The Orientals had arrived, and by Sunday evening they’d conquered. Mercedes were the pace-makers, running in formation at the head of the field on Saturday evening, but only one of the three cars reached the finish after costly delays put it down to fifth. . . . and Mazda was the winner, a seemingly impossible result that made sense when you thought about it rationally.
Jaguars were placed 2-3-4, but to everyone’s amazement they were just not fast enough, handicapped (as were the Mercedes and Porsches) by FISA’s heavy 1000 kg scrutineering weight.
Early in April FISA did Mazda a big favour, but the European manufacturers were so busy eyeing each other’s preparations that they didn’t take proper note. The controlling body slipped an amendment through allowing Mazda to retain the scrutineering weight of 830 kilogrammes all season, removing the need to ballast up to 880 kg for Le Mans.
