1985 Le Mans

1985 — Reinhold Joest would beat the factory Porsches with the 1984 Le Mans winner (chassis #117). It would be the first double Le Mans winner since John Wyer’s faithful "1075" GT40 wrote two chapters of Le Mans history '68 and '69. Heady stuff, but first…

Jacky Ickx was back for Porsche, sharing a Rothmans-sponsored 962C with Jochen Mass backed up by Hans Stuck and Derek Bell. It seemed like the strongest pairing imaginable, especially after qualifying when Stuck put the 962C he shared with Bell on the pole with a stunning so-there-Lancia 3:14.8, or 156.477mph in American money.

Hurley Haywood was well enough to drive for Group 44 again despite a load of plaster on his left leg. Bob Tullius’ Army of Northern Virginia again represented the Coventry Marque with the same pair of Lee Dykstra-designed XJR-5s that wowed the fans a year earlier. Lancia was back as well with two new cars – again from the house of Dallara – for Bob Wollek, Alessandro Nannini and Lucio Cesario and four-time winner Henri Pescarolo and Mauro Baldi.

Peter Sauber’s new Mercedes V8-powered Group C entry starred John Nielsen, but only until the Dane went for a pair of end-overs in the turbocharged V8. Sauber’s flying C8 came down on all fours with the Mercedes engine still running! That this unhappy debut occurred on the 30th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz’s last appearance at Le Mans was a bit chilling to those with long memories. The new and promising C8 was second fastest to Stuck on Wednesday with Sauber’s Mulsanne monster making regular passes of 220mph through the speed trap. On Thursday the team was trying to ease a bit of downforce out of the C8 just before Neilsen took the Big Ride at the linge droit. Sauber withdrew.

That little bit of theater and Stuck’s sizzling pole lap kept Lancia out of all the headlines until Saturday when Bell let Wollek have the first-lap television close ups. Al Holbert’s No. 3 Porsche was the only works car in the top 10. Behind him, Ray Mallock’s C2 Ecosse was a stunning 11th overall.

When the television producers were obliged to leave Le Mans for a commercial break, Wollek eased the Lancia’s pace and let the privateer Porsches beat on each other. At the time, the move seemed tactical and prudent. It was anything but. Joest’s New Man 956 fought with Richard Lloyd Racing’s attractive Canon-sponsored cars while the works Porsches ran softly. When the Rothmans cars went a lap down to the privateers no one seemed concerned. Tactics.

Michael Cane played the Le Mans PR game with unusual style. His Steve O’Rourke-owned Emka/Aston Martin with Tiff Needell up pitted out of sequence on Lap 13 – the Porsches ran 14 to 16 laps on each tank – and Cane was certain that he could lead on the hour, getting his car listed at the top of the first hourly sheet. A small but profitable coup if he could pull it off. But David Hobbs’ careful style and the parsimonious economy of the fast No. 33 John Fitzpatrick Porsche ruined everything. The O’Rourke-entered Aston-Martin car had been a player throughout practice, but Cane’s cunning plan to top the first hourly and generate some ink and lure some television attention failed. But only just.

The lack of any sort of "rabbit" philosophy, the dominating performance of the Joest and Lloyd entries, plus the leisurely pace of the works Porsches were odd new themes for Le Mans. But the battle at the front was traditional stuff even though the lead players were running fast on the same or less fuel than the Holbert/Vern Schuppan/John Watson No. 3 962C – the works’ headline player. But only until a wheel bearing packed up, blunting an already wobbly plan.

John Wyer’s sober "add-five-per cent per year" plan did not bear the fruit Weissach hoped to harvest. Klaus Ludwig, Paolo Barilla and "John Winter" (who drove a single stint of relief) fought with Dr Jonathan Palmer, new fast-man James Weaver and owner Richard Lloyd, who did a stint of yellow-flag relief driving when Jean-Claude Andruet’s WM-Peugeot blew a tire and summoned the pace car for 40min.

That dampened the New Man vs. Canon Porsche battle. RLR Canon Porsche boss Keith Greene spent nearly as much time worrying about fuel consumption as did Porsche’s Dr Falk. The Joest New Man Porsche effectively led the race from the 30-min mark with immaculate preparation, careful planning and flawless execution. Their speed was much faster than anyone, especially the Porsche factory folk, had anticipated. Joest’s pace of 131.7mph was second only to the winning speed of Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep’s Porsche 917K of '71, established before the Porsche Curves were added to the course in '72. It was even farther than Pescarolo and Ludwig had raced "117" to victory in '84.

Bob Tullius, Chip Robinson and Claude Ballot-Lena won the IMSA GTP class for Jaguar. Gordon Spice, Ray Bellm and Mark Galvin won C2 in their 3.3-liter Tiga. Ray Mallock’s Ecurie Ecosse looked like the class of the field after a superb qualifying effort despite the lack of qualifying engine and tires. The Ecosse-Ford dominated the class for three hours and even managed to put a full lap on the competition after two hours, but an oil pump drive ended what should have been a clear cut win.

Ludwig won his third Le Mans, his second straight. The privateers gave Porsche its 10th victory in the 24 Hours and that eclipsed Ferrari as Le Mans winningest marque. But the works team was beaten soundly, if not outright humiliated, by their customers, but at least both works 962Cs were in the top 10. The works Porsches did manage to set the race’s fastest lap at 148.619mph, which is not bad at all for what many considered an economy run.