1983 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Le Mans in 1983

The winning car

The 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 51st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1983. It was also the fourth round of both the World Endurance Championship and European Endurance Championship.

The race had a close finish between the Rothmans Porsche 956s of Al Holbert (#3 car) and Derek Bell (#1). Bell was able to un-lap himself as the Holbert car was slowed by overheating (engine damage caused by an airflow blockage to the radiator that cooled the heads) and seized up on the last lap but re-fired and made it to the end with smoke trailing from the exhaust. Holbert crossed the finish line 17 seconds ahead of Bell.

Vern Schuppan, after finishing third in 1975, and second in 1977 and 1982, became the first Australian driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Bernard Rubin won driving a Bentley 4½ Litre in 1928.

Official results[]

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyres	Laps
					Engine
1	C	3	Rothmans Porsche	Vern Schuppan Hurley Haywood Al Holbert	Porsche 956	D	370
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
2	C	1	Rothmans Porsche	Jacky Ickx Derek Bell	Porsche 956	D	370
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
3	C	21	Porsche Kremer Racing	Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Philippe Alliot	Porsche 956	G	364
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
4	C	12	/ Joest Racing	Volkert Merl Mauricio de Narváez	Porsche 956	D	361
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
5	C	16	John Fitzpatrick Racing	John Fitzpatrick Guy Edwards Rupert Keegan	Porsche 956	G	358
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
6	C	8	Sorga S.A. / Joest Racing	Klaus Ludwig Stefan Johansson Bob Wollek	Porsche 956	D	354
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
7	C	18	Obermaier Racing	Desiré Wilson Jürgen Lässig	Porsche 956	D	347
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
8	C	14	Canon Racing GTi Engineering	Jonathan Palmer Jan Lammers Richard Lloyd	Porsche 956	D	339
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
9	C	46	Sauber Team Switzerland		Sauber C7	D	338
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
10	C	47	Preston Henn T-Bird Swap Shop John Fitzpatrick Racing	Preston Henn Jean-Louis Schlesser Claude Ballot-Léna	Porsche 956	G	327
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
11	B	93		Paul Smith	Porsche 930	A[1]	303
					Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6
12	C Jr	60	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Takashi Yorino Yojiro Terada Yoshimi Katayama	Mazda 717C	D	302
					Mazda 13B 1.3L 2-Rotor
13	B	92			Porsche 930	D	299
					Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6
14	C	54		Bruno Sotty		D	292
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
15	B	95	Equipe Alméras Frères	Jacques Alméras Jean-Marie Alméras	Porsche 930	M	279
					Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6
16	C	10	WM Secateva	Roger Dorchy Pascal Fabre	WM	M	278
					Peugeot PRV 2.8L Turbo V6
17	C	41	EMKA Productions Ltd.	Tiff Needell Steve O'Rourke Nick Faure	EMKA C83/1	D	275
					Aston Martin-Tickford 5.3L V8
18	C Jr	61	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Steve Soper Jeff Allam James Weaver	Mazda 717C	D	267
					Mazda 13B 1.3L 2-Rotor
19	C	29			Rondeau M382	D	265
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
20	B	96			Porsche 930	M	264
					Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6
21 NC	B	97		Patrick Gonin	Porsche 928S	D	234
					Porsche 4.7L V8
22 NC	C	53		François Hesnault Thierry Perrier	Lancia LC1	D	232
					Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4
23 NC	C	51		Oscar Larrauri Massimo Sigala Max Cohen-Olivar	Lancia LC1	D	217
					Lancia 1.4L Turbo I4
24 NC	C Jr	65		John Sheldon	De Cadenet-Lola	M	214
					Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
25 DSQ	C	30		Pierre Yver Bernard de Dryver	Rondeau M382	D	266
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
26 DNF	B	94	Claude Haldi	Claude Haldi	Porsche 930	M	217
					Porsche 3.3L Turbo Flat-6
27 DNF	C	2	Rothmans Porsche	Jochen Mass Stefan Bellof	Porsche 956	D	281
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
28 DNF	C	39	Viscount Downe - Pace Petroleum	Ray Mallock Mike Salmon	Nimrod NRA/C2B	A	218
					Aston Martin-Tickford DP1229 5.3L V8
29 DNF	C	24	Ford France	Thierry Boutsen Henri Pescarolo	Rondeau	M	174
					Ford Cosworth DFL 4.0L V8
30 DNF	C	20		François Sérvanin	Lola T610	G	165
					Ford Cosworth DFL 4.0L V8
31 DNF	B	90	Brun Motorsport	Prince Leopold von Bayern Jens Winther	BMW M1	D	160
					BMW M88 3.5L I6
32 DNF	C Jr	63	Scuderia Jolly Club	Carlo Facetti Martino Finotto		P	158
					Giannini Carma FF 1.9L Turbo I4
33 DNF	C	28	Jean Rondeau Ford France	Vic Elford Joël Gouhier Anne-Charlotte Verney	Rondeau	A	136
					Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
34 DNF	C	6	Martini Lancia	Paolo Barilla Alessandro Nannini Jean-Claude Andruet	Lancia LC2	D	135
					Ferrari 268C 2.6L Turbo V8
35 DNF	C	5	Martini Lancia	Piercarlo Ghinzani Hans Heyer Michele Alboreto	Lancia LC2	D	121
					Ferrari 268C 2.6L Turbo V8
36 DNF	C	9	WM Secateva	Jean-Daniel Raulet Didier Theys	WM	M	102
					Peugeot PRV 2.8L Turbo V6
37 DNF	C	26	Ford France	Alain Ferté Jean Rondeau Michel Ferté	Rondeau	M	90
					Ford Cosworth DFL 4.0L V8
38 DNF	C	11	John Fitzpatrick Racing	John Fitzpatrick David Hobbs Dieter Quester	Porsche 956	G	135
					Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6
39 DNF	C	13		Alain de Cadenet Yves Courage	Cougar	M	86
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
40 DNF	C	22	Porsche Kremer Racing	Derek Warwick Patrick Gaillard Frank Jelinski	Porsche-Kremer CK5	G	76
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
41 DNF	C	38	Dome Racing	Eliseo Salazar Chris Craft Nick Mason	Dome RC82	D	75
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
42 DNF	C Jr	64		Noël del Bello		D[1]	71
					BMW 2.2L I4
43 DNF	C	49		Dudley Wood		F	69
					Ford Cosworth DFL 4.0L V8
44 DNF	C	36	Brun Motorsport	Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve Ludwig Heimrath	Sehcar SH C6	D	68
					Ford Cosworth DFL 4.0L V8
45 DNF	C	72	Jean Rondeau	Alain Cudini	Rondeau M382	M	31
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
46 DNF	C	4	Martini Lancia	Michele Alboreto Teo Fabi Alessandro Nannini	Lancia LC2	D	27
					Ferrari 268C 2.6L Turbo V8
47 DNF	C	43		François Migault David Kennedy Martin Birrane	Ford C100	G	16
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
48 DNF	C	25	Ford France	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Philippe Streiff	Rondeau	M	12
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
49 DNF	C	15	Joest Racing	Jean-Michel Martin Marc Duez Philippe Martin	Porsche 936C	D	9
					Porsche Type-935 2.7L Turbo Flat-6
50 DNF	C	42		Tony Dron Richard Jones	Porsche-Kremer CK5	D	8
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
51 DNF	B	91			Porsche 930	D	7
					Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6

Statistics[]

• Pole Position - #1 Rothmans Porsche (Jacky Ickx) - 3:16.560 (155.075 mph/249.570 km/h)
• Fastest Lap - #1 Rothmans Porsche - 3:29.070
• Distance - 5047.934 km
• Average Speed - 210.330 km/h

References[]