24 Hours of Le Mans - The Andrettis, a family story
Back

24 Hours of Le Mans - The Andrettis, a family story

A living motorsports legend, the American Mario Andretti dreamed of winning at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1983, he joined up with his oldest son, then his nephew in 1988!

The first memory that comes to Mario Andretti's mind relative to the 24 Hours of Le Mans is quite singular: "I was already familiar with Le Mans from back when I lived in Italy. When the accident at the 1955 24 Hours happened (more than 80 spectators were killed by the explosion of Pierre Levegh's Mercedes, editor's note),  I was in the boat that was taking my family to the U.S. Every day during the crossing, the big headlines from around the world were posted on a sort of board. That's how I found about the tragedy. I was 15."

An Italian naturalized American in 1964, throughout the 1960's Mario Andretti was one of the top young drivers in the U.S. in various disciplines (races on clay, single-seaters, oval circuits...). Then he returned to Europe in 1978 to become the second American ever (and last to-date) to win the F1 World Champion title.

Over time, motorsports would also become a family affair, namely at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1983, he claimed the third step on the podium with his son Michael, at the time 20 years old. The father and the son were teammates with French driver Français Philippe Alliot in a Porsche 956. "I hadn't been to Le Mans since 1967, but the car was so good that I felt at home right away, marvels Mario. The 956, and also the Porsche 962 C, are without a doubt the best cars I have ever driven at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I remember too at the time that the regulations concerning fuel consumption at the 24 Hours were very strict. In 1988, I once again teamed up with Michael, and my nephew John joined us. During the night, at one in the morning, our car lost a cylinder."

That year, the three Andrettis were factory Porsche divers at the wheel of a 962 C prototype. "The engineer Norbert Singer, the car's designer, had noted that we had perfectly followed the marching orders, whereas the other two factory 962 Cs had to slow down after having used too much fuel. Michael, John and I finished sixth, and would have certainly won had we not had to finish the race with our car functioning on five cylinders!"

In 1988, Jaguar won at the 24 Hours, bringing an end to a series of seven consecutive victories for Porsche.

When listening to him talk about these memories, one instantly hears in Mario Andretti, now 76 years young, that his passion for motorsports has in no way waned. It's that passion - and also his determination - that pushed him back in 1995 to try his hand once again at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the time he was 55 years old and came very close to victory, finishing second...

But even today do not tell Mario Andretti that with French drivers Eric Helary and Bob Wollek in their Courage-Porsche they did not win! "That year, I was at the wheel of the first ranked prototype (Mario and his teammates were only bested by a GT, the McLaren F1 GTR driven by Yannick Dalmas-JJ Lehto-Masanori Sekiya, editor's note). It was a class win, yes, but I can still say I won something at Le Mans !"

Mario Andretti returned to the 24 Hours three times: in 1996, 1997 (a third time with his son Michael, but they were forced to retire) and lastly in 2000...at 60 years old!

Ten years later, it was his grandson Marco's turn to debut at Le Mans. Kept in the U.S. for public relations reasons surrounding the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada, Mario was unable to make the trip, but kept in contact daily via telephone with France : "I was very happy Marco had a chance to participate in the 24 Hours. I knew he loved Le Mans, as did Michael and John before him."

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners

All partners