PAST IMPERFECT:The 1969 Le Mans 24 Hour is claimed by many to have been the best ever
THE 2008 Le Mans 24 Hour race will undoubtedly go down in motoring history as a classic race between two giants of the motor industry - Peugeot and Audi, with the final outcome in doubt right up to the end. On this occasion it was Audi, cast as the underdog, who used their vast knowledge of the circuit and the race to pull off an unlikely victory against much faster opponents. Of course, this was not the first time this has happened at Le Mans and brought to mind the spectacular race of 1969.
Determined to win Le Mans, Porsche designed and built an entirely new car in an attempt to take their first overall win at the French circuit in 1969. The new car, of which 25 examples were built to qualify under the rules, incorporated Porsche's first 12-cylinder engine and had many components manufactured from titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys. The 917, as the new car was called, reportedly brought Porsche close to bankruptcy and as a result Porsche were prepared to sell examples to anyone who could afford it.
Their opposition for the race were the works Ferraris and the two Gulf-sponsored Ford GT40s managed by David Yorke. Jacky Ickx had driven GT40 chassis 1075 to victory the previous year, but it was generally conceded that they were outdated and stood little chance of outright victory in 1969.
It seemed that Porsche was on course for their first win when the Kurt Ahrens/Rolf Stommelmen 917 qualified on pole by a large margin. Jacky Ickx made a protest against the traditional Le Mans start procedure by walking slowly to his car when the flag was dropped, resulting in him dropping to the back of the large field as it got away on the opening lap.
Tragedy struck at the end of lap one when the British driver John Woolfe crashed his 917 at Maison Blanche and was killed. It seems likely that Woolfe sacrificed doing up his seat belts in an effort to get a better start and it was this that led to his death. Chris Amon, driving the lead Ferrari 312P hit the fuel tank of Woolfe's disintegrating 917 and was an instant retirement, while the other two 917s were soon in problems with their clutch bell-housing and also retired. Thus the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse became the leader and looked set to salvage the outright win Porsche wanted so desperately.
Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver, who had started last in the field of 45, gradually made their way through the field, using the reliability of the GT40 and their own racecraft to come into contention for the win in the last two hours. Over the last laps the pair swapped the lead time after time in a finish that had the spectators on their feet. Eventually, Ickx beat Herrmann by less than 120 metres after 24 hours of flat-out racing.
Widely regarded as the greatest Le Mans race, the 1969 race had one last twist of fate for Jacky Ickx. On the following morning while driving to Paris, he had an accident near Chartres when a car pulled out of a side road in front of his Porsche 911. Ickx's car was destroyed and Ickx, the man who had protested at the start of the Le Mans race over drivers not having time to do up their seat belts, unbuckled his belt and stepped unharmed from the wreck of his Porsche.