1999 24 Hours of Le Mans
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| 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
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The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 12 and 13, 1999.
This event became famous for the incidents involving the team of Mercedes-Benz CLRs during qualifying and the race itself. An aerodynamic design flaw in the CLR allowed for large amounts of air to build up underneath the nose of the car, especially when following another car and at the tops of hills, noteably on the run to Indianapolis and on the Mulsanne straight.
Mark Webber's CLR became airborne at Indianapolis during qualifying and was repaired with tweaks to the rear suspension in an attempt by Mercedes to cure the problem. All cars qualified, but during the brief warm-up on the day of the race, Mark Webber again became airborne when following his teammates over the hump of the Mulsanne, landing on his roof and skidding to a stop in the Mulsanne corner. This car was withdrawn, but the two other CLRs continued on, again with emergency tweaks to attempt to stop the instability.
Unfortunately a few hours into the race Peter Dumbreck's CLR also became airborne at Indianapolis, this time flying off the side of the track and landing in the trees. This incident, unlike the previous two, was caught by TV cameras and thus broadcast worldwide. Mercedes-Benz immediately withdrew the remaining CLR and dropped out of sportscar racing for the immediate future.
This would be the 2nd time Mercedes-Benz had been forced to drop out of Le Mans and sportscar racing following an incident with one of their cars becoming airborne and leaving the track, the first being the Le Mans 1955 disaster
Official Results
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP | 15 | BMW Motorsport | Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas | BMW V12 LMR | BMW S70 6.0L V12 | M | 365 |
| 2 | LMGTP | 3 | Toyota Motorsport / TTE | Ukyo Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki | Toyota GT-One | Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 364 |
| 3 | LMP | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8R | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 360 |
| 4 | LMP | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello | Audi R8R | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 346 |
| 5 | LMP | 18 | Bscher Racing | Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper | BMW V12 LM | BMW S70 6.0L V12 | Y | 345 |
| 6 | LMP | 13 | Courage Compétition | Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella | Courage C52 | Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V6 | B | 342 |
| 7 | LMP | 12 | Panoz Motorsports | David Brabham Eric Bernard Butch Leitzinger | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | Ford 6.0L V8 | M | 336 |
| 8 | LMP | 21 | Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) | Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom | Courage C52 | Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V6 | B | 335 |
| 9 | LMP | 14 | Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team | Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferte Patrice Gay | Courage C50 | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | P | 327 |
| 10 | GTS | 51 | Viper Team Oreca | Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupey | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 325 |
| 11 | LMP | 11 | Panoz Motorsports | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | Ford 6.0L V8 | M | 323 |
| 12 | GTS | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 318 |
| 13 | GT | 81 | Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | P | 317 | |
| 14 | GTS | 56 | Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Toni Seiler | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 314 | |
| 15 | GTS | 50 | Oreca | Pedro Mello-Breyner Tomas Mello-Breyner | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 312 |
| 16 | GTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | D | 309 |
| 17 | GTS | 54 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | D | 299 |
| 18 | GTS | 64 | Konrad Motorsport | Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 293 |
| 19 | GT | 80 | Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | P | 292 | |
| 20 | GTS | 62 | Claudia Hürtgen Andre Ahrle Vincent Vosse | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | Y | 290 | |
| 21 | GT | 84 | Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry | Porsche 911 3.8 RSR | Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 | P | 288 | |
| 22 | GTS | 57 | Christian Vann Christian Glasel | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 270 |
Not Classified
Failed to cover 70% of winner's distance (255 laps)
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Tyre | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | GTS | 65 | Patrice Gouselard Pierre Yver | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | M | 240 |
Did Not Finish
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | LMP | 17 | BMW Motorsport | Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW V12 LMR | BMW S70 6.0L V12 | M | 304 |
| 25 | GTS | 53 | Viper Team Oreca | David Donohue Jean-Pierre Belloc Soheil Ayari | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | M | 271 |
| 26 | GTS | 63 | John Robinson Hugh Price | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | Y | 232 | |
| 27 | LMP | 19 | David Price Racing | Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Kato Akahika Nakaya | BMW V12 LM | BMW S70 6.0L V12 | M | 223 |
| 28 | LMP | 26 | Talkline Racing for Holland | Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel | Lola B98/10 | Ford 6.0L V8 | D | 213 |
| 29 | LMGTP | 10 | Audi Sport UK Ltd. | James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy | Audi R8C | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 198 |
| 30 | LMGTP | 2 | Toyota Motorsports / TTE | Thierry Boutsen Ralph Kelleners Allan McNish | Toyota GT-One | Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 173 |
| 31 | GTS | 61 | Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 157 | |
| 32 | LMP | 27 | Grant Orbell Didier de Radigues | Lola B98/10 | Ford 6.0L V8 | G | 146 | |
| 33 | GTS | 67 | Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | M | 134 | |
| 34 | GTS | 66 | Estoril Racing Communication | Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | P | 123 |
| 35 | LMP | 22 | Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) | Michael Krumm Satushi Motoyama Erik Comas | Nissan R391 | Nissan VRH50A 5.0L V8 | B | 110 |
| 36 | LMGTP | 1 | Toyota Motorsports / TTE | Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri | Toyota GT-One | Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 90 |
| 37 | LMP | 25 | DAMS | Franck Montagny Didier Therrien | Lola B98/10 | Judd GV4 4.0L V10 | P | 77 |
| 38 | LMGTP | 6 | AMG Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy | Mercedes-Benz CLR | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8 | B | 76 |
| 39 | LMGTP | 5 | AMG Mercedes | Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck | Mercedes-Benz CLR | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8 | B | 75 |
| 40 | LMP | 24 | Franck Freon Robin Donovan | Autoexe LMP99 (Riley & Scott MkIII) | Ford 6.0L V8 | Y | 74 | |
| 41 | LMP | 29 | Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori | Ferrari 333 SP | Ferrari F130E 4.0L V12 | P | 71 | |
| 42 | LMP | 32 | Riley & Scott Europe | Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis | Riley & Scott MkIII/2 | Ford 6.0L V8 | P | 67 |
| 43 | LMGTP | 9 | Audi Sport UK Ltd. | Stefan Johansson Stephane Ortelli Christian Abt | Audi R8C | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | M | 55 |
| 44 | LMP | 31 | Riley & Scott Europe | Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thevenin | Riley & Scott MkIII/2 | Ford 6.0L V8 | P | 25 |
| 45 | GTS | 60 | Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani | Porsche 911 GT2 | Porsche 3.8L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 24 | |
| - | LMGTP | 4 | AMG Mercedes-Benz | Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz CLR | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7L V8 | B | Did Not Start |
| - | LMP | 23 | Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) | Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan R391 | Nissan VRH50A 5.0L V8 | B | Did Not Start |
| - | GT | 83 | Gerard MacQuillan Chris Gleason | Porsche 911 3.8 RSR | Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 | P | Did Not Start |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #1 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:29.930
- Fastest Lap - #3 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:35.052
- Distance - 4968km
- Average Speed - 207km/h
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