3/24 - Friday, December 3 - 20 years ago, the Mulsanne straight.

After the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011, the Mulsanne Straight will be resurfaced to improve safety. Twenty years ago for this same reason, the legendary section of the circuit was divided into three parts. This previously uninterrupted stretch of 5800 metres contributed to the legend of 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Until the creation of two chicanes in 1990, top speed took precedence over any other characteristic of a car capable of winning the race. Manufacturers vied to create ingenius "special" body shapes, dedicated entirely to the exercise of what the French call 'Les Hunaudières' and we tend to call the 'Mulsanne straight'.

The wall of 300 km/h was broached for the first time in 1963 by Ferrari 330 LM and Aston Martin DP214. In 1971 Porsche drivers had the landscape whisked by them at the dizzying velocity of 100 meters per second (360 kmh). To get there, the German engineers pushed the limits of aerodynamics of the period, creating a 'Lang Heck' (Long Tail) version of the awesome 917.

Speeds continued to grow slowly until the absolute record of WM in 1988. Powered by a 3.0 V6 twin turbo Peugeot and wrapped in a body manufactured by Heuliez, Roger Dorchy reached 405 km/h. It has even been said that this performance was actually exceeded, but rounded down to promote the launch of the Peugeot 405; possibly a myth but it makes a good story. Two years earlier, the WM P87 reached 416 km/h on a stretch of the A26 between St Quentin to Laon. In the racing version, the power of the engine reached 910 horsepower, but curiously, the prototype of the fastest in history was never the fastest on a full lap. Its designers had sacrificed everything for the record of terminal speed!

Julien Hergault

Photo: LE MANS, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, June 11, 1988. WM P88 devoured Les Hunaudières at 405 km/h, and will probably remain the fastest car in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.