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1973 24 Hours of Le Mans
| 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
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The 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 41st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1973. It was the eighth round of the 1973 World Championship of Makes.
Contents
Pre-race
In 1973, Matra competed against Ferrari for the World Champion title, and Ferrari came to Le Mans, as the race could be decisive for the title. The beginning of the championship had showed that the Matra 670s had better handling, but the Ferraris showed better reliability.
The Matras 670s were updated to the 670B specification consisting mainly of larger spoilers. The main weakness of the 1972 670 was the ZF gearbox (the gearbox used in the stock GT40 Mk1 and the De Tomaso Pantera). By the end of the 1972 race, it had showed so much wear that it was obvious that it could not finish a 24-hour race with serious opposition. New Porsche "Type 1983" gearboxes especially built for Matra by Porsche were fitted in the 670B.
For Le Mans, the Ferrari 312PB had a previously unseen longtail bodywork. John Wyer was back with two Cosworth-powered Gulf Mirage M6 roadsters. In 1000 km races the M6s had proven they were serious competitors, and the Matras and Ferraris were only slightly ahead. Alfa Romeo was more affected than Ferrari by strikes and social troubles in Italy. Alfa racing subsidiary Autodelta did not enter the new flat-12 powered cars, and the marque was represented only by a V8 powered private car entered by Scuderia Brescia Corse. A Sigma powered by a Mazda Wankel engine was entered; this was the first Japanese car to qualify for Le Mans, as well as the first Wankel-powered car to race.
Race
Ferrari sent the Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace 312PB out first as a hare.
Matra raced to their plan and let the Ferrari go. While the Matras were all running at the same speed, the Ferraris had a variety of strategies. Carlos Reutemann and Tim Schenken were running among the Matra. Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman were running with the slowest 3L cars, the Lolas and the private Alfa Romeo.
Ferrari swapped the lead with Matra through the next four hours, but Henri Pescarolo would repeat as winner, with Gérard Larrousse as co-driver.
Official results
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Did Not Finish
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | S 3.0 |
15 | 23x15px SpA Ferrari SEFAC | 23x15px Jacky Ickx 23x15px Brian Redman |
Ferrari 312PB | Ferrari 3.0L Flat-12 | 332 |
| 23 | S 2.0 |
25 | 23x16px Michel Dupont | 23x16px Michel Dupont 23x16px Paul Blancpain |
Chevron B23 | Ford Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 | 229 |
| 24 | GT 5.0 |
6 | 23x15px North American Racing Team | 23x15px Sam Posey 23x15px Milt Minter |
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | Ferrari 4.4L V12 | 254 |
| 25 | T 3.0 |
55 | 23x15px Ford Motorwerke | 23x15px Dieter Glemser 23x15px John Fitzpatrick 23x15px Hans Heyer |
Ford Capri RS | Ford 3.0L V6 | 239 |
| 26 | S 3.0 |
7 | 23x15px Équipe Gitanes Cigarettes France | 23x15px Jean-Louis Lafosse 23x15px Reine Wisell 23x15px Hughes de Fierlandt |
Lola T282 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 164 |
| 27 | GT 5.0 |
36 | 23x15px North American Racing Team | 23x15px Lucien Guitteny 23x15px Bob Grossman |
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | Ferrari 4.4L V12 | 192 |
| 28 | GT 5.0 |
33 | 23x15px J.C. Bamford Excavators Ltd. | 23x15px Neil Corner 23x15px Willie Green |
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | Ferrari 4.4L V12 | 163 |
| 29 | GT 5.0 |
37 | 23x15px North American Racing Team | 23x15px Rubén Luis di Palma 23x15px Nestor García-Veiga |
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | Ferrari 4.4L V12 | 211 |
| 30 | S 3.0 |
8 | 23x15px Gulf Research Racing | 23x15px Derek Bell 23x15px Howden Ganley |
Mirage M6 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 163 |
| 31 | GT 5.0 |
56 | 23x15px Shark Racing Team | 23x15px Jean-Claude Guérie 23x15px Cyril Grandet |
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | Ferrari 4.4L V12 | 174 |
| 32 | S 3.0 |
19 | 23x15px Automobiles Ligier | 23x15px Jean-Pierre Paoli 23x15px Alain Couderc |
Ligier JS2 | Maserati 3.0L V6 | 174 |
| 33 | T 5.0 |
50 | 23x15px BMW Motorsport | 23x15px Chris Amon 23x15px Hans Joachim Stuck |
BMW 3.0CSL | BMW 3.3L I6 | 160 |
| 34 | T 3.0 |
53 | 23x15px Ford Motorwerke | 23x15px Jean Vinatier 23x15px Helmut Koinigg 23x15px Gerry Birrell |
Ford Capri RS | Ford 3.0L V6 | 152 |
| 35 | GT 3.0 |
49 | 23x15px Jean Egreteaud | 23x15px Jean Egreteaud 23x15px Jean-Claude Lagniez |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Porsche 2.8L Flat-6 | 139 |
| 36 | S 2.0 |
22 | 23x15px Raymond Touroul | 23x15px Raymond Touroul 23x15px Jean-Pierre Rouget |
Porsche 910 | Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 | 142 |
| 37 | S 3.0 |
5 | 23x15px Duckhams Oil | 23x15px Alain de Cadenet 23x15px Chris Craft |
Duckhams LM (Lola T280) |
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 81 |
| 38 | S 3.0 |
17 | 23x15px SpA Ferrari SEFAC | 23x15px Tim Schenken 23x15px Carlos Reutemann |
Ferrari 312PB | Ferrari 3.0L Flat-12 | 182 |
| 39 | S 3.0 |
10 | 23x15px Équipe Matra-Simca Shell | 23x15px François Cevert 23x15px Jean-Pierre Beltoise |
Matra-Simca MS670B | Matra 3.0L V12 | 157 |
| 40 | S 2.5 |
26 | Template:Country data JPN Sigma Automotive | Template:Country data JPN Tetsu Ikuzawa Template:Country data JPN Hiroshi Fushida 23x15px Patrick Dal Bo |
Sigma MC73 | Mazda 12A 2.3L 2-Rotor | 79 |
| 41 | GT 3.0 |
44 | 23x16px Porsche Club Romand | 23x15px Jean-François Piot 23x16px Peter Zbinden |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Porsche 2.8L Flat-6 | 110 |
| 42 | GT 3.0 |
78 | 23x15px Jean Sage | 23x15px Hervé Bayard 23x15px René Ligonnet |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Porsche 2.8L Flat-6 | 95 |
| 43 | GT 3.0 |
43 | 23x15px Max Moritz Racing Team | 23x15px Gerd Quist 23x15px Manfred Laub 23x15px Jürgen Zink |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Porsche 2.8L Flat-6 | 103 |
| 44 | S 3.0 |
9 | 23x15px Gulf Research Racing | 23x15px Mike Hailwood 23x15px John Watson 23x15px Vern Schuppan |
Mirage M6 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 112 |
| 45 | S 2.0 |
21 | 23x15px Pierre Maublanc | 23x15px Pierre Maublanc 23x15px Robert Mieusset |
Chevron B23 | BMW 2.0L I4 | 90 |
| 46 | S 3.0 |
14 | 23x15px Equipe Matra-Simca Shell | 23x15px Patrick Depailler 23x15px Bob Wollek |
Matra-Simca MS670B | Matra 3.0L V12 | 84 |
| 47 | S 2.0 |
28 | 23x15px Jacques Henry | 23x15px Jacques Henry 23x15px Fred Stalder 23x15px Gernard Grobot |
Lola T292 | Ford Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4 | 84 |
| 48 | S 3.0 |
47 | 23x15px Martini Racing Team | 23x15px Reinhold Joest 23x16px Claude Haldi |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 54 |
| 49 | S 2.0 |
27 | 23x15px Escuderia Montjuich | 23x15px José Juncadella 23x15px Jorge de Bagration |
Chevron B23 | Ford Cosworth FVC 1.9L I4 | 52 |
| 50 | S 3.0 |
61 | 23x15px Daniel Rouveyran | 23x15px Daniel Rouveyran 23x15px Christian Mons 23x15px Christian Ethuin |
Lola T280/82 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 38 |
| 51 | GT +5.0 |
29 | 23x15px John Greenwood | 23x15px John Greenwood 23x15px Bob Johnson |
Chevrolet Corvette | Chevrolet 7.0L V8 | 37 |
| 52 | S 3.0 |
62 | 23x15px Automobiles Ligier | 23x15px Guy Ligier 23x15px Jacques Laffite |
Ligier JS2 | Maserati 3.0L V6 | 24 |
| 53 | T 3.0 |
54 | 23x15px Ford Motorwerke | 23x15px Gerry Birrell 23x15px Hans Heyer |
Ford Capri RS | Ford 3.0L V6 | 4 |
| 54 | S 2.0 |
2 | 23x16px Blancpain Total Dinitrol | 23x15px Roger Dubois 23x15px Christine Beckers 23x15px Pierre Pagani |
Chevron B21/23 | Ford Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4 | 9 |
| 55 | T 5.0 |
58 | 23x16px Wicky Racing Team | 23x16px Walter Brun 23x16px Cox Kocher 23x16px Jean-Pierre Aeschlimann |
BMW 3.0CSL | BMW 3.3L I6 | 1 |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #16 SpA Ferrari SEFAC - 3:37.50
- Fastest Lap - #10 Equipe Matra-Simca Shell - 3:39.60
- Distance - 4853.945 km
- Average Speed - 202.247 km/h
Trophy Winners
- Index of Thermal Efficiency - #45 Porsche Kremer Racing Team
References
- Invalid language code. 24 heures du Mans 1973 in Automobile Historique n°49, June/July 2005
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