Le Mans Classic 2016 - Plateau 2 - 1949 to 1956

Sequence showing an accident involving the 745cc DB HBR Barquette of Pierre-Henri Mahul.  He must have lost his brakes or hit some oil because he went straight on at the Esses.  It could have been nasty if the car had flipped over.  As it was he stepped out of the car to a big cheer from the spectators.  It was luckily close to the end of the first race and he was able to continue racing in the next two races and finished 25th.  The car is a 1957 model but is of a type that competed earlier.

I always enjoy seeing cars of this era especially when they are driven hard; really nice to see them drift around the corners.  Lots of Jaguars and Maseratis, just a shame that weren't some nice open Ferraris.

Andy Wallace won in a 1955 Jaguar D-Type.  It is renovated using much of the 1955 Mike Hawthorn Le Mans winning car.

This 1954 Triumph TR2 finished in a good 19th place.

Second came this 1955 Maserati 300S of Nicolas Chambon.

Fifth was this1955 Jaguar D Type of Gary Pearson and Carlos Monteverde.

1951 Talbot T26 GS.  Beautiful car.

In third place was this 1956 1500cc Lotus XI driven by "Seiss".

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL

I loved seeing this 1950 Cadillac Series 61 similar to the one Briggs Cunningham entered in the 1950 Le Mans.

1956 Panhard.  Great to see so many French cars at the Classic.

I also loved this 1949 1,250cc MG Special driven by Simon and Gareth Evans.  

1954 Maserati A6 GCS.

1952 Jaguar C-Type.

Early race group with a 1955 Jaguar XK140 FHC leading some Aston Martins, a Maserati and a FIAT 8V Zagato at the back of this pack.

1953 DB HBR coming out of the Esses.

1954 Austin Healey 100S rounds Tertre Rouge.

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.

Le Mans Classic 2016 - Plateau 1 - 1923 to 1939

The winning 1939 Talbot-Lago leaves the pre-grid early on Sunday morning.  This was a pre-war GP car that was converted into a 2 seater sports car and competed at Le Mans in the early fifties. It was rather faster than the other cars in this plateau.

The first Le Mans 24 hours was held in 1923 and was held every year up to the start of WW2 except for 1936.  Between 1924 and 1930 Bentley won 5 times whilst Alfa Romeo won four times in a row between 1931 and 1935.  French marques became successful in the three years preceding WW2.

Work being done in the paddock on the 1934 Talbot 105 of Hinderer/Stretton

1929 Bentley 4.5L Blower of J.Ernst

Preperation in the paddock on one of the thirties BMWs

The 1930 Riley Brooklans of Potter and Standing.

1936 Delage D6-70  Special

The 1935 Aston Martin Ulster of E.Bradley

This wonderful vintage Bentley 3 litre Special that the works team raced at le Mans in 1925 took time at the Le Mans start to put the convertible top up which is what it would have been required to do in period.  Fantastic!   One of my favourite parts of the day and they finished 22nd on scratch.  Well done to Messrs Turner and Medcalf.

Bentley Detail

Aston Martin leads Bugatti out of the Esses.

A lovely 1934 Alvis Speed 20 being worked on in the paddock.

The eighth place 1934 Talbot AV 105 Alpine of Schaefer and Brandt.

The 1934 Talbot 105 that finished second in the hands of Bronson and Burnett.  

The third placed 1938 BMW 328 of Bally/Leeseur.

The magnificent 1937 Lagonda LG 45 that finished in fourth place.  Lagonda of course won Le Mans in 1935.

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.

Le Mans Classic 2016 - Group C Racing

1985 Toyota 85C leads a 1992 Lola T92/10 and a 1986 Tiga GC286/289 through the Esses.

The Group C race at this years Le Mans Classic was what really encouraged me to come to this year's event and it didn't disappoint.  The noise of the Group C Mercedes and Peugeot engines alone was worth the entry ticket.....

The beautiful sounding 1993 Peugeot 905 EVO Bis powers through Tertre Rouge.

The race took part on Saturday before lunch and was of 45 minutes duration.

The winning 1989 Spice SE89C of Julien Piquet leads a 1987 Porsche 962 that finished third out of the Esses.

Eric Richenbacher's 1989 Cheetah G606.

Shaun Lynn's 1990 Mercedes-Benz C11 leads a pair of 1989 Porsche 962s.

The 1990 Nissan R90 CK of Katsu Kubota.

The 1982 Rondeau M382 of Mr John of B.

Eric De Doncker's 1990 Spice SE90C that finished second overall.

The lead group early in the race with the Nissan leading.

The France's 1990 Porsche 962C.

Jean-Marc Merlin's Porsche expires early in the race.

The 1988 GKW 862 of Italian Massimo Guerra that finished 11th.

Richard Evans in a  1991 Nissan RC93 leading a Spice and a Porsche.

The winner goes off-track overtaking a Porsche 962

Katsu Kubota's Nissan was the early leader.

Full results can be found by clicking here on the PeterAuto site.

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.

Le Mans Classic 2016 - Jaguar Classic Challenge

Andy Wallace in a 1955 Jaguar D-Type 3.8L in the Le Mans Esses.  He eventually finish third but led the first lap and had pole position..

For the first time since 2002, I attended the Le Mans Classic this year.  I took over 2,000 photos with a reasonable success rate so I will do a blog post for each Plateau and support race over the coming weeks.  The first of the support races was a round of the Historic Sports Car Club's Jaguar Challenge Series.  This is the second year of the challenge and it is open to all pre-1966 Jaguar models.

Marc Gordon in his 1958 3.8L Jaguar XK150S leads a similar car out of the Le Mans Esses.

The race was a mini-endurance race of 55 minutes, something quite tough for cars of this age.  The field including a amazing selection of Jaguar C, D and E types as well as XK120, 140 and 150 models and a few Mk1 and Mk 2 saloons.   In terms of drivers, the big star was Andy Wallace  who won the Le Mans 24 hours with Jaguar back in 1988.  He was driving a D-Type based on Mike Hawthorns 1955 Le Mans 24 hours winner.

The variety in the race is illustrated here with the Brown's 1951 Jaguar C-Type leading a 1962 Jaguar E-Type and a 1959 Jaguar Mk1 saloon.

Eventual winner was Julien Thomas in a 1962 3.8L Jaguar E-Type who climbed up from third after the first lap to lead from Lap 2 onwards.

2nd place went to this 1965 3.8L Jaguar E-Type of Carlos Monteverde from Brazil and Andy Smith.

Many of the cars were of course British Racing green or Scottish blue, but this German entered 1950 3.4L Jaguar XK120 was red.

James Paterson's 1955 3.4L Jaguar XK140 leads a 1956 Jaguar D Type through the Esses.

Nick Riley's 1964 3.8L Jaguar E-type powers out of the Esses.  

The 3.8L 1963 Jaguar E-Type of Simon Butler and Martin Rich.

An E Type leads a Mk1 saloon through Tertre Rouge and on to the Mulsanne Straight past the famous Poplar trees.

John Sykes in a 1953 3.4L Jaguar C-Type.

For full results click here on the Peter Auto web site.

For more details of the 2016 Le Mans Classic click here for the official web site.

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.