Helmut Marko, one win and one record - When Helmut Marko was born on April 24, 1943, his native Austria had been annexed to Hitler's Germany since 1938. In 1971, at the 39th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he established with his Dutch teammate Gijs van Lennep a distance record (5,335 kilometers at an average of 222 km/h) that would not be beaten until 2010. This later year, Marko -  a motorsports consultant for Red Bull - celebrated the first of his protégé Sebastian Vettel's four world titles in Formula 1. The Australian driver Vern Schuppan (born on March 19, 1943) also scored his only Le Mans victory at the wheel of a Porsche in 1983, teaming up with Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood from the US.

World War II in 1943 - On February 9th, one of the decisive episodes of the Pacific War ended in the American victory of Guadalcanal. One week earlier, the battle of  Stalingrad which had begun July, 1942 had caused the surrender of the German marshal Paulus. Thereafter, the Soviet Union reversed the course of the war at the Eastern front at the battles of Kursk (August) and at the Dnipro river (December). In the meantime, in Europe, after having retaken Sicily, the Allies began the Italian Campaign in September.

Ten personalities born in 1943 - Beatle George Harrison (February 25th), American journalist Bob Woodward (March 26th), British politician John Major and the composer Vangelis (March 29th), singer Jacques Dutronc (April 28th), Rolling Stone Mick Jagger (July 26th), actor Robert de Niro (August 17th), actress Catherine Deneuve (October 22nd), director Terrence Malick (November 30th) and singer Jim Morrison (December 8th).

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 13 1971, PODIUM. Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep (from left to right) celebrate their win and a new distance record that would be in place for 39 years!