24h Le Mans
Two-time Formula 1 world champion in 1998 and 1999, Mika Häkkinen, was recently given the opportunity to do some laps at the Laguna Seca circuit in California at the wheel of the McLaren F1 GTR that won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans stands out in most everyone's minds. First of all because it was one of the wettest editions in the history of the race, with 17 out of 24 hours in pouring rain!
Secondly, the 1995 podium beat all the odds. Forty-eight cars took the start that year, led by Welter Racing's #9 WR LM94 driven by pole-sitter William David. With the race clearly dominated by the GT1s (four of the seven leaders were McLaren F1 GTRs), the final battle pitted Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing's #59 McLaren F1 GTR shared by J.J. Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya against Courage Compétition's Courage C34 driven by Eric Hélary, Bob Wollek and Mario Andretti (WSC class). Unfortunately, on the heels of a mistake made by Andretti just before the Karting turn earlier in the race, the British car sailed to victory, the marque's sole win to date. 1995 was also the year of the first win for a Finnish driver and a Japanese driver at Le Mans.
At the end of August at the Laguna Seca circuit in California, previous two-time F1 world champion and former official driver with McLaren F1, Mika Häkkinen, had the privilege of taking the wheel of this legendary racing car (01R chassis). Check out his experience in this video, and make sure you turn up the volume!
VIDEO: YouTube - The RACER Channel
