Roger Dorchy

Roger Dorchy (born September 5, 1944 ) is a former French car racing driver who holds the speed record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans .

Career in motorsport

Roger Dorchy wrote motorsport history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988 when he reached the top speed of 405 km / h during practice on the Les Hunaudiers Straight. The World Championship P88 from Welter Racing hardly had any downforce in the corners; because the stated goal of the racing team was to break the 400 km / h sound barrier.

Dorchy began his motorsport career in the early 1970s in a Porsche 911 in the French GT championship. In 1974 he made his debut in the endurance race at Le Mans. In addition to the speed record, he holds two other records for the Welter Racing Team.

In 1984 Dorchy led at the beginning of the race with the WM P83B . It was the first mileage in the lead for a Welter racing car at Le Mans. The fourth overall place in the World Championship P79 - together with Guy Fréquelin - in 1980 is still the best place for a World Heritage prototype on the Sarthe. At the same time, it is also Dorchy's best placing as a driver in this race.

In 1984 he contested an entire season in the European Touring Car Championship and was third in the overall standings at the 500 km race in Monza . After failing to qualify at the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1989 , Dorchy retired from racing. In 1999 he contested two races in the French GT Championship, in which he returned to motorsport for a full season in 2002.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1974	Porsche Club Romand	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	William Vollery	Eric Chapuis	failure	Engine failure
1975	Ècurie du Nord	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	William Vollery	Eric Chapuis	failure	Valve damage
1976	William Vollery	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	William Vollery	Jean-Pierre Aeschlimann	failure	battery
1979	WM AEREM	WM P79	Denis Morin		failure	accident
1980	WM Esso	WM P79	Guy Fréquelin		Rank 4
1981	WM AEREM	WM P79	Guy Fréquelin	Xavier Mathiot	failure	Engine failure
1982	WM Esso	WM P82	Guy Fréquelin	Alain Couderc	failure	accident
1983	WM Secateva	WM P83	Pascal Fabre	Alain Couderc	Rank 16
1984	WM Secateva	WM P83B	Gérard Patté	Alain Couderc	failure	Gearbox damage
1985	World Cup Peugeot	WM P83B	Jean-Claude Andruet	Claude Haldi	failure	accident
1986	WM Secateva	WM P83B	Pascal Pessiot	Claude Haldi	Rank 12
1987	WM Secateva	WM P87	Philippe Gache	Dominique Delestre	failure	Cylinder overheated
1988	WM Secateva	WM P88	Jean-Daniel Raulet	Claude Haldi	failure	Cylinder overheated

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissedre: 24 hours of mans . 1923-1992. 2 volumes. Édition d'Art JB Barthelemy, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

• Image: Roger Dorchy