1976 24 Hours of Le Mans
It saw the arrival of French prototype manufacturers Jean Rondeau and Gérard Welter in a new GTP class and a first-time invitation to American IMSA and NASCAR entries.
[1] Once an initial challenge from Renault Alpine was seen off, the 936 of previous race-winners Jacky Ickx and Gijs van Lennep built a relentless, inexorable lead that was never headed.
Alain de Cadenet’s privateer effort showed far greater reliability this year and he achieved his best Le Mans result with third place.
After early issues, Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Pierre Beltoise bought their new Inaltéra home in 8th to take the inaugural GTP-class win.
[2] The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) saw the small fields in these events and decided it needed to open its entry to both categories in one race, against current FIA policy.
[4] The FIA promptly scheduled a championship race at the Circuit Paul Ricard on the same weekend which, unsurprisingly, then had to be cancelled for lack of entries.
With the 1.4x capacity equivalence, the power increase versus extra weight made them very attractive:[10][1] 17 turbo cars arrived for race week.
[13] Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass had been doing double-duty running both the works 936 and 935 in alternate races of the World Championships, and were entered in the lead 936 for Le Mans.
Alain de Cadenet, with his regular co-driver Chris Craft, returned with a slightly modified version of his Lola T380, now capable of 320 kp/h (200 mph).
Financed by Charles James of French home-furnishings company Inaltéra, the car had the proven Cosworth DFV V8 engine and Hewland gearbox.
A privateer entry of French rally drivers Robert Neyret and Bernard Darniche added a KKK-turbo to the 2.4-litre Ferrari V6 and modified the bodywork and suspension.
The cars were designed to fit a variety of powerplants, with most teams settling on either the British Cosworth FVC or French ROC engines.
Schnitzer Motorsport entered one for Dieter Quester, Alpina-Faltz had one for Harald Grohs and new British team Hermetite Racing had John Fitzpatrick as lead driver.
The works team also adapted a CSL, fitting it with 19” rear tyres, a 3.2-litre engine and twin KKK-turbochargers that put out a monstrous 750 bhp.
Painted by American artist Frank Stella, it was the second BMW Art Car and was driven by Brian Redman and Peter Gregg (along with art-car originator Hervé Poulain as reserve).
[30][5] The chassis was designed by Bob Riley (ex-Ford GT and Saturn rocket engineer) and aerodynamics by Zora Arkus-Duntov.
[31] Michael Keyser bought one of the new Chevrolet Monzas modified by DeKon Engineering, built to take on Porsche in the IMSA series.
On Wednesday, the first day of practice, Jean-Pierre Jabouille immediately threw down the gauntlet with a blistering 3:33.1 lap that dissuaded the Porsches from trying to compete for pole position.
[23][16] After a clutch failure, John Greenwood's Corvette monster made it to ninth,[31] and Chris Craft in the De Cadenet rounded out the top-10.
The big NASCARS struggled with the tight corners and winding track and could only manage 47th (McGriff 4:29.7) and 54th (Brooks 4:38.0) while working on engine problems caused by the fuel's low octane rating.
Redman, knowing he was on borrowed time, wound the BMW's turbo right up and blasted past Stommelen and Joest up into third before an inevitable oil-leak forced him to pit in a cloud of smoke.
[26] Other early casualties included the French Lola with engine issues,[37] and the IMSA Chev Monza that had battled for sixth with John Greenwood's IMSA-Corvette.
[32][6] After an hour, the two 936s and the Alpine had a lap over the Martini 935, then back to De Cadenet, the two Mirages, Greenwood, Kinnunen in the Evertz 908, and the two Inaltéras filling the top-10.
In the third hour three of the BMWs had problems: Redman's engine finally gave out, as did that of the Hermetite car, stranding Walkinshaw out at Arnage, while Posey had to bring his in to change the windscreen.
André Haller, just out on his second driving stint, lost control of his Datsun 260Z when it slipped onto the grass verge at the kink near the end of the straight.
[21] The Alpine had fought its way back up the field (Jabouille setting the fastest lap of the race), overtaking the Bell/Schuppan Mirage to get into third until it was stopped for good by a blown piston.
[13] The Mirages had issues with their fuel pumps,[15][35] while the De Cadenet lost a crucial 8 minutes with a jammed wheel nut[17][35] The works 935 had been closing fast, but then had an ignition malfunction, and later a turbo failure at midday.
[12][35] This left the Ickx/van Lennep car with a 16-lap lead, until they lost five laps spending 34 minutes repairing a split exhaust pipe (to keep the turbo working) just before midday.
Although the car lost time in the pits getting it replaced, and then trying to restart,[15] he was able to stay a lap ahead of a hard-charging Chris Craft in the resurgent De Cadenet.
It was a strong debut by the new Porsche 936 and 935, which would re-assert the company's dominance at Le Mans, and in world sports-car racing, over the next few years.
