1976 Le Mans 24-hour race

The # 2 Inaltera LM. Christine Beckers, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Jean Rondeau finished 21st in the overall standings with this vehicle

The BMW Art Car designed by Frank Stella by Brian Redman and Peter Gregg wore starting number 41 in the race

The 44th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 44 ^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 12 to 13 June 1976 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

Regulations

In 1976, the ACO opened the regulations for vehicles from US racing series. This applied to IMSA and NASCAR racing cars . While the IMSA cars were given their own class for several years, this was only available for NASCAR in 1976. Only two NASCAR cars came to Le Mans: One, a Dodge Charger , driven by the McGriff brothers, already fell after two laps with an irreparable leak in the oil tank. The second, a Ford Torino in which Dick Hutcherson , who made a Le Mans comeback in third overall in 1966 , ran 104 laps until the gearbox broke. The 133 percent rule, which said that a vehicle couldn't take more than 133% of the fastest time to complete a lap to qualify for the race, has been tightened to 125%.

The race

After the start, Jean-Pierre Jabouille , the fastest in training, took the lead in the Alpine A442 . After two hours, however, the problems with an overheated cylinder began, which repeatedly forced the car into the pits and which led to failure after 135 laps. Due to the problems at Renault, the two works Porsche 936s run by Jacky Ickx / Gijs van Lennep and Reinhold Joest / Jürgen Barth took the lead and from then on set the pace of the race. The second-placed Joest / Barth-Porsche retired after 17 hours with engine failure, but the overall victory was never in danger. In the end, Ickx and van Lennep won with a lead of 11 laps on the Mirage GR8 of Jean-Louis Lafosse and François Migault . Alain de Cadenet and Chris Craft finished third overall with their Lola T380 , who were already 12 laps behind the winning team. It was the third Le Mans victory for Jacky Ickx and the second for Gijs van Lennep. The 2.1-liter 935 engine from Porsche was the first turbo engine to win at Le Mans.

The race also had one fatality: the Frenchman André Haller had a fatal accident with his Datsun HLS30 at the end of the Les Hunaundières straight .

Results

Pilots by nationality

77 French	14 Swiss	12 Germans	12 Americans	11 British
5 Australians	5 Belgians	3 Mexicans	2 Dutch	1 fin
1 Italian	1 Irish	1 Liechtensteiner	1 New Zealander	1 Austrian
1 Puerto Rican

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 3.0	20th	Martini Racing Porsche System	Jacky Ickx Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 936	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	G	349
2	S 3.0	10	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Jean-Louis Lafosse François Migault	Mirage GR8	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	338
3	S 3.0	12	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft	De Cadenet-Lola T380	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	337
4th	Size 5	40	Martini Racing Porsche System	Rolf Stommelen Manfred Schurti	Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6	D.	331
5	S 3.0	11	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Derek Bell Vern Schuppan	Mirage GR8	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	326
6th	Size 5	52	Gérard Méo	Raymond Touroul Alain Cudini	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		314
7th	S 3.0	17th	Joest Racing Team	Ernst Kraus Günter Steckkönig	Porsche 908/3	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	G	313
8th	GTP	1	Inaltera	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Henri Pescarolo	Inaltera LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		305
9	Size 5	63	Evon Evertz KG	Heinz Martin Hartwig Bertrams Egon Evertz	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		302
10	Size 5	42	BMW Motorsport GmbH	Harald Grohs Sam Posey Hughes de Fierlant	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6	G	299
11	Size 5	54	Louis Meznarie	Hubert Striebig Anne-Charlotte Verney Hughes Kirschoffer	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		298
12	GT	71	André Gahinet	André Gahinet Michel Ouvière Jean-Yves Gadal	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		292
13	Size 5	53	ASA Cachia	Thierry Sabine Philippe Dagoreau Jean-Claude Andruet	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		288
14th	IMSA	77	Tom Waugh	Tom Waugh John Rulon-Miller Jean-Pierre Laffeach	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		283
15th	S 2.0	35	Daniel Brillat	Georges Morand François Trisconi André Chevalley	Lola T292	Cosworth 2.0L I4		279
16	GT	57	Gelo Racing Team	Tim Gift Toine Hezemans	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		277
17th	GT	67	Joël Laplacette	Joël Laplacette Alain Leroux Georges Bourdillat	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		273
18th	Size 5	50	Thierry Perrier	Thierry Perrier Guy de Saint-Pierre Martine Rénier	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		273
19th	GT	65	Porsche Kremer Racing	Marie-Claude Charmasson Didier Pironi Bob Wollek	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		270
20th	GTP	3	Aseptogyl	Christine Dacremont Lella Lombardi	Lancia Stratos	Ferrari 2.4L Turbo V6	M.	265
21st	GTP	2	Inaltera	Christine Beckers Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Jean Rondeau	Inaltera LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		264
22nd	S 2.0	31	Chandler Ibec	Tony Birchenhough Ian Bracey Simon Phillips Brian Joscelyne	Lola T290 / 4	Cosworth FVC 2.0L I4	G	252
23	Size 5	55	Almeras Fréres	Christian Poirot Robert Boubet	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		245
24	T	95	Jean-Louis Ravenel	Jean-Louis Ravenel Jacky Ravenel Jean-Marie Détrin	BMW 3.0 CSL	BMW 3.0L I6		237
Not classified
25th	S 2.0	30th	Jean-Marie Lemerle	Jean-Marie Lemerle Alain Levié Patrick Daire	Lola T294	ROC- Simca 2.0L I4		218
26th	GT	61	ASA Cachia	Jean-Claude Andruet Henri Cachia Jacques Borras	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		203
27	GT	70	Jean Blaton	Jean Blaton Nick Faure John Goss	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		168
Disqualified
28	S 2.0	29	José Thibault	José Thibault Alain Hubert Michel Lateste	Lenham P71	Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4		88
Failed
29	Size 5	47	Porsche Kremer Racing	Juan Carlos Bolaños Eduardo Lopez Negrete Billy Sprowls Hans Heyer	Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6		272
30th	GT	58	GVEA Porsche Club Romand	Bernard Chenevière Peter Zbinden Nicolas Bührer	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		270
31	S 2.0	26th	Societé ROC	Alain Flotard Fred Stalder Albert Dufréne	Chevron B36	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4		241
32	GT	69	Schiller Racing Team	Claude Haldi Florian Vetsch	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	219
33	S 3.0	18th	Martini Racing Porsche System	Reinhold Joest Jürgen Barth	Porsche 936	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6		218
34	Size 5	46	Team Peter Brock	Peter Brock Brian Muir Jean-Claude Aubriet	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6		156
35	IMSA	78	Diego Febles Racing	Diego Febles Alec Poole Hiram Cruz	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		144
36	S 3.0	19th	Renault Sport	Jean-Pierre Jabouille Patrick Tambay José Dolhem	Renault Alpine A442	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	M.	135
37	Size 5	44	ASPM - Tanday Music	Jean-Claude Justice Jean Bélin	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6		128
38	GTP	5	Ecurie Batteries et Piles TS	Guy Chasseuil Claude Ballot-Léna Xavier Mathiot	WM P76	Peugeot PRV 2.7L V6	M.	125
39	S 3.0	16	Egon Evertz KG	Leo Kinnunen Egon Evertz	Porsche 908/3	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.	124
40	Size 5	43	Schnitzer Motorsport	Dieter Quester Albrecht Krebs Alain Peltier	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6		117
41	NASCAR	90	NASCAR - Junie Donlavey	Dick Brooks Dick Hutcherson Marcel Mignot	Ford Torino	Ford 7.0L V8	G	104
42	S 2.0	27	Societé ROC	François Sérvanin Laurent Ferrier	Chevron B36	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4		88
43	GTX	72	William Vollery	Jean-Pierre Aeschlimann Roger Dorchy William Vollery	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		82
44	GT	62	Philippe Dagoreau	Christian Bussi Philippe Gurdjian Christian Gouttepifre	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		79
45	Size 5	49	Gelo Racing Team	Clemens Schickentanz Howden Ganley	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		74
46	S 2.0	33	Georges Schäfer	Georges Schäfer Jean-Pierre Adatte Riccardo Albanesi	Chevron B26	Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4		62
47	GT	73	Sion car 2001	Claude Buchet André Haller Jean-Luc Favresse	Datsun HLS30	Datsun 2.6L I6		39
48	IMSA	76	IMSA Camel	John Greenwood Bernard Darniche	Chevrolet Corvette Stingray	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	G	29
49	Size 5	41	BMW Motorsport GmbH	Peter Gregg Brian Redman	BMW 3.0 CSL	BMW 3.2L Turbo I6		23
50	Size 5	45	Hermetite Productions Ltd.	John Fitzpatrick Tom Walkinshaw	BMW 3.0 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6	G	17th
51	IMSA	75	IMSA Camel	Michael Keyser Eddie Wax	Chevrolet Monza	Chevrolet 5.7L V8		11
52	S 3.0	21st	GVEA Porsche Club Ramond	Xavier Lapeyre Bernard Chevanne	Lola T286	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		9
53	Size 5	48	Jean-Louis Chateau	Jean-Louis Chateau Dominique Fornage Jean-Claude Guérie	Porsche 934/5	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		9
54	NASCAR	4th	NASCAR - Hershel McGriff	Hershel McGriff Doug McGriff	Dodge Charger	Dodge 7.0L Hemi V8	G	2
55	S 2.0	36	Chuck Graeminger	Daniel Brillat Michel Degourmois Jean-Claude Depince	Cheetah G601	BMW 2.0L I4		2
Not started
56	GTX	82	André Wicky	Jacques Marché Martial Delalande Max Cohen-Olivar	De Tomaso Pantera	Ford 5.7L V8		1
Not qualified
57	S 3.0	8th	Team Warsteiner	Heinz Schulthess Jean-Claude Lagniez Max Antichan François Migault	Toj SC301	Cosworth 3.0L V8		2
58	S 2.0	25th	Team Warsteiner	Jacques Marquet Corinne Koppenhague Jacky Haran	Toj SC204	ROC 2.0L V4		3
59	Group 4	72	Paul Rilly	Paul Rilly Roger Le Veve	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		4th

¹ not started ² not qualified ³ not qualified ⁴ technical inspection not passed

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
60	IMSA	5	North American Racing Team		Ferrari 512BB	Ferrari 5.0L V12
61	IMSA	6th	North American Racing Team		Ferrari 308GTB	Ferrari 3.0L V8
62	IMSA	11	IMSA		Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
63	S 3.0	14th	Gelo Racing Team		Mirage GR7	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
64	S 3.0	15th	Media courses	Yves Courage Bernard Béguin Daniel Boudrie	Lola T286	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
65	S 3.0	24	André Wicky	Walter Brun Max Cohen-Olivar André Wicky	Porsche 908/02	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
66	S 3.0	26th	Jean-Claude Andruet	Jean-Claude Andruet	Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT12	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8
67		28	Eugen Strähl	Eugen Strähl Peter Bernhard Markus Hotz Fredy Lienhard	March 76S	BMW M12 2.0L I4
68	S 2.0	32	Jean de Connick	Jean de Connick John Caly Michel Lateste	Chevron B36	Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4
69	S 2.0	44	Anjou	Lucien Guitteny R. Martini	Lola T292	Cosworth 2.0L I4
70	S 2.0	49	ASPM		Moynet LM	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4
71	Size 5	56	Martini Racing		Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6
72	Size 5	59	BMW Motorsport GmbH		BMW 3.5CSL	BMW 3.5L I6
73	Size 5	66	Scuderia Jolly Club	Martino Finotto Carlo Facetti	Ford Escort RS2000	Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4
74	Size 4	70	North American Racing Team		Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Ferrari 4.4L V12
75	Size 4	73	Porsche Club Romand	Peter Zbinden Claude Haldi Nicolas Bührer	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
76	Size 4	78	Marcel Mignot	Marcel Mignot	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
77	Size 4	80	Gelo Racing Team		Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
78	Size 2	90	Maison du Chalet	Jean-Louis Ravenel Jacky Ravenel Dany Wauters	Opel Commodore GSE
79	Size 2	96	Jean-Claude Aubriet	Jean-Claude Aubriet Jean-Claude Depince	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW 3.5L I6
80	GTP	3	Gérard Cuynet	Gérard Cuynet Jean Belin	Lola T280	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
81	Size 4	21st	Porsche Club Romand	Peter Zbinden Nicolas Bührer Claude Haldi	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
82	S 2.0	27	Clean racing	Herbert Mueller	Clean C5	BMW M12 2.0L I4
83	Size 5	45	Michel Guicherd	Michel Guicherd Christian Avril Jean-Claude Geral	Chrysler Hemicuda
84	Size 5	57	Christian Gouttepifre	Christian Gouttepifre	Ford Capri
85	Size 5	58	Joel Mouetron	Joel Mouetron	Porsche 911 SCG	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
86	Size 4	73	MT Rolland	Bernard Damilleville Bruno Damilleville	Mercedes-Benz 450SEL	Mercedes-Benz 6.9L V8
87	Size 4	80	Ben Heiderich	Ben Heiderich Jaime Lazcano Juan Llagostera	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
88	Size 4	84	X Racing	Jacques Henry Guy Fréquelin Pierre-François Rousselot Raymond Touroul	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
89	Size 4	85	Robert Boubet	Robert Boubet Christian Lunel Raymond Touroul	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
90	Size 4	85	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
91	Size 4	92	Marc Geudin	Marc Geudin Bernard Perroy Pierre Milluy	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
92	Size 5		Daniel Thiaw	Daniel Thiaw Gérard Picard	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
93	Size 5		Dominique Thiry	Dominique Thiry Christian Lorang	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
94	Size 5		Lucien Nageotte		Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
95	Size 5		JY Miter	Jean-Louis Gama Peter Morrisey Andre Reboul	GLD	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Sports car size 6, 2001-3000 cm³	Jacky Ickx	Gijs van Lennep		Porsche 936	Overall victory
Sports car size 6, 2000 cm³	Georges Morand	François Trisconi	André Chevalley	Lola T292	Rank 15
Group 5	Rolf Stommelen	Manfred Schurti		Porsche 935	Rank 4
GT	André Gahinet	Michel Quvière	Jean-Yves Gadal	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Rank 12
IMSA	Tom Waugh	John Rulon Miller	Jean-Pierre Laffeach	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Rank 14
GTP	Henri Pescarolo	Jean-Pierre Beltoise		Inaltera LM	Rank 8
T	Jean-Louis Ravenel	Jacky Ravenel	Jean-Marie Détrin	BMW 3.0 CSL	Rank 24
NASCAR	no participant in the finish
GTX	no participant in the finish

Racing data

• Registered: 95
• Started: 55
• Valued: 24
• Race classes: 9
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: Bill France junior , chairman of NASCAR
• Race weekend weather: warm and sunny
• Route length: 13.640 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 350
• Distance of the winning team: 4769.923 km
• Winner's average: 198.746 km / h
• Pole position: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - Alpine A442 (# 19) - 3.33.010 = 220.427 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - Alpine A442 (# 19) - 3.43.000 = 220.197 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : 24 Hours of Le Mans 1976  - Collection of images, videos and audio files