1981 Le Mans 24 hour race
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
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
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
Previous race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1981 |
Sports car world championship |
Successor to the 6-hour race of Pergusa in 1981 |