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During the 80s, Jaguar was the first of the two back at the Sarthe in prototypes, at the initiative of the American driver Bob Tullius and his Group 44 operation. After a double retirement in 1984, the Jaguar XJR 5 finished thirteenth in the next year, driven by the Frenchman Claude Ballot-Lena, Chip Robinson and Bob Tullius himself. This first result opens the way for the British team TWR of Tom Walkinshaw, who was the official representative of Jaguar in endurance racing in 1986, with the Silk Cut Jaguar. In 1987 they had a first top 5 finish with Eddie Cheever, Raul Boesel and Jan Lammers. The great duel with Porsche ended in 1988 with  victory for the British manufacturer, with Lammers again, this time driving with Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace. This is the sixth success for Jaguar at the Sarthe, after those of 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1957. Beaten in 1989 by Sauber-Mercedes, Jaguar recorded a seventh victory in 1990 with John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle. In 1991, Jaguar made ​​its last appearance in prototypes.

Ten years later, it's time for Bentley to return to the circuit of the 24 hours ... after half a century of absence. A prototype with an enclosed cockpit, the Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 had a family resemblance to the Audi R8C (Coupe), run by the Audi factory team in 1999. One should recall that both companies belong to the Volkswagen Group. This return ends with third place overall for Andy Wallace, Butch Leitzinger and Eric van de Poele. With reference to past Bentley successes at Le Mans (five wins in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930), the winning trio on the podium wore the white racesuits, leather helmets and goggles of the time, before the revived team finished fourth in 2002. In 2003, the two Bentley entered finished in the first two places, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Guy Smith ahead of Johnny Herbert, David Brabham and Mark Blundell ... seventy-three years after the last victory of the British manufacturer at the 24 hours.

In recent years, Jaguar has made some appearances at Le Mans in GTs, while Bentley prepares assiduously its Continental for GT3 competition next year ... we hope to see them both at the Sarthe again soon.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated by Tony Light/ACO

Photo: CIRCUIT OF THE 24 HOURS (Le Mans, Sarthe), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 14 & 15 June 2003. The victorious Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 Evo2003 wore the famous historic dark green colour of British motorsport ("British Racing Green" in English), also carried by Jaguar during the fifties.