1992 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 60th Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on the 20 and 21 June 1992. It was also the third round of the 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship season. The FIA was struggling to assemble sufficient cars for the race, and so the entry-list was extended to include the older Group C cars and national trophy cars. The 28 starters was the lowest since the 1932 race. With the withdrawal of the Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz teams, it looked to be a Peugeot vs Toyota contest, each with very strong driver combinations, with the new Mazdas there waiting for any slip-ups. There were still considerable concerns that the 3.5-litre engines derived from Formula 1 could not last the distance. It was Philippe Alliot who took pole position for Peugeot, in a blistering lap fully five seconds faster than the lap record, with teammate Dalmas second.

The race started in wet conditions, making visibility hard. These two Peugeots set the initial pace until overhauled by 1991-winner, Volker Weidler in the new Jaguar-derived Mazda. It was soon apparent the wet-weather Michelin tyres of the Peugeots and Mazdas were handling the conditions far better than the Goodyears on the Toyotas, as they pulled out a gap. Despite a better weight-allowance for the Group C cars, the tighter fuel quantity meant they were never a factor for outright honours. Weidler led for the first hour, but a slow fuel-stop let the Peugeot of Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell into the lead. The rain eased off in the early evening, allowing the Toyotas to show their full potential until the drizzle returned again at 9pm. Through the night most cars suffered from mechanical issues or slid off the track in the treacherous conditions. However, the leading Peugeot remained trouble-free, building up a significant lead coming into the new day as the rain finally passed. Their only scare came mid-morning when Derek Warwick had the engine cut out on him on the back straight. Such was their lead though, he was able to limp back to the pits, get the electronics replaced and still come out with a 3-lap lead. Behind them, the race for the podium places kept changing as the Toyotas, Mazda and other Peugeot kept having their charges thwarted by delays and issues.

The only hiccup for the leader was at 8.45am when Warwick came to a stop on the back straight with the engine cutting out. Three times he tried to get it started and eventually was able to limp back to the pits. Such was their advantage, however, the electronics repairs that cost a quarter-hour still left them with a 3-lap lead. After that, they were unhindered and took a 6-lap victory over the Toyota of Kenny Acheson/Masanori Sekiya/Pierre-Henri Raphanel that was misfiring and losing power. Third, barely a lap behind and closing quickly, was the other Peugeot team car, of Mauro Baldi/Philippe Alliot/Jean-Pierre Jabouille. After running a strong second through most of the night, the Mazda MXR-01 driven by 1991 winners Volker Weidler, Johnny Herbert and Bertrand Gachot had been waylaid by gearbox issues, but made it home in fourth, albeit running with half its gears missing.