Top Ten Le Mans Moments
With a century of the world’s greatest race to look back on, we catalogue the historic moments that helped define the legend of the Grand Prix de Vitesse et d’Endurance
Less than three months from the start of World War II, drivers run to their cars at the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours. It would be 10 years before the race would return
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Taken from Motor Sport June 2023
The moments that helped define Le Mans’ legend: we’ve been through triumphs and tragedies from numbers 100 to 90. Here, as chosen by our panel of experts, are the top ten events that helped the race transcend the usual motor racing histories.
Porsche is the most successful marque at La Sarthe, but its debut was a battle. The diminutive 356 SL did win its class on its first outing in 1951, but nearly didn’t arrive at all when all three racing test mules were crashed. That left just chassis 063, which had started life as an abandoned aluminium shell left behind in Austria by Ferry Porsche after he switched to Stuttgart. Fitted with rear wheel covers and driven by Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche, it finished 19th, winning its 1.1-litre category.