1994 24 Hours of Le Mans

Summary

The 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 62nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1994.

1994 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1993 Next: 1995
Index: Races | Winners
Le Mans in 1994

The 1994 race was won by a car that had its roots in a 10-year-old design. Porsche exploited an unusual quirk in the GT regulations at the time, using German fashion magnate Jochen Dauer in a plan to have a street-legal version of the dated Porsche 962 built. Using this road car design, Porsche entered two converted 962 chassis in the GT category as Dauer 962 Le Mans. With factory support, the Dauer 962 was able to take the win, the other 962 coming in a close third. Toyota, having themselves dusted off a pair of Group C chassis after its 3.5-litre engined TS010 was no longer eligible, suffered transmission problems with 90 minutes to go, leaving Eddie Irvine to finish 2nd in his 94C-V.

Regulations and entries edit

After the death of global Sports Car racing (aside from the IMSA series in North America), GT racing came to the fore. Knowing that teams would always want to race prototype sports cars at Le Mans, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) came up with a pioneering equivalency formula to allow the production-based GT cars to compete for the outright win against its own LMP class and the IMSA WSC cars. These involved engine air-inlet restrictors, smaller fuel tanks and minimum weights to limit the prototypes' performance. The ACO also allowed the old 1990 Group C cars but they now had to be open-topped, with flat underfloors.

FISA's new GT rules had developed through 1993, aligning with the ACO, IMSA and Japanese JAF, defining a GT as a road-going car on sale to the public and registered for road-use in two of the following countries: France, Great Britain, Germany, USA or Japan.[1] To allow time for entrants to prepare, the ACO was forced to issue its own GT regulations in September 1993, before FISA had completed their work. A summary of the restrictions:

  • LM-WSC: fuel tank 80L, target output 550 bhp, min weight 900 kg (920 kg for turbos), max tyre width 16"
  • LM P2: fuel tank 80L, target output 400 bhp, min weight 620 kg, with production engines, max tyre width 12"
  • LM GT1: fuel tank 120L, target output 650 bhp, min weight 1000 kg, max tyre width 14"
  • LM GT2: fuel tank 120L, target output 450 bhp, min weight 1050 kg, max tyre width 12"
  • IMSA GT-Supreme: fuel tank 100L, target output 650 bhp, min weight 1000 kg, max tyre width 16"

Minimum annual production levels were 25 for GT1, and 200 for GT2, however a crucial loophole in the rules allowed a manufacturer to apply for GT1 homologation even when still planning the car design and before any cars had been made, meaning a single prototype for a proposed model could be raced. Several manufacturers spotted this exemption and would exploit it, most notably Porsche, whom managed to homologate the now decade old 962C.

 
Roland Ratzenberger's name was left on the Toyota 94C-V as a tribute.

Overall, interest was very high with the ACO receiving 83 applications, accepting 50 +reserves, to vie for the 48 starting places. From the aging Group C population there were only 8 LMP1 cars and 4 LMP2 entries. Toyota was backing two Japanese teams driving their new Toyota 94C-V. Roland Ratzenberger was originally scheduled to drive in the SARD Toyota but was tragically killed in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix. Eddie Irvine took his place on the team, and Ratzenberger's name was left on the car in tribute.[2]

Yves Courage, still trying emulate Jean Rondeau with an owner/racer Le Mans win, had three of his own cars, and the Kremer brothers had a new spyder in Gulf Racing livery. Roland Bassaler also took the chance to run his old 1982-vintage ALPA (rebadged Sehcar / née Sauber) one last time. Welter Racing again fielded two very fast little LMP2s. The two American WSC entries were later withdrawn, however there were three entrants for the IMSA GT-S silhouette category. These included the two Nissans from Clayton Cunningham's championship winning team that had earlier in the year won the Daytona and Sebring endurance races.

In GT, the two direct works entries were in GT2, with debutants Honda working with the Kremer brothers bringing three new NSX cars, and a pair of Lotus Esprit S300 entered by Hugh Chamberlain. The two Porsche 962 facsimiles were entered by Jochen Dauer and run by Joest Racing. All up there were 11 different marques represented in the GT field, including returns from Alpine-Renault, Bugatti, De Tomaso and Dodge. Ferrari was back in some force, as well as Reeves Callaway's new, modified Corvette.

Qualification edit

With the new LMP regulations trimming power, as well as reducing downforce by 50%, unsurprisingly the Group C cars struggled and were about 10 seconds slower than previously. Courage took confidence by gaining their first pole position, courtesy of former single-seat and Peugeot works driver Alain Ferté. Derek Bell was second-fastest in the Kremer spyder, then came the little WR from LMP2, of Patrick Gonin, punching well above its weight. But clutch problems prevented Marc Rostan from doing any qualifying laps so only Gonin and Petit were allowed to race. The Dauer 962s started 4th and 6th, on laps that were 20 seconds slower than a 962C's best lap, set by Oscar Larrauri in 1990, but 15 seconds faster than ADA Engineering's true LMP1 Porsche 962C.[3]

The two Nissan 300ZX in the GT-S category came in 9th and 12th amongst the rest of the LMP field, with the next fastest GT being the Ennea/Obermaier Racing Ferrari F40 starting in 14th, just ahead of the Jacadi Racing Venturi of ex-F1 racer Olivier Grouillard and Michel Ferté (Alain's younger brother). With the GTs mixing it up with the sports cars, it was looking like the ACO had got the equivalence formula about right.

Race edit

Start edit

Initially, Bell's Kremer took the lead, but was soon overtaken by Ferté's Courage, the local favourite. Ricci's Courage and Regout's WR collided first time through the Porsche curves. After also spinning on the first lap, Stuck got his Dauer-Porsche into the lead, and with their 50% bigger fuel tank (allowing an extra 2-3 laps) the two teammates, Stuck and Baldi, were soon running 1–2. After being initially strong, the Kremer and the Courages fell back, and both WR-Peugeots were having engine problems. So the pursuit was taken up by the two Toyotas. Danny Sullivan blew a tyre and spun his Dauer at the Ford chicane and, unable to get across to the pitlane, had to go all the way around again costing him 11 minutes. Eddie Irvine got his Toyota into the lead, but when he got held up with changing brake discs, the veteran Bob Wollek got the Nisso-Trust Toyota to the front as dusk fell. In GT, Anders Olofsson, the pro-driver in the Team Ennea Ferrari F40 was running in the top-10, just ahead of the Larbre Porsche 911 leading GT2, until electronics problems struck it.

Night edit

With the cooler evening temperatures, the Courages' tyres were far more effective and they came back into contention, with the Pescarolo/Ferté/Lagorce car getting up to 3rd by mid-evening. However, the second Courage retired with engine problems, and at 2am "Pesca's" Courage also succumbed. At 5am, the Nisso-Trust Toyota came into the pits from the lead with a severe vibration. It took nearly an hour to replace the differential, dropping it down to 5th. The SARD Toyota took over the lead, and had the pursuing Dauer-Porsche's covered. Thierry Boutsen had a scare during the night when his Dauer's headlights failed while doing 260 km/h approaching Tertre Rouge.[4] Further delays dropped it 3 laps behind the leader. With the demise of the Courages and the Kremer, it was the remaining Nissan 300ZX of Millen/O'Connell/Morton that steadily moved up to 4th by dawn. One of the big surprises was the privateer Bugatti in GT1: driven hard by 1993 winner Éric Hélary with Alain Cudini and Jean-Christophe Boullion, catching and passing the Larbre Porsche and Callaway Corvette, and getting it up to 6th overall.

Morning edit

As morning broke, the SARD Toyota was still leading. The second Toyota was chasing the Nissan and finally overtook it for 4th at lunchtime when the latter had gearbox problems. Through the morning the unfortunate Bugatti needed all four of its turbos replaced. Dropping down the board, in the final hour, a tyre blowout pitched Bouillon into the barriers on the Mulsanne straight. Then, after leading for 9 hours and with only 90 minutes to go, Krosnoff came to a stop at the pit entrance without drive. He slammed it into 3rd gear and managed to get to his pitbox. Taking 13 minutes to repair a broken gear-linkage dropped the Toyota to 3rd behind the two Dauer-Porsches, who were both now nursing fragile driveshafts themselves. Irvine got in and drove hard to catch up to Boutsen just 15 seconds ahead. He caught him with just 2 laps to go when Boutsen got held up behind back-markers. In turn, Boutsen fought to get back past, forestalling the usual parade-lap to the finish, but was unsuccessful.[5]

Finish and post-race edit

The win gave Porsche its 13th victory, and for the drivers it was Haywood's 3rd, Dalmas' 2nd and the first for Mauro Baldi - who became the 100th different Le Mans winner.

For the second time in three years, Toyota had been pipped at the post. The thrilling battle of the leading three cars meant they finished 15 laps ahead of the second Toyota, itself 11 laps ahead of the GTS Nissan, and Derek Bell's Kremer after a race beset by niggly problems. The surviving Courage was fairly trouble-free and had been 7th for the last 6 hours, finishing over 450 km behind the leader. The first two GT2 cars home, in 8th and 9th, were Porsches from the Larbre and new Ecurie Biennoise teams - both had run like clockwork.

From the Le Mans success, Dauer Sportwagen subsequently sold a dozen 962 road cars.[6] Despite running into problems, all three Honda GTs finished, giving good heart to the Honda executives after their first foray to Le Mans. This was also supposed to be Derek Bell's swansong Le Mans, driving the Porsche-powered Kremer. However, the lure of driving a McLaren F1 GTR with son Justin (who had run in the Dodge Viper this race) the following year proved too strong.

Official results edit

 
The race winning Dauer 962 Le Mans of Yannick Dalmas, Hurley Haywood and Mauro Baldi. The car also won the LMGT1 class.
 
The second-placed Toyota 94C-V of Eddie Irvine, Mauro Martini and Jeff Krosnoff. The car also won the LMP1/C90 class.
 
The third-placed Dauer 962 Le Mans of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Thierry Boutsen & Danny Sullivan
 
The IMSA GTS class winning Nissan 300ZX Turbo of Steve Millen, Johnny O'Connell and John Morton
 
The LMGT2 class winning Porsche 911 Carrera RSR of Jesús Pareja, Dominique Dupuy and Carlos Palau


Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 LMGT1 36   Le Mans Porsche Team   Yannick Dalmas
  Hurley Haywood
  Mauro Baldi
Dauer 962 Le Mans G 344
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
2 LMP1
/C90
1   Toyota Team Sard   Eddie Irvine
  Mauro Martini
  Jeff Krosnoff
Toyota 94C-V D 343
Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8
3 LMGT1 35   Le Mans Porsche Team   Hans-Joachim Stuck
  Danny Sullivan
  Thierry Boutsen
Dauer 962 Le Mans G 343
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
4 LMP1
/C90
4   Nisso Trust Racing Team   Steven Andskär
  George Fouché
  Bob Wollek
Toyota 94C-V D 328
Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8
5 IMSA
GTS
75   Cunningham Racing   Steve Millen
  Johnny O'Connell
  John Morton
Nissan 300ZX Turbo Y 317
Nissan VG30DETT 3.0 L Turbo V6
6 LMP1
/C90
5   Gulf Oil Racing   Derek Bell
  Robin Donovan
  Jürgen Lässig
Kremer K8 Spyder D 316
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
7 LMP1
/C90
9   Courage Compétition   Jean-Louis Ricci
  Andy Evans
  Philippe Olczyk
Courage C32LM M 310
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
8 LMGT2 52   Larbre Compétition   Jesús Pareja
  Dominique Dupuy
  Carlos Palau
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR M 307
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
9 LMGT2 54   Écurie Biennoise   Enzo Calderari
  Lilian Bryner
  Renato Mastropietro
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 299
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
10 LMGT2 59   Konrad Motorsport   Cor Euser
  Patrick Huisman
  Matjaž Tomlje
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 295
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
11 LMGT2 57   Repsol Ferrari España   Prince Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón
  Tomás Saldaña
  Andrés Vilariño
Ferrari 348 GTC-LM P 276
Ferrari 3.4 L V8
12 LMGT1 40   Rent-A-Car Racing   René Arnoux
  Justin Bell
  Bertrand Balas
Dodge Viper RT/10 M 273
Dodge 8.0 L V10
13 LMGT2 60   Legeay Sports Mécanique   Benjamin Roy
  Luc Galmard
  Jean-Claude Police
Alpine A610 M 272
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
14 LMGT2 48   Kremer Honda Racing   Armin Hahne
  Christophe Bouchut
  Bertrand Gachot
Honda NSX D 257
Honda 3.0 L V6
15 IMSA
GTS
74   Team Artnature   Yojiro Terada
  Franck Fréon
  Pierre de Thoisy
Mazda RX-7 GTO D 250
Mazda 13J 2.0 L 3-Rotor
16 LMGT2 46   Kremer Honda Racing   Philippe Favre
  Hideki Okada
  Kazuo Shimizu
Honda NSX D 240
Honda 3.0 L V6
17 LMGT2 68   Agusta Racing Team   Jean-Louis Sirera
  Antonio Puig
  Xavier Camp
Venturi 400 GTR D 225
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
18 LMGT2 47   Kremer Honda/Team Kunimitsu   Kunimitsu Takahashi
  Keiichi Tsuchiya
  Akira Iida
Honda NSX Y 222
Honda 3.0 L V6
NC LMGT1 41   Rent-A-Car Racing   François Migault
  Denis Morin
  Philippe Gache
Dodge Viper RT/10 M 225
Dodge 8.0 L V10
NC LMGT1 30   BBA Sport et Compétition   Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière
  Bernard Chauvin
  Hervé Poulain
Venturi 600 LM D 221
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
NC LMGT1 37   ADA Engineering   Dominic Chappell
  Jonathan Baker
  Phil Andrews
De Tomaso Pantera G 210
Ford 5.0 L V8
NC LMP1
/C90
6   ADA Team Nippon   Jun Harada
  Tomiko Yoshikawa
  Masahiko Kondo
Porsche 962C GTi G 189
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
NC LMGT2 65   Agusta Racing Team   Stéphane Ratel
  Franz Hunkeler
  Edouard Chaufour
Venturi 400 GTR D 137
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGT1 34   Michel Hommell   Alain Cudini
  Éric Hélary
  Jean-Christophe Boullion
Bugatti EB110 SS M 230
Bugatti 3.5 L Turbo V12
DNF LMP1
/C90
2   Courage Compétition   Henri Pescarolo
  Alain Ferté
  Franck Lagorce
Courage C32LM M 142
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF LMGT1 31   Agusta Racing Team   Riccardo Agusta
  Michel Krine
  Almo Coppelli
Venturi 600 LM D 115
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGT1 38   Jacadi Racing   Michel Ferté
  Olivier Grouillard
  Michel Neugarten
Venturi 600 LM M 107
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMP1
/C90
3   Courage Compétition   Lionel Robert
  Pascal Fabre
  Pierri-Henri Raphanel
Courage C32LM M 107
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF LMP2 21   Welter Racing   Patrick Gonin
  Pierre Petit
WR LM93 M 104
Peugeot 2.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGT1 33   Patrick Nève Racing   Franz Konrad
  Antônio Hermann de Azevedo
  Mike Sommer
Porsche 911 Turbo P 100
Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF LMP1
/C90
7   Stealth Engineering/SBF   Dominique Lacaud
  Sylvain Boulay
  Bernard Robin
ALD 06 G 96
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
DNF LMGT2 49   Porsche Flymo Mobil Alméras   Jacques Laffite
  Jacques Alméras
  Jean-Marie Alméras
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 94
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
DNF LMP2 22   Welter Racing   Hervé Regout
  Jean-François Yvon
  Jean-Paul Libert
WR LM93 M 86
Peugeot 2.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGT2 58   Seikel Motorsport   Thomas Bscher
  Lindsay Owen-Jones
  John Nielsen
Porsche 968 Turbo RS Y 84
Porsche 3.0 L Turbo I4
DNF LMP2 20   Didier Bonnet   Georges Tessier
  Pascal Dro
  Bernard Santal
Debora LMP294 P 79
Alfa Romeo 3.0 L V6
DNF LMP1
/C90
8   Roland Bassaler   Nicolas Minassian
  Patrick Bourdais
  Olivier Couvrier
Alpa LM G 64
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.5 L V8
DNF LMGT2 50   Larbre Compétition   Pierre Yver
  Jack Leconte
  Jean-Luc Chéreau
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR M 62
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
DNF LMGT2 62   Lotus Sport/Chamberlain   Richard Piper
  Peter Hardman
  Olindo Iacobelli
Lotus Esprit Sport 300 M 59
Lotus 2.2 L Turbo I4
DNF LMGT2 55   Simpson Engineering   Robin Smith
  Stefano Sebastiani
  Tetsuya Ota
Ferrari 348 LM Y 57
Ferrari 3.4 L V8
DNF LMGT2 45   Heico Service   Ulrich Richter
  Karl-Heinz Wlazik
  Dirk Ebeling
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR P 57
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
DNF LMGT1 29   Obermaier   Anders Olofsson
  Sandro Angelastri
  Max Angelelli
Ferrari F40 GTE P 51
Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V8
DNF LMGT2 63   Chamberlain Engineering   Rob Wilson
  David Brodie
  William Hewland
Harrier LR9C D 45
Ford Cosworth YBT 2.0 L Turbo I4
DNF LMGT2 56   Elf Haberthur Racing   Olivier Haberthur
  Patrice Goueslard
  Patrick Vuillaume
Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6 G 42
Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNF LMGT2 66   Erik Henriksen   Ray Bellm
  Harry Nuttall
  Charles Rickett
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR G 34
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
DNF LMGT2 61   Lotus Sport/Chamberlain   Thorkild Thyrring
  Klaas Zwart
  Andreas Fuchs
Lotus Esprit Sport 300 M 28
Lotus 2.2 L Turbo I4
DNF IMSA
GTS
76   Cunningham Racing   Eric van de Poele
  Paul Gentilozzi
  Shunji Kasuya
Nissan 300ZX Turbo Y 25
Nissan VRH35 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGT2 64   Ferrari Club Italia   Oscar Larrauri
  Fabio Mancini
  Joël Gouhier
Ferrari 348 GTC-LM P 23
Ferrari 3.4 L V8
DSQ LMGT2 51   Callaway Sport   Frank Jelinski
  Boris Said
  Michel Maisonneuve
Callaway Corvette Y 142
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8

Statistics edit

  • Pole Position - Alain Ferté, #2 Courage Compétition - 3:51.05
  • Fastest Lap - Thierry Boutsen, #35 LeMans Porsche Team - 3:52.54, lap 243
  • Winner's Distance - 4,678.4 km (2,907.0 mi)
  • Average Speed - 195.238 km/h (121.315 mph)
  • Highest Trap Speed — Dauer 962 Le Mans - 365 km/h (227 mph) (practice)
  • Attendance - 140000
  • Last time when the team entered only two drivers for a racecar (Car #21)
  • Callaway Sport was disqualified for getting pit service on the track and not in pit lane (Car #51)[7]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Spurring 2014, p.150.
  2. ^ "Remembering Roland". Archived from the original on 24 October 2004. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  3. ^ Spurring 2014, p.149.
  4. ^ Spurring 2014, p.153.
  5. ^ Spurring 2014, p.156.
  6. ^ Spurring 2014, p.154.
  7. ^ "LE MANS 24 HOURS". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 8 April 2023.

References edit

  • Spurring, Quentin (2014) Le Mans 1990-99 Sherborne, Dorset: Evro Publishing ISBN 978-0-9928209-1-6
  • Laban, Brian (2001) Le Mans 24 Hours London: Virgin Books ISBN 1-85227-971-0

External links edit

  • Official website of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • Racing Sports Cars – Le Mans 24 Hours 1994 entries, results, technical detail. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  • Racing Sports Cars – Le Mans 24 Hours 1994 (Photo Archive). Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  • Le Mans History – Le Mans History, hour-by-hour (incl. pictures, YouTube links). Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  • LXII Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1994, results & reserve entries, www.formula2.net, as archived at web.archive.org
  • Motorsport Magazine – Motorsport Magazine archive. Retrieved 4 July 2016.