24h Le Mans
Throughout this month, we will bring you a very special Advent calendar dedicated to remarkable stories and anecdotes from the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today, here is a look back at 2006 when German driver Dominik Farnbacher preserved a podium finish with a lucky repair on the fly trackside.
The name Farnbacher is renowned in the world of GT competitions, referring either to Horst, team owner of the same name, or his son, Dominik. Together they have shared two class podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and even came close to victory in GT2 (GT1 and GT2 preceded the creation in 2011 of the current LMGTE Pro and Am classes) in 2006.
That year, Farnbacher Racing fielded a Porsche 911 GT3 RS in partnership with another German outfit, Seikel Motorsport. At the wheel, Dominik teamed up with fellow countryman Pierre Ehret and Danish driver Lars Erik Nielsen (father of Christina Nielsen seen at the 24 Hours in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and two-time title-winner in the U.S. in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship).
During the race, the trio took the lead in its class until night fell and the car began experiencing recurring transmission troubles: the third gear was no longer functioning. Though the problem did not initially hinder the progress of the #83 Porsche, it did nevertheless decide the result of the GT1 class at the very end of the race.
Over the hours, direct shifts from second to fourth gear put increased strain on the strength of the gear lever and it finally failed while braking at Mulsanne just an hour and a half from the checkered flag. At the wheel at the time with an eight-lap lead was Dominik Farnbacher who found himself in a dead stop on the edge of the track. With no radio link or cell phone, he got out of the car and looked around for a miracle solution to fashion a temporary repair that would allow him to return to his garage.
Incredibly, he found a solution in the car, tearing off the handle of the cooler supplying the cooling vest he wore under his suit, somehow substituting it for the gear lever and returning to pit lane in second gear. In the meantime, the #83 Porsche lost the lead in the class to the Panoz entered by Team LNT. After repairs were made, Dominik, then in second position, attempted to chase the Panoz down only to fail one lap off of the win.
This is yet another example in a long history of drivers going above and beyond at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (read installment 16 of 24 Hours Stories about Henri Pescarolo). It also allowed one of the pioneers of the endurance racing renaissance since the late 1990s, the American Don Panoz, to make his mark at the race as a constructor with the winning Esperante GTLM of Richard Dean, Tom Kimber-Smith and Lawrence Tomlinson. Horst Farnbacher clinched another podium in 2010 with second place in LMGTE Pro for his son Dominik, Allan Simonsen and Leh Keen with Hankook Team Farnbacher.
PHOTO (Copyright - ACO ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 2006 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. With 16th place overall, the Porsche of Pierre Ehret/Dominik Farnbacher/Lars Erik Nielsen was the best classified of the four 911s at the checkered flag in the 74th 24 Hours.
