Le Mans 24 hour race 1999

BMW V12 LMR with starting number 15; Winning car from Joachim Winkelhock , Pierluigi Martini and Yannick Dalmas

The Toyota GT-One with starting number 1; Martin Brundle , while in the lead, retired after a tire damage

Audi R8R; the third-placed car from Frank Biela , Didier Theys and Emanuele Pirro

The Audi R8C

The Nissan R391 with starting number 23 was unable to take part in the race after an accident in the warm-up

Chrysler Viper GTS-R

The 67th 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 67 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , took place from June 12th to 13th, 1999 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

The race

Before the race

After the race in 1998 had a large number of manufacturers, the reports for 1999 also showed that spectators worldwide could count on a large, high-quality field. In 1999 new regulations came into force. The previous GT1 class was abolished and the LMGTP class was created to replace it. No more road vehicles had to be built for this prototype GT class. This new regulation forced teams to convert or build new racing cars.

The officials of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest had to do without the record winner Porsche . 1998 Porsche had with the GT1 and the drivers Laurent Aiello , Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli the 24-hour race won. It was the German brand's 16th overall victory, and a continuation of the Le Mans prototype program seemed certain. The GT1 was also no longer compliant with the new regulations. After the first test drives with the successor model, the Porsche board of directors rejected the continuation of racing sports car construction, and the prototype became the Porsche Carrera GT , a road vehicle. Porsche only returned to Le Mans in 2013 with the Porsche 911 RSR and in 2014 with the 919 Hybrid .

Porsche left and with Audi a new manufacturer came to Le Mans with a sports car prototype. As early as 1997, the Audi Board of Management made the decision to compete in Le Mans. In 1998, Motorsport Director Wolfgang Ulrich, along with engineers, mechanics and the two drivers Emanuele Pirro and Rinaldo Capello, bought into Thomas Bscher's team to simulate a first outing. Audi allowed two concepts and developed both an open and a closed racing car. The Audi R8R was an open Spyder; the body was designed by Audi in Ingolstadt and manufactured by Dallara in Varano de 'Melegari . The car was powered by a 3.6-liter V8 - turbo engine . Two Spyders were used, not by Audi itself, but by Joest Racing . The team of Reinhold Joest , which had cooperated with Porsche for many years, has been selected as a partner because of its long successful Le Mans history and its many technical possibilities and concluded a long-term partnership with Audi. The main drivers used were drivers who had already been in action for Audi in other racing series. Besides Frank Biela , Didier Theys , Emanuele Pirro, Rinaldo Capello and Laurent Aiello also the former Joest-pilot and former was Ferrari - Formula 1 driver Michele Alboreto committed. Parallel to the R8R, the R8C , a closed car, was built at TOM’S in Norfolk, England. However, this project was delayed and the car was only finished just before the race. This vehicle was used by Audi Great Britain. Perry McCarthy , Andy Wallace and James Weaver were hired as drivers .

At Toyota , three GT-One were rebuilt, around 15 kg lighter and apparently with a little more engine power. Extensive tests on various routes should reduce the risk of failure. For the first time the Toyota started in the newly created GT-LMP class for closed prototypes. Despite stiff competition, the GT-One proved to be the fastest vehicles in the field on June 12th and 13th, 1999 with top speeds of up to 380 km / h. The drivers largely relied on the crews from the previous year. Allen McNish and Vincenzo Sospiri joined the team .

At Nissan , the R391 replaced the previous R390 GT1 . In contrast to the closed previous model, this time the decision was made for a car with an open cockpit. Nissan turned to UK-based company G-Force Technologies , which designed and built the R391. Nigel Stroud took care of the construction. Nissan went into a partnership with Courage Compétition of Yves Courage one. Part of the contract between the two sides was the delivery of the charged 3.5-liter V8 engine VRH35L (which was left over from the R390 GT1) to Courage for use in their own prototype, while Nissan advised Courage for use in the new R391 has been. Nissan also bought a Courage C52 chassis for their own racing team in case the mechanics of the new R391 should cause difficulties, after Le Mans was the first race with the new vehicle. Nissan decided that the R391 should get a new version of the VH machine that no longer had a turbocharger like the VRH35L. Instead there was a new naturally aspirated engine, the VRH50A. With its larger displacement of 5.0 liters, the engine overcame the loss of the turbocharger and still offered the advantages of the original VRH35L design. Two R391s were brought to the Sarthe, driven by Michael Krumm , Satoshi Motoyama , Érik Comas , Aguri Suzuki , Masami Kageyama and Eric van de Poele . Didier Cottaz , Marc Goossens and Fredrik Ekblom drove the Courage .

There were also new projects at Mercedes-Benz and BMW . In April 1999 Mercedes presented the new Mercedes-Benz CLR as the successor to the winning car of the 1998 FIA GT championship, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR . The technology including the V8 engine of the CLK LM variant was largely adopted. The design was based on features of the then new Mercedes-Benz CL ( C 215 ). Like the direct competitors Toyota GT-One and Audi R8C, the CLR was built according to the Le Mans GT Prototype rules . After very good results in tests on racetracks, Mercedes was confident that the car was fast enough to win the race, despite only a short test phase in the wind tunnel . The use of the BMW V12 LM 998 ended early with wheel bearing damage. The car was then completely rebuilt, the nose became slimmer, a single roll bar was used and the S70 6.1-liter V12 engine received more power. The use of the V12 LMR was taken over by Schnitzer Motorsport .

Also Panoz came up with a new car, the front engine - Panoz LMP-1 for this endurance race . In the GTS class, as in the previous year, the class win led to the Chrysler Viper GTS-R .

The course of the race

The hardship for Mercedes-Benz began in qualification training. During Thursday evening qualifying, Mark Webber's # 4 CLR took off from the Indianapolis bend and rolled over several times. Webber got away with a sore throat and a few bruises on his elbow. On Friday, which was not a competition, the car was completely rebuilt on a new chassis, which required an exemption from the organizer. In order to increase the downforce on the front axle, smoke deflectors like those used in the rain were attached. At this point in time, those responsible for Mercedes were not yet fully aware that there were problems with the CLR's aerodynamics; especially in the dirty air behind another vehicle.

The best time in practice was set by Martin Brundle in the Toyota GT-One with the number 1. He drove a time of 3: 29.930 and thus remained below the 3-minute-30 mark for the first time in many years. This time corresponded to an average of 233.306 km / h. Brundle was able to start the race from pole position with his team-mates Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri . In addition, Ralf Kelleners , Allan McNish and Thierry Boutsen started the second fastest qualifying lap in another Toyota. The fastest LMP1 prototype was the BMW V12 LMR with Tom Kristensen at the wheel, which achieved a time of 3: 31.209 minutes.

In the warm-up on Saturday morning, there was a further incident at Mercedes. Again with Mark Webber at the wheel, the CLR No. 4 only came up to the then still existing hill in front of the Mulsanne curve, where the car again lifted off the track, rolled over and remained on the roof. The car “standing” vertically in the air was often captured in photos and published in newspapers on the same day. There were no injuries in this accident. Despite this second accident and aware of the Le Mans accident of 1955 , Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug decided to let the other two cars start the race. For this purpose, further modifications were made to the remaining cars with starting numbers 5 and 6 and the drivers were instructed not to follow other cars too closely over larger bumps. Another car, the number 23 Nissan R391, also failed to start after a warm-up accident.

Right from the start, the race developed into the expected exchange of blows between the large manufacturer teams, which was followed by around 200,000 spectators on site and even more on the television sets. For the time being, a four-way battle developed between the two Toyotas from Brundle and Boutsen and the two remaining CLRs, which were driven by Bernd Schneider and Christophe Bouchut in the initial phase . After the first pit stops, it became clear that BMW could drive up to two laps longer on one tank of fuel, a circumstance that gave Tom Kristensen a brief lead in the number 17 car. After one hour of racing, Schneider was in the lead in a Mercedes in front of the two Toyotas from Brundle and Boutsen, the BMW from Kristensen and team-mate Bouchut.

Late on Saturday evening, it almost came to a catastrophe when Peter Dumbreck had his accident. Dumbreck had taken over the Mercedes with the number 5 shortly before and drove after Boutsen to the Mulsanne. Again the car got under air, rose like an airplane, overturned in flight (whereby the car also turned once on its own axis) and hit all four wheels down in a clearing in the forest. The difference to the two Webber accidents was that this time millions of viewers worldwide were watching live on TV. Dumbreck was very lucky that the car crashed into the only vacant spot in a forest in the brush; he got away with light bruises. Mercedes reacted immediately and withdrew the car, which was in second place at the time, from the race.

The two fastest Toyota were also out of luck: the Brundle GT One also had a puncture after 90 laps on the Hunaudières straight. Martin Brundle tried to drive the car into the pits, but had to finally park the vehicle after the Mulsanne section. Thierry Boutsen had a serious accident with the third car on lap 173 exiting the Tertre Rouge curve and had to be rescued from the car with a broken vertebra.

This meant that both BMWs led the race ahead of the remaining Toyota on Sunday morning. Until the failure due to engine failure, the Nissan from Krumm / Motoyama / Comas was always ahead of the Audis and thus on course for the podium until then. The chance of a BMW double victory was lost due to an accident by JJ Lehto in the leading car. In the final phase it got exciting again when the second-placed Toyota drove within 40 seconds of the remaining BMW. Again, many television viewers witnessed another drama. The live image just showed Ukyō Katayama onboard in the Toyota, when it masterfully prevented the car from breaking away after a tire blown at around 300 km / h. The chance of victory was definitely gone.

BMW won the second outing at Le Mans and Audi finished the first race with third place overall. Pierluigi Martini , who had stayed in the car for the last 2½ hours by order of BMW team boss Gerhard Berger , ensured an unplanned lap of honor. In Le Mans there is no lap of honor for the winners and those placed after the race, but instead the cars immediately turn into the pit lane after crossing the finish line and, as an exception, drive against the direction of travel. But without further ado Martini drove past the many marshals one more lap around the course all by himself and let the spectators and marshals celebrate.

Results

Pilots by nationality

41 French	19 Germans	13 British	13 Italians	11 Japanese
9 Americans	8 Belgians	7 Portuguese	5 Dutch	3 Australians
3 Austrians	3 Sweden	2 danes	2 Monegasque	2 South Africans
1 Brazilian	1 fin	1 Swiss	1 Spaniard

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	LMP	15th	Team BMW Motorsport	Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas	BMW V12 LMR	BMW S70 6.0L V12	M.	365
2	LMGTP	3	Toyota Motorsport	Ukyō Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki	Toyota GT-One	Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	364
3	LMP	8th	Audi Sport Team Joest	Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8R	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	360
4th	LMP	7th	Audi Sport Team Joest	Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello	Audi R8R	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	346
5	LMP	18th	David Price Racing	Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper	BMW V12 LM	BMW S70 6.0L V12	Y	345
6th	LMP	13	Courage Compétition	Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella	Courage C52	Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V6	B.	342
7th	LMP	12	Panoz Motorsports	David Brabham Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S	Élan 6.0L V8	M.	336
8th	LMP	21st	Nissan Motorsports	Didier Cottaz Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom	Courage C52	Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V6	B.	335
9	LMP	14th	Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team	Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferté Patrice Gay	Courage C50	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	P	327
10	GTS	51	Viper Team Oreca	Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupuy	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	325
11	LMP	11	Panoz Motorsports	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S	Élan 6.0L V8	M.	323
12	GTS	52	Viper Team Oreca	Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	318
13	GT	81	Manthey Racing	Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Porsche 3.6L Flat-6	P	317
14th	GTS	56	Chamberlain Engineering	Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Junior Toni Seiler	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	314
15th	GTS	50	CICA Team Oreca	Manuel Mello-Breyner Pedro Mello-Breyner Thomaz Mello-Breyner	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	312
16	GTS	55	Paul Belmondo Racing	Emmanuel Clérico Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	D.	309
17th	GTS	54	Paul Belmondo Racing	Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	D.	299
18th	GTS	64	Konrad Motorsport	Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	D.	293
19th	GT	80	Champion Racing	Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Porsche 3.6L Flat-6	P	292
20th	GTS	62	Roock Racing	Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Vincent Vosse	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	Y	290
21st	GT	84	Perspective Racing	Thierry Perrier Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry	Porsche 911 3.8 RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	P	288
22nd	GTS	57	Chamberlain Engineering	Thomas Erdos Christian Vann Christian Gläsel	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	270
Not classified
23	GTS	65	Chereau Sports	Jean-Luc Chéreau Patrice Goueslard Pierre Yver	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	M.	240
Failed
24	LMP	17th	Team BMW Motorsport	Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller	BMW V12 LMR	BMW S70 6.0L V12	M.	304
25th	GTS	53	Viper Team Oreca	David Donohue Jean-Philippe Belloc Soheil Ayari	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10	M.	271
26th	GTS	63	Roock Racing	Hubert Haupt John Robinson Hugh Price	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	Y	232
27	LMP	19th	Team Goh	Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Kato Akihiko Nakaya	BMW V12 LM	BMW S70 6.0L V12	M.	223
28	LMP	26th	Talkline Racing for Holland	Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel	Lola B98 / 10	Roush 6.0L V8	D.	213
29	LMGTP	10	Audi Sport UK Ltd.	James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy	Audi R8C	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	198
30th	LMGTP	2	Toyota Motorsports	Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kellener's Allan McNish	Toyota GT-One	Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	173
31	GTS	61	Freising Motorsport	Ernst Palmberger Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	D.	157
32	LMP	27	Kremer Racing	Tomás Saldaña Grant Orbell Didier de Radiguès	Lola B98 / 10	Roush 6.0L V8	G	46
33	GTS	67	Larbre Compétition	Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	M.	134
34	GTS	66	Estoril Racing Communication	Manuel Monteiro Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	P	123
35	LMP	22nd	Nissan Motorsports	Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas	Nissan R391	Nissan VRH50A 5.0L V8	B.	110
36	LMGTP	1	Toyota Motorsports	Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri	Toyota GT-One	Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8	M.	90
37	LMP	25th	Team DAMS	Christophe Tinseau Franck Montagny David Terrien	Lola B98 / 10	Judd GV4 4.0L V10	P	77
38	LMGTP	6th	AMG Mercedes	Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy	Mercedes-Benz CLR	Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8	B.	76
39	LMGTP	5	AMG Mercedes	Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck	Mercedes-Benz CLR	Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8	B.	75
40	LMP	24	Autoexe Motorsport	Yōjirō Terada Franck Fréon Robin Donovan	Autoexe LMP99	Ford 6.0L V8	Y	74
41	LMP	29	JMB Racing	Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori	Ferrari 333SP	Ferrari F130E 4.0L V12	P	71
42	LMP	32	Riley & Scott Europe	Marco Apicella Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis	Riley & Scott Mk III / 2	Ford 6.0L V8	P	67
44	LMP	31	Riley & Scott Europe	Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thévenin	Riley & Scott Mk III / 2	Ford 6.0L V8	P	25th
45	GTS	60	Freising Motorsport	Ray Lintott Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6	D.	24
Not started
46	LMGTP	4th	AMG Mercedes	Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann	Mercedes-Benz CLR	Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8	B.	1
47	LMP	23	Nissan Motorsports	Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele	Nissan R391	Nissan VRH50A 5.0L V8	B.	2
Not qualified
48	GT	83	GFB MacQuillan	Michel Neugarten Gérard MacQuillan Chris Gleason	Porsche 911 3.8 RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	P	3

¹ accident in warm-up ² accident in warm-up ³ not qualified

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	tires
49	LMP	16	Team BMW Motorsport	Tom Kristensen Bill Auberlen	BMW V12 LMR	BMW S70 6.0L V12	M.
50	LMP	20th	WR Racing	Guillaume Gomez	WR LMP99	Peugeot PRV 2.0L Turbo V6
51	LMP	30th	JB Jabouille Bouresche	Christian Pescatori Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi	Ferrari 333SP	Ferrari F130E 4.0L V12
52	GTS	58	Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere Racing	Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière Pascal Fabre Pascal Hernandez	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10
53	GTS	68	Gerard MacMillan	Richard Jones Alec Hammond Gary Ayles	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
54	GTS	86	Brookspeed Motorsport	Dave Clark Kilian King Neil Cunningham Ray Lintott	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10
55	LMP	28	Kremer Racing		Lola B98 / 10	Roush 6.0L V8
56	LMGTP	33	G-Force Motorsport	Thorkild Thyrring Magnus Wallinder Geoff Lister	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
57	LMGTP	34	Parr Gaumont Motorsport	David Saunders	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
58	GTS	59	GT Developments	Brian Cunningham	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 8.0L V10
59	GTS	69	Krauss Race Sports International	Michael Trunk	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
60	GTS	70	RWS Motorsport	Horst Felbermayr senior Horst Felbermayr junior Fabio Mancini	Porsche 911 GT2	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
61	GTS	82	Larbre Compétition	Michel Neugarten Julian Westwood Jack Leconte	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
62	GTS	85	Red Racing	Lucien Guitteny Patrick Camus	Ferrari 550 Maranello	Ferrari 5.5L V12
63			Porsche AG
64	LMP		Doyle-Risi Racing
65	LMP		Doyle-Risi Racing
66			Champion Porsche
67	LMP		Klaas Zwart	Klaas Zwart Robbie Stirling	Ascari A410	Judd GV4 4.0L V10
68	GTS		Cirtek	David Warnock Robert Schirle	Porsche 993 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
69			Sarta		Sarta 624	Renault
70			G4 Team Gebhardt		Gebhardt G4	Audi 2.1L Turbo I5	G
71			Michel Ferté		Ferrari 333SP	Ferrari F130E 4.0L V12
72			Jean-Francois Metz		VBM 4000GTC	PRV Douvrin-Sodemo 3.0L Turbo V6
73			Alistair Davidson	Alistair Davidson Nigel Smith	Marcos LM500	Rover V8
74			Richard Austin		Sintura S99	Judd GV4 4.0L V10

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
LMP	Joachim Winkelhock	Pierluigi Martini	Yannick Dalmas	BMW V12 LMR	Overall victory
LMGTP	Ukyō Katayama	Keiichi Tsuchiya	Toshio Suzuki	Toyota GT-One	Rank 2
GTS	Olivier Beretta	Karl Wendlinger	Dominique Dupuy	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Rank 10
GT	Uwe Alzen	Patrick Huisman	Luca Riccitelli	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Rank 13

Racing data

• Registered: 74
• Started: 45
• Valued: 22
• Race classes: 4
• Spectators: 200,000
• Honorary starter of the race: unknown
• Weather on the race weekend: warm and dry, a few light showers
• Route length: 13.605 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Rounds of the winning team: 366
• Distance of the winning team: 4982.974 km
• Winner's average: 207.007 km / h
• Pole position: Martin Brundle - Toyota GT-One (# 1) - 3: 29.930 = 233.306 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Ukyō Katayama - Toyota GT-One (# 3) - 3: 35.032 = 227.771 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre: Les 24 heures du Mans 1999. Editions IHM, Brussels 1999, ISBN 2-930120-41-X .

Web links

Commons : 24 Hours of Le Mans 1999  - Collection of images, videos and audio files