Henri Pescarolo’s first two Le Mans appearances in 1966 and 1967 resulted in retirements. He returned in 1968 to share the only Matra in the field with French hope Johnny Servoz-Gavin. With political and social unrest sweeping France in May, the decision was taken to postpone the race from June to late September, with dramatic consequences in terms of the weather.

Servoz-Gavin stopped on the opening lap due to windscreen wiper failure as rain fell at the Circuit des 24 Heures. As the track dried out, the Matra fought back to second place behind the Ford GT40 of eventual winners Lucien Bianchi and Pedro Rodríguez.

However, the rain returned after dark causing Servoz-Gavin to pit once again as the temperamental wiper refused to budge. Team boss Jean-Luc Lagardère woke Pescarolo and explained the problem. The Frenchman dismissed the idea of pulling out and took to the track to face the deluge.

Pescarolo’s own “behind-the-wheel” account gives full weight to his epic night-time performance: “As I set off on each lap, I said to myself that it might be the last as it seemed quite impossible to drive in such conditions. When I caught up with a car, I could vaguely see its red tail lights in the spray but was unable to tell whether it was on the left, the right or in the middle. If I overtook on the wrong side, I could end up on the wet grass and then in the trees. My aim was to get the car back where it belonged, in second place. We had put an enormous amount of work into the car which was the first to have a Matra-designed engine in place of the BRM used the previous two years. In 1968, we had a car to challenge at last. Retiring due to a wiper problem would have been stupid. When  Jean-Luc Lagardère asked me if I wanted to drive anyway, I didn’t give it a second thought.”

When the rain stopped, Servoz-Gavin took the wheel again to contribute to the fight-back to second place, but Pescarolo’s night-time feat, reported by radio, whipped up a frenzy not only among race aficionados but the entire country.

Pescarolo was at the wheel when his dream of a podium finish was quashed three hours from the end when a puncture shortly after Mulsanne Corner caused the car to catch fire.  But due to the enthusiasm stirred by the French blue prototype’s astonishing night, the man in the green helmet became a legend of the 24 Hours of Le Mans long before his four wins in 1972, ’73, ’74 and ’84.

PHOTO (© ACO ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1968 24 HOURS OF LE MANS – Two French carmakers pictured at Tertre Rouge: the Matra MS 630 of Pescarolo and Servoz-Gavin, sporting the sought-after number 24, ahead of an Alpine.