1979 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1979.
1979 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
Previous: 1978 | Next: 1980 |
Index: Races | Winners |
Pre-race
Due to the construction of a new public road, the profile of Tetre Rouge had to be changed. This redesign led to a faster double-apex corner as well as requiring the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge.
Race report
![](../I/Porsche935Whittington.jpg.webp)
The Porsche 935 turbo, a highly modified variant of the Porsche 911 road car, dominated endurance racing in the late 1970s, being entered by many Porsche customer teams all over the world. The German-based Kremer team won the 24 Hours of Le Mans using a modified version of the 935 which was driven by Klaus Ludwig, Don Whittington and Bill Whittington. Actor Paul Newman, driving with Rolf Stommelen and Dick Barbour, finished second in Barbour's 935, while Kremer's second 935 driven by Laurent Ferrier, François Servanin and François Trisconi placed third.
The unusual occupation of the top four spots by Group 5 and GT cars arose from a Sports Prototype field severely depleted of competitive entries and the failures of the two most capable entries in that class to finish. The remainder of the 2+ litre Sports Prototypes were powered by the slower and less reliable Cosworth DFV V-8s. The distance covered by the S +2.0 class winner, 3798.8 km, was the least covered by any winner of that class since 1953.
Jacky Ickx's efforts to win his fifth Le Mans came to nothing when he was disqualified for receiving outside assistance in repairing his stricken Porsche 936.
This was the first of three times that a 3rd place qualified car won the race. The two other times that happened were in 2015 and 2020.
Official results
![](../I/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe_Le_Mans_1979-1985.png.webp)
Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tyres | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine | |||||||
1 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
41 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 K3 | D | 307 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
2 | IMSA +2.5 |
70 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935/77A | G | 299 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
3 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
40 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935/77A | D | 297 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
4 | GT +3.0 |
82 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 934 | G | 296 |
Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
5 | S +2.0 |
5 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Rondeau M379 | G | 292 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
6 | IMSA +2.5 |
76 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
BMW M1 | D | 288 |
BMW M88 3.5 L I6 | |||||||
7 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
42 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935/77A | G | 283 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
8 | IMSA +2.5 |
72 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935/78 | G | 283 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
9 | IMSA +2.5 |
73 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935/78 | G | 280 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
10 | S +2.0 |
4 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Rondeau M379 | G | 279 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
11 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
43 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | D | 275 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
12 | IMSA +2.5 |
61 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ferrari 512BB/LM | M | 274 |
Ferrari 4.9 L Flat-12 | |||||||
13 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
45 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 K3 | D | 273 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
14 | GTP +3.0 |
52 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
WM P79 | M | 272 |
Peugeot PRV 2.7 L Turbo V6 | |||||||
15 | Gr.5 +2.0 |
39 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | D | 268 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
16 | GT +3.0 |
86 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 934 | M | 265 |
Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
17 | S 2.0 |
29 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chevron B36 | G | 265 |
Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
18 | S 2.0 |
24 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T297 | D | 260 |
Ford Cosworth BDX 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
19 | GT +3.0 |
84 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 934 | D | 251 |
Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
20 | S +2.0 |
15 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
De Cadenet-Lola T380 | G | 250 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
21 | S 2.0 |
20 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T298 | G | 248 |
BMW M12 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
22 | S 2.0 |
28 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chevron B36 | G | 239 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
23 NC |
S 2.0 |
26 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chevron B36 | G | 133 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
24 NC |
S +2.0 |
10 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ford M10 [1] | G | 121 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
25 NC |
Gr.5 +2.0 |
35 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
De Tomaso Pantera | G | 108 |
Ford 351 5.8L V8 | |||||||
26 DNF |
S +2.0 |
11 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ford M10 [1] | G | 262 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
27 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
62 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Ferrari 512BB/LM | M | 240 |
Ferrari 4.9 L Flat-12 | |||||||
28 DNF |
S +2.0 |
14 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 936 | D | 236 |
Porsche Type-935 2.1 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
29 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
63 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Ferrari 512BB/LM | M | 219 |
Ferrari 4.9 L Flat-12 | |||||||
30 DNF |
GTP 3.0 |
55 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Rondeau M379 | G | 207 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
31 DNF |
Gr.5 +2.5 |
36 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | G | 201 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
32 DNF |
S +2.0 |
12 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 936 | D | 200 |
Porsche Type-935 2.1 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
33 DNF |
Gr.5 +2.5 |
37 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | G | 196 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
34 DNF |
S 2.0 |
25 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T298 | G | 189 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
35 DNF |
S 2.0 |
33 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chevron B36 | G | 187 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
36 DNF |
S 2.0 |
31 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T297 | G | 182 |
BMW M12 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
37 DNF |
GT +3.0 |
87 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 934 | D | 182 |
Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
38 DNF |
GTP +3.0 |
51 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
WM P79 | M | 157 |
Peugeot PRV 2.7 L Turbo V6 | |||||||
39 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
68 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | G | 154 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
40 DNF |
S +2.0 |
3 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
De Cadenet-Lola T380 | ? | 146 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
41 DNF |
S 2.0 |
23 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T296 | G | 134 |
Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
42 DNF |
S 2.0 |
32 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Toj SC206 | D | 121 |
BMW M12 2.0L I4 | |||||||
43 DNF |
S 2.0 |
27 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Chevron B36 | G | 92 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
44 DNF |
S 2.0 |
17 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Cheetah G601 | G | 87 |
BMW M12 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
45 DNF |
GTP +3.0 |
53 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
WM P79 | M | 87 |
Peugeot PRV 2.7 L Turbo V6 | |||||||
46 DNF |
S 2.0 |
18 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Cheetah G601 | M | 80 |
ROC-Chrysler 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
47 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
71 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Porsche 935 | G | 78 |
Porsche Type-935 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
48 DNF |
S 2.0 |
22 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T296 | G | 76 |
Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0 L I4 | |||||||
49 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
74 | ![]() |
![]() |
Porsche 935 | G | 65 |
Porsche Type-935 2.9 L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
50 DNF |
S +2.0 |
1 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lola T286 | G | 59 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
51 DNF |
IMSA +2.5 |
64 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ferrari 512BB/LM | M | 54 |
Ferrari 4.9 L Flat-12 | |||||||
52 DNF |
S +2.0 |
6 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Dome Zero RL | D | 40 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
53 DNF |
S +2.0 |
7 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Dome Zero RL | D | 25 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 | |||||||
54 DNF |
GTP +3.0 |
50 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Aston Martin DBS V8 | D | 21 |
Aston Martin 5.3 L Turbo V8 | |||||||
55 DNF |
S +2.0 |
8 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
De Cadenet-Lola T380 | G | 10 |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8 |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #14 Essex Motorsport Porsche - 3:30.07
- Fastest Lap - #12 Essex Motorsport Porsche (Jacky Ickx) - 3:36.10
- Distance - 4173.930 km
- Average Speed - 173.913 km/h
References
- 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Program, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved 16 June 2015