Date: 28 & 29 September 1968

Number of competitors: 54

Number of withdrawals: 39

Weather: rainy

Start given by Giovanni Agnelli, Chairman of Fiat

 

Key facts:

With France's stormy political and social situation in May 1968, the 36th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, originally planned for the 15-16 June, was postponed until September. Given the performances recorded in 1967 (when the 5,000 km mark was exceeded for the first time during the race), the sporting authorities limited the prototypes’ engine capacity and introduced a special Sport class (maximum engine capacity of five litres), which meant the Ford GT40 was able to return to Le Mans. The circuit was modified with the creation of the Ford Chicane going into the pit straight. That put the circuit length at 13.469 km. This was Jacques Loste’s final year as Race Director, a position he had held since 1957. He was succeeded by Charles Deutsch in 1969.

 

Brief overview of the race:

Porsche led the first six hours of the race, before encountering a string of technical issues (clutch on the #31, alternator on the #32 and #34). At 22:00, Lucien Bianchi’s Ford GT40 took the lead. Hot on his heels, Henri Pescarolo put in a heroic nighttime performance in the driving rain, with no windscreen wipers on his Matra. That exploit made Pescarolo’s name and kept spectators (and TV viewers) on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, early on Sunday afternoon, a puncture caused a fire to break out. Bianchi and Rodriguez cruised to a comfortable win, ahead of the two other Porsche: the 907 driven by Spoerry and Steinemann (2nd) and the 908 with Stommelen and Neerpasch (3rd) at the wheel.

 

Key figures and anecdotes:

-Had the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans taken place in June, the winning Ford GT40 would have been driven by a completely different crew, namely Brit Brian Redman and Belgian Jacky Ickx. However, both drivers suffered accidents during their Formula One season. The former was replaced by Mexican Pedro Rodriguez and the latter by fellow Belgian Lucien Bianchi.

-For Bianchi, the end of the race was extremely difficult. Late on Sunday morning, his brother Mauro had a serious accident at Tertre Rouge.

-Because the race had been postponed, the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans was the final round of the World Sportscar Championship. Ford took the title on the back of its Le Mans win.

-First pole position for Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, claimed by Jo Siffert who also became the first Swiss driver to achieve that feat.

-Despite the early retirement of the Matra driven by Henri Pescarolo and Johnny Servoz-Gavin, 1968 was a bumper year for another French manufacturer: five Alpines made it to the finish, with three in the Top Ten.

-The best-placed Alpine (eighth) was driven by Jean Vinatier and André de Cortanze. The latter went on to enjoy a brilliant career as an engineer, during which he designed the Peugeot 905 that triumphed at Le Mans in 1993, and the Toyota GT-One that raced in 1998 and 1999.

 

Winners:

Overall: #9 Ford GT40, Lucien Bianchi and Pedro Rodriguez

Distance: 4,452.88 km covered at an average speed of 185.537 kph.

Pole position: #31 Porsche 908 driven by Jo Siffert in 3:35.4, or an average 225.109 kph.

N.B. The starting grid based on qualifying times was introduced in 1963. The first pole position in the history of Le Mans was claimed that year by Pedro Rodriguez, one of the two winners of the 1968 race.

Best race lap by Rolf Stommelen in the #33 Porsche 908 with 3:38.1, at an average 222.322 kph.

 

Thanks to Info-course for the data.

 

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 28-29 SEPTEMBER 1968. After the withdrawal of the Ford factory teams after the 1967 24 Hours, the Gulf outfit served the American marque with its third Le Mans victory in a row.