1990 Le Mans

1990 — The FIA might as well have declared war on Le Mans. After months of something that would not pass as negotiation in English-speaking countries, the FIA removed Le Mans from the World Championship calendar and iced the announcement with a threat to declare the 24 Hours an "outlaw event" and, perhaps, suspend the license of any participant. Paris relented when the A.C.O. installed chicanes on the Mulsanne straight, obeying the FIA’s alleged safety dictum that no straightaway could be longer than two kilometers. In one swipe, the Mulsanne was sacrificed.

The adrenal run to Indianapolis was thus promoted to the fastest bit of Le Mans, and high downforce aero packages gained a new allure. With more speed out of Tertre Rouge, the lunge to the new l’Arche chicane became faster. Its mirror-image twin, the La Flordandiere, just before Mulsanne's kink, was the other incision made to appease the FIA. And there were the brakes to consider, not to mention increased strain on already marginal gearboxes. Circuit length went from 13.535km to 13.6, lap times bulged by a dozen seconds and top speeds were blunted by 20 to 25mph. The character of the race and the racecars was changed.

The 24 Hours suffered the mutilation with grace and strength. There was a fine entry despite the absence of Mercedes, which had been anticipated. Daimler-Benz had gotten all the good there was from its muscular 1989 win on the Sarthe. Others were eager to take their place. Nissan engines powered eight cars – six works cars! No. 84 pictured above – one from Team Le Mans, and another from Sarthe-based Courage.

Jaguar was heavily armed with a quartet of 7.0--liter XJR-12 IMSA racers with Group C frosting and livery. They were easily the top team subscribing to the "high downforce" theory.

Porsche had the biggest numbers: 15 962s from the usual suspects; four from Joest including a Weissach-designed Langheck 962 for Derek Bell, Hans Stuck and Frank Jelinski, plus teams Kremer, Schuppan, Richard Lloyd and Brun, and a pair of Porsche-powered Courages.

Mazda brought three shrieking IMSA GTP-spec four-rotor 787s including a new B-type variant and a secret weapon: Jacky Ickx took time off from his duties as manager of Spa to run Mazdaspeed’s Le Mans expedition.

Mark Blundell made a bit of history when he became the first to put a Japanese car on the Le Mans pole, gridded next to the Brun 962C of a very racy Oscar Larrauri. The best of the Jaguars was the Davy Jones/Michele Ferte/ Eliseo Salazar XJR-12 on the fourth row.

Usually this sort of qualifying performance from a tenured, Le Mans-winning team hints at a total lack of pace, a giant bag of sand or intellectual clarity in top management.

Regardless, the FIA chicanes not only added time to each qualifying lap, they also strung out the pace lap into a sloppy, staggered skein. Two cars pitted to crank more angle into their wings. For those looking for an omen, this was it. There were evil omens for Kenny Acheson in the R90K and the whole, huge Nissan team. His No. 25 never completed the formation lap and expired in the Dunlop Curve with its brake pedal on the floor. At least it was a short walk home.

The Nissan alpha to this ugly omega was Julian Bailey who took his R89CK (also from Nissan Motorsports Europe) from the pole into the lead of the all important – at least to the marketing/PR people – first lap. Feast or famine at Nissan who had cars qualified an impressive first, third, fourth and fifth.

Larrauri’s Brun 962 got the lead from Bailey’s Nissan on the fourth lap, and there he stayed until the first pit stop. The Jaguars settled in by lap eight improving their grid positions to fourth through eighth: Martin Brundle, John Nielsen, Davy Jones and Jan Lammers. The longtail, low downforce Joest 962 cruised.

Geoff Brabham’s Nissan was the first of the favorites to pit, coming in early on lap eight to miss the 50-minute traffic jam. With that many cars, many scenarios are possible, and Nissan’s strategy seemed to be "one of each".

Gianfranco Brancatelli’s leading R90CK (the Bailey pole-winner) tangled with one of the Toyotas in the Dunlop Chicane and was obliged to make a fairly long stop for repairs. This promoted the NPTI (USA) R90CK of Geoff Brabham/Chip Robinson/Derek Daly with its attendant contrail of three Jaguars. Then a trio of ambitious Nissans of various pedigrees trailed by Larrauri in Walter Brun’s Repsol 962.

Jaguar went in front when Robinson came in for brake service on the No. 83 Nissan: the No. 1 XJR-12 with Alain Ferte up now led with his brother behind him, second in the No. 4 Jaguar. The Brun Porsche was up to fourth and a pattern of high downforce cars moving up was congealing when Price Cobb went straight into the pea gravel instead of right-left-right at L‘Arche. Cobb pitted for a quick nose cleaning and detail. This restored the No. 83 Nissan to the lead with the No. 16 Porsche second.

The evening proceeded with only fuel consumption and varying pit stop sequences reshuffling the hourly reports. The rot had yet to set in. If there were any sort of epidemic looming, it would be hours before the first symptoms appeared.

Midnight brought the lone caution interlude of the weekend when Fabio Magnani’s Lancia hit the Team Tom’s No. 36 Toyota. The intimate physics of the impact put the Lancia into the trees, and its unceremonious landing started a small forest fire near Mulsanne corner.

As the clocks ticked over into Sunday morning and the safety car went back where it belonged, there were still four cars on the lead lap. Behind the leading quartet the long tail Joest Porsche, doing a fine imitation of a 917 Langheck, carried on quietly in seventh.

The Lammers/Andy Wallace/Franz Konrad XJR-12 was making all the noise in the night and, taking advantage of Oscar Larrauri’s much-needed rest period, joined the amazing Brun Porsche on the same lap moving up to third. By full light, the order was Jaguar, Porsche, Jaguar and the No. 45 Tomei Engineering stealth 962C. The tide was going out on Nissan’s expensive and populous Le Mans effort with only the No. 23 R90CP Nismo entry circulating. And it would take a miracle for Derek Bell in the No.7 Joest Langheck to win his sixth and tie him with Jacky Ickx.

The crowd’s affection turned to the brave Brun Porsche of Larrauri, Jesus Pareja-Mayo and Himself Brun in a strong second place. The Repsol car was following, not stalking, but it was a superb performance.

Still the Union Jacks waved for Jaguar. Retiring Jag CEO Sir John Egan had been at the course since early Saturday, staying on and up through the night.

His men were still in charge, and Brundle was transferred instantly from the stricken – water pump – No. 1 car at 7:15 a.m. to the leading XJR-12. Perhaps just in time. Nielsen had completed a pair of triple stints and Price Cobb was weary as well. Their car had lost fourth gear, making the task of leading Le Mans unenviable at best. Especially with the Brun boys one lap back.

When the No. 7 Joest Langheck spent the better part of a half-hour fixing a deceased turbocharger, the pressure of was off the third-place Jaguar. By the afternoon, things had reached an uneasy stalemate – the lead margin still floating at one tenuous lap. The atmosphere was amplified by the thousands of British fans, who willed the leading Nielsen/Cobb/Brundle No. 3 onward, away from the amazing Brun Repsol entry.

A light and local shower strafed the pit and tribune area as the final hour approached. Just after 3:00 o’clock, Lammers in the third-place Jag fell into formation with iron man Nielsen in the leading No. 3 for an irresistible line astern PR photo op interlude. That really set off the Brits, who could smell victory… probably because the olfactory was the final reliable and intact sensory device available. Cheers, mate!

At 3:30 Walter Brun pitted his second-place 962 handing over to Pareja-Mayo, who discovered the gearbox was in a poor state. Fifteen minutes later Pareja saw a contrail of white smoke in his mirrors. Cruelly, it was the engine, and the second-place Porsche car coasted to a stop. Lammers inherited second place. Even the Brits – ever the good sports and potent advocates of fair play – cheered the efforts of Walter Brun’s team. But it didn’t stop them from going lightly berserk when the conquering two-car Silk Cut team appeared at the Ford Chicane for the final time. Nielsen and Lammers never actually made it to the finish line either. They were mobbed by thousands of Union Jack wielding Englishmen. Even Walkinshaw saluted the brave lads from Brun. Sir John was mighty pleased to join his weary men on the rostrum for a rare one-two victory celebration.

Nissan was the first Japanese marque home, but they still couldn’t match the Europeans for speed and endurance: two Jaguars and three Porsches led the fifth place Nissan and sixth place Toyota. (The second place Brun Porsche was not classified, as it was not running at 4:00 p.m.) Mazda won the IMSA GTP class, and Jacky Ickx had seen all he needed to see.

Another assault on the institution of Le Mans was not far off, but the magic of the moment and the protracted celebrations of another hard-earned Jaguar victory diluted the politics that continued to stalk the 24 Hours.