24h Le Mans
Matra dominated the 24 Hours from 1972 to 1974 with three successive wins, and wrote some of the finest pages in the history of French manufacturers at Le Mans. But, as is often the case at the Circuit de la Sarthe, it faced stiff competition from some unexpected opponents.
Matra boss Jean-Luc Lagardère made some radical decisions during the early seventies. In 1972, first of all, he decided not to enter the World Championship for Makes and to focus solely on the 24 Hours of Le Mans crown. He also wooed Henri Pescarolo back to the fold after he was snubbed in 1971.
Preparations involved long simulation sessions at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. Then, in 1973, Lagardère ended Matra’s commitment to Formula One as he targeted the world Makes title and another Le Mans victory.
1972: a Matra one-two – With Matra opting out of the world championship to concentrate on Le Mans, Ferrari took the opposite tack and gave the 24 Hours a miss. In 1972, Matra’s desire for victory was all the stronger as Lagardère had promised a home win to French President Georges Pompidou, the honorary starter that year. Matra gave signs that Lagardère would be good to his word as Pescarolo, François Cevert and Jean-Pierre Beltoise led the field in that order at the end of the first lap. In the absence of Ferrari, this fortieth running of the endurance classic became an all-Matra battle as Cevert and Howden Ganley swapped the lead with Pescarolo and Graham Hill. In the Sunday morning rain, tyre strategy and a race incident (Ganley was shunted from behind) tipped the balance in favour of Hill and Pescarolo. Cevert and Ganley clung on to second place to secure a one-two for Matra, the first French manufacturer to win Le Mans since Talbot Lago in 1950.
1973: The head-to-head with Ferrari – The Franco-Italian face-off that had been sidestepped in 1972 took place a year later, both in the World Championship for Makes and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The fiftieth anniversary edition of the legendary French race served up a battle that honoured the occasion. Three cars from each side took turns to lead the field: the Ferraris of Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace, Carlos Reutemann/Tim Schenken, and Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman, the Matras with Beltoise/Cevert, Patrick Depailler/Bob Wollek and eventual winners Pescarolo/Gérard Larrousse at the wheel. Pescarolo and Larrousse were under constant threat from Ickx/Redman until the Ferrari’s engine failed with just an hour and a half to run. A fourth Matra in the hands of Jean-Pierre Jaussaud/Jean-Pierre Jabouille had never held the lead but nonetheless finished on the podium in third place. The 1973 endurance season ended with Matra also picking up the world title.
1974: Porsche lying in ambush – Having turned its attentions to Formula One, Ferrari again snubbed Le Mans in 1974. Another Italian manufacturer, Alfa Romeo, had won the opening round of the 1974 World Championship of Makes, but it too decided to overlook the 24-Hour classic. Despite these absences, Matra did not have it all its own way. Three of its four cars suffered various technical problems and even the Pescarolo/Larrousse pairing, who topped the hourly standings throughout the race, was not spared. Pescarolo had a comfortable lead (11 laps) over the Porsche Carrera of Gijs van Lennep/Herbert Müller when gearbox trouble in the 19th hour forced him to a halt in the Mulsanne Straight. He managed to limp back to the pits but by the time the problem had been fixed, the lead was down to just three minutes. Fortunately for Matra, the Carrera had gearbox issues of its own. Incidentally, the winning Matra was fitted with a gearbox designed by Porsche! The French team had to rely on its supplier – and adversary on the racetrack – to obtain the part required to repair it! For the second year in succession, Jabouille claimed the third step on the podium for Matra, this time with François Migault.
Matra thus ended its 24 Hours of Le Mans adventure on a high note – its third consecutive victory. Two years later, the French constructor returned to Formula One as engine supplier to Ligier.
The Matra story at Le Mans is also one of a new generation of French drivers... as we shall discover in the third episode of this series.
Catch up on the previous episode below:
Le Mans, Matra’s seventies playground (1) – 1970-71, biding time
Photo (ACO archives): Matra one-two-three in qualifying for the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours with, in order on the starting grid, François Cevert/Howden Ganley (#14, pole position), eventual winners Henri Pescarolo/Graham Hill (#15) and Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Chris Amon (#12).
