EditJaguar Challenge: Birth of a Legend
The Le Mans 24 Hours is the fastest and most gruelling sports car race in the world. Much of the circuit, in North Western France, is over public roads, with all the dips and bumps you would normally expect. The infamous treelined Mulsanne Straight stretches for 3.5 miles and is by far the longest straight in motor racing -allowing the cars to reach speeds of around 240 miles per hour. Starting at 4.00 pm on a Saturday in June, the surviving cars have travelled over 3,000 miles, at an average of 125 miles per hour (including pit stops!), by the time the race finishes on Sunday afternoon.
The name of Jaguar became permanently linked to the world's most famous motor race when, in the 1950s Jaguar cars scored five Le Mans victories. This remarkable feat earned Jaguar a place in the history of motor racing which few manufacturers can rival. The Jaguar Team only took part from 1951 to 1956, but Jaguar cars continued to compete under different ownership until 964. Despite the five magnificent Le Mans victories Jaguar never won the World championship in all this time.
During the 1960s and 1970s, public interest in Sports car racing dwindled as Formula 1 Grand Prix became more popular. But in the mid 1980s new rules for sports cars attracted major manufacturers back into the sport. Unlike in Grand Prix racing, where engine regulations are very strict, sports cars can use any size or configuration of engine - but they are restricted on how much fuel they can carry and use. Porsche built up a strong presence and dominated the
sport-winning Le Mans every year from 1981 to 1985. In 1984 the American Group 44 Racing Team entered two Jaguars for Le Mans -the first time they had appeared in 20 years. In 1985 the Group 44 team was back again and finished in 13th place overall. Massive public interest developed as the Jaguar team prepared to make a comeback in 1986.
In its first year back in the World Championship the Jaguar team performed superbly. At the Silverstone 1000 the car driven by Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever achieved the teams' first victory, and at Le Mans Cheever's car was in second place when a burst tyre at high speed in the 17th hour damaged the suspension - leaving the Porsche in the clear. But Jaguar were back!
The next year the Jaguars dominated the World Championship with the Jaguar XJR-8s winning eight of the ten races held that season. At Le Mans the rivalry between Jaguar and Porsche was intense. Each of the three Jaguar team cars lead the race for brief periods, but finally Derek Bell's Porsche 926C proved victorious as none of the Jaguar cars finished the race. The all important Le Mans victory-which means as much as all the rest of the season put together still eluded Jaguar.
When the entry list for the 1988 Le Mans was published it soon became clear that this would be the most competitive sports car race in the modern era -6 full factory teams had registered, Porsche, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and of course Jaguar.
Jaguar mounted a massive challenge to the supremacy of Porsche, entering five of the latest Jaguar XJR-9 cars. The huge back up team consisted of five race managers, one for each car, an overall team manager, technical engineers, designers, crew chiefs, mechanics, refuellers, firemen, pit staff, timekeepers, signallers and radio experts-over 100 people in all.
In the practice laps the Porsche of Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig qualified in pole position with a record breaking time.
After the start it soon became clear that Jaguar's strongest challenge to the Porsches would be mounted by the number two car, driven by Dutchman Jan Lammers and his British team mates Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace.
The Bell/Stuck/Ludwig Porsche lead, but dropped back two laps when it almost ran out of fuel through a late pit stop. As night closed in, the battle for the lead was between Lammers' Jaguar and another of the Porsche entries-all the while Derek Bell's Porsche was making up the ground it had lost to put even more pressure on Lammers and his team mates.
The leading Porsche withdrew with engine problems, leaving Lammers' No 2 Jaguar in the lead. But then the Jaguar was forced to stop to change its screen which had been damaged by a rock. Bell's Porsche took over at the front, but minutes later it too was in the pits-to change a damaged water pump. Lammers' Jaguar was back in the lead again, and with a lap in hand. Rain before lunch let the Porsche make up ground, but it had used too much of its allocation of fuel to mount a serious challenge. Lammers and Dumfries kept the race firmly under control.
At last Lammers began the last lap. The two other remaining Jaauarsplaced 4th and 16th, pulled in behind him and all three cars crossed the line in team formation. The British supporters in the crowd were ecstatic, the Porsche domination of Le Mans was finally broken, and the Jaguar legend was born again!