17th June 1995: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 7

The 17th of June has seen some of the most improbable results in the history of Le Mans.In 1933, Tazio Nuvolari and Raymond Sommer led the race in an Alfa Romeo — until the fuel tank started leaking. What followed involved makeshift repairs, borrowed chewing gum from a rival pit, and one of the most dramatic last laps the circuit had ever seen. In 1939, a single Bugatti Type 57C Tank — one car, entered alone — took on the field in what would prove to be the last Le Mans before the Second World War. Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron drove it to victory. Eight weeks later, Jean Bugatti was dead. The race would not return for a decade.In 1995, McLaren arrived at Le Mans for the first time with a car designed for the road. Seven F1 GTRs entered, one of them a last-minute works entry assembled around a Japanese sponsor nobody else would take. In the rain, against purpose-built prototypes, they were extraordinary. The winning crew of Dalmas, Lehto and Sekiya made history.And in 2017, the number two Porsche 919 Hybrid rejoined the race on Saturday evening from 56th place, eighteen laps behind the leader. By Sunday afternoon, it had won.Cover image: By Martin Lee  - The wining Mclaren F1 GTR #59 of Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya & J.J.Lehto at Ford Chicane at Le Mans 1995, CC BY-SA 2.0, LinkSend us Fan MailMusic by #Mubert Music Rendering