1986 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 54th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the third round of the 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place on May 31 and June 1, 1986.

Pre-race
Due to construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner, a new portion of track had to be built in order to avoid the roundabout. This created a right hand kink prior to the new Mulsanne turn.

Race
For 1986, the new works 962C of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert was able to overcome the two-time defending winners at Joest Racing. The race itself was marred by the death of Jo Gartner in a crash on the Mulsanne Straight early on Sunday morning. The accident was caused by gearbox failure, locking up the rear wheels and sending the car into the armco. The sole remaining Kremer Racing Porsche retired soon after the accident. The Joest/Ludwig car suffered from engine bearing failure following the extended pace car laps.

Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

† - #66 Cosmik Racing and #79 Ecurie Ecosse were both disqualified for receiving outside assistance.

Statistics

 * Pole Position - #2 Rothmans Porsche - 3:15.990
 * Fastest Lap - #7 Joest Racing - 3:23.300
 * Distance - 4972.731 km
 * Average Speed - 207.197 km/h