On-going success!
Posted: 07.07.2014
Source: Peter Auto
The 7th Le Mans Classic, co-organised by Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, fulfilled all its promises and attracted a bigger crowd as the 110 000-spectator barrier was broken. The weather also smiled on the event on Friday and a blue sky and high temperatures greeted the people who arrived for the early-morning opening of the gates of the circuit.
Thus, the spectators who had already flocked to the circuit were able to enjoy the village and its numerous sideshows and exhibitions to the full. These included the Le Mans Heritage Club, the major French coachbuilders, the Technological Innovations, the many clubs (180 car clubs representing around 80 makes with 8000 cars), and later on in the evening the new Drive-In cinema whose theme was the motor car with classic films like Un Homme et Une Femme, Bullitt, Le Mans et Weekend of a Champion. At 15h00 daytime practice began followed by the night session for the 450 historic cars and more than 1000 drivers from all over the world (30 plus nationalities) including seven former Le Mans 24-Hours winners.
On Saturday threatening clouds covered the Sarthe. However, the start of Little Big Mans given by Jamaican Yohan Blake (second-quickest runner of all time over 100 meters and a Richard Mille partner) took place in the dry. It was an all win-win parade and it provided the opportunity for Alain Figaret – the official clothing supplier for these budding drivers aged between 7 and 12 – alongside Richard Mille and EFG, to reward the fair-play and team spirit of the youngsters taking part. Once the miniature racers (almost 100) had set off on their parade lap their life-size counterparts in grid 1 (pre-war cars 1923-1939) were getting ready for the official start of the 7th Le Mans Classic. At 17h00, Sébastien Loeb (nine-time world rally champion and a Richard Mille partner), who attended this event for the first time, lowered the French flag unleashing men and machines to tackle the 13,629 km Le Mans 24-Hours long circuit. The race for the six grids covering the periods from 1923 to 1979 got under way and continued until the next day. The parties in the paddock took on another dimension, and the crowd was invited to plunge into the heart of this magic retrospective of the greatest endurance race in the world.
A few hours earlier the first blows of the auctioneer’s hammer had sounded in the Artcurial Motorcars tent. After the Automobilia sale that began at 11h00 came the one for motor cars at 14h00. Under the hammer of Maître Hervé Poulain, who was celebrating his 40 years of car auctioneering, the sales totaled 13 264 345 euros including 13 057 760 euros for the part devoted to collectors’ cars. A record at Le Mans Classic! Over seven hours, 148 lots of Automobilia and 111 lots of collectors’ cars were auctioned. The highest price achieved was for a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (1961) with hard top sold for 1 115 600 euros. 82 % of the lots went with a third of the cars exceeding 100 000 euros. More than 2000 people attended the auction creating a light-hearted ambiance and they cheered enthusiastically as the bidding scaled the heights. Among those present were 15 % Americans and 52% Europeans (outside France) as well as 250 clerks on Artcurial live bid.
Another highlight of the event was the very prestigious Concours Le Mans Heritage Club bringing together 30 hand-picked cars, which had all taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours between 1923 and today. The jury, made up of numerous specialists from the world of the motor car, awarded the following prizes on Sunday afternoon.
– 1st in class 1923-1939: Bentley Speed 6 ‘‘Old N°1’’ 1929 (Bentley Motors Limited)
– 1st in class 1949-1957: Talbot Lago Grand Sport ‘‘Chambas’’ 1948 (José Manuel Fernaninz)
– 1st in class 1958-1965: Osca 1000 1961 (Roland d’Ieteren)
– 1st in class 1966-1971: Alpine A210 1966 (Geoffroy Peter)
– 1st in class 1972-1981: Porsche Turbo RSR 1974 (Carlos Monteverde)
– 1st in class 1982-2014: BMW V12 LMR 1998 (BMW Group France)
– Prix FFVE: Gordini T15 S 1953 (Jean-Louis Hamoniaux)
– Prix FIVA: ASA RB Type 613 1300 GT 1966 (Lucas Laureys)
– Special Prize: Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 1958 (Michael Malone)
– Prix d’Excellence: Rover BRM 1965 (Stepfen Laing/Heritage Motor Center)
The Concours Clubs rewarded numerous winners and handed out the following prizes:
– Grand Prix d’Excellence: Club Riley
– 2nd prize: Club Hotchkiss
– 3rd prize: Les Amis des Automobiles Michel Hommell
– FIVA prize: Talbot Owners Club
– FFVE prize: René Bonnet and Matra Sports
– Special prize (cars of over 30 years of age): Swallow Doretti Owners Club
– Special prize (cars of under 30 years of age: Viper Club
The 7th Le Mans Classic came to an end on Sunday at 17h00 after consolidating its success and thrilling its loyal public both on the track and in a village packed with sideshows and increasingly diversified and comprehensive exhibitions carefully chosen to plunge the visitors into the magic of the history of the motor car. The accessibility and proximity of men and machines did the rest. Rendezvous in 2016 for an even richer 8th event!
Race reports
On Saturday as feared rain fell but it didn’t really upset the on-track action. The herringbone Le Mans-type starts for grids 1, 2, 3 and 4 captivated the public as did the battles between prestigious makes like Bentley, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Aston Martin, Jaguar, BMW, Renault, etc, reviving the race’s glorious past. In total, the 24-hours racing gave each of the six grids the opportunity to take to the track on three occasions.
Grid 1 (1923 – 1939) – The Talbots still dominant
The French Talbots dominated the three rounds reserved for cars built between the two world wars. At the end of the first heat the winner of the 2012 event, Christian Traber, laid down a marker for outright victory by finishing over a minute in front his nearest pursuer. Michael Birch and his team-mate Gareth Burnett who stopped suddenly out of the circuit for what seemed like ages lost a lot of precious time. They then went hell for leather to make it up in the races run at nighttime and on Sunday morning. Finally in a last-gasp sprint they managed to pip the leader in the dying seconds of the final heat! Albert Otten in his BMW 328 completed the top 3 while Ralf Emmerling clinched the Index of Performance in his Brooklands RIley.
Scratch classification:
1. BIRCH-BURNETT (TALBOT 105 G052) in 2:19:55.407
2. RRABER (TALBOT LAGO EX-MONOPLACE) at 37″461
3. OTTEN (BMW 328) at 12’17″469
Index of performance: EMMERLING (RILEY BROOKLANDS)
Grid 2 (1949 – 1956) – The C-Type Jaguar comes out on top
Alex Buncombe at the wheel of his Type-C Jaguar delighted the crowd with a festival of slides and daring overtaking moves in the traffic. The 2011 GT4 Cup champion was as much at home at nighttime as in daytime and he made mincemeat of his rivals in the first two heats. Maybe he got carried away as after a first near miss at the pit entry when he avoided an out-of-control car by a miracle, the English driver hit a rival at Arnage. Several favourites like Gavin Pickering (winner in 2012) and Carlos Monteverde, both in D-Type Jaguars, and the duo Mulder-Simon in their Mercedes 300 SL, suffered mechanical issues. The Finburgh-Newall team took advantage of race incidents and emerged victorious in their Jaguar in front of two Austin Healeys. The Aga Khan-Prill-Clark Porsche 356 won the Index of Performance.
Scratch classification:
1. FINBURGH-NEWALL (JAGUAR TYPE-C) in 2h28’21″478
2. REEDTZ-THOTT-HOLSTEIN-LOKVIG (LOTUS XI 1100) at 5’12″738
3. THORNE-BENNETT-BAGGS (AUSTIN HEALEY 100 M) at 1 tour
Index of performance: AGA KHAN-PRILL-CLARK
Grid 3 (1957 – 1961) – Jaguar-Ferrari duel
As was the case in the late 50s Jaguar and Ferrari went at it hammer and tongs. The English make won the first round of the battle thanks to Pearson-Harris, while its Italian rival triumphed in round 2 after a brilliant display by Vincent Gaye from Belgium. The latter, though, was beaten on Sunday afternoon in the clincher. In the Index of Performance the little Lotus Elites powered by a 1500 cc straight-4 cylinder engine dominated their rivals and filled the first three places. In the first race Dalgush-Wills came home second overall in their 1.1- litre Lotus XI!
Scratch classification:
1. PEARSON-HARRIS (JAGUAR TYPE D) in 2h23’21″352
2. GAYE (FERRARI 250 GT BERLINETTA) at 1’23″727
3. LE BLANC (AUSTIN HEALEY 3000) at 4’19″575
Index of performance: WILLS-CLARK (LOTUS ELITE)
Grid 4 (1962 – 1965) – American stranglehold
The first shower of the weekend began to fall just before the start of the first heat. The sky grew darker and darker and the fading light heralded the imminent arrival of darkness. In these difficult visibility conditions David Hart put on a dazzling performance taking the lead in his Ford Shelby Cobra from the horde of Ford GT40s. Just when it looked like the Dutch driver would win at the wheel of his big GT in a straight fight the race was neutralised because Luis Perez-Companc’s 250 LM had vomited all its oil on the Mulsanne straight. Things fell back into place in the second and third races in which the Fords scored a triple and a double with overall victory going to the GT40 driven by Hans Hugenholtz. Hervé Guyomard, the ACO’s historian (heritage department) won the Index of Performance in a French car, the René Bonnet Aerodjet.
Scratch classification:
1. HUGENHOLTZ (FORD GT 40) in 2h23’19″776
2. LECOURT (SHELBY COBRA) at 5’21″444
3. LAJOURNADE-AUBRY (JAGUAR Type E) at 5’34″265
Index of performance: GUYOMARD (RENE BONNET AERODJET)
Grid 5 (1966 – 1971) – Lola’s revenge
David Hart’s Lola T70 dominated the first heat hit by occasional showers. There was a thrilling scrap going on behind the Dutchman between legendary cars like the Porsche 917, the Ferrari 312 P, Chevron B16s, Matra MS 660s and Alpine A 220s. Unfortunately, the Ligier JS3 driven by Jacques Nicolet among others ground to a halt after only five laps with a broken suspension wishbone. Races two and three followed the same pattern as Hart dominated them both. It was sweet revenge for English constructor Lola which, in 6 decades of racing at Le Mans, had never won the 24 Hours outright.
Classement au scratch
1. HART (LOLA T70 Mk III) in 1h45’42″302
2. THUNER (LOLA T70 Mk III) at 2’44.367
3. FRANCE-FRANCE (LOLA T70 Mk III) at 3’19.634
Index of performance: WATSON-O’CONNELL (CHEVRON B8 BMW)
Grid 6 (1972 – 1979) – Mirage beats Lola and Porsche by a nose!
The first heat was given the green light during a lull in the bad weather, but it was quickly neutralised because of a shower. As the safety conditions were too perilous to allow the cars (the most modern ones at the event) to race they continued behind the safety car. The first real battle took place around dawn on Sunday morning on an almost dry track. Carlos Barbot came out on top in his Lola beating the Ferrer-Collinot Ferrari 512 BB LM by a second! Chris Mac Allister won the third heat in his open Gulf Mirage by only 10 seconds from Barbot and took the overall lead. Two Porsche 935s followed less than a minute behind, and the Titford-Reeves Ford Capri won the Index of Performance.
Scratch classification:
1. MAC ALLISTER (GULF MIRAGE) in 2h11’51″189
2. BARBOT (LOLA T280) at 11″938
3. D’IETEREN-LECOU (PORSCHE 935 K3) at 22″053
Index of performance: TITFORD-REEVES (FORD CAPRI)
Le Mans Classic diary
Posted: 07.07.2014
Source: Ferrari
Le Mans, 6th July 2014 – Day 3
End of the 7th edition of the Le Mans Classic. We look forward to the next edition in 2 years’ time!
Le Mans, 5th July 2014 – End of the second day
End of the second day at Le Mans Classic. Just like in the original 24-hour race, there’s the spectacular Le Mans-style standing start.
Le Mans, 5th July 2014 – Day 2
About twenty Ferrari 250 stopped in Le Mans Classic for a magnificent parade. The participants then left the track to continue on their route over some of France’s finest driving roads as far as Maranello.
Le Mans, 4th July 2014 – Day 1
End of the first day at Le Mans Classic. As usual the paddock is busy with spectators.
Le Mans, 4th July 2014
The 7th edition of the Le Mans Classic has just started. Ferrari will have a dedicated stand in the paddock area with some fabulous classic Ferraris alongside the modern cars!
Le Mans Classic Ferrari 250 are back to home
Posted: 24.06.2014
Source: Peter Auto
“Le 250 Tornano a Casa”: this is the name that Brandon Wang, major car collector from Hong Kong and a Ferrari tifoso, gave the rally dedicated to twenty or so of his friends who own a Ferrari 250 of any kind.
The route back home crosses Le Mans, Le Mans Classic to be more precise. Incidentally, these dream cars will start from the famous racetrack to join the Cavallino’s make homeland, Maranello after a Franco-Italian scenic itinerary.
The cars will be at the Le Mans Classic from Friday morning on until Saturday 7:00 pm, nested in a special paddock located nearby the Drivers’ Club*. They will be on the track for twenty minutes from 2:35 pm to 2:55 pm.
No less than three Ferrari 250 GTO, and, among others, a 250 Lusso Interim as well as some exceptional 250 GT California … can be counted on to make the show.
* a “paddock pass” is mandatory to come take a closer look at them: €35, according to availability.
Models presented
- 250 GTE
- 250 GTO
- 250 GTO Speciale (Le Mans)
- 250 GT Cabriolet
- 250 GT (Short Wheel Base)
- 250 GT “Tour de France” (Long Wheel Base)
- 250 GT California (Short Wheel Base)
- 250 GT California (Long Wheel Base)
- 250 Testarossa
- 250 Lusso Interim
- 250 GT Zagato
- 250 GT Interim
- 250 GT Lusso