LE MANS 1977 MARTINI RACING
VINTAGE POSTER PRINT by SmartArt Digital Prints
Available here on GPBox
Of the 1977 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jacky Ickx will say:
"It was meant to be a lost race. It had started with Henri Pescarolo, but it had stopped after only three hours. I would not have had to win that year. A race like this, you don't know much in a pilot's life. It was magical because we turned a lost race into a won race, where the whole team got together. is sublimated. "
After only four hours of racing, during Henri Pescarolo's stint, a defective connecting rod caused an engine failure. Everything seemd lost for Porsche at that moment, they had already lost another car due to an engine failure.
The second 936, driven by Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood, was 49th, nine laps behind the leadres, in the second hour of the race following a 30-minute pit stop to change the injection pump.
Jacky Ickx then went behind the wheel of the Martini Porsche 936 n° 4 since the regulations allowed him to do so and delivered what remains undoubtedly one of his most incredible performances. During the night, he'd repeatedly beaten lap record and climbed back at breakneck speed.
At nine o'clock in the morning, following the withdrawal of all Alpine-Renault cars, the Porsche N° 4 took the lead!
Turnaround, shortly before the end of the race, Haywood brought the 936 back to the pits. Verdict: perforated piston. Anyone would have panicked in this situation, but the N°4 is still 17 laps ahead of the runners-up, Jarier and Schuppan on their Mirage.
As a repair, if one can call it that, Jürgen Barth then decided to disconnect the damaged cylinder and not restart the car until the very end of the race, just enough time to make 2 laps, including one lap which must be taken into account by timing in order to pass the line to be taken into account in the final ranking. Jürgen Barth therefore went back on the track at 3:50 p.m. at idle speed, the engine running on only five cylinders. A risky bet, but one that ultimately succeeded.
Jacky Ickx was building his reputation as "Mr Le Mans" through another epic victory at La Sarthe.
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