1974 24 Hours of Le Mans

1974 24 Hours of Le Mans
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Index: Races | Winners

The 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 42nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 15 and 16 June 1974. It was the fifth round of the 1974 World Championship for Makes.

Pre-race

In 1974, Ferrari retired from endurance racing. Matra had developed the Matra 670 into a more aerodynamic version, the 680. Three 670s and one 680 were entered. In addition, John Wyer entered two Gulf-GR7s.

Race

Henri Pescarolo and Gérard Larrousse's Matra 670 was leading at dawn. Around 10:00 a.m. the Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera running in second place lost its fifth gear, causing the car to lose around 40 seconds per lap to the leading Matra.

But just before 11:00 a.m., Pescarolo had a gearbox failure. The Porsche-designed Matra gearbox problem was easy to repair, but when Pescarolo returned to the race, he had lost 45 minutes. The Porsche 911 Turbo was now in the same lap, which was a surprising achievement for a road-car derivative car against the prototypes.

Rain began to fall during the final hour. Pescarolo managed to build a six-lap lead over the Porsche by the end. It was Matra's and Pescarolo's third consecutive Le Mans victory. At the end of the season Matra announced its retirement from racing.

Official results

Le Mans in 1974
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps
1 S
3.0
7 France Équipe Gitanes France Henri Pescarolo
France Gérard Larrousse
Matra-Simca MS670C Matra 3.0L V12 337
2 S
3.0
22 Germany Martini Racing Team Netherlands Gijs van Lennep
Switzerland Herbert Müller
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo Porsche 2.1L Turbo Flat-6 331
3 S
3.0
9 France Équipe Gitanes France Jean-Pierre Jabouille
France François Migault
Matra-Simca MS670C Matra 3.0L V12 324
4 S
3.0
11 United Kingdom Gulf Research Racing Co. United Kingdom Derek Bell
United Kingdom Mike Hailwood
Gulf GR7 [1] Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 317
5 GT 71 France Raymond Touroul France Cyril Grandet
France Dominique Bardini
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 313
6 GT 54 United States North American Racing Team United States Dave Heinz
France Alain Cudini
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 312
7 GT 66 Switzerland Porsche Club Romand Switzerland Bernard Chenevière
Switzerland Peter Zbinden
France Michel Dubois
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 312
8 S
3.0
15 France Automobiles Ligier France Jacques Laffite
France Alain Serpaggi
Ligier JS2 Maserati 3.0L V6 310
9 S
3.0
1 United States North American Racing Team Italy Teodoro Zeccoli
France Jean-Claude Andruet
Ferrari 312P Ferrari 3.0L V12 298
10 GT 70 France ASA Cachia France Raymound Touroul
France Henri Cachia
France Dennis Rua
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 288
11 GT 56 United States North American Racing Team France Christian Ethuin
France Lucien Guitteny
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 285
12 GT 69 France Lucien Negeotte France Lucien Negeotte
France Jean-Pierre Laffeach
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 276
13 GT 59 France Pierre Mauroy France Anne-Charlotte Verney
France Pierre Mauroy
France Martine Rénier
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 276
14 GT 63 France Jean-Claude Lagniez France Jean-Claude Lagniez
France Gérard Meo
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 274
15 T 86 France Jean-Claude Aubriet France Jean-Claude Aubriet
France Jean-Claude Depince "Depnic"
BMW 3.0CSL BMW 3.5L I6 269
16 GT 57 France Marcel Mignot France Marcel Mignot
United States Harry Jones
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12 266
17 S
2.0
30 Belgium "Christine" - Écurie Seiko Belgium Christine Beckers
France Yvette Fontaine
France Marie Laurent
Chevron B23 Ford Cosworth FVC 2.0L I4 265
18 GT 51 France Henri Greder France Henri Greder
France Marie-Claude Charmasson
Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet 7.0L V8 253
19 S
3.0
65 France Christian Poirot France Christian Poirot
France Jean Rondeau
Porsche 908/2 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 251
20 GT 73 Switzerland Paul Blancpain
United States Toad Hall
United States Michael Keyser
United States Milt Minter
Switzerland Paul Blancpain
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 246

Not Classified

Failed to cover 70% of winner's laps (235 laps)

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps
21 S
3.0
25 Japan Mazda Automotive Japan Yasuhiro Okamoto
Japan Harukuni Takahashi
Japan Yojiro Terada
Sigma MC74 Mazda 12A 1.2L 2-Rotor 155

Did Not Finish

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps
22 GT 72 Germany Polifac Gelo Racing Team Germany Franz Pesch
Germany Jürgen Barth
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
23 GT 62 Belgium Ecurie Francorchamps Belgium Hughes de Fierlandt
United Kingdom Richard Bond
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
24 GT 67 Switzerland Porsche Club Romand Switzerland William Vollery
Switzerland Eric Chapuis
France Roger Dorchy
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
25 S
2.0
44 France Gérard Cuynet France Gérard Cuynet
France Yves Evrard
France Jean-Louis Gama
Porsche 910 Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
26 T 90 France Shark Team France Jean-Claude Guérie
United Kingdom Serge Godard
France Dominique Fornage
Ford Capri RS Ford 3.0L V6
27 S
2.0
43 France Racing Organisation Course France Robert Mieusset
France Fred Stalder
France François Sérvanin
Lola T292 ROC-Chrysler 2.0L I4
28 S
3.0
10 United Kingdom Alain de Cadenet United Kingdom Chris Craft
New Zealand John Nicholson
De Cadenet LM Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
29 GT 64 Germany Polifac Gelo Racing Team Germany Georg Loos
Germany Clemens Schickentanz
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
30 T 87 Italy BMW Jolly Club Germany Manfred Mohr
Italy Martino Finotto
Italy Carlo Facetti
BMW 3.0CSL BMW 3.5L I6
31 GT 61 France Robert Buchet France Claude Ballot-Léna
United Kingdom Vic Elford
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
32 S
3.0
17 Ecuador Ortega Ecuador Marlboro Team Ecuador Fausto Merello
Ecuador Guillermo Ortega
Ecuador Lothar Ranft
Porsche 908/2 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
33 S
3.0
6 France Équipe Gitanes France Jean-Pierre Beltoise
France Jean-Pierre Jarier
Matra-Simca MS680 Matra 3.0L V12
34 S
3.0
8 France Équipe Gitanes France Jean-Pierre Jaussaud
France Bob Wollek
France José Dolhem
Matra-Simca MS670B Matra 3.0L V12
35 S
3.0
14 France Automobiles Ligier France Guy Chasseuil
France Michel Leclère
Ligier JS2 Maserati 3.0L V6
36 S
3.0
28 Switzerland Michel Dupont Scato Switzerland Heinz Schulthess
France Michel Lateste
Lola T284 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
37 S
3.0
21 Germany Martini Racing Team Austria Helmut Koinigg
Liechtenstein Manfred Schurti
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo Porsche 2.1L Turbo Flat-6
38 S
3.0
46 Mexico Rebaque-Rojas Racing Team Mexico Guillermo Rojas
Mexico Héctor Rebaque
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
39 GT 68 Germany Samson Kremer Racing Germany Hans Heyer
Switzerland Paul Keller
Germany Erwin Kremer
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
40 S
3.0
19 Switzerland Wicky Racing Team Switzerland André Wicky
France Jacques Boucard
France Louis Cosson
Porsche 908/2 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
41 S
3.0
12 United Kingdom Gulf Research Racing Co. Australia Vern Schuppan
Sweden Reine Wisell
Gulf GR7 [1] Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8
42 S
2.0
23 France Mamers-Grac-Gotti-Meca France Max Mamers
France Xavier Lapeyre
Grac-Gotti MT20 Chrysler-Simca JRD 2.0L I4
43 GT 58 Spain Escuderia Montjuich Switzerland Claude Haldi
Spain José-Maria Fernández
France Jean-Marc Seguin
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
44 GT 60 France Louis Meznarie France Hubert Striebig
Germany Helmut Kirschoffer
France Jean-Louis Chateau
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Porsche 3.0L Flat-6
45 GT 52 Switzerland Wicky Racing Team Morocco Max Cohen-Olivar
Switzerland Philippe Carron
De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8L V8
46 S
3.0
18 United States North American Racing Team France Jean-Louis Lafosse
Italy Giancarlo Gagliardi
Ferrari 308 GT4 Ferrari 3.0L V8
47 S
2.0
27 Switzerland Michel Dupont Scato Switzerland Michel Dupont
Switzerland Gregor Fischer
France Daniel Brillat
Chevron B23/26 Ford Cosworth BDG 1.8L I4
48 S
3.0
31 Spain Écurie Tibidabo Spain Francisco Torredemer
Spain Juan Fernández
Spain Bernard Tramont
Porsche 908/3 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
49 GT 55 United States North American Racing Team France Jean-Pierre Paoli
France Alain Couderc
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Ferrari 4.4L V12

Statistics

Trophy Winners

References

  1. 1 2 24 Heures du Mans, Automobile Year - 1974/75, page 222
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