Le Mans 24 hour race 1978

The Alpine A443 with starting number 1, here on a demonstration lap in Donington in 2007. Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Depailler retired with the car after 279 laps due to engine failure.

The # 4 Alpine A442A from Ecurie Calberson finished fourth in the overall standings.

46. The 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 46 ^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 10 to 11 June 1978 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

Before the race

The 1978 24-hour race was in many ways similar to that of the previous year . Again there was a sporting competition between the works teams from Renault and Porsche . Although 31 of the 55 racing cars at the start bore the Porsche brand name, there was a colorful starter field and a large number of remarkable designs.

Teams and racing vehicles

Renault brought an Alpine A443 and three Alpine A442s in different configurations to Le Mans. All four vehicles common to the 2-liter were 6-cylinder - turbo engines and the radial tires from Michelin . The A442B from Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi had an open glass roof made of acrylic , which gave the car a 10 km / h higher top speed on the long straights than the version without a roof. The A442 reached a speed of 365 km / h at the end of the Les Hunaudières straight in front of the Mulsanne; the A443 was 15 km / h faster. Patrick Depailler and Jean-Pierre Jabouille drove the A443, Derek Bell and Jean-Pierre Jarier the A442A . The second A442A was officially used and maintained by Ecurie Calberson. José Dolhem , Guy Fréquelin and Jean Ragnotti were signed up as drivers .

Despite the high top speed of the Alpine, Porsche had the faster vehicle for one lap. Three 936s were brought to Le Mans. Jacky Ickx drove the fastest lap time in training 936/78 with 3: 27.060 minutes. As in the previous year, he shared the cockpit with Henri Pescarolo . Ickx had already won the race four times and was the record winner alongside his compatriot Olivier Gendebien . Pescarolo has won Le Mans three times. The time driven by Ickx corresponded to an average speed of 236.561 km / h. The second 936/78 was driven by Bob Wollek and Jürgen Barth . In the previous year's model, the 936/77, sat the two Americans Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood . The fourth Porsche works car was a Porsche 935 that Manfred Schurti and Rolf Stommelen drove. Replacement drivers were Reinhold Joest and Jochen Mass .

John Horsman reorganized the financial means to develop a new racing car for Le Mans. Like the GR8 from last year, the M9 had the 2-liter Renault turbo engine in the rear. The drivers were Jacques Laffite , Michel Leclère , Sam Posey and Vern Schuppan .

Alain de Cadenet had a new sports car built by Lola , which he shared with Chris Craft . De Cadenet gave the car from last year to Simon Philipps Racing. For the first time, the French racing driver and designer Jean Rondeau competed in Le Mans with his own creation. The M378 had a closed body, a 3-liter Cosworth V8 engine and was driven - alongside Rondeau himself - by Jacky Haran and rally driver Bernard Darniche .

One of the most striking designs was the Ibec-Hesketh 308LM , the Harvey Postlethwaite had designed the chassis and on the Formula 1 - Hesketh 308 of Hesketh Racing was based.

Gerard Welter brought the new WM P78 to Le Mans in addition to the P76 . Both types were powered by a Peugeot 2.7 liter turbo engine.

The majority of the starters in the GT cars were Porsche with the 935s, plus five Ferrari 512 BBs , including those from the North American Racing Team, and a few Porsche 934s . The only vehicle from the USA was a Chevrolet Monza .

The race

For the first time at Le Mans there was a race before the race. On Saturday morning, historic vehicles drove before the actual event. Stirling Moss celebrated his first Le Mans victory. His race car, a single-seater - Maserati 250F was, however, never been in a long distance race at the start. Jean Blaton , who was one of the best sports car drivers in the world in the 1960s , also competed under the pseudonym Beurlys . Blaton, the uncle of Jacky Ickx's wife, had placed in the top three four times at Le Mans, but never won the race.

The course of the race

Although Jacky Ickx started the race from pole position , frustration spread in the Porsche box after just a few laps. The Ickx car and the Haywood / Gregg vehicle were pitted with transmission problems and lost valuable time on the Alpine Renaults, which were now in the lead. In the first hours of the race there was a stable triple lead for Renault, with the Jassaud / Pironi car at the front. Only the Barth / Wollek Porsche was able to come close to keeping up with the trio's pace. When Henri Pescarolo came back to the pits for a long repair, Jacky Ickx was transferred to a different car, just like the year before: He joined Jürgen Barth and Bob Wollek in the team. His place as Pescarolo's partner was taken over by Jochen Mass, who had an accident with the 936 after driving 255 laps and retired.

As in the previous year, Ickx brought the Porsche back to the top until fifth gear broke on Sunday morning. In the meantime, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Depailler led the way when Renault ran into difficulties. The Jaussaud / Pironi car also had transmission problems and dropped to third place. Jean-Pierre Jabouille finally retired with engine failure; But thanks to the persistent problems with the Porsche gearbox in the Ickx car, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi won with a five-lap lead.

It was Renault's first overall victory at Le Mans. The state-owned company had thus achieved its major goal and stopped the sports car program at the end of the year.

Results

Pilots by nationality

71 French	25 British	19 Americans	16 Swiss	14 Germans
6 Belgians	3 Brazilians	2 Australians	1 Italian	1 Irish
1 Liechtensteiner	1 Luxembourger	1 Moroccan	1 Dutch	1 Austrian
1 South African

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S +2.0	2	Renault Sport	Didier Pironi Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Renault Alpine A442B	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	M.	369
2	S +2.0	6th	Martini Racing Porsche System	Bob Wollek Jürgen Barth Jacky Ickx	Porsche 936/78	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	D.	364
3	S +2.0	7th	Martini Racing Porsche System	Hurley Haywood Peter Gregg Reinhold Joest	Porsche 936/77	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	D.	362
4th	S +2.0	4th	Equipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson	Guy Fréquelin Jean Ragnotti José Dolhem Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault Alpine A442A	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	M.	358
5	IMSA +2.5	90	Dick Barbour Racing	Brian Redman Dick Barbour John Paul Sr.	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	337
6th	Size 5 +2.0	44	Porsche Kremer Racing	Jim Busby Chris Cord Rick Knoop	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	336
7th	Size 5 +2.0	41	Mondelo ASA Cachia	Alfredo Guarana Paulo Gomes Mário Amaral	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	329
8th	Size 5 +2.0	43	Martini Racing Porsche System	Manfred Schurti Rolf Stommelen	Porsche 935/78	Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6	D.	326
9	GTP 3.0	72	Jean Rondeau	Jean Rondeau Bernard Darniche Jacky Haran	Rondeau M378	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		294
10	S +2.0	10	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Vern Schuppan Jacques Laffite Sam Posey	Mirage M9	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	G	293
11	S 2.0	31	ROC La Pierre du Nord	Michel Pignard Lucien Rossiaud Laurent Ferrier	Chevron B36	ROC- Chrysler 2.0L I4		284
12	GT 3.0	66	BP Racing Anne-Charlotte Verney	Anne-Charlotte Verney Xavier Lapeyre François Sérvanin	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		279
13	GTP 3.0	71	André Chevalley Racing	André Chevalley François Trisconi	Inaltera LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		279
14th	IMSA +2.5	97	Charles Ivey Racing	Larry Perkins Gordon Spice John Rulon-Miller	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		278
15th	S +2.0	8th	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft	De Cadenet-Lola LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		273
16	IMSA +2.5	86	North American Racing Team	François Migault Lucien Guitteny	Ferrari 365 GT4 / BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	G	262
17th	GT +3.0	62	André Gahinet	Christian Bussi Jean-Claude Briavoine André Gahinet	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		259
Not classified
18th	S 2.0	23	Artos Francy Sauber PP AG	Marc Surer Eugen Strähl Harry Blumer	Clean C5	BMW 2.0L I4	P	257
19th	S 2.0	20th	CH Graeminger	Sandro Plastina Mario Luini Jean-Daniel Grandjean	Cheetah G601	Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4	G	250
20th	GT 3.0	64	Georges Bourdillat	Georges Bourdillat Alain-Michel Bernhard Jean-Luc Favresse	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		241
21st	S 2.0	25th	Team Pronuptia	Bruno Sotty Gérard Cuynet Jean-Claude Dufrey	Lola T294 / 6	Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4	G	238
22nd	S 2.0	24	Team Pronuptia	Michel Elkoubi Pierre Yver Philippe Streiff	Lola T296	Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4	G	232
23	S 2.0	28	Dominique Lacaud	Michel Lateste Jean-François Auboiron Dominique Lacaud	Lola T297	BMW 2.0L I4		217
24	Size 5 +2.0	25th	Porsche Kremer Racing	Louis Krages Dieter Schornstein Philippe Gurdjian	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	182
25th	S 2.0	27	Mogil Motors Ltd. with Kores Racing	Tony Charnell Robin Smith Fréderic Alliot Richard Jones	Chevron B31	Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4		180
Disqualified
26th	S +2.0	12	Simon Phillips Racing	Nick Faure John Beasley Simon Phillips Martin Raymond	De Cadenet-Lola T380	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		99
Failed
27	S +2.0	1	Renault Sport	Jean-Pierre Jabouille Patrick Depailler	Renault Alpine A443	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	M.	279
28	S +2.0	5	Martini Racing Porsche System	Jacky Ickx Henri Pescarolo Jochen Mass	Porsche 936/78	Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	D.	255
29	IMSA +2.5	88	Pozzi-Thompson JMS	Jean-Claude Andruet Spartaco Dini	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	251
30th	IMSA +2.5	87	Luigi Chinetti	Jacques Guérin Jean-Pierre Delauney Gregg Young	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12		232
31	IMSA +2.5	89	Pozzi-Thompson JMS	Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Louis Lafosse	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	218
32	S +2.0	19th	IBEC Racing Developments, Ltd.	Guy Edwards Ian Grob	Ibec-Hesketh 308LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	195
33	S 2.0	30th	ROC La Pierre du Nord	Jacques Henry Albert Dufréne Max Cohen-Olivar	Chevron B36	ROC Chrysler 2.0L I4		195
34	GTP +3.0	78	WM AEREM Esso Aseptogyl	Christian Debias Xavier Mathiot Marc Sourd	WM P78	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6		186
35	GTP 3.0	76	WM AEREM Esso Aseptogyl	Christine Dacremont Marianne Hoepfner	WM P76	Peugeot PRV 2.7L V6		171
36	GT +3.0	68	Hervé Poulain	Edgar Dören Gerhard Holup Hervé Poulain Romain Feitler	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	167
37	S +2.0	3	Renault Sport	Derek Bell Jean-Pierre Jarier	Renault Alpine A442A	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	M.	162
38	IMSA +2.5	91	Dick Barbour Racing	Bob Garretson Steve Earle Bob Akin	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	159
39	S 2.0	29	ROC Modylook	Michel Dubois Daniel Gache Julien Sanchez	Chevron B36	ROC Chrysler 2.0L I4		142
40	Size 5 +2.0	48	Haberthur Mecarillos-Cégécol Racing Team	Herbert Müller Claude Haldi Nick McGranger	Porsche 935/76	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		140
41	S 2.0	26th	GVEA	Georges Morand Eric Vaugnat Christian Blanc	Lola T296	Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4		130
42	S 2.0	21st	Jean-Marie Lemerle	Jean-Marie Lemerle Alain Levié Pierre-François Rousselot	Lola T294	ROC Chrysler 2.0L I4		126
43	GT 3.0	65	Joël Laplacette	Antoine Salamin Gérard Vial Yves Courage Joël Laplacette	Porsche 930	Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6		116
44	S 2.0	34	BMW Great Britain	Dieter Quester Tom Walkinshaw Wheel Dougall	Osella PA6	BMW 2.0L I4	P	113
45	S 2.0	32	Dorset Racing Associates with Kelly Girl	Ian Harrower Tony Birchenhough Juliette Slaughter Brian Joscelyn	Lola T294	Cosworth FVC 2.0L I4		61
46	GT +3.0	61	Auto Daniel Urcun	Guy Chasseuil Jean-Claude Lefèbvre Marcel Mignot	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		61
47	GTP +3.0	77	WM AEREM Esso Aseptogyl	Jean-Daniel Raulet Max Mamers	WM P77	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6		44
48	Size 5 +2.0	94	Whittington Bros. Racing	Don Whittington Bill Whittington Franz Konrad	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	41
49	IMSA +2.5	85	Ecurie Francorchamps	Teddy Pilette Jean Blaton Raymond Touroul	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12		39
50	GT +3.0	69	Ravenel Frères	Willy Braillard Philippe Dagoreau Jean-Louis Ravenel Jacky Ravenel	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		35
51	Size 5 +2.0	46	Porsche Kremer Racing	Martin Raymond Jean-Pierre Wielemann's Mike Franey	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	34
52	S +2.0	11	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Sam Posey Michel Leclère	Mirage M9	Renault 2.0L Turbo V6	G	33
53	IMSA +2.5	84	Brad Frisselle Racing	Brad Frisselle Robert Kirby John Hotchkis	Chevrolet Monza	Chevrolet 5.7L V8	G	30th
54	S 2.0	33	Dorset Racing Associates	Bob Evans Martin Birrane Richard Down Richard Bond	Lola T294	Cosworth FVC 2.0L I4		23
55	Size 5 +2.0	47	Weisberg Gelo Racing Team	John Fitzpatrick Toine Hezemans Klaus Ludwig	Porsche 935/77	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	19th
Not qualified
56	Size 4	60	Haberthur Mecarillos Racing Team	Gérard Belyni Roland Ennequin Simon de Latour	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		1
57	Size 4	63	Christian Gouttepifre	Christian Gouttepifre Robert Boubet Raymond Touroul	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6		2
reserve
58	S +2.0	9	Alain de Cadenet	Peter Lovett John Cooper Bob Evans	De Cadenet LM76	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		3
59	S +2.0	14th	Toj BP Racing	Jörg Obermoser Guy Chasseuil Hubert Striebig	Toj SC303	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8		4th
60	S +2.0	22nd	L'Agence Locomotiv	Jean-Claude Guérie Anna Cambiaghi Martine Rénier	Lola T296	ROC Chrysler 2.0L I4		5
61	Size 5	40	AMG Motorenbau GmbH	Clemens Schickentanz Hans Heyer	Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC			6th
62	Size 4	73	Bernard Decure	Guy de Saint-Pierre Marcel Mignot	Alpine A310			7th
63	IMSA	96	Garage du Bac	Jean-Claude Depince Alain Cudini Pierre Dieudonné	BMW 3.5 CSL			8th
64	IMSA	98	Thierry Perrier	Thierry Perrier Jean Beliard Joël Mouetron	Porsche Carrera 911 RS			9

¹ not qualified ² not qualified ³ reserve ⁴ reserve ⁵ reserve ⁶ reserve ⁷ reserve ⁸ reserve ⁹ 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
65	Group 5	42	Konrad Racing	Franz Konrad Volkert Merl	Porsche 935 / 77A	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
66	Group 5	50	Morfe Racing with Polaroof	Richard Jenvey John Morrison	Lotus Esprit S1	Ford 2.0L I4
67	GTP	70	Robin Hamilton	Robin Hamilton Dave Preece	Aston Martin AM	Aston Martin 5.4L V8
68	IMSA	92	Holly Cars LSA		Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
69	IMSA		BMW Racing with Toleman Delivery	Ted Toleman	BMW 3.0 CSL	BMW 3.0L I6
70	Group 5		Hervé Poulain	Hervé Poulain	BMW 320i
71	Group 4		Luigi Chinetti		Ferrari 308 GTB	Ferrari 3.0L V8
72	Group 4		Florian Vetsch	Florian Vetsch	Ferrari 308 GTB	Ferrari 3.0L V8
73	Group 4		Ecurie Grand Competition Cars		Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12
73	Group 4		L'Agence Locomotiv		Chevron B36	ROC Chrysler 2.0L I4

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Bob Wollek	Jürgen Barth	Jacky Ickx	Porsche 936/78	Rank 2
Sports car over 2000 cm³	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Didier Pironi		Renault Alpine A442B	Overall victory
Sports car up to 2000 cm³	Michel Pignard	Lucien Rossiaud	Laurent Ferrier	Chevron B36	Rank 11
Group 5 over 2000 cc	Jim Busby	Chris Cord	Rick knoop	Porsche 935/77	Rank 6
GT	Anne-Charlotte Verney	Xavier Lapeyre	François Sérvanin	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Rank 12
GTP	Jean Rondeau	Bernard Darniche	Jacky Haran	Rondeau M378	Rank 9
IMSA	Brian Redman	Jim Barbour	Jean Paul sr.	Porsche 935/77	Rank 5

Racing data

• Registered: 74
• Started: 55
• Valued: 17
• Race classes: 7
• Spectators: 150,000
• Honorary starter of the race: Raymond Poulidor , French cyclist
• 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: 370
• Distance of the winning team: 5044.530 km
• Winner's average: 210.188 km / h
• Pole position: Jacky Ickx - Porsche 936 (# 6) - 3.27.060 = 236.531 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jean-Pierre Jabouille - Alpine A443 (# 1) - 3.34.200 = 229.244 km / h
• Racing series: 8th round of the 1978 World Sports Car Championship

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Le Mans 24 Hours 1978  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Predecessor race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring 1978

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour race of Misano in 1978