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This category contains 33 posts

RIP Phil Hill (20-04-1927 - 28-08-2008)

A true American racing legend passed away today. Phil Hill, a former Formula 1 world champion and three times Le Mans 24 Hours winner, died in a hospital in Salinas, California. Hill had Parkinson’s Disease and was taken to hospital after making a visit to the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races.[…]

Le Mans Classic - Grid 6

The most “recent” period at Le Mans Classic with a limit of 1979 for the newest car reflected again the changes after the golden age of prototypes. The evolution would go on for the 3 and 2 liter classes with Chevron, Lola and other smaller constructors trying to match Matra first and Porsche later. The GTs would also follow suit and some supercars of the time like the Ferrari 512, Porsche 935 and the BMW M1 would also get numerous entries at La Sarthe[…]

Le Mans Classic - Grid 5

It was a golden era for many, the time of Ford, Ferrari and Porsche battling it at the highest level. Legendary cars like the GT40, the 917 or the 330P3 and 4 raised the bar very very high…so high that the rules had to be changed drastically for 1972 leaving the 1966-1971 as a unique, unforgettable period at Le Mans. Maiden overall victories for Ford and Porsche and the twilight of Ferrari at Le Mans mark a very emotional period of Endurance racing[…]

Le Mans Classic - Grid 4

The period covered by grid 4 (1962-65) was all Ferrari at Le Mans, but towards the end it was clear that Ford would be a serious challenge for the Maranello machines. The main entries were still GTs but some of the factories were already making the transition to prototypes, the Porsche 904 or the breathtaking ISO Bizzarrini being very good examples of this[…]

Le Mans Classic - Grid 3

The twilight of the English domination, the dawn of the Ferrari era…. The 1957-1961 period brought big changes at Le Mans as the mythical Italian constructor would build its international reputation, the same reputation that would trigger Mr. Ford to come to La Sarthe a few years later…

Le Mans Classic - Grid 2

The second grid of the 2008 Le Mans Classic included the first post-war period with cars going from 1949 to 1956. It was a period with big names coming to the Le Mans : Jaguar, Mercedes, Maserati, Ferrari…. but it was also a period which was marked by the 1955 tragedy[…]

Le Mans Classic - Grid 1

It is sometimes difficult to relate a modern circuit like the current one at La Sarthe with the machines that wrote the first glorious pages there in the early years. The track was much tougher back then and the drivers did not have the privilege of fireproof suits or closed helmets, however it is still pretty thrilling to see some of the early challengers come back to La Sarthe and show how different “then” was from “now”[…]

Le Mans Classic

In preparation for a complete report we have expanded our original gallery with some of the images from last weekend, please check it out. Over 400 cars, 6 grids and over 80,000 spectators in a sublime event. To be continued….

Group C Racing - Le Mans Report

The second race weekend of the 2008 Group C Racing Series took place at Le Mans during the 76th Le Mans 24 Hours week. Thirty-three Group C cars were gathered together at the French track in their first appearance since 2004. Two 30-minute qualifying sessions and a 10 lap race on Saturday morning were scheduled for this weekend[…]

Victorious Aston Martin to appear at Goodwood

The Aston Martin Racing DBR9 which triumphed at the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race – for the second consecutive year – is set to appear before British fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over July 12-13. In a repeat of the 2007 victory, the 009 car – this time resplendent in the iconic Gulf livery – took the GT1 class victory at Le Mans, driven by David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner after one of the closest GT1 battles in Le Mans history[…]

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