He drove the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ford and Mercedes, but it was with Porsche that the German driver Klaus Ludwig built most of his track record, in La Sarthe with three victories.

In 1979, rain fell on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Porsche 936 prototypes experienced a complete rout. These other Porsche, the 935 (the 911 version that appeared in 1976), was left to defend the honour of the marque. For his first Le Mans, Klaus Ludwig won the race, with two brothers from the United States, Bill and Don Whittington.

Three years later, the introduction of Group C prototype regulations saw the appearance of the Porsche 956. Klaus Ludwig scored two consecutive victories. In 1984 with Henri Pescarolo last crew of two drivers to win the 24 Hours. The German won again in 1985, with an unusual crew consisting of a fellow gentleman driver running under the pseudonym John Winter, and Italian Paolo Barilla.

In eight appearances, Klaus Ludwig appeared six times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Porsche, with great success, in addition to his three victories, it also had a second (1988), a sixth (1983) and only one DNF (1986). He scored the tenth victory of Porsche at the 24 hours in 1985. Klaus Ludwig has an honoured place in the pantheon of Le Mans results for the Stuttgart manufacturer, who are preparing to return to prototypes in 2014.

For more stories about Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, visit the microsite  Mission 2014. Our return.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO

Photo : CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 16 & 17 JUIN 1984. The owner of the winning Porsche 956 of Henri Pescarolo and Klaus Ludwig, was none other than Reinhold Joest, current partner of Audi.