1980 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 48th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1980. It was the seventh round of both the World Championship for Makes and World Challenge for Endurance Drivers. With neither the Porsche nor Renault works teams contesting the big Group 6 sports-cars for outright victory, it left the prospects open for a privateer victory from Joest, Rondeau or De Cadenet, or from Group 5 again, if they were to fail. The wet weather throughout the race further added to the uncertainty, reducing the advantage of the more powerful cars.

The race started in a downpour and the rain continued off and on throughout the race. The first half of the race saw a number of the favoured teams hold the lead for extended periods, until one by one they suffered delays or mechanical issues. By dawn it was the Joest Porsche special (driven by Jacky Ickx with Reinhold Joest) that held a 2-lap lead over Jean Rondeau in his own car, and John Fitzpatrick in the Dick Barbour 935. But when Joest pitted at 10am having lost top gear, the half-hour stop cost four laps and put the Frenchmen into the lead. Hard driving by Ickx got him back onto the lead lap again. A sudden squall at 1pm sent both cars aquaplaning off at the fast Dunlop Curve, fortunately without doing any major damage to either. When another rain shower appeared in the last hour, Ickx dived for the pits to put on wet tyres, while Jaussaud bravely stayed out on his slicks. This time Ickx could not make up the lost time and the French took a significant victory: Jean Rondeau gained the unique achievement of winning Le Mans driving a car of his own manufacture, with his other team car coming in third.