Claude Ballot-Léna
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/1988_Spice_SE88C_Group_C2%2C_Cossworth_DFL_88_90_3298cc_620cv%2C_drivers_Jean-Louis_Ricci_-_Claude_Ballot-L%C3%A9na_-_Jean-Claude_Andruet_pic1.jpg/290px-1988_Spice_SE88C_Group_C2%2C_Cossworth_DFL_88_90_3298cc_620cv%2C_drivers_Jean-Louis_Ricci_-_Claude_Ballot-L%C3%A9na_-_Jean-Claude_Andruet_pic1.jpg)
Claude Ballot-Léna (born August 4, 1936 in Paris , † November 9, 1999 ) was a French racing driver .
Career
“ I'm part of the inventory here like an old toolbox,” said Claude Ballot-Léna in an interview in 1989 when he came to Le Mans for the twenty-third time to contest the 24-hour race .
The former boxer, tennis player and cyclist has proven his versatility in motorsport for over 30 years. He gained his first experience in small rallies and hill climbs in the French provinces in the early 1960s . The tall and brawny Frenchman also tried his hand at the monoposto briefly and became familiar with sports car racing in the mid-1960s . Four times - in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976 - he won the French GT Championship and in 1973 the European Championship.
He celebrated his greatest successes in endurance sports. In 1969 he and his long-time partner Guy Chasseuil won the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in a Porsche 911 . In 1983, together with Bob Wollek , AJ Foyt and Preston Henn , he secured overall victory in a Porsche 935 at the Daytona 24-hour race . In Le Mans, only his two compatriots Henri Pescarolo and Bob Wollek and the Japanese Yōjirō Terada were at the start more often than him. In 1977 he achieved his only podium finish there with Peter Gregg in a Porsche 935 with third place overall. Ballot-Léna was on the top three podium 154 times in his career and secured 71 overall and class victories at a wide variety of racing events.
For many years he drove races in the IMSA GTP series in the USA , with occasional trips to NASCAR , where he also competed in the Daytona 500 . A few months before his death - he died in December 1999 of a long incurable illness - he gave an interview to the French magazine Auto Hebdo and looked back on his career. “ If I take stock today, I have no regrets. I never considered myself a high flyer. With the resources at my disposal, I've had a decent career behind me. It's enough for me when people later, when asked who was Ballot-Léna, simply answer: That was a racing driver. "
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
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1966 |
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Marcos Mini GT2 + 2 |
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Rank 15 | ||
1967 |
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CD SP66C |
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failure | Engine failure | |
1968 |
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Porsche 911T |
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failure | Engine failure | |
1969 |
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Porsche 911T |
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Rank 11 | ||
1970 |
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Porsche 914/6 GT |
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Rank 6 and class win | ||
1971 |
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Porsche 908/02 |
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failure | accident | |
1972 |
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Ferrari 365GTB / 4 |
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5th place and class win | ||
1973 |
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Ferrari 365GTB / 4 |
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Rank 6 and class win | ||
1974 |
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Porsche Carrera RSR |
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failure | Petrol injection | |
1975 |
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Porsche Carrera RSR |
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Rank 8 | ||
1976 |
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WM P76 |
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failure | Defect on the radiator |
1977 |
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Porsche 935 |
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3rd place and class win | ||
1978 |
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Ferrari 512BB |
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failure | Power transmission | |
1979 |
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Ferrari 512BB LM |
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failure | accident |
1980 |
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Ferrari 512BB |
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failure | Engine failure | |
1981 |
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Ferrari 512BB LM |
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5th place and class win | |
1982 |
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Ferrari 512BB |
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failure | Engine failure | |
1983 |
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Porsche 956 |
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Rank 10 | |
1984 |
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Jaguar XJR-5 |
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failure | accident |
1985 |
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Jaguar XJR-5 |
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Rank 13 and class win | |
1986 |
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Porsche 961 |
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Rank 7 and class win | ||
1988 |
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Spice Fiero SE88C |
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failure | Engine failure |
1989 |
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Porsche 962C |
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Rank 6 |
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 |
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Porsche 935/80 |
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failure | Engine failure |
1986 |
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Jaguar XJR-7 |
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failure | Oil pump |
1988 |
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Spice SE88P |
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failure | ignition |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Brian Laban: Le Mans 24 Hours. Virgin, London 2001, ISBN 1-85227-971-0 .
- ↑ Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissendre: 24 Hours of Le Mans 2000. Group C Motorsport Verlag, Duisburg 2000, ISBN 3-928540-26-2 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Ballot-Léna, Claude |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | 4th August 1936 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
DATE OF DEATH | November 9, 1999 |