1988 24 Hours of Le Mans
1988 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
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Index: Races | Winners |
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 | Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing |
Jan Lammers Johnny Dumfries Andy Wallace |
Jaguar XJR-9LM | D | 394 |
Jaguar 7.0L V12 | |||||||
2 | C1 | 17 | Porsche AG | Hans-Joachim Stuck Klaus Ludwig Derek Bell |
Porsche 962C | D | 394 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
3 | C1 | 8 | Blaupunkt Joest Racing | Frank Jelinski Louis Krages Stanley Dickens |
Porsche 962C | G | 385 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
4 | C1 | 22 | Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing |
Derek Daly Kevin Cogan Larry Perkins |
Jaguar XJR-9LM | D | 383 |
Jaguar 7.0L V12 | |||||||
5 | C1 | 7 | Blaupunkt Joest Racing | David Hobbs Didier Theys Franz Konrad |
Porsche 962C | G | 380 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
6 | C1 | 19 | Porsche AG | Mario Andretti Michael Andretti John Andretti |
Porsche 962C | D | 375 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
7 | C1 | 5 | Repsol Brun Motorsport | Jesús Pareja Massimo Sigala |
Porsche 962C | M | 372 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
8 | C1 | 11 | Leyton House Kremer Racing | Kris Nissen Harald Grohs George Fouché |
Porsche 962C | Y | 371 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
9 | C1 | 10 | Kenwood Kremer Racing | Kunimitsu Takahashi Hideki Okada Bruno Giacomelli |
Porsche 962CK6 | Y | 370 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
10 | C1 | 33 | Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team | Brian Redman Eje Elgh Jean-Pierre Jarier |
Porsche 962C | D | 359 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
11 | C1 | 72 | Primagaz Competition | Jürgen Lässig Pierre Yver Dudley Wood |
Porsche 962C | G | 356 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
12 | C1 | 36 | Toyota Team Tom's | Geoff Lees Masanori Sekiya Kaoru Hoshino |
Toyota 88C | B | 351 |
Toyota 3S-GT 2.1L Turbo I4 | |||||||
13 | C2 | 111 | Spice Engineering | Ray Bellm Gordon Spice |
Spice SE88C | G | 351 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
14 | C1 | 32 | Nissan Motorsports | Allan Grice Mike Wilds Win Percy |
Nissan (March) R88C | B | 344 |
Nissan VRH30 3.0L Turbo V8 | |||||||
15 | GTP | 203 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. | Yojiro Terada David Kennedy Pierre Dieudonné |
Mazda 757 | D | 337 |
Mazda 13G 2.0L 3-Rotor | |||||||
16 | C1 | 21 | Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing |
Danny Sullivan Davy Jones Price Cobb |
Jaguar XJR-9LM | D | 331 |
Jaguar 7.0L V12 | |||||||
17 | GTP | 201 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. | Yoshimi Katayama David Leslie Marc Duez |
Mazda 767 | D | 330 |
Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor | |||||||
18 | C2 | 115 | ADA Engineering | Hideo Fukuyama |
ADA 03 | G | 318 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
19 | GTP | 202 | Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. | Takashi Yorino Hervé Regout Will Hoy |
Mazda 767 | D | 305 |
Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor | |||||||
20 | C2 | 123 | Charles Ivey Racing Team Istel |
Tim Harvey Chris Hodgetts John Sheldon |
Tiga GC287 | D | 301 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
21 | C2 | 124 | MT Sport Racing | |
Argo JM19C | A | 300 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
22 | C2 | 177 | Automobiles Louis Descartes (ALD) | Dominique Lacaud |
ALD 04 | A | 294 |
BMW M80 3.5L I6 | |||||||
23 | C2 | 198 | Roy Baker Racing | David Andrews |
Tiga GC286 | D | 294 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
24 | C1 | 37 | Toyota Team Tom's | Paolo Barilla Hitoshi Ogawa Tiff Needell |
Toyota 88C | B | 283 |
Toyota 3S-GT 2.1L Turbo I4 | |||||||
25 | C1 | 117 | Team Lucky Strike Schanche | Martin Schanche Robin Smith Robin Donovan |
Argo JM19C | G | 278 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
26 NC |
C2 | 113 | Primagaz Competition | Max Cohen-Olivar Patrick de Radiguès |
Cougar C12 | G | 273 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
27 NC |
C2 | 151 | Pierre-Alain Lombardi | Bruno Sotty |
Rondeau M379 | A | 271 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.0L V8 | |||||||
28 DNF |
C1 | 1 | Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing |
Martin Brundle John Nielsen |
Jaguar XJR-9LM | D | 306 |
Jaguar 7.0L V12 | |||||||
29 DNF |
C1 | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Takao Wada Aguri Suzuki |
Nissan (March) R88C | B | 286 |
Nissan VRH30 3.0L Turbo V8 | |||||||
30 DNF |
C2 | 103 | Spice Engineering | Almo Coppelli Thorkild Thyrring Eliseo Salazar |
Spice SE88C | G | 281 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
31 DNF |
C2 | 131 | Graff Racing | Jean-Philippe Grand |
Spice SE86C | A | 263 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
32 DNF |
C1 | 24 | Dollop Racing | Nicola Marozzo Jean-Pierre Frey |
Lancia LC2 | D | 255 |
Ferrari 308C 3.0L Turbo V8 | |||||||
33 DNF |
C2 | 127 | Chamberlain Engineering | Nick Adams Martin Birrane Richard Jones |
Spice SE86C | A | 223 |
Hart 418T 1.8L Turbo I4 | |||||||
34 DNF |
C1 | 18 | Porsche AG | Bob Wollek Sarel van der Merwe Vern Schuppan |
Porsche 962C | D | 192 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
35 DNF |
C1 | 42 | Noël del Bello Racing | Bernard Santal Noël del Bello Bernard de Dryver |
Sauber C8 | G | 157 |
Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8 | |||||||
36 DNF |
C2 | 121 | Cosmik GP Motorsport | Costas Los Wayne Taylor Evan Clements |
Spice SE87C | G | 145 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
37 DNF |
C2 | 191 | PC Automotive | Olindo Iacobelli John Graham |
Argo JM19C | G | 130 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
38 DNF |
C1 | 3 | Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing |
John Watson Raul Boesel Henri Pescarolo |
Jaguar XJR-9LM | D | 129 |
Jaguar 7.0L V12 | |||||||
39 DNF |
C1 | 13 | Primagaz Competition | Pierre-Henri Raphanel Michel Ferté |
Cougar C20B | M | 120 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
40 DNF |
C2 | 178 | Automobiles Louis Descartes (ALD) | Gérard Tremblay |
ALD 04 | A | 103 |
BMW M80 3.5L I6 | |||||||
41 DNF |
C1 | 4 | Camel Brun Motorsport | Manuel Reuter Walter Lechner |
Porsche 962C | M | 91 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
42 DNF |
C1 | 85 | Italiya Sport Team Le Mans Co. |
Michel Trollé Toshio Suzuki Danny Ongais |
March 88S | Y | 74 |
Nissan VG30ET 3.2L Turbo V6 | |||||||
43 DNF |
C1 | 86 | Italiya Sport Team Le Mans Co. |
Lamberto Leoni Akio Morimoto Anders Olofsson |
March 88S | Y | 69 |
Nissan VG30ET 3.2L Turbo V6 | |||||||
44 DNF |
C1 | 30 | Courage Compétition | Paul Belmondo François Migault Ukyo Katayama |
Courage C22 | M | 66 |
Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
45 DNF |
C1 | 51 | WM Secateva | Roger Dorchy Claude Haldi Jean-Daniel Raulet |
WM P87 | M | 59 |
Peugeot ZNS4 2.8L Turbo V6 | |||||||
46 DNF |
C2 | 132 | Roland Bassaler | Jean-François Yvon |
Sauber SHS C6 | A | 53 |
BMW M80 3.5L I6 | |||||||
47 DNF |
C1 | 52 | WM Secateva | Jean-Daniel Raulet |
WM P88 | M | 22 |
Peugeot ZNS4 3.0L Turbo V6 | |||||||
48 DNF |
C2 | 107 | Chamberlain Engineering | Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Louis Ricci Jean-Claude Andruet |
Spice SE88C | A | 17 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
49 DNF |
C1 | 20 | Team Davey | Tim Lee-Davey |
Tiga GC88 | D | 5 |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L Turbo V8 | |||||||
DNS | C2 | 181 | Luigi Taverna Technoracing | |
Olmas GLT-200 | A | - |
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8 | |||||||
DNS | C1 | 61 | Team Sauber Mercedes | Mauro Baldi James Weaver Jochen Mass |
Sauber C9 | M | - |
Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L Turbo V8 | |||||||
DNS | C1 | 62 | Team Sauber Mercedes | Klaus Niedzwiedz 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.
- ^ a b Page, James (29 May 2018). "Remembering Le Mans 1988". Classic & Sports Car. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "Mulsanne's Corner: Maximum Speeds at le Mans, 1961-1989".
- ^ Lis, Alan (July 2012). "Built for Speed". Racecar Engineering: 36–40. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
- ^ Watkins, Gary (8 June 2018). "The disaster lurking behind Jaguar's 1988 Le Mans win". Autosport. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "1988 Le Mans 24 Hours report". Motor Sport magazine. July 1988.
- ^ "THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1988 24 HOURS OF LE MANS". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- 24 Hours of Le Mans races
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- 1988 in French motorsport