Grid 1 – Race 1 (16:00–17:00)

Christian Traber’s #2 Talbot Lago, the ex-offset single-seater built in 1939, dominated the first Grid 1 race. The engines suffered in the heat as Le Mans Classic got under way. Like the #19 Riley driven by Thierry Chanoine, many of the competitors had to make a pit stop to add water to their cooling system. The #72 Bugatti came to a standstill in the Arnage runoff.  Katarina Kyvalova, the only female driver on the grid, took over from Nigel Batchelor in the enormous #51 Bentley 4.5 Tourer built in 1928, after a few cushions had been added to her seat. Traber made his mandatory pit stop at 16:40 and handed over the #2 Talbot Lago to his American co-driver Spencer Trenery who crossed the finish line in first place. It came home ahead of the 1934 #46 Talbot 105 BGH21 with Julian Bronson and Gary Burnett. Bertrand Leseur and Jean-Jacques Bally took third in their superb #42 BMW 328 from 1938.

The #32 3-litre Bentley Speed, an authentic model from the 1925 Le Mans 24 Hours, left the pits with its soft top down after the mandatory pit stop, as permitted by the rules of the day once 20 laps had been completed. A little flexibility was therefore introduced for today’s one-hour race to give the mechanics a chance to experience a little bit of history.

An extra-high octane fuel for classic engines

Between two races, the cars have to pay a visit to one of the six pumps at their disposal to refuel. Swiss driver Heinz Stamm and his #16 2-litre Aston Martin Speed from 1937 told us a little more: “My tank holds 100 litres, but I just put 45 litres in. I just use 30 litres in the race which leaves me enough to go back and forth between the paddock and the pre-grid.” The fuel has a high octane rating of 102 suited to the engines of these vintage models, which is also the reason why it costs just over €3 per litre.

Grid 2 – Race 1 (17:40–18:43)

After shining in the Jaguar Classic Challenge earlier in the day, Andy Wallace found himself in the lead of first Grid 2 race at the wheel of the 1955 Jaguar D-Type (#6). In hot pursuit was Chris Ward in the 1952 Jaguar C-Type (#36)... too hot, in fact, as Ward’s car overheated, forcing him to pit. The #23 Jaguar C-Type driven by Nigel Webb also encountered the same engine problems. Another Jaguar D-Type – the #28 driven by Carlos Monteverde and Gary Pearson – took over in second place followed by the 1955 Maserati 300 S (#25) driven by Nicolas Chambon in third. Wallace refuelled at 18:10 with a comfortable 53-second lead over the #28 Jaguar D-Type. The refuelling parade added a few cars to the list of competitors experiencing heat-related issues. With a lap time of 5:02.556, Wallace – a professional endurance driver and former Le Mans 24 Hours winner in 1988 with Jaguar – clearly outclassed the experienced gentlemen drivers by around 20 seconds per lap. Pierre-Henri Mahul ran off into the gravel trap in his 1957 DB HBR Barquette (#8) at the Porsche Curves, but without any serious consequences. Racing was stopped two minutes from the end for safety reasons following an oil leak on the track after the Dunlop Bridge. Wallace in the 1955 Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-Type (#6) took the heat with a two-minute lead over the #28 Jaguar D-Type and the #25 Maserati 300 S.

The final Le Mans start of the day for Grid 3

Grid 3 set off with a Le Mans-style start at 19:20 for cars from the 1957–61 period. Once under way, the cars return to their starting grid positions between Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne for a proper rolling start when they pass the start-finish line. The final Le Mans start at this edition of Le Mans Classic will take place at 12:24 on Sunday for Grid 4 (1962–65 models). This type of starting procedure where the drivers run across the track and leap in to their cars parked against the pit wall was abandoned after the 1969 race when Jacky Ickx walked across the track in protest and nonetheless won the race. A fire broke out in the #51 Lotus Elite S2, driven by Paul Stephens, at the start of this first Grid 3 race.

Photos: Le Mans, Circuit des 24 Heures, France, Saturday 9 July 2016: from left to right, and from bottom to top:

A Le Mans-style start for Grid 1 (1923–39).

The first rolling start in front of the pits. Here, the 1935 Singer Savoye Speciale (#65) leads from the 1932 Citröen C4 Roadster (#33), a 1938 Peugeot 402 Darl'mat (#17) and a 1936 Lagonda Rapier (#38).

This BMW 328 (#6) needs to cool down after the first 45-minute race.

The 2-litre Aston Martin Speed has just taken on board some high-octane fuel in time for the second night race.