Haywood’s record at Le Mans is awe-inspiring. He won first and last time out and raced 12 of his 14 Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche. As you listen to Haywood describe the mechanical upsets and other surprises involved in his three victories, you realise some things - literally - hang on a thread.

1977 (Hurley Haywood/Jacky Ickx/Jürgen Barth, #4 Porsche 936): 1977 was my first time over here and I was given the honour of starting the race, it was very emotional. In the first corner the throttle struck wide open. It surprised me so much that I turned the ignition off, stopped the car on the trackside, and realized that if I restarted the car and get into gear I would overrev the engine. So I had to take the bonnet off to fix the problem, which was a huge effort. I could get back to the pits. We were at least 2 or 3 laps down and the Jacky’s car had a problem so he moved to our car. He came on board and was magnificent. Jacky was legendary on misty weather and damp. We fought our way back, Jacky run 3 and 4-hour stints. It worked really good and we could get back into the lead, that was odd and great. Then I felt trouble in the engine, looked back in the mirror and could see a lot of smoke coming out of the left rear side of the car. The pit told me not to stop on the course and to get back into the pits. The mechanics plugged off a cylinder and put Jürgen in the car because he was mechanical-minded, but he missed the timing and had to do another lap. And when the car came over the finish line it literally blew up. It was a race we probably should not have won but just by sheer will of winning we were able to pull it up. Then I had engine trouble. I could see a trail of smoke behind me. I was called in. The mechanics blocked off a cylinder and put Jürgen Barth in the car because of his special feel for the workings of the car. But he miscalculated the finish and had to do an extra lap. The engine blew just over the line. We probably shouldn’t have won that race, but we wanted it so much that we managed.

1983 (#2 Hurley Haywood/Jacky Ickx/Jürgen Barth, Porsche 956): This was again quite dramatic in 1983. The door coming off was not a big deal, they would not allow us to continue without the door so we made a stop. The mechanics put a new door on but the closing mechanism did not fit right and the door could not close. One mechanic took his belt off and used it to close the door. But the angle was just enough to divert the air from the intercooler and this burnt a piston. Al Holbert was in the car going down the Mulsanne straight and felt the engine starting to seize. Luckily he slowed down, put the car in the second gear and literally drove at 20 mph. The sister car driven by Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx was catching us up. We slipped to the chequered flag and once again the car expired right after crossing the finish line. At that moment, I think that the sister car was only 20 or 30 seconds behind us.

1994 (Hurley Haywood/Mauro Baldi/Yannick Dalmas, #35 Dauer-Porsche 992 LM): In 1994 I really enjoyed the Dauer-Porsche car, it really was fun to drive. We never thought we could have been in position to win the race overall but it just happened, things ran in our favour. The funny thing about 1994 was that we pre-tested at the Paul Ricard circuit, making a 24-hour simulation. I was going to drive with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen, and Danny Sullivan was supposed to drive with Yannick and Mauro. Both of them went back to the factory to have a special seat made. Sullivan could not sit in the car so the team manager decided to move me on their car to have three drivers of the same size. And for the very first time since I raced at Le Mans, I had a seat, belts and shoulder straps fitting properly with no adjustments. It was a huge help for the race.

PHOTO : LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, FRIDAY 14 JUNE 2019. Hurley Haywood, Grand Marshal of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.