1979 24 Hours of Le Mans - Race

Race

The Porsche 935 turbo, a high-powered version of the Porsche 911 road car, dominated endurance racing in the late 1970s, being entered by many Porsche customer teams all over the world. The German-based Kremer team managed to win Le Mans using a highly modified version of the 935, which is a remarkable success for a car based on a 15 year old road car design. Actor Paul Newman finished second in Dick Barbour's Porsche 935, while Kremer's second-string effort claimed the final spot on the podium.

Jacky Ickx's efforts to win his fifth Le Mans came to nothing when he was disqualified for receiving outside (and unwanted) assistance in repairing his stricken Porsche 936. Their Group 6 opposition consisted mainly of a pair of Ford M10s but this wasn't an official return of Ford; these cars were derived from the 1975 Gulf GR-8. Ford France and a consortium of French Ford dealers funded the ex-Wyer Team, a Cosworth DFV V8 was installed in the chassis for the occasion but neither M10 finished.

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