Le Mans Classic 2018 - Plateau Six - 1972 to 1981

The 1973 Mirage GR7  of Goethe and Hall leads the winning Toj through the Esses in their Sunday morning race.  Unfortunately, the Mirage didn't finish.

This was perhaps the plateau where I took some of my favourite pictures.  I only saw one race but it was in the golden early morning sunlight on the Sunday.  Many of these cars I saw race at Brands Hatch and other circuits in the eighties so again good reminiscences.  Those that I didn't actually see in period, were etched in my memory from photos in MotorSport magazine.  Other have become favourites from historic racing.  Particularly, nice to see Henri Pescarolo still racing the Inaltera.

The very recognizable green helmet of Henri Pescarolo in the 1976 Inaltera GTP.

It is also always nice to see the flame throwing Porsche 935s.   One of them won in 1979.

The 1977 Porsche 935 K3 throwing flames out of its exhaust.

The rest of the weekend all the photographers were fighting for the best position at the Esses but on Sunday morning there were just a few of us stalwarts who didn't mind getting up early.

Chris Mac Allister's Mirage M6 leads a 1979 Lola through the Esses on Sunday morning.

The Podium Finishers

This 1980 Porsche 935 K3.  Here it leads a group on the first green flag lap on Sunday morning.   It came in third on scratch.

This 1975 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0L finished second in the Index of performance.

The Index of Performance winning 1972 Ford Capri 2600 RS

The scratch winning 1976 Toj SC 304 of Yves Scemema.

LOLAS AND CHEVRONS

One of the later cars, a 1981 Lola T600

A 1979 Lola-BMW T298 holds off a Porsche as other Lolas and Chevrons look on.

1972 Chevron B21-BDG leads a 1972 Lola T290-BDG.

ITALIAN MARQUES

1981 Lancia Beta GrpV leads Porsche and BMW through the Esses.

1981 Ferrari 512 BB LM. It  finished a great eighth.

Ferrari 12 cylinder boxer engine.

1977 Osella PA5-BMW.

1974 Alfa Romeo 33TT12

Alfa 33TT12 in the paddock

THE BIG BOYS

A NASCAR 1975 Ford Gran Torino.  It finished fourteenth out of a field of 69 cars!

NASCAR at Le Mans.

1976 Chevrolet Monza.

1976 Aston Martin DBS V8 leads a close knit group through the Esses.

THE REST

1975 Datsun 240Z leading Porsche and BMW through the Esses on Sunday morning.

1976 Cheetah G601 - BDG.

Cheetah exiting the Esses chased by a BMW M1 and with the Dunlop bridge in the background.

1974 Porsche 911 Carerra RSR 3.0L.

1978 Alpine Renault A443.

Mirafe being worked on in the paddock

1979 BMW M1 Gr.V.

1979 Porsche 935K3.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page. 

1974 Lola T290-FVC being worked on in the paddock.