1975 24 Hours of Le Mans

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The 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 43rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15, 1975.

[edit] Pre-race

In the wake of the oil crisis, Le Mans introduced rules in 1975 regarding fuel consumption. In response, the CSI excluded the 24 Hours from the World Championship for Makes. The rules required cars to go a minimum of 20 laps between refueling, along with the use of mandated fuel tank sizes. These regulations would be a predecessor to the Group C era of the 1980s.

Running at lower RPM to match the fuel limitation, a Cosworth DFV engine could be reliable on 24 hours. John Wyer had planned his retirement but he couldn't resist to the opportunity to win Le Mans again, and he chose not to retire this year and to make Le Mans the sole race of the Gulf team program for the 1975 season. Two new Gulf GR-8 were designed and constructed especially for Le Mans, these were largely a derivative of the Gulf GR-7 with a new bodywork giving an up-to-date aerodynamics optimized for Le Mans and fuel efficiency. With the technology of Gulf that could provide specially tuned fuel, the Gulf team were by far the favorite.

The new rules were also an opportunity for Guy Ligier who had previous experience in racing a Cosworth at Le Mans. As Matra had withdrawn from competition, Ligier managed to acquire the services of Matra's engineer Gérard Ducarouge, and the sponsorship of Gitanes. The sales of Ligier road going JS-2 had decreased drastically with the oil crisis, and the team was preparing his entry in Formula 1 for 1976. This left limited financial and engineering means for endurance racing. Ligier made the choice to run the race with the experienced Ligier JS-2's chassis fitted with DFV engines and Hewland gearboxes. In terms of performance the Gulf prototypes were clearly superior to the Ligier that were initially designed in 1971 as Maserati-powered road-cars and hacked as Cosworth-powered prototypes in 1975. Achieving superior reliability was the sole chance for the team to gain advantage over the Gulfs. Ligier chose to run some races of the World Championship before Le Mans as tests runs for the Cosworth-powered JS-2.

Gulf entered 2 GR-8's in Le Mans while Ligier entered 2 JS-2 Cosworth and one JS-2 Maserati. Both rivals had seriously downgraded their DFV engines: the Gulf had around 380 hp (280 kW), while the Ligiers had 420 hp (310 kW) to compensate some of their handicap.

Alpine-Renault entered one 2.0L A441 C with an all-women team. As the A441 was probably the best 2.0L car of that era and 2.0L cars weren't much restrained by fuel limitation, this car was a serious outsider.

Porsche made a minimal effort, being represented only by private teams. The rest of the opposition consisted in a brand new and very aerodynamic-looking Lola T380-Cosworth entered by the gentleman-driver Alain de Cadenet, partnering Chris Craft. De Cadenet was here to finish, according to various sources he had limited his DFV RPMs so low that the engine wasn't able to deliver more than 350 hp.

[edit] Race

Without surprise, the two Gulfs took the lead of the race. Vern Schuppan and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud had an alternator failure and went six laps down to teammates Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. Near midnight the brand-new de Cadenet Lola was were it was expected to be, in third position, but the car lost its entire rear bodywork on the straight. François Migault hit it at full stride with his Ligier. After nearly an hour's repairs attempts, the Ligier coupe retired. The Lola carried on; by luck the engine cover had missed the rear wing completely.

Not long after 2:30 p.m. Ickx pitted to repair a broken exhaust pipe, the repairs were completed as the remaining Ligier entered the lead lap. During the race the V8 powered Ligiers were also plagued by broken exhaust pipes due to DFV's destructive vibrations to a worse extent that the Gulf but with the experience gained in other races and a design of the exhaust system allowing quicker parts exchange, they lost less time in the pits than the Gulfs.

The Gulf GR-8 driven by Ickx and Bell won the race. The other Gulf had mechanical problems and finished third, leaving second position to a Ligier piloted by Guy Lafosse and Guy Chasseuil. The gap between the winning Gulf and the Ligier was only one lap.

De Cadenet's Lola was 14th, finishing the race with a bodywork stuck together with a lot of adhesive tape. De Cadenet came back in 1976 with the same chassis updated with major bodywork modifications finishing third for what remains the best result of de Cadenet at Le Mans, and the best result of a Lola chassis.

Reinhold Joest, Jürgen Barth, and Mario Casoni were fourth in their aged Porsche 908/3.

[edit] Official Results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
1	S 3.0	11	Gulf Research Racing Co.	Derek Bell Jacky Ickx	Mirage GR8	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	336
2	S 3.0	5	Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Jean-Louis Lafosse Guy Chasseuil	Ligier JS2	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	335
3	S 3.0	10	Gulf Research Racing Co.	Vern Schuppan Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Mirage GR8	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	330
4	S 3.0	15	Ovoro Joest Racing	Reinhold Joest Mario Casoni Jürgen Barth	Porsche 908/3	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	325
5	GT	58	Gelo Racing Team	John Fitzpatrick Gijs van Lennep Manfred Schurti Toine Hezemans	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	315
6	GT	69	"Beurlys"	Jean Blaton Nick Faure John Cooper	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	311
7	GT	53	ASA Cachia Bondy	Jacques Borras Pascal Moisson Henri Cachia	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	309
8	GT	55	Écurie Robert Buchet	Claude Ballot-Léna Jacques Bienvenue	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	304
9	GT	65	Jägermeister Kremer Racing	Billy Sprowls Juan Carlos Bolanos Andres Contreras	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	304
10	GT Ser.	84	Gerhard Maurer	Gerhard Maurer Christian Beez Eugen Strähl	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	295
11	GT Ser.	67	Anny-Charlotte Verney	Anny-Charlotte Verney Yvotte Fontaine Corinne Tarnaud	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	294
12	GT	47	Ecurie Francorchamps	Jean-Claude Andruet Teddy Pilette Hughes de Fierlandt	Ferrari 365 GTB/4	Ferrari 4.4L V12	293
13	GT	48	Marcel Mignot	Marcel Mignot Harry Jones Philippe Gurdjian	Ferrari 365 GTB/4	Ferrari 4.4L V12	293
14	S 3.0	4	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft	De Cadenet-Lola T380	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	291
15	GTX	20	Porsche Club Romand	Bernard Béguin Peter Zbinden Claude Haldi	Porsche 911 Carrera Turbo	Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6	291
16	GT	43	Team Claude Dubois Ecuador Marlboro Team	Pierre Rubens Paolo Bozzetto	De Tomaso Pantera	Ford 5.8L V8	290
17	Gt Ser.	77	Philippe Dagoreau	Thierry Sabine Philippe Dagoreau Jean-Pierre Aeschlimann	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
18	GT Ser.	80	X Racing	Raymond Touroul Philippe Hesnault	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	284
19	GT Ser.	63	Porsche Club Romand	Jean-Claude Bering Klaus Utz Horst Godel	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	283
20	GT Ser.	87	X Racing	René Boubet Philippe Demagne	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.6L Flat-6	283
21	S 2.0	35	Société Esso	Christine Dacremont Michèle Mouton Marianne Hoepfner	Moynet LM75	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4	269
22	S 2.0	30	Jean-Marie Lemerle	Jean-Marie Lemerle Patrick Daire Alain Levié	Lola T292	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4	265
23	GT	61	Écurie Armagnac Bogorre	Christian Bussi Patrick Metral	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	265
24	S 2.0	28	Société ROC	François Sérvanin Jacques Henry Albert Dufrène	Lola T294	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4	257
25	GT	71	Joël Laplacette	Claude Pigeon Joël Laplacette Alain Leroux	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 2.7L Flat-6	257
26	GT	72	André Haller	Hans Schuller André Haller Benoit Maechler	Datsun 240Z	Datsun 2.4L I6	253
27	T	91	Heiddeger Racing Team	Daniel Brillat Giancarlo Gagliardi Michel Degoumois	BMW 2002Ti	BMW 2.0L I4	251
28	GT	50	Louis Meznarie	Hubert Striebig Helmut Kirschoffer Pierre Mauroy	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	242
29	S 2.0	38	Rays Racing	Nigel Clarkson Derek Worthington	Lola T292	Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4	240
30	S 2.0	23	Madison Racing Team	Richard Knight Mike Knight Christian Mons	March 75S	Ford Cosworth 2.0L I4	217

[edit] Disqualified

Replenished the car's oil before the allowable time.

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
31	GT Ser.	78	Écurie Bouchet - Cyril Grandet	Bob Wollek Cyril Grandet	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6	293

[edit] Did Not Finish

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
32	S 2.0	27	Société ROC	Laurent Ferrier Xavier Lapeyre Christian Ethuin	Lola T294	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4
33	S 2.0	29	Société ROC	Pierre-Marie Painvin Franz Hummel	Lola T292	ROC-Simca 2.0L I4
34	S 3.0	3	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Gérard Cuynet Guillermo Ortega Jean-Claude Lagniez	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
35	GT	59	Gelo Racing Team	Tim Schenken Howden Ganley	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
36	S 3.0	1	Wicky Racing Team	Max Cohen-Olivar Philippe Coran Joël Brachet	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
37	S 3.0	6	Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Henri Pescarolo François Migault	Ligier JS2	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
38	GT	52	Écurie du Nord	William Vollery Roger Dorchy Eric Chapuis	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
39	T	98	Auto Mazda Claude Bouchet	Claude Bouchet Jean Rondeau	Mazda RX-3	Mazda 12A 1.2L 2-Rotor
40	GT	57	Ganto Racing	John Rulon-Miller Tom Waugh Serge Godard	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
41	GT	60	Gelo Racing Team	Toine Hezemans Manfred Schurti	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
42	GT	68	Guy Verrier	Guy Verrier Florian Vetsch Jean-Robert Corthay	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
43	GT	7	Beurlys International Auto	Pietro Polese "Willer"	De Tomaso Pantera	Ford 5.8L V8
44	T	93	Hervé Poulain	Hervé Poulain Sam Posey Jean Guichet	BMW 3.0CSL	BMW 3.5L I6
45	S 2.0	26	Elf Switzerland	Marie-Claude Charmasson Lella Lombardi	Renault-Alpine A441	Renault 2.0L V6
46	S 3.0	18	Sigma Automotive Co. Ltd.	Hiroshi Fushida Harakuni Takahashi	Sigma MC75	Toyota 2.3L Turbo I4
47	GT	16	Joest Racing / Tebernum	Clemens Schickentanz Hartwig Bertrams	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
48	GT	96	Bonnemaison - Thiaw	Lucien Nageotte Gérard Picard	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
49	T	95	Shark Team	Jean-Claude Guérie Dominique Fornage	Ford Capri RS	Ford 3.0L V6
50	S 3.0	97	Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier JS2	Maserati 3.0L V6
51	S 3.0	12	Racing Team Schulthess	Hervé Bayard Heinz Schulthess	Lola T284	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
52	S 2.0	40	Philippe Mettetal	Jean Ragnotti Michel Lateste	Tecma 755	Ford 1.8L I4
53	GT Ser.	83	Jean-Yves Gadal	Jean-Yves Gadal "Ségolen"	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 2.6L Flat-6
54	T	90	Jean-Claude Aubriet	Jean-Claude Aubriet "Depnic"	BMW 3.0CSL	BMW 3.5L I6
55	GT	42	Henri Greder	Henri Greder Alain Cudini	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet 7.0L V8

[edit] Statistics

• Pole Position - #11 Gulf Racing Research Co. - 3:27.06
• Fastest Lap - #4 Alain de Cadenet - 3:53.80
• Distance - 4595.577km
• Average Speed - 191.482km/h