Also I want to point out that Paul Newman's effort at LeMans was entirely due to Rolf Stommelen. He had the race of his life and almost won it single handed. The man was one of motor racing's best talents and tragically was killed in an avoidable accident at the Riverside in 1983. R.I.P Rolf. You're greatly missed. :)
Ford wouldn't have been able to win without Carroll Shelby, who's name is missing from this video. It was Shelby's car (Cobra Daytona Coupe) that first knocked Ferrari out of his winning streak, not Ford. Otherwise a very information documentary.
That long straight at the end gives you plenty of time to think about a mechanical failure at 240+ mph. If a bird flys up and hits you in the face shield you're probably toast. There are so many things that can go wrong, and the straight is so long. It takes a lot of courage to run that hard for that long. And add pitch black night to the equation, man I like to race, but not that much.
SingleTurboSupra What's so fun about such a long straight? I appreciate a good drag race but Mulsanne was silly. Also, we went from ONE overtaking opportunity to THREE in the same area!
***** Well yea but it was much more characteristic, than two micky-mouse chicanes cutting the straight. Imo it was much more awesome to see cars hitting 400 km/h. And tbh the Le Mans isn't really the best race if you want to see actual racing. It's more about the endurance. You win races by overtaking less efficient cars when they are pitting or when they are having a problem in their car. Not really that much wheel-to-wheel racing. Maybe a little with GT cars, but not with prototypes.
I still believe the dangerous, often deadly cars from the 60s and 60s were the most beautiful. The one car I would love to own is the 1962 Ferrari Dino 246SP. I don't know why but that car makes me weak in the knees...
LOL..Actually,3 times...I was mistaken..Long time ago and I was Young..NART Ferrari 365GTB,Toad Hall Porsche 911RSR,and Interscope Racing Porsche 935K..
Thank you for uploading, le mans is unique - greatest race ever was 69, Jacky Icks startet as a protest as last driver in the field and finished 2 seconds is a 24 hours race for Hans Hermann
This race has to be the only truly glamorous Motorsport event that continues to this day, since F1 lost its glamour upon the oil crisis, and WRC is not popular enough. NASCAR? same reason.
rockzs74r Yeah don't forget the Germans too. 12 world champions achieved just by 3 drivers, 7 constructor title only by Mercedes. Schumacher holds the records for the most World Championship titles (7), the most Grand Prix wins (91), the most fastest laps (77) and the most races won in a single season (13).
When it comes to any form of competitive competition or sport I go for motor racing over any athletic sport. When it comes to any form of motorsports to me it's always going to be sports car racing over any other form of Motorsport
You don't need to run diesels. Toyota won three races with a petrol powered hybrid last year. The key is that Audi and Peugeot were spending the same amount as a small F1 team to compete against each other. It's something the other manufacturers can't afford to do while racing in F1, so they put their efforts into the GT categories.
Their marketing perspective = diesel. And they can't use that anywhere else. Btw, Peugeot withdrew in January 2012 due the economics, was 'replaced' by Toyota last year (Toyota don't actually use diesel).
It seems to me, (an American), that the four most famous races in the world are the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Grand Prix of Monaco, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. I wonder if anybody who has been to more than one of those event s could comment on their experiences and reactions and make a comparison. Which is truly the "greatest race"?
Holy Crap! That footage at the very end of that Le Mans car absolutely flying down the straightaway at light speed is incredible, is that from the 1971 Steve Mcqueen movie "Le Mans"?
I can't see any of those firms wanting to run diesels, which you need to do to win (at least, until the diesel/gasoline conversion factors become fairer). Plus those companies are too busy with F1. Audi and Peugeot would probably prefer to be in F1 tha LM from a marketing perspective.
for the record, levet in a mercedes, was pushed into macklin by mike hawthorne driving a jaguar,...who won and celebrated very arrogantly...hawthorne died on an english road a few years later, trying to overtake a mercedes ironically.
The Ford GT 40 was a refinement of the Lola GT which had used a Ford 289 V8 mid-engined in a small beautiful coupe. Ford bought the design from Eric Bradly and was only able to beat Ferrari by using bigger and bigger, rather crude, V8s to out-power the better engineered V12s Enzo loved. The Ford car went from a smaller, pretty car to a big, ugly monsterut it won.
That's sad, why did you get so mad? If you know the story of the Lola GT (and it's succsess) you would not be, so your lack of knowledge is your only problem here. The reason i react is the fact that this i taught as some sort of American hero story, when the Americans went all left and right turns. The Enzo beef ended with Ford buying a car which had already done great in testing. Lola was one of the finest racing car maker of it's time, miles ahead of the competition, decades ahead of Ford. The Lola GT was a car, it needed an engine. It needed a good engine, the one it already had suffered from a low top speed and high stress during the mulsanne straight. It had already set a new record on Le Mans, with the old engine (which eventually failed during testing) So, the Lola GT was fast and groundbreaking even before Ford ever got into the picture. Were clearly both car people, this is one of the great stories of motorsports. Why change the story to make it coherent with your patriotism? I'm Norwegian btw. And i critized the way americans really dont know this particular story, not your country or inventions. A point you actually confirmed in your bald eagle dive into mediocreness.
`Its the all american bullshit that gets to me . Bruce Mclaren, Denny Hulme and Chris Amon all Kiwis where barely mentioned and peter brock a young designer that helped solve issues .and Bruce Mclaren with his development of down force technology that ford just did not have . All ford had was a cheque book and a big block . So usa you have never won shit without paying for it
sorry it's taken so long...I made the prog and I had the music composed by a guy I used to work with - I wanted it to sound a bit like a track by the house of love which I loved driving to. his name was moneef. he's in the credits
Sadly nascar and F1 have both lost the true race experience, it seems like the only true races anymore where car and driver give it everything they have are street races, they are dangerous and a bunch of ego racers but their are also true drivers who want to break their own records and get excited when they lose because that means theirs possibility to do better
The 24 Hours of Lemons, which is kind of comical, and Land Speed Racing are still car and driver. NASCAR, F1 and Indy Car have become spec car races. They might as well be running Formula Vee. Still, of the big draw races, Endurance Sports Car racing is the most interesting.
Nonya Damnbusiness lol I agree I'd like to see races with cars that they actually sale retail like they used to way before I was born I love watching the races where they raced cars that you could go out and buy
New Zealand drivers Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber keep Porsche works jobs The first Kiwis to finish first were . Formula One drivers Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon in 1966.
+Weston Adams Rotary engines were banned in the early 1990s when the FIA mandated 3.5L engines for Group C, and that ban has stuck ever since. Today I think there would be two problems stopping a return of the rotary. First, the series has enough on it's plate trying to balance petrol vs diesel and the various hybrid power levels. I don't think they want another variable thrown into the mix. The other issue is noise. A few years ago they added a noise limit of 110 dB for every car in order to keep locals happy at all of the tracks. The rotary engine was notorious for being the loudest engine by a wide margin, so much so that Andy Wallace specifically mentioned the sound of the Mazdas keeping him awake at Le Mans.
You guys are wrong. First race at Le Mans took place in 1906, it was first ACF Grand Prix and first Grand Prix ever. Therefore, 100 years of racing there passed in 2006.
The first 30 seconds were great: no background music. Then it began, covering what is being said. Why so loud for F*** sake?. When will producers make up their minds: video clip or documentary?
