1997 24 Hours of Le Mans

1997 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1996	Next: 1998
Index: Races | Winners

The 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 65th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15 1997.

Pre-race

The Dunlop chicane was modified slightly in order to slow speeds again but also accommodate larger gravel traps as runoff area for the protection of motorcycle riders using the Bugatti Circuit. Frenchman Sebastien Enjolras was killed in a pre-qualifying accident in his Welter Racing WR LM97-Peugeot.

Race

The 1997 race was won by the same chassis as had won in 1996, marking the second time that Joest had won back-to-back Le Mans with the same chassis (previously done in 1984 and 1985). They were able to beat factory teams in both GT and LMP classes from Porsche, McLaren, Nissan, and Ferrari. The TWR-Porsche was not the fastest on track during the race, but was able to take advantage of the leading Porsche 911 GT1's and McLaren F1 GTR's mechanical problems, allowing the Joest Racing machine to claim victory by one lap.

Official results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
					Engine
1	LMP	7	Joest Racing	Michele Alboreto Stefan Johansson DEN Tom Kristensen	TWR Porsche WSC-95	G	361
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
2	GT1	41	Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Racing	Jean-Marc Gounon Pierre-Henri Raphanel Anders Olofsson	McLaren F1 GTR	M	360
					BMW S70 6.0L V12
3	GT1	43	Team BMW Motorsport BMW Team Schnitzer	Peter Kox Roberto Ravaglia Eric Hélary	McLaren F1 GTR	M	358
					BMW S70 6.0L V12
4	LMP	13	Courage Compétition	Didier Cottaz Jérôme Policand Marc Goossens	Courage C41	M	336
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
5	GT1	33	Schübel Engineering	POR Pedro Lamy Armin Hahne Patrice Goueslard	Porsche 911 GT1	M	331
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
6	LMP	3	Moretti Racing Inc.	Gianpiero Moretti Didier Theys Max Papis	Ferrari 333 SP	Y	321
					Ferrari F310E 4.0L V12
7	LMP	8	La Filière Elf	Henri Pescarolo Jean-Philippe Belloc Emmanuel Clerico	Courage C36	M	319
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
8	GT1	27	BMS Scuderia Italia	Pierluigi Martini Christian Pescatori Antônio Hermann de Azevedo	Porsche 911 GT1	P	317
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
9	GT2	78	Elf Haberthur Racing	Michel Neugarten Guy Martinolle Jean-Claude Lagniez	Porsche 911 GT2	D	307
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
10	GT2	74	Roock Racing	André Ahrle Andy Pilgrim Bruno Eichmann	Porsche 911 GT2	M	306
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
11	GT2	73	Roock Racing	POR Manuel Mello-Breyner POR Tomaz Mello-Breyner POR Pedro Mello-Breyner	Porsche 911 GT2	M	295
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
12	GT1	23	Nissan Motorsport Tom Walkinshaw Racing|TWR]]	Kazuyoshi Hoshino Érik Comas Masahiko Kageyama	Nissan R390 GT1	B	294
					Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V8
13	GT2	80	GT Racing Team AG Roock Racing	Claudia Hürtgen John Robinson Hugh Price	Porsche 911 GT2	P	280
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
14	GT2	63	Viper Team Oreca	Justin Bell Pierre Yver John Morton	Dodge Viper GTS-R	M	278
					Chrysler 8.0L V10
15	GT2	64	Chamberlain Engineering	Hans Hugenholtz Jari Nurminen Chris GleasonDodge Viper GTS-R	G	269
							Chrysler 8.0L V10
16	LMP	10	Courage Compétition	Fredrik Ekblom Jean-Louis Ricci Jean-Paul Libert	Courage C36	M	265
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
17	LMP	15	Team T.D.R. Mazdaspeed	Yojiro Terada Jim Downing Franck Fréon	Kudzu DLM-4	G	263
					Mazda R26B 2.6L 4-Rotor
18 DNF	GT1	26	Porsche AG	Emmanuel Collard Ralf Kelleners Yannick Dalmas	Porsche 911 GT1	G	327
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
19 DNF	GT1	39	Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Racing	Ray Bellm Andrew Gilbert-Scott Masanori Sekiya	McLaren F1 GTR	M	326
					BMW S70 6.0L V12
20 DNF	GT2	61	Viper Team Oreca	Philippe Gache Olivier Beretta Dominique Dupuy	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	263
					Chrysler 8.0L V10
21 DNF	GT1	25	Porsche AG	Hans Joachim Stuck Thierry Boutsen Bob Wollek	Porsche 911 GT1	G	238
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
22 DNF	GT1	42	Team BMW Motorsport BMW Team Schnitzer	JJ Lehto Steve Soper Nelson Piquet	McLaren F1 GTR	M	236
					BMW S70 6.0L V12
23 DNF	GT1	29	JB Racing	Jürgen von Gartzen Olivier Thévenin Alain Ferté	Porsche 911 GT1	M	236
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
24 DNF	GT1	54	David Price Racing	Andy Wallace James Weaver Butch Leitzinger	Panoz Esperante GTR-1	G	236
					Ford (Roush) 6.0L V8
25 DNF	GT1	30	Kremer Racing	Christophe Bouchut Andy Evans Bertrand Gachot	Porsche 911 GT1	G	207
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
26 DNF	GT2	75	Larbre Compétition	Patrick Bourdais Peter Kitchak André Lara-Rezende	Porsche 911 GT2	M	205
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
27 DNF	LMP	9	Courage Compétition	Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Olivier Grouillard	Courage C36	M	197
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
28 DNF	GT1	52	DAMS	Franck Lagorce Éric Bernard Jean-Christophe Boullion	Panoz Esperante GTR-1	M	149
					Ford (Roush) 6.0L V8
29 DNF	GT1	55	David Price Racing	David Brabham Perry McCarthy Doc Bundy	Panoz Esperante GTR-1	G	145
					Ford (Roush) 6.0L V8
30 DNF	GT1	21	Nissan Motorsport TWR	Martin Brundle Jörg Müller Wayne Taylor	Nissan R390 GT1	B	139
					Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V8
31 DNF	GT1	28	Konrad Motorsport	Franz Konrad Mauro Baldi Robert Nearn	Porsche 911 GT1	P	138
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
32 DNF	GT2	67	Saleen-Allen Speedlab Cirtek Racing	Steve Saleen Price Cobb Carlos Palau	Saleen Mustang RRR	D	133
					Ford 5.9L V8
33 DNF	GT2	79	Konrad Motorsport	Toni Seiler Larry Schumacher Michel Ligonnet	Porsche 911 GT2	P	126
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
34 DNF	GT1	22	Nissan Motorsport TWR	Riccardo Patrese Eric van de Poele Aguri Suzuki	Nissan R390 GT1	B	121
					Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V8
35 DNF	GT1	49	GT1 Lotus Racing	Jan Lammers Mike Hezemans Alexander Grau	Lotus Elise GT1	M	121
					Chevrolet LT5 6.0L V8
36 DNF	LMP	5	Kremer Racing	Tomas Saldaña Carl Rosenblad Jürgen Lässig	Kremer K8 Spyder	G	103
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
37 DNF	GT2	84	Stadler Motorsport	Enzo Calderari Lilian Bryner Angelo Zadra	Porsche 911 GT2	P	98
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
38 DNF	GT1	44	Team Lark McLaren Parabolica Motorsports	Akihiko Nakaya Keiichi Tsuchiya Gary Ayles	McLaren F1 GTR	M	88
					BMW S70 6.0L V12
39 DNF	GT2	77	Chereau Sports Larbre Compétition	Jean-Luc Chereau Jack Leconte Jean-Pierre Jarier	Porsche 911 GT2	M	77
					Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6
40 DNF	GT1	46	Newcastle United Lister	Julian Bailey Thomas Erdos Mark Skaife	Lister Storm GTL	D	77
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
41 DNF	GT2	62	Viper Team Oreca	Tommy Archer Soheil Ayari Marc Duez	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	M	76
					Chrysler 8.0L V10
42 DNF	GT2	60	Agusta Racing Team Ltd.	Almo Coppelli Ricardo Agusta Eric Graham	Callaway Corvette LM-GT	D	45
					Chevrolet LT1 6.2L V8
43 DNF	GT2	66	Saleen-Allen Speedlab Cirtek Racing	David Warnock Rob Schirle Allen Lloyd	Saleen Mustang RRR	D	28
					Ford 5.9L V8
44 DNF	GT1	45	Newcastle United Lister	Geoff Lees Tiff Needell George Fouché	Lister Storm GTL	D	21
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
45 DNF	LMP	4	Pilot Racing	Michel Ferté Adrián Campos Charlie Nearburg	Ferrari 333 SP	D	18
					Ferrari F310E 4.0L V12
46 DNF	GT2	70	Marcos Racing International	Cor Euser Takaji Suzuki Harald Becker	Marcos Mantara LM600	D	15
					Chevrolet 5.9L V8
47 DNF	GT1	32	Roock Racing	Stéphane Ortelli Allan McNish Karl Wendlinger	Porsche 911 GT1	M	8
					Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
48 DNF	LMP	14	Pacific Racing Ltd.	Harri Toivonen CHI Eliseo Salazar Jesús Pareja	BRM P301	P	6
					Nissan 3.0L Turbo V6
DNS	GT1	40	Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Racing	DEN John Nielsen Thomas Bscher Chris Goodwin	McLaren F1 GTR	M	-
					BMW S70 6.0L V12

Statistics

• Pole Position - #7 Joest Racing - 3:41.581
• Fastest Lap - #7 Joest Racing - 3:45.068
• Distance - 4909.6 km
• Average Speed - 207 km/h
• Highest Trap Speed - Porsche GT1-Evo - 326 km/h (qualifying)

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