1988 24 Hours of Le Mans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1988 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 1987 Next: 1989
Index: Races | Winners
Le Mans in 1988

The 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 56th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 11 and 12 June 1988. It was also the fifth round of the World Sports-Prototype Championship season.

Race[]

The Porsches were able to turn up to turbo boost in qualifying, thus were able to qualify in the top spots. Early in the race Jaguar proved to be faster and overtook all the Porsches (In the normal race configuration turbo boost) by the 2nd lap.

After four years of trying with previous evolutions, Jaguar took the XJR-9 to victory against Porsche's works 962C in 1988. Apart from a lone Jaguar in fourth, Porsches filled the rest of the top ten. The Sauber-Mercedes team withdrew prior to the event following concerns over blowouts from their Michelin tyres.[1] The race covered a distance of 5,332.97 km, the most distance covered in any of the Le Mans 24 hours races, except 1971 when the Martini Racing Team Porsche 917K covered 5,335.313 km in 397 laps. Those records would however be broken over 20 years later in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, when the #9 Audi R15 TDI plus of Joest Racing (under the name Audi Sport North America) tied the record for the number of laps around the Le Mans circuit (at 397 laps) and, due to its changing course configurations (such as the Mulsanne Straight chicanes), set an outright distance record of 5,410.7 km (3,362.1 mi)—roughly the distance between Miami and Seattle—over the 13.629-km course configuration.

This was the second-to-last 24-hour race without chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, and Team WM Peugeot had prioritised breaking the speed record that year. The WM-P88 Peugeot driven by Frenchman Roger Dorchy managed to reach a top speed of 405 km/h (252 mph)[2] at the end of the 5.8 kilometre long Mulsanne Straight having struggled with reliability for the entire event. Following the record setting run, the issues that had plagued the car all weekend (turbocharger, cooling and electrical) finally ended their race.[3]

The Jaguar team suffered from gearbox problems, Lammers holding the car in 4th gear to prevent the gearbox from damaging itself.[4] The Bell, Stuck, Ludwig Porsche 962C came very close to winning, with Ludwig making a rare error by running out of fuel on the track and losing valuable time getting back to the pits. The win ended Porsche's 7-year reign at Le Mans. At least 50,000 British spectators were in attendance. At the end of the race the crowd flooded the track and drivers had trouble reaching the finish line.[5] There were 280,000 spectators in attendance. The race was held from 15:00 to 15:00 because of French elections.[6] The winning chassis had failed to finish at the previous four rounds.[1]

Qualifying[]

Class leaders are in bold

Pos No. Team Car Class Time Gap
1 17 Porsche AG Porsche 962C C1 3:15.640
2 18 Porsche AG Porsche 962C C1 3:18.620 +2.980
3 19 Porsche AG Porsche 962C C1 3:21.770 +6.130
4 1 Silk Cut Jaguar Jaguar XJR-9 C1 3:21.780 +6.140
5 8 Blaupunkt Joest Racing Porsche 962C C1 3:23.300 +7.660
6 2 Silk Cut Jaguar Jaguar XJR-9 C1 3:23.740 +8.100
7 11 Leyton House Kremer Racing Porsche 962C C1 3:24.730 +9.090
8 36 Toyota Team Tom’s Toyota 88C C1 3:25.390 +9.750
9 21 Silk Cut Jaguar Jaguar XJR-9 C1 3:25.420 +9.780
10 37 Toyota Team Tom’s Toyota 88C C1 3:26.570 +10.930
11 22 Silk Cut Jaguar Jaguar XJR-9 C1 3:26.780 +11.140
12 3 Silk Cut Jaguar Jaguar XJR-9 C1 3:26.820 +11.180
13 5 Repsol Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C C1 3:28.090 +12.450
14 33 Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team Porsche 962C C1 3:28.300 +12.660
15 23 Nissan Motorsports Nissan R88C C1 3:29.440 +13.800
16 127 Chamberlain Engineering Spice SE86C C2 3:30.260 +14.620
17 13 Primagaz Compétition Cougar C20B C1 3:30.370 +14.730
18 4 Camel Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C C1 3:30.550 +14.910
19 86 Italiya Sport March 88S C1 3:31.140 +15.500
20 7 Blaupunkt Joest Racing Porsche 962C C1 3:32.210 +16.570
21 10 Kenwood Kremer Racing Porsche 962C C1 3:32.480 +16.840
22 52 WM Secateva WM P87 C1 3:34.650 +19.010
23 32 Nissan Motorsports Nissan R88C C1 3:34.660 +19.020
24 72 Primagaz Compétition Porsche 962C C1 3:35.630 +19.990
25 85 Italiya Sport March 88S C1 3:35.860 +20.220
26 111 Spice Engineering Spice SE88C C2 3:37.840 +22.200
27 42 Noël del Bello Racing Sauber C8 C1 3:38.300 +22.660
28 202 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Mazda 767 GTP 3:39.320 +23.680
29 201 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Mazda 767 GTP 3:39.600 +23.960
30 121 Cosmik GP Motorsport Spice SE87C C2 3:40.050 +24.390
31 24 Dollop Racing Lancia LC2 C1 3:40.190 +24.530
32 123 Charles Ivey Racing Tiga GC287 C2 3:40.710 +25.070
33 131 Graff Racing Spice SE86C C2 3:40.980 +25.320
34 107 Chamberlain Engineering Spice SE88C C2 3:41.180 +25.520
35 103 BP Spice Engineering Spice SE88C C2 3:41.210 +25.550
36 51 WM Secateva WM P88 C1 3:41.480 +25.840
37 203 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Mazda 767 GTP 3:44.990 +29.350
38 30 Courage Compétition Cougar C22 C1 3:45.340 +29.700
39 177 Automobiles Louis Descartes ALD 04 C2 3:45.950 +30.310
40 117 Team Lucky Strike Schanche Argo JM19 C2 3:47.460 +31.820
41 124 MT Sport Racing Argo JM19 C2 3:53.210 +37.570
42 178 Automobiles Louis Descartes ALD 03 C2 3:53.340 +37.700
43 151 Pierre-Alain Lombardi Rondeau M379 C2 3:53.740 +38.100
44 198 Roy Baker Racing Tiga GC286 C2 3:56.000 +40.360
45 113 Primagaz Compétition Cougar C12 C2 3:56.510 +40.870
46 115 ADA Engineering ADA 03 C2 3:58.940 +43.300
47 20 Team Davey Tiga GC88 C1 3:59.200 +43.560
48 181 Luigi Taverna Technoracing Olmas GLT-200 C2 3:59.980 +44.340
49 191 PC Automotive Argo JM19 C2 4:03.020 +47.380
50 132 Roland Bassaler Sauber SHS C6 C2 4:06.650 +51.110
WD 62 Team Sauber-Mercedes Sauber C9 C1 3:30.460
WD 61 Team Sauber-Mercedes Sauber C9 C1 3:30.800

Official results[]

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 C1 2 United Kingdom Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Netherlands Jan Lammers
United Kingdom Johnny Dumfries
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
Jaguar XJR-9LM D 394
Jaguar 7.0L V12
2 C1 17 Germany Porsche AG Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
Germany Klaus Ludwig
United Kingdom Derek Bell
Porsche 962C D 394
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
3 C1 8 Germany Blaupunkt Joest Racing Germany Frank Jelinski
Germany Louis Krages
Sweden Stanley Dickens
Porsche 962C G 385
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
4 C1 22 United States Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Republic of Ireland Derek Daly
United States Kevin Cogan
Australia Larry Perkins
Jaguar XJR-9LM D 383
Jaguar 7.0L V12
5 C1 7 Germany Blaupunkt Joest Racing United Kingdom David Hobbs
Belgium Didier Theys
Austria Franz Konrad
Porsche 962C G 380
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
6 C1 19 Germany Porsche AG United States Mario Andretti
United States Michael Andretti
United States John Andretti
Porsche 962C D 375
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
7 C1 5 Switzerland Repsol Brun Motorsport Spain Jesús Pareja
Italy Massimo Sigala
Germany
Porsche 962C M 372
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
8 C1 11 Germany Leyton House Kremer Racing Denmark Kris Nissen
Germany Harald Grohs
South Africa George Fouché
Porsche 962C Y 371
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
9 C1 10 Germany Kenwood Kremer Racing Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi
Japan Hideki Okada
Italy Bruno Giacomelli
Porsche 962CK6 Y 370
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
10 C1 33 Australia Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team United Kingdom Brian Redman
Sweden Eje Elgh
France Jean-Pierre Jarier
Porsche 962C D 359
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
11 C1 72 France Primagaz Competition Germany Jürgen Lässig
France Pierre Yver
United Kingdom Dudley Wood
Porsche 962C G 356
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
12 C1 36 Japan Toyota Team Tom's United Kingdom Geoff Lees
Japan Masanori Sekiya
Japan Kaoru Hoshino
Toyota 88C B 351
Toyota 3S-GT 2.1L Turbo I4
13 C2 111 United Kingdom Spice Engineering United Kingdom Ray Bellm
United Kingdom Gordon Spice
France
Spice SE88C G 351
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
14 C1 32 Japan Nissan Motorsports Australia Allan Grice
United Kingdom Mike Wilds
United Kingdom Win Percy
Nissan (March) R88C B 344
Nissan VRH30 3.0L Turbo V8
15 GTP 203 Japan Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Japan Yojiro Terada
Republic of Ireland David Kennedy
Belgium Pierre Dieudonné
Mazda 757 D 337
Mazda 13G 2.0L 3-Rotor
16 C1 21 United States Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
United States Danny Sullivan
United States Davy Jones
United States Price Cobb
Jaguar XJR-9LM D 331
Jaguar 7.0L V12
17 GTP 201 Japan Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Japan Yoshimi Katayama
United Kingdom David Leslie
Belgium Marc Duez
Mazda 767 D 330
Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor
18 C2 115 United Kingdom ADA Engineering United Kingdom
Japan
Japan Hideo Fukuyama
ADA 03 G 318
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
19 GTP 202 Japan Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Japan Takashi Yorino
Belgium Hervé Regout
United Kingdom Will Hoy
Mazda 767 D 305
Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor
20 C2 123 United Kingdom Charles Ivey Racing
United Kingdom Team Istel
United Kingdom Tim Harvey
United Kingdom Chris Hodgetts
United Kingdom John Sheldon
Tiga GC287 D 301
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
21 C2 124 France MT Sport Racing France
France
France
Argo JM19C A 300
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
22 C2 177 France Automobiles Louis Descartes (ALD) France
France
France Dominique Lacaud
ALD 04 A 294
BMW M80 3.5L I6
23 C2 198 United Kingdom Roy Baker Racing United States
United Kingdom David Andrews
United States
Tiga GC286 D 294
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
24 C1 37 Japan Toyota Team Tom's Italy Paolo Barilla
Japan Hitoshi Ogawa
United Kingdom Tiff Needell
Toyota 88C B 283
Toyota 3S-GT 2.1L Turbo I4
25 C1 117 Norway Team Lucky Strike Schanche Norway Martin Schanche
United Kingdom Robin Smith
United Kingdom Robin Donovan
Argo JM19C G 278
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
26
NC
C2 113 France Primagaz Competition Morocco Max Cohen-Olivar
Belgium Patrick de Radiguès
Cougar C12 G 273
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
27
NC
C2 151 Switzerland Pierre-Alain Lombardi Switzerland
France Bruno Sotty
Rondeau M379 A 271
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.0L V8
28
DNF
C1 1 United Kingdom Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
United Kingdom Martin Brundle
Denmark John Nielsen
Jaguar XJR-9LM D 306
Jaguar 7.0L V12
29
DNF
C1 23 Japan Nissan Motorsports Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino
Japan Takao Wada
Japan Aguri Suzuki
Nissan (March) R88C B 286
Nissan VRH30 3.0L Turbo V8
30
DNF
C2 103 United Kingdom Spice Engineering Italy Almo Coppelli
Denmark Thorkild Thyrring
Chile Eliseo Salazar
Spice SE88C G 281
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
31
DNF
C2 131 France Graff Racing France Jean-Philippe Grand
France
France
Spice SE86C A 263
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
32
DNF
C1 24 Italy Dollop Racing Italy Nicola Marozzo
Switzerland Jean-Pierre Frey
Italy
Lancia LC2 D 255
Ferrari 308C 3.0L Turbo V8
33
DNF
C2 127 United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering United Kingdom Nick Adams
Republic of Ireland Martin Birrane
United Kingdom Richard Jones
Spice SE86C A 223
Hart 418T 1.8L Turbo I4
34
DNF
C1 18 Germany Porsche AG France Bob Wollek
South Africa Sarel van der Merwe
Australia Vern Schuppan
Porsche 962C D 192
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
35
DNF
C1 42 France Noël del Bello Racing Switzerland Bernard Santal
France Noël del Bello
Belgium Bernard de Dryver
Sauber C8 G 157
Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8
36
DNF
C2 121 United Kingdom Cosmik GP Motorsport Greece Costas Los
South Africa Wayne Taylor
United Kingdom Evan Clements
Spice SE87C G 145
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
37
DNF
C2 191 United Kingdom PC Automotive United States Olindo Iacobelli
France
Canada John Graham
Argo JM19C G 130
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
38
DNF
C1 3 United Kingdom Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
United Kingdom John Watson
Brazil Raul Boesel
France Henri Pescarolo
Jaguar XJR-9LM D 129
Jaguar 7.0L V12
39
DNF
C1 13 France Primagaz Competition France Pierre-Henri Raphanel
France Michel Ferté
Cougar C20B M 120
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
40
DNF
C2 178 France Automobiles Louis Descartes (ALD) France
France Gérard Tremblay
France
ALD 04 A 103
BMW M80 3.5L I6
41
DNF
C1 4 Switzerland Camel Brun Motorsport Germany Manuel Reuter
Austria Walter Lechner
Switzerland
Porsche 962C M 91
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
42
DNF
C1 85 Japan Italiya Sport
Japan Team Le Mans Co.
France Michel Trollé
Japan Toshio Suzuki
United States Danny Ongais
March 88S Y 74
Nissan VG30ET 3.2L Turbo V6
43
DNF
C1 86 Japan Italiya Sport
Japan Team Le Mans Co.
Italy Lamberto Leoni
Japan Akio Morimoto
Sweden Anders Olofsson
March 88S Y 69
Nissan VG30ET 3.2L Turbo V6
44
DNF
C1 30 France Courage Compétition France Paul Belmondo
France François Migault
Japan Ukyo Katayama
Courage C22 M 66
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
45
DNF
C1 51 France WM Secateva France Roger Dorchy
Switzerland Claude Haldi
France Jean-Daniel Raulet
WM P87 M 59
Peugeot ZNS4 2.8L Turbo V6
46
DNF
C2 132 France Roland Bassaler France Jean-François Yvon
France
France
Sauber SHS C6 A 53
BMW M80 3.5L I6
47
DNF
C1 52 France WM Secateva France
France Jean-Daniel Raulet
WM P88 M 22
Peugeot ZNS4 3.0L Turbo V6
48
DNF
C2 107 United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering France Claude Ballot-Léna
France Jean-Louis Ricci
France Jean-Claude Andruet
Spice SE88C A 17
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
49
DNF
C1 20 United Kingdom Team Davey United Kingdom Tim Lee-Davey
United Kingdom
Tiga GC88 D 5
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L Turbo V8
DNS C2 181 Italy Luigi Taverna Technoracing Italy
Italy
Italy
Olmas GLT-200 A -
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
DNS C1 61 Switzerland Team Sauber Mercedes Italy Mauro Baldi
United Kingdom James Weaver
Germany Jochen Mass
Sauber C9 M -
Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8
DNS C1 62 Switzerland Team Sauber Mercedes Germany Klaus Niedzwiedz
United Kingdom Kenny Acheson
Sauber C9 M -
Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8

Statistics[]

  • Pole Position – Hans-Joachim Stuck, #17 Porsche AG – 3:15.64 (154.758 mph/249.058 km/h)
  • Fastest Lap – Hans-Joachim Stuck, #17 Porsche AG – 3:22.50
  • Distance – 5332.97 km
  • Average Speed – 221.765 km/h
  • Highest Trap Speed - #51 WM Secaleva - 253 mph (407 km/h) (qualifying) (all-time record)

Notes[]

References[]

  • "FIA World Sports-Prototype Championship 1988 - 24 h Le Mans". World Sports Racing Prototypes. 2 October 2005. Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  • "Le Mans 24 Hours 1988". Racing Sports Cars. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  1. ^ a b Page, James (29 May 2018). "Remembering Le Mans 1988". Classic & Sports Car. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Mulsanne's Corner: Maximum Speeds at le Mans, 1961-1989".
  3. ^ Lis, Alan (July 2012). "Built for Speed". Racecar Engineering: 36–40. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  4. ^ Watkins, Gary (8 June 2018). "The disaster lurking behind Jaguar's 1988 Le Mans win". Autosport. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  5. ^ "1988 Le Mans 24 Hours report". Motor Sport magazine. July 1988.
  6. ^ "THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1988 24 HOURS OF LE MANS". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2021.


World Sportscar Championship
Previous race:
1988 1000km of Silverstone
1988 season Next race:
1988 360km of Brno
Retrieved from ""