The 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 64th Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on 15 and 16 June 1996. It was won by a Tom Walkinshaw-Porsche prototype run by Joest Racing with drivers Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter and Le Mans rookie Alexander Wurz. Like McLaren the year before, it won on its race debut, after tough competition from the works Porsche team and their own new design – the Porsche 911 GT1. Together, these two teams easily outpaced their rival prototypes and GT sports cars, leaving them in their wake. Evenly matched, in the end it came down to the metronomic reliability of the Joest car, and the drivers adhering to a steady schedule, that got the victory.
From the start it was the two TWR-Porsches and two works Porsches that set the pace, pulling away from the field. The expected challenges from the WSC Ferraris, the LMP1 Courages and the GT1 McLarens never eventuated as they fell away through mechanical troubles or off-track accidents. The only one to be close enough was the Gulf McLaren of team-owner Ray Bellm with James Weaver and 1995-winner JJ Lehto. They held down third place on Sunday morning, until forced to stop for a gearbox change. A strong weekend for Porsche was capped by the Roock Racing team comfortably winning the GT2 class on their Le Mans debut. Wurz, at 22 years of age, became the youngest ever overall winner of the Le Mans 24-Hours.
Regulations The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) was still satisfied with its equivalency formulae between the prototypes and GTs. The only change was to include engine volume and turbo boost were added into its calculations (alongside weight, tank size, tyre width and air-inlet restrictors).Spurring 2014, p.226 Rather than modifying the American WSC regulations for their use, the ACO instead chose to rewrite its own prototype regulations, in parallel with the IMSA-WSC. They would be a minimum 875 kg, with a maximum 3.0-litre turbo or 5.1-litre regular engine.
In the GT classes, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) had endorsed the success of the SRO series and produced an official set of regulations to lead into a formal FIA Championship in 1997 – albeit very liberal in application. Major engine modifications were now allowed in GT1, while GT2 still had to use series-production engines. More aerodynamic assistance was permitted, using carbon-fibre and other specialised materials although driver-aids were still very limited. In GT1, only 25 street-legal examples had to be built, although a “proof-of-concept” promissory was accepted.
A summary of the classes: LM P1/C90: min weight 875 kg, fuel tank 80L, with max 5.1L engine or 3.0L for turbos, max tyre width 16" LM P2: min weight 650 kg, fuel tank 62L, with max 3.4L (6-cyl) or 2.0L (4-cyl) for turbos, max tyre width 14" WSC: max 4.0L production engine, or 3.0L for turbos, with rev limit of 8500 rpm (for 2-valve V8) or 10500 rpm (for 4-valve V12), fuel tank 80L, minimum weight graded according to engine size and type, max tyre width 18" LM GT1 and GT2: minimum weight based on the ACO sliding scale, fuel tank 100L, with max 8.0L engine or 4.0L (turbo), max tyre width 14" (front) and 12” (rear). GT1 cars were allowed carbon-brakes while GT2 only had ferrous-brakes and the engine restriction cited above
The ACO now mandated that three drivers would have to qualify in each car. Bernard et al 2023, p.22 In an effort to throw the prototypes and GT1s into battle from the start, the ACO divided the grid into two halves. The left side would have the prototypes lined up in qualifying order, while on the righthand (pitward) side would be the GTs.Clarke 2000, p.105 Autosport Jun 20 1996 Bernard et al 2023, p.98Williams 2023, p.348 Also, to accommodate the thousands of British fans, this year the race would start at 3pm to fit the TV scheduling broadcasting the England-Scotland football match at the Euro championships.Clarke 2000, p.111 Motor Sport Jul 1996
Entries
After introducing them the year before, the ACO halved the number of automatic entries from 20 to 10. They received 107 applications, of which 76 were accepted and therefore 66 had to go to the Pre-Qualifying session at the end of April, from which the remaining 38 starters would be selected with five Reserves. The ongoing strength of the BPR Global series, and the lack of organised sports car racing meant the race-week entry was stacked with GT cars: 39 of them versus only 14 prototypes - which included only three WSCs from the IMSA series, which was leading that revival of Sports Cars. Two new manufacturers joined the packed GT1 field – from the USA came Chrysler with its Viper muscle-car and its hefty 8-litre engine. Then there was Porsche's response to the McLaren F1, the 911 GT1. Journalists were picking the 1996 race as one of the most open in many years.Clarke 2000, p.110 Motor Sport Jul 1996
Class Quantity Turbo andRotaryengines LM-P1/C90 7 / 7 7 / 7 LM-P2 4 / 3 4 / 3 IMSA-WSC 3 / 3 0 / 0 LM-GT1 27 / 25 15 / 13 LM-GT2 11 / 10 8 / 7 Total Entries 52 / 48 34 / 30 Note: The first number is the number that pre-qualified, the second the number who started.
LM-P1 After their strong race the previous year, Courage Compétition was again a strong chance for the outright victory. The C41 WSC project was abandoned and three of the new C36 spyders were entered as yet another development of the Group C-based C30 model. Now fitted carbon brakes, it needed revised suspension and cooling ducts. Minor aerodynamic changes included a reshaped rear wing. The new regulations docked about 80 bhp on turbo cars, limiting the 3-litre Porsche flat-6 engine to 520 bhp. Mario Andretti returned for another shot at the Triple Crown, in an all-star car, with former winners Jan Lammers (1988) and Derek Warwick (1992). The second car, which had finished second the year before, had the all-French line-up of Philippe Alliot, Didier Cottaz and Jérôme Policand.Spurring 2012, pp.235-6 The third car was sponsored by Elf La Filière, who ran the new motorsport academy based at the Le Mans Technoparc. It also had a very experienced driver line-up, with the indomitable Henri Pescarolo, back for his 30th start, alongside Franck Lagorce and Emmanuel Collard, neither of whom had been born when Henri started his Le Mans saga.
Kremer Racing wheeled out its increasingly old-fashioned K8 Spyders including a newly built chassis. The new regulations had trimmed the power output to 530 bhp. Revised ducting underneath was done to improve cooling, and 30 kg was shed. Christophe Bouchut was part of the Kremer team's regular GT2 line-up and was given the new chassis, with Jürgen Lässig and Harri Toivonen and the older one had 1989-winner Stanley Dickens, George Fouché and adventurer Steve Fossett.Spurring 2014, p.249
The third make in the class was a unique co-operation between two erstwhile rivals. Tom Walkinshaw's TWR team had run the Jaguar works effort in the Group C era, winning in 1988 and 1990. In 1991, the team won the Teams' and Drivers' World Championship with the Ross Brawn-designed Jaguar XJR-14. TWR still had one roadworthy example of the three chassis built in their American base, left after the 1992 IMSA series.Spurring 2012, pp.228-9Williams 2023, p.347Laban 2001, p.234 The team looked at the WSC regulations and were keen to adapt the XJR-14 for the series but were without a suitable engine. When IMSA announced turbos would be allowed for the 1995 season, Walkinshaw approached Alwin Springer, head of Porsche North America, and a deal was agreed. Porsche would supply engine, powertrain and expertise to run the three big enduros: Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans to take on the new Ferraris. But when IMSA abruptly announced a 100 lb ballast increase to turbo-cars barely a fortnight before the 1995 Daytona race, Porsche withdrew their entries, and the project petered out.Clarke 2000, p.99 Autosport Jun 27 1996 A year later, Reinhold Joest contacted Porsche about picking up their part in the partnership, to run the TWR-Porsches. This suited the company, allowing them to focus solely on their GT1 cars.
The original Jaguar engine was replaced with the indefatigable Porsche 3.0-litre water-cooled, twin-turbo, straight-six engine, and a new transmission casing for the 5-speed Porsche gearbox. As load-bearing components, the rear suspension also had to be redesigned, while the conversion from a close-top to open-top meant a sturdy rollbar and engine airbox (offset to the left to not be restricted by the driver's head). The bodyshell aerodynamics were revamped to account for the open-top With four of the Porsche works drivers now unavailable, Joest assembled a new team for the two cars: the original chassis was run by American Davy Jones (a former TWR works-driver), 1989 Le Mans winner Manuel Reuter and 22 year-old rookie Alexander Wurz; while the new car had the experience of Formula 1 drivers Michele Alboreto and Pierluigi Martini and touring-car veteran Didier Theys.
IMSA-WSC The Ferrari 333 SP cars returned to Le Mans after an underwhelming debut in 1995. Andy Evans brought his two Scandia Engineering cars from the IMSA series, leasing one to Pascal Witmeur for his “Racing for Belgium” children's charity team. Evans had brought in Tony Southgate, who had worked on the original project at Ferrari, to develop the car. Now having to run with air restrictors, the airflow and aerodynamics were redesigned. All of these reduced downforce, but the reduced drag did increase the top speed by 30 kph up to 330 kph (205 mph). Things were looking much improved at Pre-qualifying, with Eric van der Poele topping the time-charts in both cars. Come race week, the cars arrived with new bodyshells fresh from Dallara.Spurring 2012, pp.237-8Clarke 2000, pp.96-7 Autosport May 2 1996 For Le Mans, Evans raced with Fermin Velez and Yvan Muller. The second car was sponsored by 1001 Belgians to raise money for children and had an experienced, all-Belgian line-up – van der Poele with single-seat drivers Eric Bachelart and Marc Goossens.
Ferraris main rival in the IMSA series came from the Riley & Scott Mk III, which had shown its endurance credentials this season by winning both the Daytona and Sebring races with Doyle Racing. Ironically, Eric van der Poele was a part of the winning crew at Sebring. A works effort, with the Doyle Racing team, came to Le Mans looking for its own unique Triple Crown. The first Riley & Scott model had appeared in 1990, and the Mk 3 arrived in 1995 (the Mk 2 being a road car). Built on a tubular frame, the carbon/kevlar chassis was tested at the Lockheed wind-tunnel. Fitted with the innovative “Riley Rocker” suspension, the engine bay was set up to accept any stock engine unit. Success this year was coming with the racing version of the Oldsmobile Aurora engine – a 32-valve 4.0-litre V8. Limited to a maximum of 10500rpm by IMSA regulations, it could put out 550 bhp. ACO rules dictated the WSC cars had to run ferrous brakes.Spurring 2012, pp.244-5 The works team used the winning drivers from the Daytona 24 Hours: South African Wayne Taylor, IndyCar driver Scott Sharp and Jim Pace.
LM-P2