Porsche Driving LeMans Race Coverage Article 21

6/15

7:41 am PST

"Porsche Claims 15th Le Mans Victory"

PORSCHE CLAIMS 15TH LE MANS VICTORY

Submitted by Bob Carlson

Porsche-powered cars have now claimed a record 15 overall victories in the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance classic. No other manufacturer has won the torturous event more than eight times.

The 1997 version of the French event was captured by the Joest Racing TWR Porsche co-driven by Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen. The Joest Racing team brought only one car to the 65th running of Le Mans. And they made it count. The car that took the checkered flag after completing 361 laps is the same car that won at Le Mans in 1996.

It marks the fourth overall Le Mans victory for the Joest Racing team. In addition to 1996-97, the Team also won consecutive races in 1984-85. Interestingly, both of these events were won by the same Porsche 956 race car.

Porsche 911 Turbos swept the top four positions in the companion GT2 class. The Elf Haberthur Racing team's #78 won behind the efforts of co-drivers Neugarten/Martinolle/Lagniez, who overcame an accident where the left rear tire came off on the track early Sunday morning.

While these Porsche teams were enjoying tremendous success, the two factory entered Porsche 911 GT1 cars suffered race-ending incidents. Both incidents struck while the cars were securely positioned in first place overall, as they had been from the very first lap of the race.

The first incident occurred at the 16-hour mark when Bob Wollek crashed car #25 while attempting to overtake a backmarker. Fortunately, Wollek was not injured in the accident. The second car, co-driven by Yannick Delmas, Ralf Kelleners and Emmanuel Collard, retired after 22 hours when it burst into flames out on the race course. The team was fighting overheating problems throughout Sunday morning, and the cause for the fire was speculated to be a broken oil system.

6/15	7:41 am PST	"Porsche Claims 15th Le Mans Victory"
PORSCHE CLAIMS 15TH LE MANS VICTORY Submitted by Bob Carlson Porsche-powered cars have now claimed a record 15 overall victories in the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance classic. No other manufacturer has won the torturous event more than eight times. The 1997 version of the French event was captured by the Joest Racing TWR Porsche co-driven by Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen. The Joest Racing team brought only one car to the 65th running of Le Mans. And they made it count. The car that took the checkered flag after completing 361 laps is the same car that won at Le Mans in 1996. It marks the fourth overall Le Mans victory for the Joest Racing team. In addition to 1996-97, the Team also won consecutive races in 1984-85. Interestingly, both of these events were won by the same Porsche 956 race car. Porsche 911 Turbos swept the top four positions in the companion GT2 class. The Elf Haberthur Racing team's #78 won behind the efforts of co-drivers Neugarten/Martinolle/Lagniez, who overcame an accident where the left rear tire came off on the track early Sunday morning. While these Porsche teams were enjoying tremendous success, the two factory entered Porsche 911 GT1 cars suffered race-ending incidents. Both incidents struck while the cars were securely positioned in first place overall, as they had been from the very first lap of the race. The first incident occurred at the 16-hour mark when Bob Wollek crashed car #25 while attempting to overtake a backmarker. Fortunately, Wollek was not injured in the accident. The second car, co-driven by Yannick Delmas, Ralf Kelleners and Emmanuel Collard, retired after 22 hours when it burst into flames out on the race course. The team was fighting overheating problems throughout Sunday morning, and the cause for the fire was speculated to be a broken oil system.