Full grids for Le Mans Classic

The cars that had been placed on reserve lists for Grids 1 to 6, to fill the place of any competitors forced to pull out at the last minute in practice, will not be called upon. However, with between 68 and 75 cars in each grid, there will be plenty of action to keep the grandstand crowds enthralled!

Group C Racing joins the party

Group C Racing cars competed at the 24 Hours in the eighties and early nineties and, this year, will be appearing for the first time at Le Mans Classic. They will be out on the legendary 13.629 km circuit at midday after a morning set aside for club parades. This will be an excellent opportunity to rediscover some superb racing cars, such as the Mercedes C11 and the Nissan R90 CK. The Toyota 85C will be making its first reappearance since it heralded Toyota's début at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1985. The Porsche 962 Cs will be out in force and a Ferrari-engined Lancia LC1 will be flying the flag for Martini Racing. Let’s not forget the C2s – with illustrious models such as the Tiga, Spice, Argo, Alba and ALD – and the many unprecedented cars in this stunning Groupe C Racing field.

Romain Dumas in a Porsche 962 C

The French driver, crowned for the second time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with Porsche, will take part in the support race involving the Group C Racing grid. He will be driving an immaculate 962 C along with Manfred Freisinger, a legendary figure of the private Porsche GTs entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the late nineties. Dumas himself won many 24-hour races in GT with Freisinger Motorsport in the early years of his career.

Imsa Performance tries its hand at Group C

Normandy-based outfit Imsa Performance, twice GT winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2007 and 2013), is back at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The team has entered two Porsche 962 Cs in the Group C grid, and Raymond Narac and Michel Lecourt are also listed in Grid 4 (#60 AC Cobra) and Grid 6 (1974 Porsche 911 RSR 3 L). The two Group C cars will be making their first outing. The oldest (#40) is a 1987 model that crashed in Mexico in the world endurance championship of the day. The chassis has been repaired and all the mechanical components overhauled, including the 2.8 L engine in which only the cylinder head is water-cooled and which was rebuilt by a specialist in Belgium. Although the project began almost two years ago, the team received the final parts only recently. With Group C races always lively affairs with cars capable of exceeding speeds of 320 kph on the straight, the #40 is not expected to figure among the frontrunners.   The important business today is to ensure that everything is running smoothly. The other Porsche 962 C (#82) is a 1990 model with a fully water-cooled 3.2-litre flat-six engine which, in spite of giving a few worrying signs, should be able to complete a few runs in the superbly prepared 47-car grid.

A Mazda rotary engine in Grid 5

Three of the four Japanese manufacturers who have taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans are represented at Le Mans Classic 2016. Nissan is appearing in the Group C Racing grid with Toyota. Meanwhile, Grid 5 features a Chevron B16 with a Mazda rotary engine. The technology was developed by Mazda for its Le Mans début in the seventies and took the marque to victory in 1991. Mazda is still the only Japanese manufacturer to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.