1988 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 56th 24 -hour Le Mans race, the Grand Prix d' Endurance les 56e 24 Heures du Mans, took place from 11 to June 12, 1988 held at the Circuit des 24 Heures.

The race of records

As on Sunday by 15 clock of the victorious Jaguar XJR9 -LM, with Jan Lammers at the wheel, drove over the finish line, one of the fastest 24 -hour Le Mans race ended. With 5332.970 kilometers traveled missing Lammers and his team-mate Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace only less than two kilometers to the record of 5335.313 km, situated in the 24- hour race at Le Mans in 1971 by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep in the Porsche 917.

In training the 400-km/h-Höchstgeschwindigkeits-Barriere fell. Roger Dorchy was measured in the Welter Racing P88 at the end of Les Hunaudières straight lines with 405 km / h. Welter had it set out to achieve the record. As "Project 400 " defined, the car had barely driven in the curves. The French tire manufacturer Michelin supplied tires with a special blend and guaranteed a speed of 410 km / h

The German Porsche driver Hans -Joachim Stuck broke through in training the 250- km / h barrier for the average speed on a lap. With 250.164 km / h to 250 km / h were exceeded only the third time.

Race course

More than 200,000 spectators flocked to Le Mans in order to pursue the three-way battle between the five works Jaguar, the three factory Porsche and the two Sauber-Mercedes with can. Before the race, but drew Peter Sauber C9, the two back. When training on Thursday Klaus Niedzwiedz was in the crease before the Mulsanne a puncture. Niedzwiedz could but catch the car at over 300 km / h and avoid an accident. Since the cause of the defect by technicians from Michelin in such a short time could not be determined, renounced clean for safety reasons at the start.

The XJR9 Jaguar had been modified and possessed over 17 - inch wheels, which gave the car a better output. At Porsche, there were improvements to the aerodynamics of the 962 and the new Motronic MP1 engine management system.

From the first lap Hans -Joachim Stuck came as leading back to the start and finish, but was ousted in the sixth round by Jan Lammers from the top. Thus began a duel of these two cars and their six drivers, that should last until the penultimate lap and was discharged with a constant maximum speed. In the 19 lap took over for a round - made ​​possible by pit stops of the leading car - the Andretti - Porsche -962 the lead. In this car Mario Andretti sat, his son Michael and his nephew John. After nine hours, led for 12 laps of Wollek / van der Merwe / Schuppan Porsche, but resigned soon after with engine failure.

After 16 hours of racing Lammers / Dumfries / Wallace Jaguar led by a margin of two rounds at the pursuing Porsche von Stuck, Klaus Ludwig and Derek Bell. In third place was the Jaguar by Martin Brundle and John Nielsen, but after 306 rounds failed with a defective cylinder. By the end of the race, the Porsche team did pressure on the Jaguar at the top and was able to catch a whole round in the last three hours.

In the end, however, won the conducted by Tom Walkinshaw Jaguar team, as this could constantly go over the long distance, the faster laps than the factory Porsche.

Results

Pilot after Nations

Final ranking

1 accident in training 2 3 withdrawn withdrawn

Class winner

Race data

  • Starter: 49
  • Weather during the race weekend: hot and sunny
  • Distance: 13.535 km
  • Honorary starter of the race: Mr. Yokose, CEO of Sumitomo Group
  • Distance of the winning team: 5332.970 km
  • Winners section: 221.754 km / h
  • Race series: 5th round of the World Sportscar Championship
Circuit de la Sarthe John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute Andy Wallace (racing driver) 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 962 Michael Andretti John Andretti Derek Bell (racing driver) John Nielsen (racing driver) France Italy Australia Jaguar Cars Dunlop Tyres Frank Jelinski Louis Krages Stanley Dickens Derek Daly Kevin Cogan Larry Perkins David Hobbs (racing driver) Didier Theys Franz Konrad (racing driver) Brun Motorsport Kremer Racing Kris Nissen Harald Grohs Kunimitsu Takahashi Hideki Okada (racing driver) Bruno Giacomelli Vern Schuppan Brian Redman Eje Elgh Pierre Yver Masanori Sekiya Toyota Bridgestone Gordon Spice Cosworth Mike Wilds Win Percy Nissan R88C Dave Kennedy Mazda 757 Mazda Danny Sullivan Davy Jones (racing driver) Price Cobb David Leslie (racing driver) Mazda 767 Takashi Yorino Will Hoy Avon Rubber Paolo Barilla Martin Schanche Robin Donovan Aguri Suzuki Eliseo Salazar Bob Wollek Sarel van der Merwe Bernard de Dryver Sauber C8 Costas Los Wayne Taylor Raul Boesel Henri Pescarolo Pierre-Henri Raphanel Manuel Reuter Toshio Suzuki (racing driver) Danny Ongais Lamberto Leoni Anders Olofsson Paul Belmondo Claude Haldi Jean-Daniel Raulet Peugeot Sauber SHS C6 Jean-Louis Ricci Mauro Baldi James Weaver (racing driver) Jochen Mass Kenny Acheson 1923 24 Hours of Le Mans 1924 24 Hours of Le Mans 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans 1926 24 Hours of Le Mans 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans 1933 24 Hours of Le Mans 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans 1936 24 Hours of Le Mans 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans 1988 1000 km of Brands Hatch 1988 1000 km of Fuji
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