1972 24 Hours of Le Mans

40th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1972. It was the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the ninth race of the 1972 World Championship for Makes. 1972 marked the start of a new era with revised FIA regulations dictating the demise of the 5 Litre Group 5 Sports Car and the 3 Litre Group 6 Sports Prototype categories and their replacement by a new 3 Litre Group 5 Sports Car class. There was also a significant change to the track with the construction of the new technical section subsequently named the Porsche Curves bypassing the dangerous Maison Blanche corner, which had been the site of many serious accidents in the past. Having already won the World Championship for Makes, Ferrari chose not to contest the race. Matra Simca were strong favourites for the outright win after not running the other races to focus on its Le Mans preparation. Once the challenge from Alfa Romeo and Lola had dissipated overnight, Matra were able to ease off to secure a popular 1–2 victory for the home country – France's first since 1950. Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill were the winners, with a comfortable 11 lap margin over teammates François Cevert and Howden Ganley. However the race was marred by the death of veteran Formula One racer Jo Bonnier who died when his Lola prototype collided with a Ferrari GT and flew over the barriers into the trees on the Sunday morning.

Once again, the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale the FIA’s regulations body) overhauled its FIA Appendix J, redefining its motorsport categories. The former Group 6 Prototypes and Group 5 Sports categories were combined into a new, third generation, Group 5 Sports Car class with a 3 litre engine limit (or 2142cc if turbo powered, using the x1.4 equivalency) with a minimum weight of There was also no minimum production required. They also revamped the minimum distance and speed requirements. No longer a set lap time to qualify, all cars had to be within 140% of an average of the three best practice laps put up. Also the sliding scale of target distances was discarded. Therefore the Index of Performance, now redundant, was discontinued. Also, the Index of Thermal Efficiency now only applied to Group 2 and 4.

With the new regulations there were 91 applications, and this led to a solid 66 arriving for practice and for the first time for a few years a full grid of 55 cars took the start. Category Sports CarsGroup 5 Special GTGroups 4 Special TouringGroup 2 TotalEntries Large engines >2.5L classes13 (+8 reserves)13 (+6 reserves)3 (+2 reserves)29 (+16 reserves) Medium engines < 2.5L classes4 (+2 reserves)9 (+3 reserves)013 (+5 reserves) Total Cars17 (+11 reserves)22 (+9 reserves)3 (+2 reserves)42 (+22 reserves)

In a major surprise, after winning every round in the Championship to date, and dominating the timing in the Test Weekend in March, Ferrari withdrew its works team less than a fortnight before the race. Having just secured the World Championship title, it claimed the engines on the Group 5 312 PB were only good for the 1000 km races, and not 24 hours. This did not sound convincing however, since they had achieved a 1–2 victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring, but during a 24 hour simulation run the flat 12 engine in the Ferrari blew up during the 14th hour. Alfa Romeo had voiced the same concern about their engines’ durability but still showed up to Le Mans. John Wyer also chose not to bring his team's Gulf Mirages because their Weslake V12 engines were not ready and under prepared. Matra, like Jaguar in the 1950s, chose to concentrate its efforts for the prestige of a Le Mans victory. The latest version of the 660, the MS660C had been over a second slower than Ickx's Ferrari at the test weekend. But a new model, the MS670 was entered for the race. The 3 litre V12 was detuned for the race down to 450 bhp, pushing it to 310 kp/h (195 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight. With the French media stirring up a patriotic fervour, team director Gérard Ducarouge took no chances and bought 4 cars and 60 crew. Aerodynamic long tail versions were prepared for Jean Pierre Beltoise/Chris Amon and François Cevert/Howden Ganley while Henri Pescarolo/Graham Hill (back at Le Mans for the first time since 1966) had a short tail version. The fourth car was the reliable 660C, given to Jean Pierre Jabouille/ David Hobbs. Porsche was now focussing its efforts on its 917 Can Am project. However, Reinhold Joest got considerable unofficial factory assistance with his 908 LH entry, and sponsored by ATE. The three year old car had been owned by Jo Siffert who had been killed less than a year ago, and was loaned from the Schlumpf Collection. It was refitted by Porsche with a new 3 litre engine capable of 360 bhp. Other customer teams brought Porsche Group 5 cars: the Spanish Escuderia Montjuich had a 908/03, André Wicky’s Swiss team had one of several 908/02s as well as an older 907. Jo Bonnier, Lola’s European agent, convinced Eric Broadley to develop a 3 litre version of its successful T210. Designed by Patrick Head and John Barnard, the new T280 used the Cosworth DFV engine. It was very fast and had easily won the four hour race at the Test Weekend. With works support, Bonnier entered two cars: one for himself and 1971 winner Gijs van Lennep (released from Mirage for the race) and the other for Gérard Larrousse/Hughes de Fierlandt. Sponsored by Swiss cheese, they were this year’s art cars painted up with gruyere cheese holes. There were also a pair of privateer entries. After a positive first run at Le Mans the previous year, Brit Alain de Cadenet decided to build his own car to race. He employed Brabham designer Gordon Murray to build a car around the Cosworth DFV (developing 390 bhp) and Brabham BT33 suspension. The lightest of the 3 litre prototypes, De Cadenet got sponsorship from Duckhams Oil and the car was just ready in time for the race. Guy Ligier, keen to progress his JS 2 GT racecar, approached Citroën about getting a Maserati engine – whom they had bought out three years previously. They obliged and three 3 litre V6 JS 2s were present. Chevrolet had five entries this year to take on the Ferrari challenge. The French teams of Henri Greder (once again with Marie Claude Beaumont as his co driver) and the Ecurie Léopard returned. American John Greenwood also brought a pair of specially lightened Corvettes that proved to be very fast, reaching 330 kp/h (210 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight. They ran on standard BF Goodrich radial road tyres. A new manufacturer for Le Mans was the Italian De Tomaso company. The newly homologated Pantera had a Ford 5.3 litre V8, pushing out 330 bhp was less powerful than the Ferrari and Chevrolet competition. Four cars were entered and the Spanish Escuderia Montjuich ones had strong works support. In the smaller GT category, there were seven Porsche 911s from privateer teams. This year NART ran a Dino 246 on behalf of Ferrari to contest the 2.5 litre class. Once again, NART offered its junior car to winners of the Trofeo Chinetti a competition for young drivers. Their opposition in the ETCC was the Schnitzer Motorsport team running a BMW 2800 CS. Although BMW had recently head hunted Jochen Neerpasch from Ford Germany to set up BMW Motorsport, this was essentially a privateer effort for the company's first post war entry. Despite the BMW's 3 litre engine putting out 340 bhp, the car was 250 kg heavier.

For the first time a French President was the honorary starter. In front of Georges Pompidou and a large partisan crowd, Matra started with all four of their French drivers. Pescarolo took the lead from Cevert on the first lap but things started going wrong straight away. On the second lap, Beltoise's engine expired on the front straight

But during the night first Vaccarella then Elford had clutch problems and each lost half an hour as new ones were fitted. Vic Elford, coming upon Vetsch's car on fire, immediately stopped to rescue the driver who had already escaped with burned hands. By coincidence it was right beside a broadcasting television camera. Class Winners are in Bold text. Class Team Drivers Chassis Engine Tyre 1 S3.0 15 Equipe Matra Simca Shell Henri Pescarolo Graham Hill Matra Simca MS670 Matra 3.0L V12 344 2 S3.0 14 Equipe Matra Simca Shell François Cevert Howden Ganley Matra Simca MS670 Matra 3.0L V12 333 3 S3.0 60(reserve) Siffert ATE Racing Reinhold Joest Michel Weber Mario Casoni Porsche 908LH Coupé Porsche 3.0L F8 325 4 S3.0 18 Autodelta SpA Nino Vaccarella Andrea de Adamich Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT3 Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8 307 5 GTS5.0 39 Automobiles Charles Pozzi Claude Ballot Léna Jean Claude Andruet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 306 6 GTS5.0 74(reserve) North American Racing Team Sam Posey Tony Adamowicz Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 304 7 GTS5.0 34 Scuderia Filipinetti Mike Parkes Jean Louis Lafosse Jean Jacques Cochet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 302 8 GTS5.0 36 Ecurie Francorchamps Derek Bell Teddy Pilette Richard Bond Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 301 9 GTS5.0 38 North American Racing Team Jean Pierre Jarier Claude Buchet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 297 10 TS3.0 54 Ford Motorenwerke Deutschland Gerry Birrell Claude Bourgoignie Ford Capri 2600RS Ford 2.9L V6 292 11 TS3.0 52 Ford Motorenwerke Deutschland Dieter Glemser Alex Soler Roig Ford Capri 2600RS Ford 2.9L V6 289 12 S3.0 68(reserve) Duckham's Oil Motor Racing(private entrant) Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft Duckhams LM72 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 288 13 GTS2.5 41 L. Meznarie(private entrant) Sylvain Garant Jürgen Barth Michael Keyser Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 285 14 S2.0 27 R. Ligonnet(private entrant) René Ligonnet Barrie Smith Lola T290 Cosworth FVC 1790cc S4 284 15 GTS+5.0 4 North American Racing Team Bob Johnson Dave Heinz Chevrolet Corvette C3 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 284 16 GTS+5.0 32 C. Dubois(private entrant) Jean Marie Jacquemin Yves Deprez De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8 282 17 GTS2.5 46 North American Racing Team Jean Pierre Laffeach Gilles Doncieux Dino 246 GT Ferrari 2418cc V6 265 18 S2.0 24 Wicky Racing Team Peter Mattli Hervé Bayard Walter Brun Porsche 907 Porsche 1997cc F6 252 n/c * S3.0 67(reserve) C. Poirot(private entrant) Christian Poirot Philippe Farjon Porsche 908/02K Porsche 3.0L F8 206
'Note *: Not Classified because insufficient distance covered.

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Tyre Laps Reason DNF S3.0 16 Equipe Matra Simca Shell Jean Pierre Jabouille David Hobbs Matra Simca MS660C Matra 3.0L V12 278 or313 Transmission (24hr) DNF S3.0 5 Escuderia Montjuïch Juan Fernandez Francesco Torredemer Eugenio Baturone Porsche 908/03 Porsche 3.0L F8 278 Accident (24hr) DNF S3.0 19 Autodelta SpA Rolf Stommelen Giovanni ‘Nanni’ Galli Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT3 Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8 263 Transmission (19hr) DNF S3.0 6 H. D. Weigel(private entrant) Hans Dieter Weigel Helmuth Krause Porsche 908/02K Porsche 3.0L F8 244 Accident (20hr) DNF GTS+5.0 29 Greder Racing Henri Greder Marie Claude Beaumont Chevrolet Corvette C3 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 235 Accident (21hr) DNF S3.0 17 Autodelta SpA Vic Elford Dr. Helmut Marko Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT3 Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8 232 Transmission (19hr) DNF GTS5.0 57(reserve) North American Racing Team Masten Gregory Luigi Chinetti Jr Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 226 Engine (20hr) DNF S3.0 8 Ecurie Bonnier Jo Bonnier Gijs van Lennep Lola T280 Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 213 Fatal Accident (18hr) DNF GTS2.5 42 C. Haldi(private entrant) Claude Haldi Paul Keller "Gédéhem" (Gérard Dantan Merlin) Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 208 Engine (18hr) DNF GTS5.0 35 Scuderia Filipinetti Bernard Cheneviére Florian Vetsch Gérard Pillon Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 204 Accident (18hr) DNF S3.0 22 Automobiles Ligier Jacques Laffite Pierre Maublanc Ligier JS2 Maserati 3.0L V6 195 Engine (24hr) DNF GTS+5.0 71(reserve) Écurie Léopard Jean Claude Aubriet "Dépnic" (Jean Claude Depince) Chevrolet Corvette C3 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 188 Engine (19hr) DNF S3.0 65(reserve) "Novestille"(private entrant) Louis Cosson Jean Louis Ravenel Porsche 910 Porsche 2379cc F6 188 Wheel bearing (16hr) DNF S3.0 56(reserve) C. Laurent(private entrant) Claude Laurent Martial Delalande Jacques Marché Ligier JS2 Maserati 3.0L V6 186 Engine (19hr) DNF GTS2.5 45 R. Touroul(private entrant) "Lee Banner" (Fernand Saropoulos) Dominique Bardini Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 183 Engine (16hr) DNF TS3.0 53 Ford Motorenwerke Deutschland Jochen Mass Hans Joachim Stuck Ford Capri 2600RS Ford 2.9L V6 152 Oil pump (14hr) DNF S3.0 7 Ecurie Bonnier Baron Hughes de Fierlandt Gérard Larrousse Lola T280 Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 86or26 Transmission (7hr) DNF S3.0 76(reserve) J. Egreteaud(private entrant) Jean Claude Lagniez Raymond Touroul Porsche 908/02K Porsche 3.0L F8 83 Out of fuel (8hr) DNF GTS+5.0 72(reserve) John Greenwood Racing Alain Cudini Bernard Darniche John Greenwood Chevrolet Corvette C3 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 82 Engine (9hr) DNF S2.0 23 G. Edwards(private entrant) Brian Robinson Jean Rondeau Chevron B21 Cosworth FVC 1790cc S4 76 Engine (10hr) DNF GTS5.0 37 Maranello Concessionaires Peter Westbury John Hine Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 72 Engine (9hr) DNF TS3.0 49 Team Schnitzer Motul Hans Heyer René Herzog BMW 2800 CS BMW 3.0L S6 70 Engine (7hr) DNF GTS2.5 44 J. Sage(private entrant) Gelo Racing Team Jean Sage Georg Loos Franz Pesch Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 64 Engine (8hr) DNF GTS+5.0 28 John Greenwood Racing John Greenwood Dick Smothers Chevrolet Corvette C3 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 53 Engine (10hr) DNF GTS2.5 80(reserve) Porsche Kremer Racing Team Erwin Kremer John Fitzpatrick Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 39 Engine (5hr) DNF GTS2.5 79(reserve) J. P. Gaban(private entrant) Hermes Delbar Roger van der Schrick Porsche 911S Porsche 2450cc F6 36 Transmission (4hr) DNF GTS+5.0 30 Escuderia Montjuïch José Juncadella Fernando de Baviera De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8 36 Engine (9hr) DNF GTS+5.0 31 Escuderia Montjuïch Herbert Müller Cox Kocher De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8 36or31 Engine (10hr) DNF S2.0 69(reserve) M. Dupont(private entrant) Michel Dupont Jean Paul Bodin Paul Blancpain Chevron B19/21 Cosworth FVC 1790cc S4 29 Transmission (5hr) DNF GTS2.5 40 R. Mazzia(private entrant) Pierre Mauroy Marcel Mignot Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 27 Engine (4hr) DNF TS3.0 84(reserve) Shark Team(private entrant) Jean Claude Guérie Jean Pierre Rouget Cyril Grandet Ford Capri 2600RS Ford 2.9L V6 26 Engine (4hr) DNF GTS5.0 75(reserve) Automobiles Charles Pozzi François Migault Daniel Rouveyran Jean Claude Andruet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 22 Transmission (9hr) DNF S3.0 58(reserve) Bosch Racing Team Walter Roser Otto Stuppacher Porsche 908/02K Porsche 3.0L F8 / 11 Accident (2hr) DNF S3.0 21 Automobiles Ligier Guy Ligier Jean François Piot Ligier JS2 Maserati 3.0L V6 7 Engine (3hr) DNF S+3.0 33 Société Franco Brittanic Guy Chasseuil Jean Vinatier De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8 3 Engine (2hr) DNF S3.0 12 Equipe Matra Simca Shell Jean Pierre Beltoise Chris Amon Matra Simca MS670 Matra 3.0L V12 1 Engine (2hr)Sources:

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Tyre Reason DNS S2.0 26 Veglia GRAC Racing Lionel Noghès “Cyprien” (Christian Mons) Alain Finkelstein GRAC MT16 Cosworth FVC 1825cc S4 Practice Accident DNS GTS2.5 43 J. Mesange(private entrant) Jean Mesange Paul Keller Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 Did not start DNS S3.0 61(reserve) Wicky Racing Team André Wicky Walter Brun Max Cohen Olivar Porsche 908/02K Porsche 3.0L F8 Mechanical issues DNS GTS2.5 78(reserve) Gelo Racing Team Jean Sage Georg Loos Pierre Greub Porsche 911S Porsche 2492cc F6 Did not start DNQ TS3.0 47 Motor Racing Facilities(private entrant) Robert Grant Martin Birrane Serge Trosch Datsun 240Z Datsun 2394cc F6 Did not qualify DNQ GTS2.5 51 Wicky Racing Team Jean Pierre Aeschlimann Juan Diez Porsche 911S Porsche 2480cc F6 Did not qualify DNQ TS2.5 55 AGACI Guy Verrier Gérard Foucault François Monath Citroën SM Maserati 2.9L V6 Did not qualify DNQ S3.0 64(reserve) Scuderia Filipinetti Dominique Martin Jean Jacques Cochet Gérard Pillon Lola T280 Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 Did not qualify DNQ GTS+5.0 73(reserve) Scuderia Brescia Corse Gianpiero Moretti Enrico Pasolini “Pooky” (Vincenzo Cazzago) De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8 Did not qualify DNQ TS3.0 82(reserve) C. Buchet(private entrant) Claude Buchet Joël Bonnemaison Ford Capri 2600RS Ford 2.9L V6 Did not qualify DNQ S2.0 85(reserve) Société Darnval Jean Daniel Jakubowski Peter Schweitzer Taydec Mk3 Cosworth FVC 1790cc S4 Did not qualify

For Group 2 and Group 4 cars. Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Score 1 GTS5.0 39 Automobiles Charles Pozzi Claude Ballot Léna Jean Claude Andruet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 1.05 2 GTS5.0 36 Ecurie Francorchamps Derek Bell Teddy Pilette Richard Bond Ferrari 365 GTB/4 0.95 3 GTS5.0 74(reserve) North American Racing Team Sam Posey Tony Adamowicz Ferrari 365 GTB/4 0.93 4 GTS5.0 34 Scuderia Filipinetti Mike Parkes Jean Louis Lafosse Jean Jacques Cochet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 0.91 5 GTS5.0 38 North American Racing Team Jean Pierre Jarier Claude Buchet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 0.89 6 GTS2.5 41 L. Meznarie(private entrant) Sylvain Garant Jürgen Barth Michael Keyser Porsche 911S 0.85 7 GTS3.0 46 North American Racing Team Jean Pierre Laffeach Gilles Doncieux Dino 246 GT 0.84 8 TS3.0 54 Ford Motorenwerke Deutschland Gerry Birrell Claude Bourgoignie Ford Capri 2600RS 0.81 9= GTS+5.0 32 C. Dubois(private entrant) Jean Marie Jacquemin Yves Deprez De Tomaso Pantera 0.78 9= TS3.0 52 Ford Motorenwerke Deutschland Dieter Glemser Alex Soler Roig Ford Capri 2600RS 0.78 9= GTS+5.0 4 North American Racing Team Bob Johnson Dave Heinz Chevrolet Corvette C3 0.78