The 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 60th Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on the 20 and 21 June 1992. It was also the third round of the 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship season. The FIA was struggling to assemble sufficient cars for the race, and so the entry-list was extended to include the older Group C cars and national trophy cars. The 28 starters was the lowest since the 1932 race. With the withdrawal of the Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz teams, it looked to be a Peugeot vs Toyota contest, each with very strong driver combinations, with the new Mazdas there waiting for any slip-ups. There were still considerable concerns that the 3.5-litre engines derived from Formula 1 could not last the distance. It was Philippe Alliot who took pole position for Peugeot, in a blistering lap fully five seconds faster than the lap record, with teammate Dalmas second.
The race started in wet conditions, making visibility hard. These two Peugeots set the initial pace until overhauled by 1991-winner, Volker Weidler in the new Jaguar-derived Mazda. It was soon apparent the wet-weather Michelin tyres of the Peugeots and Mazdas were handling the conditions far better than the Goodyears on the Toyotas, as they pulled out a gap. Despite a better weight-allowance for the Group C cars, the tighter fuel quantity meant they were never a factor for outright honours. Weidler led for the first hour, but a slow fuel-stop let the Peugeot of Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell into the lead. The rain eased off in the early evening, allowing the Toyotas to show their full potential until the drizzle returned again at 9pm. Through the night most cars suffered from mechanical issues or slid off the track in the treacherous conditions. However, the leading Peugeot remained trouble-free, building up a significant lead coming into the new day as the rain finally passed. The only hiccup for the leader was at 8.45am when Warwick came to a stop on the back straight with the engine cutting out. Three times he tried to get it started and eventually was able to limp back to the pits. Such was their lead though, he was able to limp back to the pits, get the electronics replaced for a quarter-hour and still come out with a 3-lap lead.
After that, they were unhindered and took a 6-lap victory over the Toyota of Kenny Acheson/Masanori Sekiya/Pierre-Henri Raphanel that was misfiring and losing power. The race for the podium places kept changing as the Toyotas, Mazda and other Peugeot kept having their charges thwarted by delays and issues. Third, barely a lap behind and closing quickly, was the other Peugeot team car, of Mauro Baldi/Philippe Alliot/Jean-Pierre Jabouille. After running a strong second through most of the night, the Mazda MXR-01 driven by 1991 winners Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot had been waylaid by gearbox issues, but made it home in fourth, albeit running with half its gears missing.
Regulations The advent of the new regulations for the Sportscar World Championship in 1991 had been underwhelming. Indeed, in the close-season, the FISA (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) Commission had recommended the cancellation of the series as the entries had been desultory and event promoters were put off by the exorbitant fees the body demanded.Spurring 2014, p.90Wimpffen 2008, p.399 However, some crisis meetings were held and sufficient compromises were reached to see the Championship return in 1992. In March Peugeot, Mazda and Toyota each paid $3 million to FISA to convince them to keep the Championship running. Cotton 1992 p.746 Motor Sport Aug 1992Williams 2023, p.332 The main regulations remain unchanged, however as an incentive for further entries, a new class called the FIA-Cup was initiated as a cheaper option. Set up for the former Group C2 cars had their Cosworth 3.5-litre engines limited to 9500 revs and would have steel-based brakes rather than the latest carbon brake systems. They would only score points in the European rounds, taking away the expense of the long-haul rounds elsewhere.Wimpffen 2008, p.400
As the deadline approached, the premier race had a feeble 21 cars entered from those two classes so once again, the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) was forced to improvise. They opened the entry-list to the former Group C cars, with the return of Category 2 used in 1991. FISA gave their grudging approval of the reality but stipulated that the cars could only come from marques in the SWC past or present – which allowed Jaguar, Toyota, Spice and rotary Mazdas but excluded the Porsche 962. Therefore, a further dispensation was made for Porsche (and the Porsche-engined Cougars) in a new Category 3 – which FISA magnanimously stated was because “of the contribution made by this make to the World Championships and to Le Mans over many years.” Even so, FISA also put their limits on them – although they could race back at their original design-weight of 900 kg, they were only given 2140 litres, down almost 20% from the previous 2550 litres. TWR Jaguar led the requests for reconsideration, but Peugeot and Toyota vetoed the motion.Clarke 2000, pp.6-7 Motor Sport Jun 1992
Entries were still lacking, so the deadline was extended again, and a final effort was made, opening up a fourth class to the low-cost, low-powered sports cars that ran in national European series – including the French Peugeot 905 Spider, Italian Coupe Alfa Romeo and British Pro-Sport 3000. To ensure a degree of safety between the disparate classes, the ACO required the average qualification time of the four best laps of all entrants be within 130%. 1992 also the formation of a specifically trained “extraction team” to rescue an injured driver safely from a crashed car. Bernard et al 2023, p.73 Finally, given the variation in classes and the previous inability to match fuel-consumption parity, the ACO also cancelled the Index of Energy Efficiency. Bernard et al 2023, p.112
Entries At the end of 1991, both Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz had withdrawn from the World Championship, potentially ripping the competitive heart out of it. Only three major companies remained committed to the Championship: Peugeot, Mazda and Toyota with their five new SWC entries bolstered by extra works cars for Le Mans. The FIA Cup had only provided another six cars from privateer teams at the opening two rounds, and as mentioned, the extended list for SWC-class cars only came to 21 cars.
Those in Category 2 numbered just four, from Jaguar, Toyota, and ALD. The Porsche “class” of Category 3 provided 8 entries while the Category 4 promised nine cars but only delivered three. This all rustled up a medium-sized field of 44 entries but come race-week only 30 arrived for scrutineering – another disappointing race-low matching those of the entry low of 1932. It was noted that it resembled a non-championship Formula One race of the 1960s when a few factory cars would be up against a group of keen privateers. Henry 1992 pp.62-3 Autocar & Motor Jun 17 1992Laban 2001, p.225
Class Quantity Turboengines FIA Category 1SWC prototypes 15 / 11 0 / 0 FIA Category 1FIA Cup 8 / 4 0 / 0 ACO Category 2Group C SWC 4 / 2 2 / 2 ACO Category 3Group C Porsche 8 / 8 8 / 8 ACO Category 4Invitational 9 / 3 0 / 0 Total Entries 44 / 28 10 / 10 Note: The first number is the number accepted, the second the number who started.
Category 1 Defending champions, Jaguar withdrew at the end of the 1991 season, as did Sauber-Mercedes leaving Peugeot as the only factory team remaining. Their updated model, the Peugeot 905 Evo 1-bis, had debuted at the Nürburgring round following the Le Mans race. Although it used the same hull, it had a full makeover above with a stubby nose and lowered shell with new vents by the cockpit to cool the relocated radiators in the side-pods. A large new twin-plane rear wing off the back of the chassis improved downforce. It was calculated these low, wide-bodied cars could generate more downforce than any other sports car, able to pull 4G in the corners.Spurring 2014, p.92 The Peugeots were also the first cars to race with xenon headlights, using an electric arc rather than a metal filament giving a very bright, pure-white beam that could extend over 300 metres. Bernard et al 2023, p.141 Jean-Pierre Boudy extracted an extra 20 bhp from the 3.5-litre V10 engine which was now a sturdier steel construction built for endurance rather than lightness, as was the transmission. The team ran six 24-hour tests, mostly at the Circuit Paul Ricard, even getting chicanes set up on its Mistral straight for a better simulation.Williams 2023, p.332 Two cars were running in the SWC, again managed by team director Jean Todt, with a team of ex-Formula 1 drivers: Derek Warwick had been released by Jaguar and partnered Yannick Dalmas. They had finished second in the opening round and won the next at Silverstone, and for this race were joined by Mark Blundell. Mauro Baldi and Philippe Alliot raced the second car, as they did the previous year, with veteran Jean-Pierre Jabouille as their co-driver. A third car, driven by Alain Ferté, Eric van der Poele and ex-Mercedes driver Karl Wendlinger was also entered for this race only.Clarke 2000, p.21 Motor Sport Aug 1992Wimpffen 2008, p.401
Mazda had known their race-winning Mazda 787B was being rendered obsolete under the new regulations, so started investigating a potential 3.5-litre car. Mazdaspeed used their connection to sister-company Jaguar, through their parent Ford company, to order their XJR-14 composite monocoques. They were fitted with Judd V10 Formula 1 engines, badged as Mazdas. Overseen by their successful racing engineer, Nigel Stroud, adjustments were needed to fit in the longer engine. The model, called the MXR-01, needed much work to upgrade it from a sprint-car to an endurance racer. The biggest work was put into the engine, strengthening both it and its Hewland transmission. However, with an output of 600 bhp and a top speed of only 325 kp/h, the performance was underwhelming, giving away around 20 kp/h to their Peugeot and Toyota rivals.Spurring 2012, pp.102-3Williams 2023, p.333 Five chassis were purchased, four of them came to Le Mans with two as test-cars. The winning team of 1991, Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot, had one car, again decked out in the same orange-&-green Renown livery as their previous steed. The second car would be driven by their Japanese veterans Yojiro Terada and Takashi Yorino, with Brazilian Maurizio Sandro Sala.
Having taken a year out from the championship, Toyota returned with a new SWC car, the TS010. This was the first racing Toyota not designed by a Japanese engineer, but instead came out of the TOMS-Europe facility.Spurring 2014, p.95 Tony Southgate, designer of Jaguar's Le Mans-winning XJR-12, was brought on board as project co-ordinator. The car was built around the completely new 3.5-litre RV10 engine. The all-aluminium block had a 72° V10 with two valves per cylinder and could develop 660 and was fitted to a 6-speed gearbox. The chassis was a carbon/kevlar composite, with a very low profile and, like Peugeot, developed strong downforce with a large twin-plane rear wing. The car was unveiled for the last race of the ’91 season and had a good start to the new season by winning the opening round at Monza by default, albeit as the sole classified finisher. Drivers Geoff Lees and Hitoshi Ogawa had raced for the team for a number of years, however Ogawa was tragically killed in May in an All-Japan Formula 3000 race.Spurring 2014, p.97 His place was taken by Australian David Brabham (ex-Jaguar) with Ukyo Katayama as the third driver. The second car had also pulled in drivers from the TWR team, with Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace who had reigning Drivers Champion Teo Fabi as their drop-in third driver. The third car would be driven by Kenny Acheson/Masanori Sekiya/Pierre-Henri Raphanel.