In the last half of the 1970s, it was in endurance racing, and more specifically at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, that Jacky Ickx's career took off again. In 1975, representing Gulf Oil he scored his second victory, six years after his legendary finish (see second installment). In 1976, he joined Porsche and won a third time.

In 1977, still with Porsche, he joined forces for the first time with Henri Pescarolo, at the wheel of the #3 936. Between 1969 and 1976, the Belgian and the French driver each won three victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On paper, the duo Ickx-Pescarolo seemed unbeatable.

Jacky Ickx: "Wherever you are in Europe, if someone says something about a driver in a fluorescent green helmet, Henri Pescarolo immediately comes to mind, and when you're talking about Henri Pescarolo, you're talking about a monument. He's a driver and also team owner, constructor...even though he was successful, I believe Henri didn't always get what he deserved, he is truly passionate."

The 1977 edition confirmed Jacky Ickx's thoughts given that the 24 Hours of Le Mans has its own law which often defies logic.

Barely four hours into the race, with Henri Pescarolo at the wheel, a defective rod caused the engine to break down. It seemed all was lost for Porsche. The second 936 (#4), driven by the German Jürgen Barth and American driver Hurley Haywood, was nine laps behind after just two hours of racing as the result of replacing an injector pump.

Jacky Ickx took the wheel of the #4 936 and delivered what remains to this day one of the most stunning performances ever at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. During the night, he beat the lap record established in 1973 by François Cevert (Matra) three times. At five in the morning, Ickx, Barth and Haywood were in second position...and four hours later they took the lead after the Renault-Alpine of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Derek Bell was forced to retire!

The #4 936 held onto a healthy lead, but shortly before 3:00 p.m., Haywood returned to the pits with a punctured piston. At that moment, he had a 17-lap advantage on the car in second position, the Mirage driven by Jean Pierre Jarier-Vern Schuppan.

The decision was made to disconnect the damaged cylinder and send the car back out onto the track only at the very end of the race in order to complete, in compliance with the regulations, a timed lap (preceded by a lap to cross the time line) through the checkered flag. A highly reputable driver and engineer, Jürgen Barth hit the track at 2:50 p.m. for the very risky undertaking, slowed to five cylinders, with a gigantic stopwatch mounted on the scoreboard for the occasion.

Jacky Ickx, Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood became the first three-driver line-up to win at Le Mans, while Ickx, with four victories, matched his fellow countryman, Olivier Gendebien, the win record-holder at the time.

Eight years after his "walk to victory" and one year after giving a turbocompressed engine its first win at the 24 Hours, Jacky Ickx added another chapter to his legend:

"Of my successful editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1977 is the first that should be mentioned because for all intents and purposes, it was a race lost. It started with Henri Pescarolo, but ended after only three hours. I should not have won that year. A race like that, there aren't many in the life of a driver. It was magical because we turned a failed race into a win, and the whole team rose to the occasion."

The question of teammates and team work is precisely the subject of the next installment in this interview series.

Click below for the previous installments in this interview series:

Jacky Ickx interview series (1) - The road to the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans

Jacky Ickx interview series (2) - 1969 and the walk to victory

Jacky Ickx interview series (3) - The Ferrari years