Debut Doubts

Sir,

Surely my fellow Australian Barry Batagol has not got his facts right when questioning the accuracy of your Le Mans report, which specifically referred to McLaren’s outstanding achievement on a debut outing; of the four leading Bentleys in 1929, only the winning Speed Six was a new car. The second-placed car had won Le Mans the previous year and had competed in 1927; the third-placed car had raced there in 1928. In the 1982 race, Porsche, as well as finishing 1-2-3 with its new 956, took fourth and fifth places with 935s. If we are merely looking for race domination and ignoring the debut factor, Porsche 956s took the first eight places in the 1983 race.

Mike Evans, Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, Australia.