Onboard lap with the Martini Racing Porsche 936 driven by Jurgen Barth at Le Mans 1977. www.racing-underground.com "Racing torrents all over the place" ....
back in the days when racing cars were real racing cars, no computers onboard, just man and machine, an era lost forever that our kids will never experience, that speed scares me,he is an amazing driver,no doubt.
Thank you so much for posting this video. Amazing, awesome, fantastic, terrific!!! I was just a kid back in '77, but was already a fan of Le Mans, playing with Le Mans toy cars, etc. I've seen videos, but this is breathtaking, considering the age. Did you notice that the cars being lapped usually keep to their racing line, and I can't see the driver of the 936 complaining...unlike today's spoint F1 drivers!
My favorite version of the Circuit de la Sarthe in terms of layout. Before the Dunlop curve, Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne corner were altered and chicanes installed on the exit of Dunlop curve and on Mulsanne straight, but after the Porsche curves were added. In terms of safety though, let's just say it was lacking...
So it was.This noise recalls me of my 911/S and brings me back of years...of no speed limits times! 936 had basically a stock aircooled turbo 911 engine extr.uptuned and the"family sound "was clearly still there!
Vive le Mans ! The old circuit was ridicoulously fast. I have a friend that told me that the hardest thing with those long straits is not to fall asleep !
It's the german driver Jurgen Barth as mentioned in the video description commenting on his own lap. The last sentence spoken by a commentator is also in german. Greetings from Germany ;)
Thanks for putting this up - lovely wiggle on the exit of Arnage. The closing speed to the 911s looks scary - especially the two overtaking eachother on the approach to Indianapolis. I have took my midget round the Circuit on a parade lap and it seemed really narrow in places. Now the cars are even wider there can't be much room for three abreast if needed.
A lower quality version of this is on Porsche's official RU-vid channel. Why they don't have anything of the even more successful 917, 962, or even the 956 is beyond me.
@bere5de The 917 LH (langheck) was clocked doing 390km/h on LeMans in 1971. That one had a 650hp 4,9 litre flat 12 The Can-Am 917-30 had a turbo-charged engine and 1100hp in racetrim in 1973. For qualifying it reportedly had 1500hp. Unofficial reports claim that the 917-30 reached 409km/h in Le Castellet (Paul Ricard) in 1975.
Think you might find the 2.1 litre 936 here was based on the even older 908 chassis. These vehicles last one at Le Mans 1981 with a 2.65 litre (Updated from a shelved Indianapolis Project) engine.
936 in long term engine trim had a 500/550 bhp output - no more - in practise trim they could obv.uptune the turbo engine but these were long term races= equally they had to choose an average aerod. downforce/speed ratio so to have performance on the straight and a still good cornering without excessively stressing the drivers in a 24 hours race= Still impressing 30 years later!
Porsche 917 is the Fastet Porsche ever build. 1100 bhp in race 1500 in qaulifing... Top speed in Musolmune was 407kph. in 1971, 12 seconds to 320 kph (200 mph)
It's scary. You're getting bored and your alertness getting weak. Then you see Mulsanne too late and... BOOM! „Mulsanne” is the last corner on „Les Hunaudières” (wrong named „Mulsanne straight”).
The 936 had a top speed of 217 MPH. And the way the lap was filmed (large POV crammed into a small one) which makes the viewsomewhat faster, only adds to the effect that it's at top speed on the Mulsanne. The 917 raced at the beginning of the '70s, so it can't be a 917.
@samiurrahmanshah In F1, I'm pretty sure they have launch control, plus they have that overtaking feature where they push a button on the steering wheel that gives the engine a bit more power and lowers the rear wing to creat less downforce. (i may be wrong about the launch control)
@terminator363GAMES The two chicanes at Hunaudieres were not the only changes, Maison Blanche and Porsche curves, Ford Chicane, and the section from Dunlop to the esses have changed too since 1967 and before ´32 the north of the track had a totally different layout.
Ah, the days of no chicanes. How wonderful. These prototype cars are meant to take advantage of this straight. It is a shame that nowadays officials are putting safety over excitement and the thrill as well as the glory of driving near death!
What I found almost frightening was the closing speeds with the 911s down the Mulsanne. They might have been doing 160mph+ and he went past them liking they were doing half that
@bere5de You're quite right, but really it does depend on the nature of the track. (The Porsche would have a much higher top speed, but the 21st Century F1 car would be far more agile.) Got to remember that tyre technology has improved quite a bit since 1971 (Porsche 917/30 era), and tyres can be worth many seconds per lap than horsepower and aerodynamics alone.
@samiurrahmanshah pit lane speed limiters are ok, here in australia the V8 supercar series, they have speed limiters for in the pit lanes, but i'm pretty sure they have no electronic driving aids. ( one thing is for sure, it will be interesting if the F1 cars switch to turboed 4cyl engines)
@xrayracer1 I can't be too sure about launch control, the way rules are evolving, it's hard to follow. I do remember that they had a type of anti-stall control, which disengaged the clutch whenever the ECU sensed the engine was about to stall. As for these LMPs, I think the only electronic aids are the traction / launch control, oh and pit lane speed limiters. They all work by modulating engine power.
