50èmes Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1982

Circuit Permanenthe de la Sarthe
Date: June 19th and 20th, 1982

Conditions: Warm and Dry
Starters: 55
Track Length: 13,626 metres
Distance: 4899.086 km
Fastest Lap: Jean Ragnotti, Rondeau, 3:36.90 = 226.157 km/h
Pole Position: Jacky Ickx, Porsche, 3:28.40 = 235.381 km/h
Average Speed: 204.128 km/h

50th Le Mans 24 Hour Race

JACKY ICKX and Derek Bell notched up another victory in the classic 24 hour race at Le Mans in 1982. Driving a 956 Porsche, they took over the lead in the ninth hour, but did not have things entirely their own way, suffering from a problem which caused a misfire and later from a puncture which eroded their five lap lead to two. The first hours of the race were the most interesting, with Rondeau, Ford and Porsche competing keenly for the lead.

The Rondeau of Mlgnault, Lipeyre and Spice led for the first three hours on aggregate, and the Ford CIOO of Winkelhock and Niedzwiedz was given the honour for the fourth hour. For the remainder of the race, a Porsche headed the hourly bulletins, first the 956 of Haywood, Holbert and Barth which led to the eighth hour, when they were delayed first by a door blowing open and then by a wheel bearing failure: when the bearing was replaced, they suffered further delay when it was found that the suspension had also been damaged. The Rondeau which led the initial stages went out of the race at 2.00 a.m. with electrical failure, a problem which had also affected the second Ford CIOO of Ludwig and Surer which had succumbed after four hours. The Winkelhock / Niedzwiedz car went out when the engine blew up.

The Lancia team, which had things much its own way in some previous races, were plagued with fuel feed trouble which led to engine failure and were never in the running. The Aston Martin engined Nimrods, on the other hand, gave a demonstration of their potential, the Needell, Evans and Lees works car leading Viscount Downe's privately entered car in the early stages until tyre failure caused it to crash on the Mulsanne straight. The Downe car, driven by Salmon / Phillips and Mallock rose to fourth place during the latter half of the race, but lost the chance of taking third place when valve failure reduced the operational cylinders to seven.

From 1982 the Le Mans was known for the dominance of Porsche under the new Group C race car formula which pushed for fuel efficiency. Originally running the effective 956, it was later replaced by the 962. Both chassis were cheap enough for privateers to purchase them en masse, leading to the two chassis winning six years in a row. Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz returned to sports car racing while an influx of Japanese manufacturer interest saw prototypes from Nissan and Toyota. However, Mazda's unique rotary-powered 787B would be the only manufacturer to succeed.

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