The 1986

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

was the 54th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the third round of the 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place on 31 May and 1 June 1986.

Pre-race

Due to construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner, a new portion of track had to be built in order to avoid the roundabout. This created a right hand kink prior to the new Mulsanne turn.

Race

For 1986, the new works 962C of

Hans-Joachim Stuck Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1 January 1951), nicknamed "Strietzel", is a German racing driver who has competed in Formula One and many other categories. He is the son of pre-WW2 racing driver Hans Stuck Life and career He was born in Garmisch-Pa ...

, Derek Bell and

Al Holbert Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 – September 30, 1988) was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series. He once held the record with the most IMSA race wins at 49. Life and career ...

was able to overcome the two-time defending winners at

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...

. The race itself was marred by the death of

Jo Gartner Josef Gartner (24 January 1954 – 1 June 1986) was a Formula One and sports car endurance driver from Austria. After a successful lower formula career, including a win in the Formula Two Pau Grand Prix, he participated in eight Formula One ...

in a crash on the

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is inte ...

early on Sunday morning while running in 8th place. The sole remaining

Kremer Racing Kremer Racing is a motorsports team based in Cologne, Germany, founded by racing driver Erwin Kremer and his brother Manfred. They have competed internationally with Porsches for nearly all of their existence, and were even one of the factory-b ...

Porsche retired soon after the accident. The Joest/Ludwig car suffered from engine bearing failure following the extended pace car laps.

Official results

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC). † - #66 Cosmik Racing and #79 Ecurie Ecosse were both disqualified for receiving outside assistance.

Statistics

* Pole Position - Jochen Mass, #2 Rothmans Porsche - 3:15.990 (154.402 mph/248.492 km/h) * Fastest Lap - Klaus Ludwig, #7 Joest Racing - 3:23.300 * Distance - 4972.731 km * Average Speed - 207.197 km/h

Notes

References

* * {{24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Le Mans races

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...