1968 24 Hours of Le Mans
A significant change was the imposition of 5 L (305 cu in) engine limits on Group 4 racers, to lower overall track speeds.
Originally scheduled for the weekend of 15 and 16 June, the race had to be delayed until September due to protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France during the spring of 1968.
It effectively banned the big-block Fords and Chaparral, as well as the big Ferraris and the new Mirage and Lola-Aston Martin and marked the end of an era.
[2] Because the race was rescheduled and the longer period of darkness, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) permitted one battery change.
[3] With high speed being such a talking point, Ford volunteered to sponsor a major road realignment on the main straight, installing a chicane just before the pitlane.
[2] Although devoid of the big team entries from Ford and Ferrari there were still 94 applications for this year's race, and 58 cars arrived to qualify for the 54 starting places.
The new regulations did have a positive impact on redressing the imbalance of the Prototypes to the other two categories With the withdrawal of the Ford factory teams, J.W.
The Gulf GT40s received some of the improvements of the Mirage, and a significant effort was made to reduce the weight of car using high-tech materials.
Wyer's two best drivers however weren't present: Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman, winners at Brands Hatch and Spa, had both broken limbs from Formula 1 accidents (at Mont Tremblant and Spa respectively) Former Ferrari-stalwart Pedro Rodriguez, and Alfa Romeo team-driver Lucien Bianchi were brought in for the race.
Paul Hawkins / David Hobbs (race winners at Monza) had their regular car while Brian Muir / Jackie Oliver had the new chassis.
[5] There were also regular GT40 privateer entries, from Claude Dubois (with drivers Willy Mairesse/”Beurlys”), and Mike Salmon, having recovered from the burns he got in his Ford the previous year.
Ferrari was true to his word and boycotted Le Mans, which also left several of his customer teams stranded, like the Equipe Nationale Belge and British Maranello Concessionaires.
The North American Racing Team (NART) entered three different Ferraris: 1965 race-winner Masten Gregory re-joining his winning 275 LM car, a 275 GTB in the GT category and a Dino 206 S in the 2-litre Prototype class.
Rising sports-car start Vic Elford (the other race winner) was with Gerhard Mitter, Porsche regulars Rolf Stommelen and Jochen Neerpasch had the third while the Americans Joe Buzzetta/Scooter Patrick the fourth.
The company also supported three privateers running the reliable 907 'langheck': Spaniard Alex Soler-Roig, Frenchman Philippe Farjon and the new Swiss team Squadra Tartaruga of Rico Steinemann.
Capable of a powerful 380 bhp, the company was initially not going to run at Le Mans, however the deferred date allowed for more testing and a single MS630 longtail was prepared for team drivers Henri Pescarolo and Johnny Servoz-Gavin.
After racing earlier in the year, the car now had a rear spoiler to try to correct a dangerous aerodynamic fault: at the Nürburgring the Alpine of Henri Grandsire had got airborne and done a 360˚ loop.
The works team ran three A220s for Grandsire and Gérard Larrousse, Jean Guichet/Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Alpine engineer André de Cortanze/Jean Vinatier.
Regular customer team Ecurie Savin-Calberson also entered one for Mauro Bianchi and Patrick Depailler and they also put an A210 in the 2-litre category.
The B12 was a one-off design with a fibreglass body and carrying a modified version of the 3-litre Formula 1 Repco V8 engine developing 330 bhp.
[11][12] Austin-Healey, as well as their regular Le Mans Sprite entry, developed a new 2-litre prototype with the Coventry Climax FWM V8 engine that put out 240 bhp.
In line with the ACO's commitment to technological development, there were two turbine-powered Howmet TXs entered in the prototype class, following on from the Rover-BRM last run in 1965.
[15] This year, for an unknown reason, the April test weekend coincided with the British round of the International Championship.
[16] Jacky Ickx set the benchmark for JWA, with a 3:35.4 lap, then promptly left for Brands Hatch to win the endurance race.
Mairesse suffered broken bones and head injuries which left him in a coma for two weeks and ended his racing career.
Worse though was when the leading car's clutch broke just before 7pm, stranding Siffert out on the track unable to get back to the pits for repairs.
The Matra crew could not access the motor and were considering retiring until Henri Pescarolo angrily jumped in and took off in the rain, still with the faulty wiper.
[9] At the 3am halfway point, the Ford (177 laps) had a comfortable 4-lap lead over the surprising next pair: the new Matra was scrapping with the 2-litre Alfa Romeo of Giunti/Galli.
In an excellent run for the new Squadra Tartaruga team, Steinemann and Spoerry came in second just a lap ahead of the Stommelen/Neerpasch works car.
The repaired Alfa Romeo of Giunti/Galli was fourth, leading a formation finish of their Autodelta teammates coming in 4-5-6, the three of them separated by seventeen laps.
