24h Le Mans
Throughout this month, we will bring you a very special Advent calendar dedicated to remarkable stories and anecdotes from the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today, here is a look back at 1977 and yet another Jacky Ickx exploit that earned him his fourth of six wins.
After eight victories in Formula 1 between 1968 and 1972, Jacky Ickx's career entered a new chapter in endurance racing during the second half of the 1970s, namely at the 24 Hours. A winner at the race in 1969, he won again in 1975 and 1976, with Gulf Mirage and Porsche respectively.
In 1977, also with Porsche, he joined forces with Henri Pescarolo at the wheel of the #3 936. Between 1969 and 1976, the Belgian and the Frenchman both scored three wins at Le Mans. The magic of Ickx/Pescarolo seemed unbeatable. But the 24 Hours is nothing if not unpredictable. After four hours of racing, with Henri Pescarolo in the driver's seat, a defective connecting rod caused an engine failure and it seemed all was lost for Porsche.
Two hours into the race, the second 936 (#4) entrusted to Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood was delayed by an injection pump change and fell to 40th position. Ickx joined the German and the American and delivered what was unquestionably one of the more stunning performances of his career. During the night, he beat the lap record set by François Cevert (Matra) in 1973 three times, fixing it at 03:36.8 (average 226.494 kph). At five in the morning, Ickx, Barth and Haywood were in the second spot and four hours later, they snatched the lead after Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Derek Bell's Renault-Alpine was forced to retire.
Jacky Ickx: "Of my participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1977 is the first that should be remembered because the race was all but lost. It had gotten underway with Henri Pescarolo, but came to a halt after only three hours. I never should have won that year. There aren't many races like the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans in the life of a driver. It was magical because we turned a loss into a win, to the credit of the entire team."
Despite experiencing a perforated piston shortly before the 15th hour that forced Jürgen Barth to finish the race in slow mode (read installment 6 of 24 Hours Stories), the German and his two teammates in the #4 Porsche 936 became the first three-driver crew to win at Le Mans. With that fourth victory, Ickx matched the win record held at the time by fellow countryman Olivier Gendebien, adding yet another triumph to an already outstanding legend.
PHOTO (Copyright - ACO ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1977 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. The 45th 24 Hours of Le Mans saw a fourth win for both Jacky Ickx and Porsche.
