1995 24 Hours of Le Mans

1995 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1994 Next: 1996
Index: Races | Winners

The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 63rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 17 and 18 June 1995 in one of the wettest races in the event's history with about 17 hours of steady rain. The race was won by the #59 McLaren F1 GTR driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya entered in the GT1 category. This was the first Le Mans win for a driver from Finland and for a driver from Japan.[1] It was also McLaren's first win, at its first attempt. Such was the marque's dominance that its cars filled four of the first five places - Ferrari did it with its two cars in 1949, but other manufacturers like Jaguar, Porsche, Ford or Audi achieved their Le Mans fame only after 2, 3 or more years attempting their first win.[2]

The car was already well known for dominating the BPR Global GT Series with customer teams, but the car that won was actually the initial GTR prototype that was on loan to Lanzante Motorsport preparing and running it on behalf of Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing. Mario Andretti's Courage finished second, having been the sentimental favourite of many in the run-up to the race. However the reliability of the production-based McLaren helped it defeat the much faster Le Mans prototypes, although in an interview 20 years [3] later Graham Humphrys (former Spice technical director[4]), who engineered the race winning car, attributed the win to the rain which fell on the circuit overnight, which eased the stress on the car's relatively fragile transmission, and which also saw a remarkable performance by Lehto, who was as much as 30 seconds a lap faster than his rivals at times. Humphrys also managed to identify the source of the gear selection problems which the Kokusai car and the other McLarens in the race suffered from, working out that the exposed gear linkage mechanism was filling with water and dirt from the wet conditions, and solved the problem by filling the affected area with WD-40 at every pit stop.[1]

The top three spots in GT2 were taken by Honda NSX and two Callaway Corvettes. The class was now showing manufacturer diversity unlike previous year dominated by the Porsche 911 derivatives since the mid-1970s.

Regulations and Entries

With the ongoing good working relationship with IMSA, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO)phased out its LM P1 category, instead drawing up regulations based closely on IMSA's World Sportscar (WSC) class. In return, IMSA agreed to allow turbo-engined cars into WSC, given the number of Group C chassis still in circulation.[5] The LM P2 class was left as is, however the other classes had the following restrictions, some revised from the previous year:[5]

Interestingly, the previous year's "one-off model" rule, controversially exploited by Porsche in the 1994 race, stayed in place for GT1. However, GT2 cars now had to be based on cars in series production since February 1995.

As before, these regulations generated a huge amount of interest, and the ACO received 99 entries. In response, the ACO built 2 further pit bays to increase capacity to 50 cars. They granted 20 well-performing teams an automatic entry, then chose a further 50 to go through qualification for the remaining 30 spots on the grid. It aimed to keep a balance between the WSC and over-represented GT classes, although the lines were now blurring a bit in GT1.

Sportscar specialists Courage, Kremer, WR and Debora returned in WSC/P2, along with the first Ferrari prototype (the 333SP) seen at Le Mans for 23 years, which had been running in the American IMSA championship. Commissioned off Ferrari for the WSC by Giampiero Moretti of Momo Racing

The Japanese returned in force in the GT1 class with Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Honda all sending works, or works-supported, teams. But the biggest splash came from McLaren: its new F1 GTR supercar had won 6 of the 7 races in the 1995 BPR Global GT series to date. Six of the McLarens from that series arrived, and even the original T-car was hastily prepared for a new Japanese team desperate to be involved. The McLaren was the fastest road car in the world and a natural choice for Le Mans; Gordon Murray's carbon-fibre design conforming to the minimum weight (1000 kg), minimum size and maximum power-to-weight ratio (with the 6.1L BMW V12 engine) that a good race-car always has. The ACO's air restrictors limited its engine to 636 bhp, just 9 more than the road-going version.[2]

Other returning marques in GT1 included Jaguar, Ferrari and Porsche, with single works entries also from Venturi and Lister. In GT2, the ubiquitous Porsche 911s were up against Callaway, Honda and newcomers Marcos.

Qualification

Qualifying proved to be one of the greatest days for the small French Welter Racing team, rivaling its 400 kph speed record on the Mulsanne straight in 1988. Ever the builder of small, nimble and very fast prototypes, Gérard Welter's latest version, the WR LM95, was no exception: both cars, driven by William David and Patrick Gonin locked out the front row of the grid for the great race. David was the first driver to take pole on debut. Curiously, it was also the first time that two single-seaters had been on the front row at Le Mans since the 1967 French F1 GP that was run there.[6]

Behind them were the three Courages of van der Poele, Wollek and Lagorce, although the van der Poele car was then disqualified from starting for being found 17kg underweight after an engine change.[2][7] The Wollek/Andretti/Hélary Courage was the only car in the field where all three drivers lapped in under 4 minutes in practice.

Fifth on the grid was the Stuck/Boutsen/Bouchut Kremer K8, then came the first of the GT1 cars: three Ferrari F40s, headed by the Ennea Ferrari Club #41 of Ayles/Monti/Mancini, shocking the McLaren teams by beating out the Kokusai McLaren and the works Venturi. The EuroMotorsport Ferrari prototype was kept out of most of the qualifying while the ACO argued with the team about checking the maximum engine revs - in the end it was 17th on the grid.[8]

Fastest in the GT2 class was the best of the Agusta Callaways, in 23rd, well up the grid from the Swiss Porsche of Enzo Calderari in 32nd, and the private Japanese Honda NSX. Back of the grid was the private American team in their overweight Corvette ZR1 in GT1, nearly 20 seconds slower than the Callaway Corvette pole in GT2.

Race

Start

This was one of the wettest Le Mans on record, but at the start of the race the weather was fine. Five cars, including Boutsen's Kremer, the Jacadi McLaren (running on a synthetic-alcohol fuel distilled from beets[9]) and Kunimitsu Honda in GT2, had to start from the pit-lane because of last minute issues. At flag-fall the two WR's, and Wollek's Courage, took off and quickly put distance to the rest of the field - nearly half a lap at the end of the first hour. Because of the ACO equivalency regulations, their laps were nearly 30 seconds off Eddie Irvine's quickest laps in his Toyota in 1993. John Nielsen in the #49 Dave Price McLaren, and Henri Pescarolo in the #11 Courage led that pursuit battling for fourth. Massimo Sigala in the Ferrari prototype had made rapid progress from its lowly starting position, even passing Nielsen into 4th until stone damage stopped the engine at Arnage on only lap 7.

The rain arrived at the end of the first hour. It stayed all night and well into Sunday morning, with scattered showers right to the finish. Many cars spun or skated off, caught out on their slick tyres. Both the WRs pitted losing time with faulty windscreens, proving again to be fast but fragile. Worse was to follow in the 5th hour when Gonin aquaplaned off at speed and somersaulted at the Mulsanne kink into a big accident. He was taken to hospital with 4 broken ribs and a broken shoulder-blade[10] [11] and bringing out the safety cars for 37 minutes.

In the heavy rain, the WSC cars lost their power advantage and upon the restart four of the McLarens were dueling with Wollek's Courage. But when Mario Andretti tangled lapping a Kremer in the Porsche curves and crashed (taking 30 minutes and losing 6 laps to get repaired) it appeared to be a GT1 benefit with a McLaren 1-2-3. The Ferrari was out, Pescarolo's Courage had stopped at Arnage with a flat battery, and the Kremer was proving diabolical to drive in the wet (even regenmeister Hans-Joachim Stuck put it in the wall at the first chicane). The Larbre team's Porsche 911 Evos were both running well, keeping up with the McLarens and getting up to fourth. Terrific driving from Toshio Suzuki had got his Nissan Skyline up to an excellent 7th overall until the car's gearbox broke at 11pm. Both Honda GT1s were out: one with a broken clutch and the other crashed heavily in the rain, needing extensive repairs. In GT2, the Kremer and Stadler Porsches had pulled out a 3-lap lead over the Callaways and the Lister.

Night

Going into the night, the leading WSC car - the other Kremer, driven by Lässig/Konrad/de Azevedo - was running down in 11th. The DPR McLarens alternated the lead according to pit-stops. The rival Gulf Racing McLarens, dominant in the BPR series had been having many problems: series-leader and team-owner Ray Bellm had had an earlier off, losing 7 laps. Worse luck was his teammate Philippe Alliot, who was leading when he got punted off into the barriers by a GT2 Porsche he had just overtaken.

Bad luck also dogged the Larbre Compétition GT1 Porsches: In the early evening the car, of the team-owner Jack Leconte, had gone off into the Arnage gravel trap. Both Jesús Pareja and Emmanuel Collard had successively got their cars up into 4th overall, but both crashed out into retirement before midnight. The latter crash also took out the GT2-leading Stadler Porsche when Andreas Fuchs misjudged his breaking at Mulsanne corner, hitting Collard. Meanwhile the PC Automotive Jaguar was shadowing the McLarens; from starting 22nd on the grid it had moved up to 4th, chased by the Downing Kudzu-Mazda, Stuck's Kremer and Wollek's Courage making a spirited recovery. With the demise of the Porsches, the GT2 race was now between the three Callaways (that became two when Thyrring crashed the 'works' car at the first Mulsanne chicane at 1am) and the private Porsche of Jean-François Veroux that started second to last, but now only a lap behind.

At 3am, after 9 hours contesting the lead (with a broken window-wiper), the Nielsen/Mass McLaren pitted with a slipping clutch that ultimately proved terminal. The sister car of Andy Wallace and the Bells (father & son) inherited the lead. Wallace did some incredible stints in the rain - some of it on slick tyres. Meanwhile, the dark horse Kokusai team had been inexorably moving up the board. While others spun or pitted, it never missed a beat, and through the night JJ Lehto and Dalmas put in a hard chase getting up to 2nd. The Jaguar gave up with a broken crankshaft at 5am by which time the Courage was back up to third (but 4 laps down), the Jacardi McLaren 4th and Bellm's remaining Gulf McLaren in 5th.

Morning

As dawn broke the rain finally eased off and the Courage started to get very fast, gradually pulling back laps on the McLarens. When Wallace had to pit for fresh brakepads, the lead dropped to less than a minute to the Kokusai McLaren. But then the 53-year-old, 5-time winner, Derek Bell showed why he is considered one of the world's best sports-car racers - with the pressure on, he matched and then beat Lehto's very rapid lap times. The three surviving WSC cars - the Courage, Kremer and Kudzu were chasing.

Overshadowed by the McLarens, all the Ferrari F40s had had troubled races after promising so much. However Stéphane Ratel's Pilot Racing Ferrari had been holding 8th position overall for six hours when, just before midday, Michel Ferté connected with Blundell's Gulf McLaren and skidded on debris at the Dunlop chicane, beaching it in the gravel trap. Extracting it took 5 minutes and lost it three places. In GT2, after losing 6 laps at the start, the Kunimitsu Honda had run like clockwork and now its better fuel economy was paying dividends as it overtook the Callaways and settled into the top 10 overall.

Finish and post-race

With just 2 hours to go, the McLaren's feared delicate transmission struck the leading DPR McLaren which pitted with gear-selection problems. After a 5-minute delay in the pits, Bell Snr slammed it into 6th and rejoined the race. That was all Dalmas needed to take the lead and from there they were never headed. With less than an hour to go, Andretti passed the ailing Harrods McLaren for second place, and soon after overtook Lehto to get onto the lead lap. Handing over to Bob Wollek, they chased hard but in the end just came up short, barely 3 minutes behind. Wallace nursed the DPR McLaren home a lap further behind, five laps ahead of the Gulf and Jacadi McLarens, and the remaining two WSC cars: the Kremer and Kudzu-Mazda.

In GT2, despite starting from the pitlane, the Kunimitsu Honda came home in front, in 8th overall, comfortably two laps ahead of the Jelinski Agusta Callaway, itself two laps ahead of its sister car. The new Porsche 993 GT2 customer car, despite winning 10 of the 12 BPR races this year, came away empty-handed from Le Mans.

Official results

Le Mans in 1995
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 GT1 59 Japan Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing
United Kingdom Lanzante Motorsport
France Yannick Dalmas
Japan Masanori Sekiya
Finland JJ Lehto
McLaren F1 GTR M 298
BMW S70 6.1L V12
2 WSC 13 France Courage Compétition France Bob Wollek
France Éric Hélary
United States Mario Andretti
Courage C34 M 297
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
3 GT1 51 United Kingdom Harrods Mach One Racing
United Kingdom David Price Racing
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United Kingdom Justin Bell
McLaren F1 GTR G 296
BMW S70 6.1L V12
4 GT1 24 United Kingdom GTC Gulf Racing United Kingdom Mark Blundell
United Kingdom Ray Bellm
Brazil Maurizio Sandro Sala
McLaren F1 GTR M 291
BMW S70 6.1L V12
5 GT1 50 France Giroix Racing Team France Fabien Giroix
Switzerland Jean-Denis Délétraz
France Olivier Grouillard
McLaren F1 GTR M 290
BMW S70 6.1L V12
6 WSC 4 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Belgium Thierry Boutsen
Germany Hans Joachim Stuck
France Christophe Bouchut
Kremer K8 Spyder G 289
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
7 WSC 5 United States D.T.R.
Japan Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.
United States Jim Downing
Japan Yojiro Terada
France Franck Fréon
Kudzu DG-3 G 282
Mazda 13B 2.0L 4-Rotor
8 GT2 84 Japan Team Kunimitsu Honda Japan Keiichi Tsuchiya
Japan Akira Iida
Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi
Honda NSX Y 275
Honda 3.0L V6
9 GT2 73 United States Callaway Competition Italy Enrico Bertaggia
United States Johnny Unser
Germany Frank Jelinski
Callaway Corvette SuperNatural BF 273
Chevrolet 6.3L V8
10 GT1 22 Japan NISMO Japan Hideo Fukuyama
Japan Masahiko Kondo
Japan Shunji Kasuya
Nissan Skyline GT-R LM B 271
Nissan 2.6L Turbo I6
11 GT2 75 Italy United Kingdom Agusta Racing Team Italy Riccardo Agusta
United Kingdom Robin Donovan
United Kingdom Eugene O'Brien
Callaway Corvette SuperNatural D 271
Chevrolet 6.3L V8
12 GT1 34 France Pilot Aldix Racing France Michel Ferté
France Olivier Thévenin
Spain Carlos Palau
Ferrari F40 LM M 270
Ferrari 3.0L Turbo V8
13 GT1 42 France BBA Compétition France Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière
France Marc Sourd
France Hervé Poulain
McLaren F1 GTR D 266
BMW S70 6.1L V12
14 GT1 27 Japan SARD Co. Ltd. United States Jeff Krosnoff
Italy Marco Apicella
Italy Mauro Martini
Toyota Supra LM D 264
Toyota 3S-GTE 2.1L Turbo I4
15 GT2 77 Germany Seikel Motorsport Germany Peter Seikel
France Guy Kuster
Czech Republic Karel Dolejsi
Porsche 911 GT2 P 263
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
16 GT2 78 France Jean-François Veroux France Jean-François Veroux
France Eric van de Vyver
France Didier Ortion
Porsche 911 GT2 G 262
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
17 GT2 81 United Kingdom Richard Jones United Kingdom Richard Jones
United Kingdom Nick Adams
United Kingdom Gerard MacQuillan
Porsche 911 GT2 G 250
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
18 GT1 41 Italy Ennea SRL
Italy Ferrari Club Italia
United Kingdom Gary Ayles
Italy Massimo Monti
Italy Fabio Mancini
Ferrari F40 GTE P 237
Ferrari 3.0L Turbo V8
19 GT1 54 Germany Freisinger Motorsport Germany Wolfgang Kaufmann
Japan Yukihiro Hane
France Michel Ligonnet
Porsche 993 Bi-Turbo G 229
Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6
20 LMP2 14 France Didier Bonnet Racing France Patrice Roussel
France Eduoard Sezionale
France Bernard Sental
Debora LMP295 M 222
Ford Cosworth 2.0L Turbo I4
21
NC
GT1 44 France Venturi Automobiles SA France Jean-Marc Gounon
France Paul Belmondo
France Arnaud Trévisiol
Venturi 600LM M 193
Renault PRV 3.0L Turbo V6
22
NC
GT2 71 United Kingdom Team Marcos United Kingdom David Leslie
United Kingdom Chris Marsh
France François Migault
Marcos Mantara LM600 D 184
Chevrolet 6.3L V8
23
NC
GT1 46 Japan Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Japan Hideki Okada
Switzerland Philippe Favre
Japan Naoki Hattori
Honda NSX GT1 D 121
Honda 3.0L Turbo V6
24
DNF
LMP2 9 France Welter Racing France William David
France Jean-Bernard Bouvet
France Richard Balandras
WR LM94/5 M 196
Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4
25
DNF
GT1 45 France Éric Graham France Éric Graham
France François Birbeau
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
Venturi 600LM D 178
Renault PRV 3.0L Turbo V6
26
DNF
WSC 3 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Germany Jürgen Lässig
Austria Franz Konrad
Brazil Antonio Herrmann de Azevedo
Kremer K8 Spyder G 163
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
27
DNF
GT1 23 Japan NISMO Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino
Japan Toshio Suzuki
Japan Masahiko Kageyama
Nissan Skyline GT-R LM B 157
Nissan 2.6L Turbo I6
28
DNF
GT1 57 United Kingdom PC Automotive Jaguar United Kingdom Richard Piper
United Kingdom Tiff Needell
United Kingdom James Weaver
Jaguar XJ220 D 135
Jaguar JV6 3.5L Turbo V6
29
DNF
GT2 70 United Kingdom Team Marcos United Kingdom Chris Hodgetts
Brazil Thomas Erdos
Netherlands Cor Euser
Marcos Mantara LM600 D 133
Chevrolet 6.3L V8
30
DNF
GT1 49 United Kingdom West Competition
United Kingdom David Price Racing
Denmark John Nielsen
Germany Jochen Mass
Germany Dr. Thomas Bscher
McLaren F1 GTR G 131
BMW S70 6.1L V12
31
DNF
GT1 43 France BBA Compétition France Emmanuel Clérico
Switzerland Laurent Lecuyer
France Bernard Chauvin
Venturi 600LM D 130
Renault PRV 3.0L Turbo V6
32
DNF
GT1 58 United Kingdom PC Automotive Jaguar Switzerland Bernard Thuner
France Olindo Iaccobelli
United Kingdom Win Percy
Jaguar XJ220 D 123
Jaguar JV6 3.5L Turbo V6
33
DNF
GT2 76 Italy United Kingdom Agusta Racing Team Denmark Thorkild Thyrring
Italy Almo Coppelli
France Patrick Bourdais
Callaway Corvette SuperNatural D 96
Chevrolet 6.3L V8
34
DNF
GT1 37 France Larbre Compétition France Dominique Dupuy
France Emmanuel Collard
Monaco Stéphane Ortelli
Porsche 911 GT2 Evo M 82
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
35
DNF
GT2 79 Switzerland Stadler Motorsport Switzerland Enzo Calderari
Switzerland Lilian Bryner
Germany Andreas Fuchs
Porsche 911 GT2 P 81
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
36
DNF
GT1 25 United Kingdom GTC Gulf Racing France Pierre-Henri Raphanel
France Philippe Alliot
United Kingdom Lindsay Owen-Jones
McLaren F1 GTR M 77
BMW S70 6.1L V12
37
DNF
GT1 36 France Larbre Compétition France Jean-Pierre Jarier
Spain Jesús Pareja
France Érik Comas
Porsche 911 GT2 Evo M 64
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
38
DNF
GT2 91 Germany Heico Motorsport
Germany Kremer Racing
Spain Tomas Saldaña
Spain Miguel Ángel de Castro
Spain Prince Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón
Porsche 911 GT2 G 63
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
39
DNF
GT1 30 United States ZR-1 Corvette Team USA United States John Paul Jr.
Canada Chris McDougall
United States James Mero
Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 G 57
Chevrolet 6.3L Turbo V8
40
DNF
GT1 40 Italy Ennea SRL
Italy Ferrari Club Italia
Sweden Anders Olofsson
Italy Luciano Della Noce
Japan Tetsuya Ota
Ferrari F40 GTE P 42
Ferrari 3.0L Turbo V8
41
DNF
GT1 52 United Kingdom Lister Cars Ltd. United Kingdom Geoff Lees
United Kingdom Dominic Chappell
United Kingdom Rupert Keegan
Lister Storm GTS M 40
Jaguar 7.0L V12
42
DNF
GT1 55 France Jean-Claude Miloé
France Societé Larbre Compétition
France Jack Leconte
France Pierre Yver
France Jean-Luc Chéreau
Porsche 911 GT2 Evo M 40
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
43
DNF
LMP2 8 France Welter Racing France Patrick Gonin
France Pierre Petit
France Marc Rostan
WR LM95 M 33
Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4
44
DNF
WSC 11 France Courage Compétition France Henri Pescarolo
France Franck Lagorce
France Éric Bernard
Courage C41 G 26
Chevrolet 5.0L V8
45
DNF
GT1 26 Japan SARD Co. Ltd. France Alain Ferté
United Kingdom Kenny Acheson
Japan Tomiko Yoshikawa
Sard MC8-R D 14
Toyota 4.0L Turbo V8
46
DNF
GT2 82 Switzerland Elf Haberthur Racing Switzerland Charles Margueron
France Pierre de Thoisy
Switzerland Philippe Siffert
Porsche 911 GT2 P 13
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
47
DNF
WSC 1 United States Euromotorsport Racing Inc. Italy Massimo Sigala
United States Jay Cochran
France René Arnoux
Ferrari 333 SP G 7
Ferrari F310E 4.0L V12
48
DNF
GT1 47 Japan Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Germany Armin Hahne
Belgium Bertrand Gachot
Italy Ivan Capelli
Honda NSX GT1 D 7
Honda 3.0L Turbo V6

Statistics

Notes

  1. 1 2 Meaden, Richard (24 February 2015). "McLaren F1 at the Le Mans 24 hours". Evo (magazine). Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Moity & Teissedre 1995, p.28.
  3. "Le Mans Memories". You-tube. Retrieved 8 Jul 2016.
  4. Spurring 2014, p.192.
  5. 1 2 Spurring 2014, p.188.
  6. Moity & Teissedre 1995, p.128
  7. Spurring 2014, p.196
  8. Spurring 2014, p.197
  9. Spurring 2014, p.194
  10. Spurring 2014, p.189.
  11. Moity & Teissedre 1995, p.144.
  12. "Fastest speeds recorded since 1961 on the Hunaudieres straight and on the Mulsanne – Indianapolis sector".

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.