The 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 52nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 – 17 June 1984. It was also the third round of the World Endurance Championship.
The works Rothmans Porsche team boycotted the 1984 Le Mans race due to a disagreement between Porsche and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Reinhold Joest's privately-entered 956 won the race with the Porsche 956 taking the top seven places.
During the race, a French marshal, Jacky Loiseau (42) was killed when British driver John Sheldon crashed massively in the Nimrod - Aston Martin at the right-hand kink on the Mulsanne Straight, a crash that also involved American driver Drake Olson, who hit some of the strewn bodywork from Sheldon's Nimrod that had caught fire and crashed as well. He was unhurt. Another marshal, Andre-Guy Lefebvre (48) was seriously injured, but survived. Sheldon survived the 200 mph (320 kph) crash, but he was severely burned, and the Nimrod's explosive impact against the Armco barriers was so violent, that some of the trees next to the track where the impact took place had been set on fire. The race was not stopped immediately, only that section of the straight was under caution, to protect the marshals and firefighters cleaning up the accident. Soon after, four pace cars were brought out under a full course caution, which lasted for 1 hour.
Read more about 1984 24 Hours Of Le Mans: Official Results, Statistics
Famous quotes containing the words hours and/or mans:
“Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute. They deserve the shortest hours and the highest pay.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav’nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav’ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos:”
—John Milton (1608–1674)