1969 24 Hours of Le Mans

1969 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1968	Next: 1970
Index: Races | Winners

The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15 1969. It was the eighth round of the 1969 International Championship for Makes.

It was the last event with the traditional Le Mans-style start, in which the drivers run across the track to enter their cars, as safety belts were now in use, which usually are strapped tight by mechanics. The eventual winner, Jacky Ickx, had demonstrated against the start by walking slowly to his car, putting on his safety belts properly, and thus starting voluntarily at the back of the field. Later in the first lap, John Woolfe was killed, presumably due to not wearing belts properly. The traditional Le Mans-style start was discontinued after this accident, as drivers started in 1970 already strapped firmly into their seats. For this race, metal crash barriers had been installed around the circuit, especially at the Mulsanne Straight, where it was originally just an open road with no protection from the trees, houses and embankments.

Pre-race

During 1969, the minimal production figure to compete in the Sport category was reduced from 50 to 25. Starting in July 1968, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to conceive, design and build a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory at Le Mans. In only ten months, the Porsche 917 was developed, which incorporated remarkable technology: Porsche's first 12-cylinder engine and many components from titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys. Porsche built 25 917s and according to many sources this drove Porsche AG close to bankruptcy. In need of cash, Porsche sold the 917s to anyone who wanted to pay for one.

Matra ordered the aerodynamic engineer Robert Choulet to conceive a low-drag Long Tail Coupe specially designed for the Le Mans, the Matra 640. On April 16, Matra brought the car to the Sarthe circuit. Henri Pescarolo took it to the track, at the first kilometres in the Hunaudières the car took off and was pulverised, Pescarolo was pulled out alive but severely burned. In parallel, Matra was experimenting with roadster bodywork. This led to a new car, the 650. Some 630 chassis were converted in roadster; they were christened 630/650.

Despite the fact that no solution was found to fix the instability of the car, three 917s entered Le Mans. Two were Porsche Works teams and the third was entered by the gentleman-driver John Woolfe.

Matra entered four cars: a new 650 roadster, a 630 coupe and two 630/650.

The Ferrari prototypes made a come-back with the 3.0 L 312P.

John Wyer's team was there but managed by David Yorkes. Wyer himself wasn't in Le Mans as his wife was ill. The team entered two Ford GT40s. Jacky Ickx shared GT40 1075, the car that won the previous year, with Jackie Oliver.

Race

The Kurt Ahrens/Rolf Stommelen 917 qualified on pole.

Soon after the start the poor handling of the 917 and the inexperience of the driver resulted in a drama: the death of British driver John Woolfe on lap 1 when his private Porsche 917 crashed at Maison Blanche. Woolfe was killed, probably due the fact that he had not bothered to put on his safety belt. This was likely done because of the style of the traditional start used at Le Mans until that year, in which drivers were required to run across the track to their cars, climb in and get it started as quickly as possible to pull away from the grid. Woolfe likely sacrificed strapping his safety belts in order to gain a better start.

The nearly full fuel tank from Woolfe's car became dislodged and landed in front of the oncoming Ferrari 312P of Chris Amon. Amon ran over it, causing it to explode under his car, which led to his retirement. The race was stopped for 2 hours due to these two first lap incidents, but was eventually restarted.

The 2 official 917s were put out of the race by clutch bell housing problems, but the 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse remained a serious candidate for the victory.

In a dramatic finish, Ickx and Herrmann repeatedly overtook each other as the Porsche 908 had brake problems, and eventually Ickx managed to beat Herrmann by a few seconds, or about 120 meters (394 feet). Ickx and Oliver won with the GT40 chassis 1075, the same car that had won the previous year. This was second time the same car had won two years in a row; a Bentley Speed Six had done it in 1929 and 1930. Joest Racing would later repeat this feat twice.

Ironically, Jacky Ickx had a road accident near Chartres while driving to Paris on Monday morning. A car pulled in front of his Porsche 911. Ickx's car ended up crushed against a utility pole. Ickx unbuckled his seat belt and stepped unharmed from the wrecked Porsche.

Official results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
1	S 5.0	6	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Jacky Ickx Jackie Oliver	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.9 L V8	372
2	P 3.0	64	Porsche System Engineering	Hans Herrmann Gérard Larrousse	Porsche 908 Coupé	Porsche 3.0 L Flat-8	372
3	S 5.0	7	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	David Hobbs Mike Hailwood	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.9 L V8	368
4	P 3.0	33	Equipe Matra - Elf	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Piers Courage	Matra-Simca MS650	Matra 3.0 L V12	368
5	P 3.0	32	Equipe Matra - Elf	Jean Guichet Nino Vaccarella	Matra-Simca MS630	Matra 3.0 L V12	359
6	S 5.0	68	Deutsche Auto Zeitung	Helmut Kelleners Reinhold Joest	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7 L V8	341
7	P 3.0	35	Equipe Matra - Elf	Nanni Galli Robin Widdows	Matra-Simca MS630/650	Matra 3.0 L V12	330
8	S 5.0	17	North American Racing Team (NART)	Teodoro Zeccoli Sam Posey	Ferrari 250LM	Ferrari 3.3 L V12	329
9	S 2.0	39	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Pierre Maublanc	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	312
10	GT 2.0	41	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Jean-Pierre Gaban Yves Deprez	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	306
11	GT 2.0	40	Auguste Veuillet	Claude Ballot-Léna Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	301
12	P 1.15	50	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Alain Serpaggi Christian Ethuin	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.0 L I4	292
13	GT 2.0	44	Claude Laurent	Claude Laurent Jacques Marché	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	287
14	GT 2.0	67	Philippe Farjon	Philippe Farjon Jacques Dechaumel	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	286

Did Not Finish

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
15	S 5.0	12	Porsche System Engineering	Vic Elford Richard Attwood	Porsche 917L	Porsche 4.5 L Flat-12	327
16	P 3.0	22	Porsche System Engineering	Rudi Lins Willi Kauhsen	Porsche 908L	Porsche 3.0 L Flat-8	317
17	P 1.6	45	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Claude Killy Bob Wollek	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5 L I4	242
18	GT 2.0	66	Jean Egreteaud	Jean Edreteaud Raymond Lopez	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	241
19	P 3.0	18	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Pedro Rodriguez David Piper	Ferrari 312P Coupe	Ferrari 3. 0L V12	223
20	P 3.0	29	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Patrick Depailler Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Alpine A220/69	Renault-Gordini 3.0 L V8	209
21	P 3.0	23	Porsche System Engineering	Udo Schütz Gerhard Mitter	Porsche 908L	Porsche 3.0 L Flat-8	199
22	GT +2.0	1	Scuderia Filipinetti	Henri Greder Reine Wisell	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0 L V8	196
23	GT 2.0	63	Marcel Martin	René Mazzia Pierre Mauroy	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	174
24	P 3.0	31	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine A220/68	Renault-Gordini 3.0 L V8	160
25	P 3.0	34	Ecurie Matra - Elf	Johnny Servoz-Gavin Herbert Müller	Matra-Simca MS630/650	Matra 3.0 L V12	158
26	S 5.0	14	Porsche System Engineering	Rolf Stommelen Kurt Ahrens, Jr.	Porsche 917L	Porsche 4.5 L Flat-12	148
27	S 5.0	2	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jo Bonnier Masten Gregory	Lola T70 Mk.IIIB	Chevrolet 5.0 L V8	134
28	P 3.0	28	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean Vinatier André de Cortanze	Alpine A220/69	Renault-Gordini 3.0 L V8	133
29	S 5.0	8	Peter Sadler	Peter Sadler Paul Vestey	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.7 L V8	106
30	S 2.0	43	J.C.B. Excavators Ltd.	Roger Enever Peter Brown	Chevron B8	BMW 2.0 L I4	100
31	P 1.3	49	Trophée Le Mans Alpine	Jacques Foucteau Patrice Compain	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.3 L I4	97
32	P 2.0	38	Racing Team VDS	Gustave Gosselin Claude Bourgoignie	Alfa Romeo T33/2	Alfa Romeo 2.0 L V8	76
33	P 3.0	20	Hart Ski Racing	Jo Siffert Brian Redman	Porsche 908/2L	Porsche 3.0 L Flat-8	60
34	P 3.0	30	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Jean-Claude Andruet Henri Grandsire	Alpine A220/69	Renault-Gordini 3.0 L V8	48
35	S 5.0	9	Alan Mann Racing Ltd.	Frank Gardner Malcolm Guthrie	Ford GT40 Mk.I	Ford 4.9 L V8	42
36	GT +2.0	59	Scuderia Filipinetti	Claude Haldi Jacques Rey	Ferrari 275 GTB/C	Ferrari 3.3 L V12	39
37	P 3.0	36	Racing Team VDS	Teddy Pilette Rob Slotemaker	Alfa Romeo T33/2.5	Alfa Romeo 2.5 L V8	35
38	GT 2.0	42	Wicky Racing Team	André Wicky Edgar Berney	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	34
39	P 2.0	62	Mark Konig	Mark Konig Tony Lanfranchi	Nomad Mk.II	BRM 2.0 L V8	28
40	P 2.0	37	Donald Healey Motor Company	Clive Baker Jeff Harris	Healey SR	Coventry Climax 2.0 L V8	14
41	P 2.0	60	Robert Buchet	Jean de Mortemart Jean Mésange	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0 L Flat-6	10
42	P 1.15	51	Ecurie Fiat-Abarth France	Maurizio Zanetti Ugo Locatelli	Fiat-Abarth 1000SP	Fiat 1.0 L I4	9
43	P 1.6	46	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Alain LeGuellec Bernard Tramont	Alpine A210	Renault-Gordini 1.5 L I4	1
44	S 5.0	10	John Woolfe Racing	John Woolfe Herbert Linge	Porsche 917	Porsche 4.5 L Flat-12	0
45	P 3.0	19	SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Chris Amon Peter Schetty	Ferrari 312P Coupe	Ferrari 3.0 L V12	0

Statistics

• Pole Position - #14 Porsche System Engineering - 3:22.90
• Fastest Lap - #12 Porsche System Engineering - 3:27.20
• Distance - 4997.88 km (3105.54 mi)
• Average Speed - 208.545 km/h (129.58 mph)

Trophy Winners

• Index of Performance - #50 Société des Automobiles Alpine
• Index of Thermal Efficiency - #6 John Wyer Automotive Engineering

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.