24 Hours of Le Mans - Jan Lammers : "Maybe I’ll make it to 24 Le Mans entries!”
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24 Hours of Le Mans - Jan Lammers : "Maybe I’ll make it to 24 Le Mans entries!”

Jan Lammers has enjoyed an extraordinary career in endurance racing and Formula One. Here he looks back at his many achievements and looks ahead to the 2017 season when he will compete in the European Le Mans Series and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (17 and 18 June) with the new Dallara LM P2.

Jan Lammers raced in a Courage 36-Porsche in 1996, a Lotus Elise GT1 in 1997 and a Nissan R390 GT1 in 1998. Following that, he teamed up with Franz Konrad for his newly created Talkline Racing for Holland team. He drove a Lola B98/10 Ford in 1999, then a Lola B2K/10 Ford in 2000. “We started with Franz Konrad’s Lola. We thought we were more than capable of setting up our own team with our own car. We started out with the notion of ‘the best of three generations.’ I was the oldest, followed by Peter Kox and then Tom Coronel, our youngest driver.” After retiring early in those two races, Lammers' Le Mans career took a new turn when found himself alone at the helm of his Racing for Holland outfit. “The idea worked and generated a lot of enthusiasm. From a financial viewpoint, however, it was a disaster and I was very nearly ruined. It was a similar thing with Alain Prost, who also created his own team. Unfortunately, sporting achievements do not always go hand-in-hand with financial results”.

Racing for Holland entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2001 to 2007, with its best result a sixth place in 2003 with Lammers, Andy Wallace and John Bosch at the wheel. Seven entries with the same car, a Dome S101 - Judd. “I always thought that it would be a good racer. We were the official team and had an excellent car. The team was very good too, with some top-notch mechanics and engineers. We were the first to convince Judd to commit to engines designed for long races. We had a great relationship with them and were even able to field a second car. Twice, however, things came unstuck while the one of the Dome s101s was placed in the top 6 in the final hour. Tristan Gommendy [#16 with Felipe Ortiz and Beppe Gabbiani in 2003] had an accident, and ditto Ralph Firman the next year [in 2004 with Tom Coronel and Justin Wilson] when he ran off the track. It was very tough financially each time. When you’re running a privateer outfit, it’s hard to recover. There were some difficult times.”

When asked if his 24 Hours of Le Mans win remains a career highlight, Lammers answers: “I’ve been racing all my life. I don’t just remember the wins and the podiums. Motor racing is part of my life and every time I come to Le Mans, I get extremely emotional. It’s such an amazing place, the circuit is fabulous. Le Mans is one part of my driving career. But I’ve also got some great memories of my years in Formula One back in the 1980s [he competed in 23 Grands Prix races between 1979 and 1992] such as fourth place on the grid in the Long Beach Grand Prix [in an ATS Ford, DNF) in 1980. Winning Le Mans was special for me, but so was my Formula 3 European Champion title [1978] . Those achievements were all very different parts of my career and it’s difficult to compare because they were all fantastic.” 

Jammers was also runner-up in the 1987 World Sportscar Championship (Jaguar), winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1988 and 1990 (Jaguar) and FIA Sportscar champion in 2002 and 2003 (Dome-Judd).

Now 60 years old, the Dutchman has no intentions of hanging up his helmet. “With backing from Jumbo, the supermarket chain owned by Fritz van Eerd, we’ll be running in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’ll be my 23rd entry. Maybe I’ll make it to 24!”

This year, Lammers will be at the wheel of a Dallara LM P2 for Racing Team Nederland in the European Le Mans Series and at Le Mans. He’ll be joined by Frits van Eerd and Rubens Barrichello, the record holder for the highest number of Formula One Grand Prix starts (323) with 11 F1 victories to his name. The three drivers have already run tests at Magny-Cours (France) and Sebring (Florida).

Photo: Jan Lammers’ last Le Mans entry dates back to 2011, at the wheel of the Oreca 01 fielded by Hope Racing (DNF). 

See the first part of our Jan Lammers interview.

 

 

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