Claude Ballot-Léna

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The Spice SE88C with Jean-Louis Ricci , Jean-Claude Andruet and Claude Ballot-Léna at the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans were at the start

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
1966 FranceFrance Jean-Louis Marnat & Cie Marcos Mini GT2 + 2 FranceFrance Jean-Louis Marnat Rank 15
1967 FranceFrance SEC Automobiles CD CD SP66C FranceFrance Denis Dayan failure Engine failure
1968 FranceFrance Auguste Veuillet Porsche 911T FranceFrance Guy Chasseuil failure Engine failure
1969 FranceFrance Auguste Veuillet Porsche 911T FranceFrance Guy Chasseuil Rank 11
1970 FranceFrance Établissement Sonauto Porsche 914/6 GT FranceFrance Guy Chasseuil Rank 6 and class win
1971 FranceFrance Auguste Veuillet Porsche 908/02 BelgiumBelgium Guy Chasseuil failure accident
1972 FranceFrance Charles Pozzi Ferrari 365GTB / 4 FranceFrance Jean-Claude Andruet 5th place and class win
1973 FranceFrance Automobiles Charles Pozzi Ferrari 365GTB / 4 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Vic Elford Rank 6 and class win
1974 FranceFrance Robert Buchet Porsche Carrera RSR United KingdomUnited Kingdom Vic Elford failure Petrol injection
1975 FranceFrance Ecurié Robert Buchet Porsche Carrera RSR CanadaCanada Jacques Bienvenue Rank 8
1976 FranceFrance Ecurie Batteries-Piles TS WM P76 FranceFrance Guy Chasseuil FranceFrance Xavier Mathiot failure Defect on the radiator
1977 FranceFrance JMS Racing Team Porsche 935 United StatesUnited States Peter Gregg 3rd place and class win
1978 FranceFrance Pozzi-Thompson JMS Racing Ferrari 512BB FranceFrance Jean-Louis Lafosse failure Power transmission
1979 FranceFrance JMS Racing Charles Pozzi Ferrari 512BB LM United StatesUnited States Peter Gregg FranceFrance Michel Leclère failure accident
1980 FranceFrance JMS Racing Charles Pozzi Ferrari 512BB FranceFrance Jean-Claude Andruet failure Engine failure
1981 FranceFrance Charles Pozzi Ferrari 512BB LM FranceFrance Jean-Claude Andruet FranceFrance Hervé Regout 5th place and class win
1982 FranceFrance Charles Pozzi Ferrari 512BB FranceFrance Jean-Claude Andruet failure Engine failure
1983 United StatesUnited States Preston Henn T-Bird Swap Shop Porsche 956 United StatesUnited States Preston Henn FranceFrance Jean-Louis Schlesser Rank 10
1984 United StatesUnited States Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 United StatesUnited States Tony Adamowicz United KingdomUnited Kingdom John Watson failure accident
1985 United StatesUnited States Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 United StatesUnited States Bob Tullius United StatesUnited States Chip Robinson Rank 13 and class win
1986 GermanyGermany Porsche AG Porsche 961 FranceFrance René Metge Rank 7 and class win
1988 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering Spice Fiero SE88C FranceFrance Jean-Claude Andruet FranceFrance Jean-Louis Ricci failure Engine failure
1989 GermanyGermany Joest Racing Porsche 962C FranceFrance Henri Pescarolo FranceFrance Jean-Louis Ricci Rank 6

Sebring results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
1984 United StatesUnited States Bayside - Lion Brew Porsche 935/80 United StatesUnited States Hurley Haywood United StatesUnited States Al Holbert failure Engine failure
1986 United StatesUnited States Group 44 Jaguar XJR-7 United StatesUnited States Chip Robinson FranceFrance Bob Tullius failure Oil pump
1988 United StatesUnited States Whitehall rock sports Spice SE88P United StatesUnited States Skeeter McKitterick FranceFrance Jean-Louis Ricci failure ignition

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season team race car 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd
1963 Alpine A110 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly TAR BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly MAY GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly CON GermanyGermany ROS FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly MON GermanyGermany WIS FranceFrance TAV GermanyGermany FRE ItalyItaly CCE United KingdomUnited Kingdom RTT SwitzerlandSwitzerland OVI GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly MON FranceFrance TDF United StatesUnited States BRI
30th
1964 Leman
Moloff
Fiat-Abarth 850
Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero
United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly TAR ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly CON GermanyGermany ONLY GermanyGermany ROS FranceFrance LEM FranceFrance REI GermanyGermany FRE ItalyItaly CCE United KingdomUnited Kingdom RTT SwitzerlandSwitzerland SIM GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly MON FranceFrance TDF United StatesUnited States BRI United StatesUnited States BRI FranceFrance PAR
DNF 19th
1966 Jean-Louis Marnat Marcos Mini GT United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly TAR BelgiumBelgium SPA GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly MUG ItalyItaly CCE GermanyGermany HOK SwitzerlandSwitzerland SIM GermanyGermany ONLY AustriaAustria ZEL
15th
1967 Scuderia Filipinetti
Charles German
Ford GT40
CD SP66
United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM GermanyGermany HOK ItalyItaly MUG United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly CCE AustriaAustria ZEL SwitzerlandSwitzerland OVI GermanyGermany ONLY
DNF DNF
1968 Auguste Veuillet Porsche 911 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany ONLY BelgiumBelgium SPA United StatesUnited States WAT AustriaAustria ZEL FranceFrance LEM
DNF
1969 Auguste Veuillet Porsche 911 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly TAR BelgiumBelgium SPA GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM United StatesUnited States WAT AustriaAustria ZEL
11
1970 Sonauto Porsche 914 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly TAR BelgiumBelgium SPA GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM United StatesUnited States WAT AustriaAustria ZEL
6th
1971 Claude Ballot-Léna
Auguste Veuillet
Porsche 908 ArgentinaArgentina BUA United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM AustriaAustria ZEL United StatesUnited States WAT
5 7th DNF
1972 Charles Pozzi Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 ArgentinaArgentina BUA United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM AustriaAustria ZEL United StatesUnited States WAT
DNF 5
1973 NART
Charles Pozzi
Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 United StatesUnited States DAY ItalyItaly VAL FranceFrance DIJ ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM AustriaAustria ZEL United StatesUnited States WAT
DNF 6th
1974 Porsche Club Romand
Robert Buchet
Ennio Bonomelli
Porsche Carrera RSR
Porsche 911
ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly IMO FranceFrance LEM AustriaAustria ZEL United StatesUnited States WAT FranceFrance LEC United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH South Africa 1961South Africa KYA
7th 13 DNF DNF DNF DNF
1975 NART
Robert Buchet
Gelo Racing
Ferrari 365 GTB / 4
Porsche Carrera RSR
United StatesUnited States DAY ItalyItaly MUG FranceFrance DIJ ItalyItaly MON BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly BY GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance ZEL United StatesUnited States WAT
28 8th 5 11
1976 Henri Cachia Porsche 934 ItalyItaly MUG ItalyItaly VAL GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL ItalyItaly IMO GermanyGermany ONLY AustriaAustria ZEL ItalyItaly BY United StatesUnited States WAT CanadaCanada MOS FranceFrance DIJ FranceFrance DIJ AustriaAustria SAL
11
1977 Holbert Racing
ASA Cachia
JMS Racing
Chevrolet Monza
Porsche 934
Porsche 935
United StatesUnited States DAY ItalyItaly MUG FranceFrance DIJ ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY ItalyItaly VAL ItalyItaly BY United StatesUnited States WAT PortugalPortugal EST FranceFrance LEC CanadaCanada MOS ItalyItaly IMO AustriaAustria SAL United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH GermanyGermany HOK ItalyItaly VAL
33 13 6th 2
1978 Brumos Porsche
ASA Cachia
JMS Racing
Tom Waugh
Porsche 935
Ferrari 512 BB
Porsche 911
AMC Gremlin
United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MUG United StatesUnited States VALLEY FranceFrance DIJ United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly MIS United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States WAT ItalyItaly VAL United StatesUnited States ROD
9 15th 5 DNF DNF DNF
1979 JMS Racing
Jean-Marc Smadja
Ferrari 512 BB
BMW 530i
United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MUG United StatesUnited States VALLEY FranceFrance DIJ United StatesUnited States RIV United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly BY United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States WAT BelgiumBelgium SPA United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH United StatesUnited States ROA ItalyItaly VAL El SalvadorEl Salvador ELS
53 DNF DNF
1980 Racing Associates
JMS Racing
Porsche 935
Ferrari 512 BB
BMW 530i
United StatesUnited States DAY United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MUG ItalyItaly MON United StatesUnited States RIV United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States WAT BelgiumBelgium SPA CanadaCanada MOS United StatesUnited States ROA ItalyItaly VAL FranceFrance DIJ
48 DNF 3
1981 Charles Pozzi
JMSRT
Ferrari 512 BB
BMW 530i
United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MUG ItalyItaly MON United StatesUnited States RIV United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly BY United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States WAT BelgiumBelgium SPA CanadaCanada MOS United StatesUnited States ROA United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH
5 DNF
1982 Charles Pozzi Ferrari 512 BB ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly MUG JapanJapan FUJ United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH
DNF
1983 Preston Henn Porsche 956 ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM BelgiumBelgium SPA JapanJapan FUJ South AfricaSouth Africa KYA
10
1984 Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL FranceFrance LEM GermanyGermany ONLY United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH CanadaCanada MOS BelgiumBelgium SPA ItalyItaly IMO JapanJapan FUJ South AfricaSouth Africa KYA AustraliaAustralia SAN
DNF
1985 Jaguar Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 ItalyItaly MUG ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL FranceFrance LEM GermanyGermany HOK CanadaCanada MOS BelgiumBelgium SPA United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH JapanJapan FUJ MalaysiaMalaysia SEL
13
1986 Porsche Porsche 961 ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL FranceFrance LEM GermanyGermany NOW United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH SpainSpain JER GermanyGermany ONLY BelgiumBelgium SPA JapanJapan FUJ
7th
1988 Chamberlain Spice SE88C SpainSpain JER SpainSpain JAR ItalyItaly MON United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL FranceFrance LEM Czech RepublicCzech Republic BRÜ United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH GermanyGermany ONLY BelgiumBelgium SPA JapanJapan FUJ AustraliaAustralia SAN
10 10 11 12 DNF DNF 8th DNF 16 DNF DNF
1989 Joest Racing
France Prototeam
Porsche 962
Spice SE88C
JapanJapan SUZ FranceFrance DIJ SpainSpain JAR United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH GermanyGermany ONLY United KingdomUnited Kingdom DON BelgiumBelgium SPA MexicoMexico MEX
DNF 7th 14th 15th 19th DNF DNF

Web links

Commons : Claude Ballot-Léna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brian Laban: Le Mans 24 Hours. Virgin, London 2001, ISBN 1-85227-971-0 .
  2. Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissendre: 24 Hours of Le Mans 2000. Group C Motorsport Verlag, Duisburg 2000, ISBN 3-928540-26-2 .