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Post by charleselan on Apr 5, 2018 10:33:22 GMT
Last night I had the rewarding experience of watching the highlights of the 1987 Le Mans 24 Hour race on the Motorsport.com TV channel, which was one of the series that they are currently broadcasting.
I feel compelled to create a thread on this for one simple reason, it was a memorable race in so many ways and lifted my spirits no end following a day of dire weather and my despair of current four wheel racing.
It made me realise very profoundly how pug ugly the current LMP1 & 2 vehicles are and that they sound so monotonous in comparison with the huge variety that was apparent from the films sound track.
Unbelievably the works Rothmans Porsche 962's were down to just a single car after only a couple of hours and it was this car that carried the fight to the rapidly strengthening TWR Jaguar XJ8's. The battles on track put much of todays insipid racing to shame with Dinger; Stuckie and Al Holbert duelling with the Jag's; eventually prevailing towards a truly memorable victory and one Derek Bell said was his best ever.
The TWR Jag's would be back the following year and produced an emotional victory for the great marque.
One other fact, during the night the magnificent (one of the great touring car drivers) Win Percy had a huge accident in the Mulsanne Kink when a rear tyre disintegrated, the comment afterwards was that he survived unscathed due to the amazing Tony Southgate designed cars immensely strong construction.
A wonderful one hours viewing that was inspirational.
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Post by Jamie on Apr 5, 2018 11:15:31 GMT
I saw it to John and it was brilliant, especially hearing Neville Hay's distinctive tones which make me think of Le Man whenever I hear them.
The cars really were great in this era, they looked good and there was plenty of variety....I really do miss Group C.
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Post by charleselan on Apr 5, 2018 12:07:59 GMT
I saw it to John and it was brilliant, especially hearing Neville Hay's distinctive tones which make me think of Le Man whenever I hear them. The cars really were great in this era, they looked good and there was plenty of variety....I really do miss Group C. Funnily enough I thought you may be watching Jamie. It was fantastic and like you I miss Group C........ Yet another act of complete vandalism by Moseley & Ecclestone. I knew it was doomed as soon as it was announced that two seater GP cars were going to become the new formula. |
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Post by Jamie on Apr 5, 2018 12:45:01 GMT
Oh yes they ruined it alright and all because they thought it could threaten F1 as the place for manufacturers.....and not a thought for the fans who loved it, a cynical, cynical move and I’ve felt nothing but contempt for those two ever since.......I know I’ve ranted about this before so I’ll pipe down now 😁
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Post by charleselan on Apr 5, 2018 14:24:50 GMT
Oh yes they ruined it alright and all because they thought it could threaten F1 as the place for manufacturers.....and not a thought for the fans who loved it, a cynical, cynical move and I’ve felt nothing but contempt for those two ever since.......I know I’ve ranted about this before so I’ll pipe down now 😁 You rant all you like Jamie, it positively incensed me then and still does. The most malevolent act of self interest that I have ever seen in all my years following this sport of ours, an utter disgrace. |
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 5, 2018 15:36:25 GMT
Jamie one can never rant enough about those two. The Group C formula was brilliant. I wish I had followed it more closely at the time. John Charles how do you tune into Motorsport.com TV?
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Post by charleselan on Apr 5, 2018 16:10:57 GMT
Jamie one can never rant enough about those two. The Group C formula was brilliant. I wish I had followed it more closely at the time. John Charles how do you tune into Motorsport.com TV? Here in France I watch UK terrestrial TV channels via a satellite dish Rob. I have what is known as a FreeSat Box connected to the dish, and although technically I have to be in the Uk to view I have a UK address that I put into the settings, thereby I am able to view all of the free UK stations. The Motorsport.com TV channel is a free channel on FreeSat and for UK residents it can be viewed on FreeView. There is a lot of repeated crap on there Rob but if one is vigilant there are some great features also. I am not certain if there is a free online version as they tend to put anything meaningful (if it is possible to say that about their site) behind something called "Prime" and that is a subs based effort, which they can keep. |
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Post by Jamie on Apr 5, 2018 16:16:24 GMT
Oh yes they ruined it alright and all because they thought it could threaten F1 as the place for manufacturers.....and not a thought for the fans who loved it, a cynical, cynical move and I’ve felt nothing but contempt for those two ever since.......I know I’ve ranted about this before so I’ll pipe down now 😁 You rant all you like Jamie, it positively incensed me then and still does. The most malevolent act of self interest that I have ever seen in all my years following this sport of ours, an utter disgrace. Very well said John. |
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Post by René on Apr 5, 2018 17:53:10 GMT
Group C racing was brilliant. I watched many races on Eurosport back then. Such a disgrace indeed they killed the series with those glorious cars. I only 'did' Le Mans once, in 1991, but it was fantastic with the Jags, the Mercs and of course the surprise winner, the Mazda. Unforgettable. Still have the t-shirt!  |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 5, 2018 18:39:54 GMT
Group C racing was brilliant. I watched many races on Eurosport back then. Such a disgrace indeed they killed the series with those glorious cars. I only 'did' Le Mans once, in 1991, but it was fantastic with the Jags, the Mercs and of course the surprise winner, the Mazda. Unforgettable. Still have the t-shirt! I was there as well René doing photographic work for various magazines, it was probably one of the greatest race meetings I have ever been to. Being on the grid was better than any GP grid I have ever been on, and so many big teams taking part. It was fantastic that the very noisy Mazda won, and what a colour scheme that "Charge" car had, but by then due to those odious individuals the Group C cars had been severely hobbled. Didn't the Jag's look fantastic in that Purple colour scheme, great days. |
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Post by René on Apr 5, 2018 21:45:14 GMT
Group C racing was brilliant. I watched many races on Eurosport back then. Such a disgrace indeed they killed the series with those glorious cars. I only 'did' Le Mans once, in 1991, but it was fantastic with the Jags, the Mercs and of course the surprise winner, the Mazda. Unforgettable. Still have the t-shirt! I was there as well René doing photographic work for various magazines, it was probably one of the greatest race meetings I have ever been to. Being on the grid was better than any GP grid I have ever been on, and so many big teams taking part. It was fantastic that the very noisy Mazda won, and what a colour scheme that "Charge" car had, but by then due to those odious individuals the Group C cars had been severely hobbled. Didn't the Jag's look fantastic in that Purple colour scheme, great days. JC, that is great. Now we have Spa 83 and Le Mans 91 that we both attended. I am sure there are more!  As for the t-shirt, I found it! It's not in the best condition anymore but still a nice memorabilia. In the photo also two slot cars of that race, the winner and one of the Jags.  |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 6, 2018 9:21:52 GMT
René,
We also have Zolder 1982 as well, although not an event you or I would wish to remember for obvious reasons.
On happier ground I too have the Slot-It Mazda and strangely enough I was going through three large boxes the other evening containing many of my slot car models all packed up, all untouched from when they were purchased, the Mazda was one of them. I do not have the Jaguar, or any in slot form, but several in 1/43rd scale built up from resin kits from the green original TWR Jag to the Silk Cut versions.
Great "T" Shirt by the way and wonderful for the memorabilia collection.
JC
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Post by charleselan on Apr 6, 2018 9:31:39 GMT
Watching a brief highlight of the 1960 Le Mans last evening on the Motorsport.tv channel it was revealed afterwards that this evening (6th April) at 10.00pm UK time the 1988 highlights will be shown. That should be worth watching as it was the TWR Jaguar's first victory, a pretty memorable occasion.
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Post by mikael on Apr 6, 2018 9:34:12 GMT
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Post by Jamie on Apr 6, 2018 10:24:24 GMT
Great pictures Mikael, the 787b is a classic and the rotary engine a real jewel of a thing. What a noise they made.....I remember at Le Man in 95/96 the Jim Downing run Kudzu Mazda WSC cars....by god they were loud. At night, when the race had strung out a bit, you could hear that car at every corner on the circuit.....amazing. You really could hear every blip on the downchange....fabulous.
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