1981 Le Mans 24 hour race

The Porsche 944 LM with starting number 1. Walter Röhrl and Jürgen Barth drove the vehicle to seventh place in the overall standings

The Weralit Racing Porsche 935 K3 with starting number 61, driven by Jürgen Lässig, Edgar Dören and Gerhard Holup. The car had to be parked after 48 laps after an engine failure

The 49th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 49 ^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 13 to 14 June 1981 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

The race

New racing classes

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest anticipated the introduction of Group C , which will categorize the large prototypes in the sports car world championship from 1982 , and opened the old Group 6 for racing vehicles over 3-liter displacement. The IMSA class was divided into four categories. Vehicles in the IMSA-GTP, IMSA-GTO, IMSA-GTU and IMSA-GTX classes were now allowed to start.

New qualification mode

The qualification mode has also been reorganized. 55 vehicles were still allowed to start. In order to qualify, the average of the three fastest times in the overall ranking was first determined. Now you couldn't be slower than the value of 130% of this time. The same was true for his own class. Here, too, an average of the three best times was determined. However, the threshold here was 110%. The tank capacity of the vehicles was limited to 120 liters.

vehicles

The majority of the racing cars were made by the Porsche brand . The works team again brought the Porsche 936 to the Sarthe. The driver teams were Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell as well as Hurley Haywood , Vern Schuppan and Jochen Mass . A new 2.6-liter turbo engine, originally developed for the 1979 Indianapolis 500-mile race , was used in the vehicles. Two further works cars were registered in the GTP and IMSA GTO classes. Jürgen Barth and the German rally world champion Walter Röhrl drove the GTP Porsche 944 LM .

In addition to many private Porsche 935s , the Porsche 917 replica from Kremer Racing was the main attraction of the race. Works cars also came from Lancia , which rolled out a racing version of the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo . Five Rondeaus came from France - including new prototypes from Jean Rondeau's works team, last year's winning team .

In addition to Walter Röhrl, two drivers, Cale Yarborough from the USA and Johnny Cecotto from Venezuela, made their debut, who like Röhrl were active in other areas of motorsport. Yarborough came from NASCAR and Cecotto was a motorcycle racer.

Deadly accidents

1 ½ hours after the start of the race - at this point the two Porsche 936 were already clearly in the lead - the young Belgian Thierry Boutsen , who drove a World Championship P81 from Welter Racing , had a serious accident on the Les Hunaudieres. Boutsen lost control of his vehicle at high speed and hit the guardrail at the bend in front of the Mulsanne. Four marshals were injured by flying parts, two of them so seriously that they died at the scene of the accident despite rapid help.

The safety car led the field slowly over the track for laps. At this point, the Frenchman Jean-Louis Lafosse was in seventh place in the overall standings with a Rondeau M379 and had his first refueling stop ahead of him when the race was restarted. The Brit Guy Edwards was driving a Lola T600 in front of him and both vehicles were approaching the Mulsanne at almost 350 km / h when the rondeau suddenly broke out and hit the guardrail on the left. Two other marshals standing just behind the guard rail were seriously injured. The rondeau was thrown across the street, hit the right guardrail and was completely destroyed. Lafosse had no chance of survival and died in the wreck. A break in the left front suspension was assumed to be the cause of the accident. However, after the race, pictures of the racing car (taken just before the accident) were published showing the Rondeau with damage to the front and patches of grass. Whether Lafosse had ever strayed off the track before the accident and damaged the front end of the car was never known. So the question of whether this ride could be related to the later accident has remained unanswered to this day.

Further course of the race

Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell's Porsche 936 drove a lonely race at the front of the race. While the sister car was plagued by engine problems and was only classified in 12th place at the end of the race, the Ickx / Bell car had a 186 km lead over the Rondeau of Jean-Louis Schlesser , Philippe Streiff and Jacky Haran at the finish .

Hurley Haywood set a new lap record in the race with 3: 34,000 and Ickx / Bell set a new distance record for the 13.626 km track layout with 4825.348 km.

Results

Pilots by nationality

50 French	21 British	20 Americans	19 Germans	12 Italians
9 Belgians	4 Swiss	3 Irish	3 Japanese	2 Spaniards
1 Australian	1 Canadian	1 Colombian	1 Liechtensteiner	1 Moroccan
1 Austrian	1 Swede	1 Venezuelan

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S +2.0	11	Porsche System Engineering	Jacky Ickx Derek Bell	Porsche 936	Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	D.	354
2	GTP 3.0	8th	Jean Rondeau	Jacky Haran Jean-Louis Schlesser Philippe Streiff	Rondeau M379	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	340
3	GTP 3.0	7th	Otis Jean Rondeau	Gordon Spice François Migault	Rondeau M379	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	335
4th	Size 5	55	Claude Bourgoignie	Claude Bourgoignie John Cooper Dudley Wood	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6	D.	330
5	IMSA GTX	47	Charles Pozzi SA	Jean-Claude Andruet Claude Ballot-Léna Hervé Regout	Ferrari 512BB LM	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	328
6th	IMSA GTX	42	Cooke-Woods Racing	Anne-Charlotte Verney Bob Garretson Ralph Kent-Cooke	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6	G	327
7th	GTP +3.0	1	Porsche System Engineering	Jürgen Barth Walter Röhrl	Porsche 944 LM	Porsche 2.5L Turbo I4	D.	323
8th	Size 5	65	Martini Racing	Michele Alboreto Eddie Cheever Carlo Facetti	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4	P	322
9	IMSA GTX	46	Rennod Racing	Pierre Dieudonné Jean Xhenceval Jean-Paul Libert	Ferrari 512BB LM	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	G	320
10	Size 5	60	Vegla Racing Team	Dieter Schornstein Harald Grohs Götz von Tschirnhaus	Porsche 935J	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	D.	320
11	IMSA GTO	36	Porsche System Engineering	Manfred Schurti Andy Rouse	Porsche Carrera GTR	Porsche 2.0L Turbo I4	D.	315
12	S +2.0	12	Porsche System Engineering	Jochen Mass Vern Schuppan Hurley Haywood	Porsche 936	Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	D.	312
13	GTP +3.0	4th	WM AEREM	Denis Morin Charles Mendez Xavier Mathiot	WM P79 / 80	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6	M.	307
14th	Size 5	68	Jolly Club	Martino Finotto Giorgio Pianta Giorgio Beautiful	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4	P	292
15th	S +2.0	18th	Team Lola	Emilio de Villota Guy Edwards Juan Fernández	Lola T600	Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8	G	287
16	Size 5	51	BMW France	Philippe Alliot Bernard Darniche Johnny Cecotto	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	277
17th	GT	70	Thierry Perrier	Thierry Perrier Valentin Bertapelle Bernard Salam	Porsche 934	Porsche 2.9L Turbo Flat-6	M.	274
18th	S 2.0	31	Jean-Philippe Grand	Jean-Philippe Grand Yves Courage	Lola T298	BMW 2.0L I4	G	272
Not classified
19th	S 2.0	33	Company Primagaz	Pierre Yver Michel Dubois Jacques Heuclin	Lola T298	BMW 2.0L I4	G	203
20th	S 2.0	32	Écurie Renard-Delmas	Louis Descartes Hervé Bayard	Renard-Delmas D1	ROC- Simca 2.0L I4	G	187
Failed
21st	IMSA GTX	43	Bob Akin Motor Racing	Bob Akin Paul Miller Craig Siebert	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	G	320
22nd	Size 5	57	Claude Haldi	Claude Haldi Mark Thatcher Hervé Poulain	Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	D.	260
23	IMSA GTX	49	North American Racing Team	Alain Cudini Philippe Gurdjian John Morton	Ferrari 512BB LM	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	247
24	Size 5	53	EMKA Productions Limited	David Hobbs Eddie Jordan Steve O'Rourke	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	236
25th	GT	72	BMW Zol'Auto	Pierre-François Rousselot François Sérvanin Laurent Ferrier	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	212
26th	S +2.0	20th	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin	De Cadenet-Lola LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	D.	210
27	Size 5	52	Würth-Lubrifilm Team Clean	Dieter Quester Marc Surer David Deacon	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	207
28	Size 5	66	Martini Racing	Riccardo Patrese Hans Heyer Piercarlo Ghinzani	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4	P	186
29	S +2.0	21st	Alain de Cadenet	Martin Birrane Nick Faure Vivian Candy	De Cadenet-Lola LM	Cosworth DFV3.0L V8	D.	171
30th	S +2.0	23	Dome Co. Ltd.	Chris Craft Bob Evans	Dome RL81	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	D.	154
31	IMSA GTX	40	Joest Racing	Mauricio de Narváez Kenper Miller Günter Steckkönig	Porsche 935J	Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6	D.	152
32	IMSA GTX	48	Simon Phillips	Simon Phillips Mike Salmon Steve Earle	Ferrari 512BB LM	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	140
33	IMSA GTX	45	Scuderia Supercar Bellancauto SRL	Fabrizio Violati Maurizio Flammini Duilio Truffo	Ferrari 512BB LM	Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12	M.	118
34	S +2.0	22nd	André Chevalley Racing	Patrick Gaillard André Chevalley Bruno Sotty	ACR 80B	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	114
35	IMSA GTO	37	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Tetsu Ikuzawa Tom Walkinshaw Peter Lovett	Mazda RX-7	Mazda 13B 1.3L 2- Wankel	D.	107
36	S 2.0	30th	Jean-Marie Lemerle	Jean-Marie Lemerle Max Cohen-Olivar Alain Levié	Lola T298	BMW 2.0L I4	G	104
37	S +2.0	27	Ian Bracey	Tiff Needell Tony Trimmer	Ibec-Hesketh 308LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	D.	95
38	S +2.0	10	Porsche Kremer Racing	Bob Wollek Xavier Lapeyre Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 917K / 81	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	D.	82
39	S +2.0	14th	Joest Racing	Reinhold Joest Dale Whittington Klaus Niedzwiedz	Porsche 908/80	Porsche 2.1L Turbo Flat-6	D.	80
40	S +2.0	24	Otis Jean Rondeau	Jean Rondeau Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Rondeau M379	Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8	G	58
41	Size 5	59	Porsche Kremer Racing	Ted Field Bill Whittington Don Whittington	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6	G	57
42	IMSA GTX	50	BASF Cassette Team GS Sport	Hans Joachim Stuck Jean-Pierre Jarier Helmut Henzler	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	57
43	C.	83	WM AEREM	Jean-Daniel Raulet Max Mamer's Michel Pignard	WM P81	PRV 2.7L Turbo V6	M.	50
44	Size 5	69	Tuff-Kote Dinol Racing	Jan Lundgårdh Axel Plankenhorn Mike Wilds	Porsche 935 L1 "Baby"	Porsche 1.4L Turbo Flat-6	D.	49
45	GT	71	Helmut Marko RSM	Christian Danner Peter Oberndorfer Leopold Prince of Bavaria	BMW M1	BMW M88 3.5L I6	D.	49
46	Size 5	61	Weralit Racing Team	Edgar Dören Jürgen Lässig Gerhard Holup	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	D.	48
47	Size 5	67	Martini Racing	Beppe Gabbiani Emanuele Pirro	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4	P	47
48	GTP +3.0	5	WM AEREM	Guy Fréquelin Roger Dorchy Xavier Mathiot	WM P79 / 80	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6	M.	46
49	IMSA GTX	41	Preston Henn Racing	Preston Henn Michael Chandler Marcel Mignot	Porsche 935 K3	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	D.	45
50	S +2.0	26th	Oceanic Jean Rondeau	Henri Pescarolo Patrick Tambay	Rondeau M379	Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8	G	41
51	GT	73	Eminence Racing Team	Jean-Marie Alméras Jacques Alméras	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	Porsche 2.0L Turbo I4	M.	30th
52	S +2.0	25th	Calberson Jean Rondeau	Jean Ragnotti Jean-Louis Lafosse	Rondeau M379	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	G	28
53	IMSA GTO	38	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yōjirō Terada Hiroshi Fushida Win Percy	Mazda RX-7	Mazda 13B 1.3L 2-Wankel	D.	25th
54	C.	82	WM AEREM	Thierry Boutsen Serge Saulnier Michel Pignard	WM P81	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6	M.	15th
55	IMSA GTO	35	Stratagraph Inc.	Cale Yarborough Billy Hagan Bill Cooper	Chevrolet Camaro	Chevrolet 6.4L V8	G	13
Not started
56	GTP +3.0	6th	WM AERE.M	Denis Morin Charles Mendez	WM 79/80	Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6		1
Not qualified
57	S +2.0	16	Max Sardou	Patrick Perrier Michel Lateste	Ardex S80	BMW M88 3.5L I6		2
58	S +2.0	17th	Cooks-Woods Racing	Brian Redman Bobby Rahal	Lola T600	Porsche 2.9L Turbo Flat-6		3
59	Size 5	62	André Gahinet	André Gahinet Jacques Guérin Christian Bussi	Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6		4th
60	IMSA GTP	90	Z & W Enterprises	Hervé Regout Michel Elkoubi	McLaren M6B GT	Chevrolet 5.6L V8		5
reserve
61	IMSA GTO	39	Z & W Enterprises	Fred Stiff Dirk Vermeersch Ray Ratcliff	Mazda RX-7	Mazda 13B 1.3L 2-Wankel		6th
62	Size 4th	74	Porsche Cars Australia	Peter Brock Jim Richards Colin Bond	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	Porsche 2.0L Turbo I4		7th
63	GR. 4th	75	Porsche System Engineering	Richard Lloyd Tony Dron	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	Porsche 2.0L Turbo I4		8th

¹ Replacement car ² not qualified ³ not qualified ⁴ not qualified ⁵ not qualified ⁶ reserve ⁷ reserve ⁸ reserve

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine
64	S + 2.0	2	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet	Ford C100	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
65	S 2.0	34	Alain de Cadenet	Dominique Lacaud Joël Gouhier	Lola T298	BMW 2.0L I4
66	IMSA GTX	44	Andial Masters Racing	Rolf Stommelen Howard Meister	Porsche 935K3	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6
67	Group 5	56	Gelo Racing Team		Porsche 935	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6
68	Group 5	58	Kremer Interscope Racing	Ted Field Danny Ongais	Porsche 935K3 / 80	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6
69	Group 5		Jolly Club	Carlo Facetti Martino Finotto	Ferrari 308GTB	Ferrari 3.0L V12
70	S + 2.0	70	Siegfried Brunn	Siegfried Brunn	Porsche 908/3	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
71	IMSA GTX		John Fitzpatrick Racing	Pure Wisell	Porsche 935K3	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6
72	Group 5		Charles Ivy Racing		Porsche 935K3	Porsche Type-935 3.1L Turbo Flat-6
73	Group 4		Richard Cleare Racing		Porsche 934	Porsche 2.9L Turbo Flat-6

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Jean-Philippe Grand	Yves Courage		Lola T298	Rank 18
Group 6, sports cars over 2000 cm³	Jacky Ickx	Derek Bell		Porsche 936	Overall victory
Group 6, sports cars under 2000 cm³	Jean-Philippe Grand	Yves Courage		Lola T298	Rank 18
Group 5	John Cooper	Dudley Wood	Claude Bourgoignie	Porsche 935K3	Rank 4
Group 4	Thierry Perrier	Valentin Bertapelle	Bernard Salam	Porsche 934	Rank 17
IMSA GTX	Jean-Claude Andruet	Claude Ballot-Léna	Hervé Regout	Ferrari 512BB LM	Rank 5
IMSA GTO	Manfred Schurti	Andy Rouse		Porsche Carrera GTR	Rank 11
GT prototypes over 3000 cm³	Jürgen Barth	Walter Röhrl		Porsche 944 LM	Rank 7
GT prototypes under 3000 cm³	Jacky Haran	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Philippe Streiff	Rondeau M379	Rank 2

Racing data

• Registered: 73
• Started: 55
• Rated: 20
• Race classes: 9
• Spectators: 170,000
• Honorary starter of the race: Jean-Marie Balestre , President of the FIA
• Race weekend weather: hot and sunny
• Route length: 13.626 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 338
• Distance of the winning team: 4825.348 km
• Winner's average: 201.056 km / h
• Pole position: Jacky Ickx - Porsche 936 (# 11) - 3.29.440 = 223.213 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Hurley Haywood - Porsche 936 (# 12) - 3.34.000 = 229.231 km / h
• Racing series: 8th round of the sports car world championship in 1981

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 1981  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Previous race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1981

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour race of Pergusa in 1981