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[quote=henk4;947631]The Porsche 917 should not appear in the list....its last race at Le Mans was IN 1970.
Significant cars missing:
Matra V12/670
Ferrari 312 PB
Porsche 935
Porsche 936....
and the most significant one is the Rondeau, the only car driven by its constructor to an overall win.[/quote]
71 actually....917 won 70 and 71...
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[quote=RacingManiac;947841]71 actually....917 won 70 and 71...[/quote]
oops...I was may be too focused on what appeared like the thread starter decided to ignore all LM cars produced before 1984 with one exception. (For me the 917 will always be a 1969 car...)
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[quote=henk4;947842]oops...[/quote]
Well done, it is always a good thing when a senior person demonstrates humility and acknowledges a mistake.
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And IIRC it was still used in a very heavily modified form thanks to a loophole in the rules in the early 80's, by Kremer I think.
EDIT The 917, that is.
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[quote=Ferrer;947867]And IIRC it was still used in a very heavily modified form thanks to a loophole in the rules in the early 80's, by Kremer I think.
EDIT The 917, that is.[/quote]
the 917K-81, much slower than the original 917...(the loophole was that engine size was free for 1981 in anticipation of the 1982 Group C Cars).
The car did about 80 laps in 1981 until an oil tube burst.
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I voted for the 908, just having seen it making minced meat of the R15 this weekend, what they actually should have done in Le Mans as well, were it not for a number coincidental failures.
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Their Le Mans debacle, inexcusable, IMO, for a 4 year old car.....How they managed to find new shit to break after 4 years is beyond me...
908 is probably the fastest car after 1970, chicane or not(I am sure its a 400+kph car if were to run on that track). But the car never fully realized its potential. It won Le Mans once, when it really should have won it 4 times. R10 had no business beating it, but it always did find way to win over the much faster car. Comparatively, cars like R8 fully lived up to its potential and beyond, winning the race even after the car was crippled much of its speed. I think the stats was that the car won 70% of the races it entered or something, NEVER had an engine failure.....It was the fastest car of its time, and it was also the most reliable.....
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[quote=RacingManiac;947894]Their Le Mans debacle, inexcusable, IMO, for a 4 year old car.....How they managed to find new shit to break after 4 years is beyond me...[/quote]
that is a long story. Actually by 20.00 hours on Saturday evening, they allegedly knew that they would probably not see the finish.
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[quote=henk4;947895]that is a long story. Actually by 20.00 hours on Saturday evening, they allegedly knew that they would probably not see the finish.[/quote]
Again, inexcusable....
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[quote=henk4;947895]that is a long story.[/quote]
Do tell.
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[quote=Kitdy;947898]Do tell.[/quote]
it starts of with the fact that the road shoulders were cleaned not the usual one week, but two weeks before the race.....
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sounds like the start of a hell of a conspiracy theory.
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[quote=cmcpokey;947932]sounds like the start of a hell of a conspiracy theory.[/quote]
yes, part of it is the deliberate distrubution of clogging rubble alongside the track, with special capabilities to stick to French diesel cars.....
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Wellt he missing ones have already been mentioned and I am ( as usual ) dusmayed at lack of recognition when France makes cars that can win.. and other "heroic efforts".
So M670, winning 3 years running. AND without the "benefit" that the GT40 had in getting it's multiple wins by flooding the field :) Besides, that V12 is THE most evocative souding engine out there :)
What about the Alpine(-Renault) A442 ? Again ONLY brought to the track to save French national pride and the company did what was asked of them to win. Another great sound from the turbo era. 2litre 500hp :) ( aside ... topped at >235 mph on Mulsanne the fastest Renault ever including the F1 entries. )
and yes the 787B should be in every poll EVER on Le Mans car for the engineering, the sound and the story :)
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The sound and the story yes, the engineering is meh....as far as its peer goes it was nothing special. Rotaries' been around for a while, and was never particularly competitive. It won through some unusual circumstances and it happens to be reliable enough to hold off the faster cars...
Historically its definitely an important win, but if you are just comparing cars, IMO its nothing special, aside from the 4 rotor...