To drive along the Mulsanne straight, a rare privilege reserved at Le Mans Classic for 24 Hours cars built until 1981. The extension of the meeting has made it possible to invite other grids and to welcome, on the special anniversary event, the unique parade of a century of the greatest Le Mans cars…
Two of them are from the Series by Peter Auto: the Group C cars, often considered as those from of the 24 Hours ‘Grande Epoque’ and the Endurance Racing Legends (ERL) which features more recent cars, favoured by a younger audience who have seen them racing in the past. Their name is so closely linked to the 24 Hours that they almost deserve the ‘Le Mans Classic Grids 7 & 8’ nickname.
The two other ones are dedicated to two manufacturers whose exploits have also forever linked their name to Le Mans. First, Bentley which, with its Bentley Boys, has made the 20’s beautiful hours of the event with three consecutive victories and Porsche, which still counts the highest number of victories (19).
Endurance Racing Legends
The Global Endurance Legends opens the door to a new era for this iconic meeting. With the arrival of this grid the event now covers the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours from 1923 to 2010!
After a parade run in 2018, Global Endurance Legends is joining up with historic grids for a race with cars that young spectators go wild about: GTs and prototypes from the 1990s and 2000s. This year, these two generations of cars will add spice to Le Mans Classic. More than 70 cars including the best will take to the famous track: DBR9 Aston Martin (2005), Speed 8 Bentley (2003), Northstar LMP-01 Cadillac (2000), GTS/R Dodge Viper (2002), 333 SP Ferrari (1999), 550 Maranello Prodrive Ferrari (2002), EX257 Lola-MG (2004), Elise GT1 Lotus (1996), MC 12 GT1 Maserati (2005), Esperante GTR1 Panoz (1997)…
Groupe C Racing
The Group C regulations, in force between 1982 and 1993, led to the production of legendary cars that wrote some of the most glorious pages in Le Mans 24 Hours and the Sports Car World Endurance Championship history.
Early on, the Porsche 956s dominated despite stiff opposition from the Lancia LC2s, and then in 962 configuration, came up against much tougher rivals with the arrival of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda. Alongside the major manufacturers, small constructors like Cougar, Dome, Rondeau, Spice and WM could still pull off the odd coup thanks to a clever interpretation of the regulations based on strict fuel consumption restrictions. Group C was abandoned in the early 90s after a brief cohabitation with the 3.5s Sports (905 Peugeot, XJR-14 Jaguar, TS010 Toyota, etc), but that era is still considered as the Golden Age of endurance racing by most of specialists of this motor sports field.
New in 2023
New for the 2023 edition, the Group C Racing competitors will have an additional opportunity to tackle the 24 Hours circuit’s 13 kilometres. Indeed, Le Mans Classic, which offered them a 45-minute race on Saturday lunchtime to open the event, will now also offer them a 30-minute sprint race on Sunday, in the early morning.
What is the same
Due to the demanding nature of the circuit, both for cars and drivers, competitors will have to take part in two qualifying events to validate their entry. These two competitions can be run as part of the 2023 Series by Peter Auto. However, as the Group C cars technical specifications of are common to both Historic Sportscar Racing and Peter Auto, participation in the Daytona Classic and the 12 Hours of Sebring Classic will also be accepted.
Porsche Classic Race Le Mans
Porsche France and Peter Auto put together an exceptional grid made of more than 70 historic Porsches to compete on the mythical legendary Le Mans circuit where the German manufacturer holds the historic record of 19 outright victories in the 24 Hours.
This race will feature models ranging from the first 911s (1965), very close to the production models, to the latest 935 (1981), including the most powerful versions that exceeded 800 horsepower. The cars must have a valid technical passport (HTP) to compete, and entries are sent in in the form of a dossier to be confirmed by Peter Auto. A flying start will be given to the 50-minute Porsche Classic Race Le Mans on Saturday 3rd July 2021 in the early afternoon. The previous day, entrants will have two 45-minute qualifying sessions (the first in the morning and the second in the evening).
The Benjafield’s Le Mans Centenary Race
The beautiful history and the victories of Bentley at Le Mans in the late 1920s, this is what the new line-up assembled in association with the Benjafields Racing Club, promises to bring back to life for this centenary edition.
Fifty new Bentley Boys driving pre-war cars – 3 Litre Sport, 4.5 Litre Tourer and Speed-Six – will remind us that old days’ Bentley Boys were driving the most famous cars of the early 20th century, and that Bentley was one of the most renowned car manufacturers.
*Benjafield’s Racing Club is named after one of the original Bentley Boys, who won the 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Bentley 3-litre Supersport. Dr Dudley Benjy Benjafield was also the founder of the very exclusive BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club).
Application directly from the Benjafield’s Racing Club: chairman@benjafields.com