1982 Le Mans

1982 — The rot of the Seventies had infected the new CSI sports car rules. Attention was turned from away from the mechanical and aerodynamic to what seemed like racing’s version of America’s hated C.A.F.E. fuel economy laws. The so-called energy crisis forever changed the way western civilization saw the automobile. Motorsport was not immune. For 1982 fuel tanks carried no more than 100 precious liters and only 25 pit stops were permitted. There was no limit on engine capacity. Longer memories recalled the virtually free-formula days of GP racing before the wars… and the staggeringly entertaining results.

While most of the racing world looked back no farther than the essential squalor of the Seventies, another constant reappeared: the happy and seemingly irrefutable fact that those who build racecars are invariably brighter and more clever than the people who write the rules.

Happily the global political and financial climate had changed as well, and the whole automobile industry stood on the verge of an unsuspected electronics revolution. For Le Mans, it couldn’t have come at a better time. The 24 Hours was still happily in a fluid state.

Porsche read the rules with exceptional corporate care. They liked the new Group C regulations and designed accordingly. Equal prudence was exercised assembling the driver roster for the trio of virtually untried and untested 956 Group C coupes: team leader Jacky Ickx again with Derek Bell (No. 1 car pictured above) – seven Le Mans wins between them – Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan together again and American one-time Le Mans winner Hurley Haywood with co-winner Jurgen Barth and second generation American Porsche strongman Al Holbert.

Ford saw the light within the Group C regulations and entered a new C100 through the German Zakspeed tuning firm. Cosworth had created a 3.9-liter endurance version of the ancient and honorable DFV, renamed it DFL and that’s what Ford mounted in its C100. Harley Cluxton had a Mirage Ford for the Andrettis, father and son.

Mario hustled the No. 27 Tiga-built Mirage M12-Cosworth around ninth fastest, only to have the car disqualified on the starting line! It took the stewards three days to discover that the oil radiator for the gearbox was mounted three-inches behind rather than above the transmission. Cluxton was furious and his crew frantically set about repositioning the offending oil cooler. The work was finished almost an hour after the start, and Cluxton’s men pushed the No. 27 car in front of the marshal’s stand as their last protest. Their place had already been taken by the first alternate, a Porsche 924GTS.

The crowd came to see a battle between Ford and Porsche. And perhaps cheer Rondeau, who were having layers of trouble with their new M482C "wing car". Lola returned to the Sarthe with a futuristic T610, also bearing the new 3.9 Cosworth DFL. The styling of the new Group C Lola was a genuine contrast to the industrial and prosaic lines of its first GTP effort, the T600. Lancia’s little 1.4-liter turbo coupes gridded fourth and fifth, obviously viewing the new Group C fuel rules from a completely different angle.

There were no fuel restrictions on qualifying speeds, and Ickx reduced the existing record by a full second. And he didn’t even bother with special Dunlop qualifying rubber, running through the traps on Mulsanne at 221mph in the process. Mass joined him as the only other car under the old record. The best Ford C100 was 10sec off Ickx’s pole pace.

The 50th anniversary edition Le Mans got underway in chamber of commerce weather with Andrettis, pere et fils, secluded in one of Harley Cluxton's trailers under their own private dark clouds. Both Martini-sponsored Lancias struck trouble instantly and fell into the last two places while the crew bypassed the critical electric fuel pumps. Thus began Lancia’s long night.

The first hour was a spectator’s dream. While the Rothmans’ twins of Ickx and Mass took turns in front, all manner of dicey fun was underway behind them. Brian Redman had to watch from the pits for 10 agonizing laps. His new DFL-powered T610 simply refused to start. His pal Bob Akin was the first victim of the new Group C fuel rules just after the stroke of 5:00 o’clock: his super special 935 ran out of gas. The Rothmans Porsches were running a bit too rich as well. Ickx double stinted and handed over to Bell with a mandate to lead and make each tank last 15 or, if you can 16 laps. With the boost set at 1.1 bar, all three Rothmans cars were going nearly an hour between stops. Lancia wasn’t the only team in for a long day.

The Union Jacks began to wave with increased vigor in the early evening. The Nimrod Aston Martins eased into the top 10 as evening approached. The Nimrod team had been visited by frowns and stares in scrutineering, when the marshals declared the roof height of the British V8 coupes insufficient. The crew assembled a Plexiglas bubble for the roof that penetrated the minimum height requirement and satisfied the scrutineers. It was approved even after the crew electrified the transparent dome and wrote "TAXI" upon it. This small humor was beyond the understanding of the indigenous marshals and stewards, but neither the rules nor the spirit of the rule suffered insult, and the Aston was in the show. But only until 7:35 when Tiff Needell got a big unexpected ride into the guardrail just before the linge droit. The course car was dispatched but was mistaken by some for the pace car until it stopped at the scene.

Haywood, Holbert and Barth had discovered how to make their 956 fly on 1.1 bar and that, with some focused pit work, put the No. 3 Porsche into the lead during the gloaming. Ickx and Bell were never more than a few minutes behind with the Francois Migault/Gordon Spice Rondeau between the first- and third-place Porsches.

The new, much touted Ford C100s were gone before midnight, and the Lancias were a far too familiar sight in the pits. By the halfway hour, Porsche had no further rivals save physics and fuel consumption. Even the Rondeaus were gone. At least the local crew didn’t have far to go to their beds. The Aston Martin Nimrod cab was up to an amazing and impressive fourth with their "TAXI" blister beaming proudly. It made a fine marker light for the denizens in the signal pits.

But the day, and night, belonged to Porsche. The Haywood/Barth/Holbert No. 3 dropped to ninth place during the night and then began the slog toward the front. The boredom of the leading drivers was relieved at 10:40 a.m. when Ickx’s 956 suffered a flat tire near the Virage Ford and had to waddle a few hundred yards back to the pits for help. This pneumatic interlude cost the leaders three of the five-lap lead they held from teammates Mass and Schuppan.

The 18th hour also held penalties for the Nimrod. Ray Mallock brought the fifth place No. 32 in with a broken bit in the distributor and slipped to eighth as the morning became afternoon. Haywood, Barth and Holbert were back in fourth place by lunchtime, and Porsche’s plans were obvious. At 3:30 the first three Porsches closed ranks, line astern and flew formation orders to the finish. Just six days earlier these same three brand new cars were tested for the first time at Weissach.

It was impressive and it was dull. But it was the beginning of a new era that would become anything but boring.