24h Le Mans
In the second half of the 1990s, Porsche managed two wins in a row, running an open-cockpit prototype that assumed several identities during its lifetime.
The story of its various disguises begins in 1991. That year, British engineers Ross Brawn and John Piper designed the Jaguar XJR-14, a closed-cockpit prototype that claimed the title in the World Sportscar Championship with TWR. In 1992, it returned to Le Mans. The Ford V8 engine had been replaced by a Judd V10 and the car ran under the name of Mazda MX-R01. The Japanese constructor’s 1991 winning team, composed of Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler, came fourth at their second attempt.
Five years later, all change again: open cockpit, a Porsche turbo engine, a new name — Joest-Porsche TWR WSC — and two victories in a row for Alexander Wurz, Manuel Reuter and Davy Jones in 1996 and Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen in 1997, under the Reinhold Joest banner. The TWR made its last outing in 1998 as a Porsche factory car named Porsche LMP1 98. However, both cars, the n°7 driven by Michele Alboreto, Yannick Dalmas and Stefan Johansson and the n°8 with Pierre-Henri Raphanel, David Murry and James Weaver at the wheel, were forced to quit. That year the iconic 911 (GT1) clinched the sixteenth Le Mans victory for Porsche, the last to date. Laurent Aiello, Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli were at the wheel on that famous day.
Read the previous episode in our series of 45 stories of Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated from French by Emma Paulay
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 24 HOURS CIRCUIT, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SATURDAY 6 & SUNDAY 7 JUNE 1998. Between 1991 and 1998, this prototype ran Le Mans under four different names and won twice. Here, as the Porsche LMP1 in 1998.
