In 1949, when the 24 Hours of Le Mans returned after a nine-year hiatus as a result of World War II, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (1908-2011) was one of the four drivers to take the start at the wheel of the Ferrari 166 MM. With his teammate Jean Lucas, he was forced to retire unfortunately, but the first entry at the 24 Hours for the Italian manufacturer ended in a win for the other car driven by Luigi Chinetti-Lord Selsdon. In 10 participations, spanning from 1931 to 1955, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus achieved his best result in an Alfa Romeo 8C, with a second place finish in 1935. "My grandfather raced with Alfa Romeo during the period between the two world wars and knew Luigi Chinetti well, explains Peter Mann. He raced under different pseudonyms, like 'Ferret' - I never knew why he chose that alias - before World War II and 'Heldé' after the end of the conflict, a combination of his initials. After World War II, he was one of the first 120 Companions of the Liberation. When Enzo Ferrari became a full-fledge constructor by creating the SEFAC, it was financed in large part by the French, including my grandfather."

Peter Mann's personal history with Ferrari began when he was very young: "I don't remember but apparently I was quite an anxious child...and the only place I remained calm for several hours at a time was when I was put in the Ferrari, with cushions to keep me from falling out." As a teenager, I met some of Enzo Ferrari's relatives: Luigi Chinetti - father and son of course - but also Franco Gozzi, Enzo's right hand man - engineer Mauro Forghieri, and Charles Pozzi and Daniel Marin, the marque's French importers...And the 24 Hours of Le Mans always held a special place. "I must have been about 15 or 16 when I went to the 24 Hours for the first time, recalls Mann. At one time, one could climb to the roof of the grandstands to sleep and to watch the mechanics working when a car would stop, it was extraordinary. I always dreamed of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans...but with a grandfather gentleman-driver, the family said no. So I waited the necessary time to gather my own means to do Le Mans. Taking into account my age (Mann was born in 1956, editor's note), I first took on vintage car racing and did the Le Mans Classic in 2012. One day, Amato Ferrari (owner of the AF Corse team, Ferrari representative in the GT class, editor's note) took me aside, telling me I was totally crazy to race at such speeds in a car half a century old, when I have five children at home. I answered him that I was not good enough to do the real 24 Hours...and he retorted: 'how do you know?' After a test at Valence after the 2012 Ferrari World Finals, he told me I could make it, but racing at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans was out of the question. After an apprenticeship season in GT, I continued in 2014, with the thrill of winning in the Gentlemen class at the 24 Hours of Spa and the title, with an additional race in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), another in the World Endurance Championship and my first 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately, it ended with the stupid rupture of a gimbal around 12:30 a.m., when things had been going quite well. My wife looked at me and said: 'I guess we'll be back next year' (laughs)."

Fast forward to 2015: along with Raffaele Gianmaria and Matteo Cressoni, Mann finished fifth in the LM GTE Am class at Le Mans. Thereafter, the trio reached the third step on the LM GTE podium at the third round of the ELMS at the Red Bull Ring. "I will be 60 next year, as long as I can get better, I will drive...but the day I plateau, I'll stop," indicates Mann. With, after the Austrian podium, the goal of winning in the ELMS? "The goal of my 2015 ELMS season is to race the entire year in the same car - last year, I went from the GT3 class to LM GTE, which I found quite difficult at times. There are still two races left, so we can hope for a great moment (laughs)!"

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, WEDNESDSAY JUNE 10 2015, FREE PRACTICE & QUALIFYING. In 2015, Peter Mann, here at the wheel of his Ferrari 458 Italia (No. 61) reached his first finish line at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 80 years after his grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus.