about the record hunt from the previous year. Above all, the fast passage from Maison Blanche to the Esses caused criticism. Coming from the Maison Blanche, the fastest racing cars drove past the pits at almost 300 km / h, which were only separated from the track by a white line on the lane. In order to brake the cars, a chicane was installed just in front of the pits, which drastically reduced the speed. In recognition of the achievement of the victorious Ford from the previous year and because Ford paid part of the construction costs, the chicane was given the name of the American automobile brand.

The race

After the big prototypes ended, there were no declared favorites at Le Mans in 1968. John Wyer had further developed the Ford GT40 and came to Le Mans with a three-car team. The most experienced duo were Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi , who have both competed in Le Mans many times. The second GT40 was shared by Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs , while the third was driven by Australian Brian Muir and Briton Jackie Oliver .

In the absence of an adequate racing car, the Ferrari teams - led by the North American Racing Team - resorted to the three-year-old 250LM .

When Porsche was seen for the first time to reach the victory in the overall standings the chance. The works team brought four new Porsche 908s to Le Mans. The 3-liter cars were driven by Jochen Neerpasch , Rolf Stommelen , Gerhard Mitter , Vic Elford , Joe Buzzetta , Scooter Patrick , Joseph Siffert and Hans Herrmann .

Alfa Romeo made a comeback at Le Mans with the Tipo 33 and Alpine had built a 3-liter car for the first time with the A220 .

The Porsche 908 were the fastest cars on the track, and after an hour all four works cars were in the lead. In practice, Joseph Siffert had the best lap time of 3: 35.4 minutes (225 km / h). But after about three hours in the race, the V-belt of the cooling fan on the Stommelen / Neerpasch car had to be changed and an hour later Siffert failed with a defective gear shaft. Then the remaining Porsches started having problems with the alternator: The insulation was too big and the centrifugal forces detached themselves from the wires, which resulted in short circuits. After nine hours, Mitter / Elford were disqualified because the alternator had been replaced; because the replacement of a complete unit was not permitted, the regulations only allowed a repair. When the Rodríguez / Bianchi-Ford finally took the lead, three Porsche works cars had already retired and the Neerpasch / Stommelen car had fallen far behind. However, he kept catching up and ended up in third place with 4,366,220 kilometers driven.

Immediately after the start, Willy Mairesse was fourth behind three Porsches, but on the first lap with his Ford GT40 on a wet track in the Mulsanne bend at about 250 km / h, the car went completely off the track was destroyed. Mairesse survived the accident with head injuries. Mairesse had not properly closed the door of the Ford GT40 when it started, which then ripped out of its anchorages and flew away at full speed; in the process he lost control of the car and had an accident. That night, Mauro Bianchi also had a serious accident in the Alpine A220 in the Tertre Rouge. The car caught fire and Bianchi was seriously burned.

When on Sunday morning, the positions were covered, the race lost its tension until the struggle between the Matra MS630 by Johnny Servoz-Gavin and Henri Pescarolo for second place on which he went long, and the fastest Alfa Romeo. But at around 12 o'clock, a rear steering knuckle on the Alfa Romeo had to be changed, which took 23 minutes, and a little later the Matra pitted with a punctured tire; at 1 p.m. he was out. Meanwhile, Rodríguez and Bianchi drove a lonely race in the lead and achieved the third Ford victory in a row with a lead of five laps on the Porsche 907 of Dieter Spoerry and Rico Steinemann and 4452.880 kilometers (185.536 km / h). Third place went to Neerpasch / Stommelen. Three Alfa crossed the finish line and finished fourth to sixth.

Two of the three Ford GT40s with 4.7 liter John Wyer engines had failed. Brian Muir fell into the sand in the early stages of the race. In more than two hours of work, he digged the car free, but destroyed the clutch while trying to drive it out of the sand, so that he could no longer drive.

Results

Pilots by nationality

42 French	20 British	9 Italians	8 Belgians	8 Americans
8 Swiss	6 Germans	2 Australians	2 Sweden	1 Mexican
1 Dutch	1 Austrian	1 Spaniard

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 5.0	9	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Pedro Rodríguez Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.9L V8	F.	331
2	P 3.0	66	Squadra Tartaruga	Rico Steinemann Dieter Spoerry	Porsche 907L	Porsche 2.2L Flat-8		326
3	P 3.0	33	Porsche System Engineering	Jochen Neerpasch Rolf Stommelen	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.	325
4th	P 2.0	39	Autodelta SpA	Ignazio Giunti Nanni Galli	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8	D.	322
5	P 2.0	38	Autodelta SpA	Carlo Facetti Spartaco Dini	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8	D.	315
6th	P 2.0	40	Autodelta SpA	Mario Casoni Giampiero Biscaldi	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8	D.	305
7th	S 5.0	21st	David Piper Racing	David Piper Richard Attwood	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12		302
8th	P 3.0	30th	Société des Automobiles Alpine	André de Cortanze Jean Vinatier	Alpine A220	Renault - Gordini 3.0L V8		297
9	P 2.0	57	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Alain LeGuellec Alain Serpaggi	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5L I4		289
10	P 1.3	52	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Luc Thérier Bernard Tramont	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4		288
11	P 1.3	53	Le Mans Trophy	Christian Ethuin Bob Wollek	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4		282
12	GT 2.0	43	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Jean-Pierre Gaban Roger van der Schrick	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		281
13	GT 2.0	64	Claude Laurent	Claude Laurent Jean-Claude Ogier	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		276
14th	P 1.3	55	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Claude Andruet	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		272
15th	P 1.3	50	Donald Healey Motor Company	Roger Enever Alec Poole	Austin-Healey Sprite Le Mans	BMC 1.3L I4		255
16	P 2.0	46	Ecurie Fiat-Abarth France	Marcel Martin Jean Mésange	Fiat Dino	Ferrari 2.0L V6		253
Not classified
17th	GT 1.3	61	Ecurie Leopard	Joseph Bourdon Maurice Nussbaumer Michel Pouteaux	Alpine A110	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4		215
18th	GT 1.3	51	Bernard Collomb	Bernard Collomb François Laccarrau	Alpine A110	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4		167
Disqualified
19th	S 2.0	42	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Pierre Maublanc	Porsche 906 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		202
20th	P 3.0	32	Porsche System Engineering	Gerhard Mitter Vic Elford	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.	111
21st	P 3.0	67	Philippe Farjon	Robert Buchet Herbert Linge	Porsche 907/8	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		102
22nd	P 3.0	23	Howmet Corporation	Bob Tullius Hugh Dibley	Howmet TX	Continental 3.0L gas turbine	G	60
23	S 5.0	7th	Sportscars Unlimited	Ulf Norinder Sten Axelsson	Lola T70 Mk. III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8		47
Failed
24	P 3.0	24	Equipe Matra Sports	Johnny Servoz-Gavin Henri Pescarolo	Matra MS630	Matra 3.0L V12		283
25th	P 3.0	27	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Mauro Bianchi Patrick Depailler	Alpine A220	Renault-Gordini 3.0L V8		257
26th	P 2.0	45	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud André Wicky	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		248
27	GT 2.0	44	Auguste Veuillet	Guy Chasseuil Claude Ballot-Léna	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		224
28	S 5.0	20th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Müller Jonathan Williams	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12		212
29	S 5.0	14th	North American Racing Team	Masts Gregory Charlie Kolb	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12		209
30th	P 3.0	29	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean Guichet Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Alpine A220	Renault-Gordini 3.0L V8		185
31	GT +2.0	4th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jean-Michel Giorgi Sylvain Garant	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8		157
32	P 2.0	41	Autodelta SpA	Nino Vaccarella Giancarlo Baghetti	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8	D.	150
33	P 3.0	35	Àlex Soler-Roig	Àlex Soler-Roig Rudi Lins	Porsche 907/8	Porsche 2.2L Flat-8		145
34	S 5.0	6th	Jackie Epstein	Jackie Epstein Edward Nelson	Lola T70 Mk.III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8	F.	143
35	S 5.0	12	Strathaven Limited	Mike Salmon Eric Liddell	Ford GT40 Mk. I	Ford 4.7L V8	G	131
36	P 3.0	34	Porsche System Engineering	Joe Buzzetta Scooter Patrick	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.	115
37	S 5.0	10	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Paul Hawkins David Hobbs	Ford GT40 Mk. II	Ford 4.9L V8	F.	107
38	P 2.0	37	Racing Team VDS	Teddy Pilette Rob Slotemaker	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8		104
39	S 5.0	19th	Paul Vestey	Paul Vestey Roy Pike	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12		99
40	P 3.0	22nd	Howmet Corporation	Dick Thompson Ray Heppenstal	Howmet TX	Continental 3.0L gas turbine	G	84
41	GT +2.0	17th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jacques Rey Claude Haldi	Ferrari 275 GTB / C	Ferrari 3.3L V12		78
42	P 1.3	56	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Louis Marnat Jean-François Gerbault	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4		71
43	P 3.0	28	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Henri Grandsire Gérard Larrousse	Alpine A220	Renault-Gordini 3.0L V8		59
44	P 3.0	31	Porsche System Engineering	Joseph Siffert Hans Herrmann	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.	59
45	P 2.0	36	North American Racing Team	François Chevalier Bernard Lagier de Giuseppe	Ferrari Dino 206S	Ferrari 2.0L V6		54
46	GT +2.0	3	Scuderia Filipinetti	Umberto Maglioli Henri Greder	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8		53
47	P 2.0	49	Chris J. Lawrence	Chris Lawrence John Wingfield	Deep Sanderson 302	Ford 1.6L I4		35
48	GT 2.0	60	Wicky Racing Team	Willy Meier Jean de Mortemart	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		30th
49	P 3.0	25th	John Woolfe Racing	John Woolfe Digby Martland	Chevron B12	Repco 3.0L V8		27
50	P 2.0	47	Donald Healey Motor Company	Clive Baker Andrew Hedges	Healey SR	Coventry Climax 2.0L V8		20th
51	S 5.0	11	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Brian Muir Jackie Oliver	Ford GT40 Mk. I	Ford 4.9L V8	F.	15th
52	P 2.0	65	Racing Team VDS	Serge Trosch Karl von Wendt	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8		7th
53	P 1.3	54	André Moynet	Max Jean René Ligonnet	Moynet XS	Simca 1.2L I4		6th
54	S 5.0	8th	Claude Dubois	Willy Mairesse Jean Blaton	Ford GT40 Mk. I	Ford 4.7L V8		1
Not started
55	GT +2.0	5	Scuderia Sant'Ambroeus	Giorgio Pianta Enrico Pinto	Iso-Rovolta	Chevrolet 5.3L V8		1
56	GT +2.0	15th	North American Racing Team	Bob Grossman Edgar Berney	Ferrari 275 GTB / 2	Ferrari 3.3L V12		2
Not qualified
57	P 2.0	58	Marcos Racing Ltd.	Jem Marsh John Quick Peter Taggart	Marcos 1800GT	Volvo 1.8L F4		3
58	P 1.3	63	Hubert Giraud	Philippe Marchesi Patrick Champin	Hrubon 1300	Renault-Gordini 1.3L L4		4th
reserve
59	P 2.0	58	Ben Pon	Ben Pon Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		5
60	P 1.3	62	André Moynet	- -	Moynet XS	Simca Type 315 1.3L F4		6th

¹ accident ² disqualification in training, illegal bikes ³ not qualified ⁴ not qualified ⁵ reserve ⁶ reserve

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
61	GT + 2.0	1	Sunray DX Oil Co		Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
62	GT + 2.0	2	Sunray DX Oil Co		Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
63	GT + 2.0	5	Ecurie Luxembourg	Chris Tuerlinx Nicolas Koob	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
64	S 5.0	7th	American International Racing		Lola T70 Mk.III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
65	S 5.0	8th	American International Racing		Lola T70 Mk.III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
66	S 5.0	16	North American Racing Team		Ferrari
67	S 5.0	16	Ecurie Intersport SA	Guy Ligier Jo Schlesser	Ford GT40	Ford 4.9L V8
68	S 5.0	19th	Bill Harrah		Ferrari
69	S 5.0	20th	Bill Harrah		Ferrari
70	S 5.0	22nd	Edgar Berney	Edgar Berney Francisco de Heredia	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12
71	P 3.0	26th	Marcos Racing Ltd.	Robin Widdows Hugh Dibley	Marcos Mantis	BRM
72	P 3.0	28	Scuderia Serenissima	Jonathan Williams	Serenissima Mk.168	ATS 3.0L V8
73	S 2.0	50	John Wagstaff	John Wagstaff David Preston	Lotus 47
74	P 3.0	59	Equipe Matra Sports	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra MS630	Matra 3.0L V12
75	P 1.15		Société des Automobiles Alpine		Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0L I4
76	P 1.3		Société des Automobiles Alpine		Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4
77	P 1.6		Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Christian Ethuin	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5L I4
78	S 5.0		Joakim Bonnier Racing Team		Lola T70 Mk.III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
79	S 3.0		Scuderia Filipinetti		Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.0L V12
80	P 3.0		Société des Automobiles Alpine	Mauro Bianchi Roger Delageneste Patrick Depailler	Alpine A220	Renault-Gordini 3.0L V8
81	GT + 2.0		Scuderia Filipinetti	Sylvain Garant	Ferrari 375GTB / C	Ferrari 3.3L V12
82	P 1.6		Joseph Bourdon		Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5L I4
83			Robert Buchet	Robert Buchet	Porsche 911	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
84	GT + 2.0	3	Piggins Chevrolet		Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
85	GT + 2.0	4th	Piggins Chevrolet		Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
86	GT + 2.0	7th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Müller Jean Guichet	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
87	S 5.0	12	American International Racing		Lola T70 Mk.III	Chevrolet 5.0L V8
88	S 5.0	16	Terry Dury	Terry Dury Keith Holland	Ford GT40	Ford 4.9L V8
89	S 5.0	22nd	Alain de Cadenet		Ford GT40	Ford 4.9L V8
90	S 5.0	29	Cox cooker	Cox cooker Pierre Sudan	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12
91	S 5.0	32	Paul Vestey		Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3L V12
92	P 3.0	37	Alain de Cadenet	Tommy Weber Rollo Fielding	Sodec	Diva Martin Valkyrie
93	P 2.0	51	Teodoro Zeccoli	Teodoro Zeccoli	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Alfa Romeo 2.0L V8
94	GT 2.0	56	Patrice Sanson	Patrice Sanson Roland Lefevre	Porsche 911	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
95	GT 2.0	57	Björn Waldegård	Björn Waldegård Sten Axelsson	Porsche 911	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
96	S 2.0	65	Mike d'Udy	Mike d'Udy Hugh Dibley	Porsche 906 Carrera 6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
97	P 2.0	69	Bam-Bam Racing Team	Hans Wängstre Evert Christoffersson	Ferrari Dino 206S	Ferrari 2.0L V6
98	P 3.0	72	Alain de Cadenet	Tony Beeson Mário de Araújo Cabral	Scodec	Diva Martin Valkyrie
99	P 2.0	73	Mark King	Mark King Tony Lanfranchi	Nomad Mk.1	Ford 1.6L I4
100	P 2.0	76	Peter Clarke	Peter Clarke Lance Weber	Emerson
101	P 1.3	77	Varicam Racing	Mike Coles	Costin Nathan	Ford 1.3L I4
102	GT 1.3	79	Bernard Collomb	Alain Finkelstein Claude Henry	Alpine A110	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4
103	P 1.3	82	Concorde	Tom Lalonde Roger Sparkes	Piper GT
104	P 1.3	86	Jean-Pierre Remusat	François Chevalier P Rand	Alpine A110	Renault-Gordini 1.3L I4

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	Jean-Claude Andruet	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine A210	Rank 14
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Jean-Luc Thérier	Bernard Tramont	Alpine A210	Rank 10
Sports prototype 2501-3000 cm³	Rolf Stommelen	Jochen Neerpasch	Porsche 908	Rank 3
Sports prototype 2001-2500 cm³	Dieter Spoerry	Rico Steinemann	Porsche 907	Rank 2
Sports prototype 1601-2000 cm³	Ignazio Giunti	Nanni Galli	Alfa Romeo Tipo 33	Rank 4
Sports prototype 1301–1600 cm³	Alain LeGuellec	Alain Serpaggi	Alpine A210	Rank 9
Prototype 1001-1 150 cm³	Jean-Claude Andruet	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine A210	Rank 14
Sports car	Pedro Rodríguez	Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40	Overall victory
GT	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Roger van der Schrick	Porsche 911T	Rank 12

Racing data

• Registered: 104
• Started: 54
• Valued: 16
• Race classes: 9
• Spectators: 350,000
• Honorary starter of the race: Giovanni Agnelli , managing partner of Fiat
• Weather on the race weekend: warm, rain at night and on Sunday
• Route length: 13.469 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 331
• Distance of the winning team: 4452.880 km
• Winner's average: 185.536 km / h
• Pole position: Jo Siffert - Porsche 908 (# 31) - 3.35.400 = 225.108 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Rolf Stommelen - Porsche 908 (# 2) - 3.38.100 = 222.231 km / h
• Racing series: 10th round of the 1968 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 1968  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul Frère : 24 Hours of Le Mans: World Championship for Ford. In: auto motor und sport , issue 21/1968, pp. 68–73, 87 u. 103.

Previous race 500 km race from Zeltweg 1968

Sports car world championship

Succession race 24 Hours of Daytona in 1969