As the successor to the legendary 917, the Porsche 936 embodies not only the technological revolution of the turbocharged engine, winning for the first time in 1976, but also the influence of Jacky Ickx at the 24 Hours. Already a winner on two occasions (1969 and 1975), the Belgian champion drove the 936 to victory. On 14 June 1981 he removed his compatriot Olivier Gendebien from the records with his fifth victory. An achievement unfortunately overshadowed by the death of the French racing driver Jean-Louis Lafosse.

Designed from what was learnt from the 917/30 in 1973 (including the use of the turbo), the Porsche 936 Le Mans has seen it all: a victory on its first appearance, a final thriller (after winning despite the loss of a cylinder in 1977), the dominance of the Renault-Alpine prototypes (1978) their main opponent since 1976, a stinging defeat (1979) and a victory on its final appearance in La Sarthe (1981). It was a well deserved win at the legendary Le Mans for the Stuttgart manufacturer.

Porsche 936 (1976-81)
Victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: 1976 (Jacky Ickx-Gijs van Lennep), 1977 (Jürgen Barth-Hurley Haywood-Jacky Ickx) and 1981 (Jacky Ickx-Derek Bell)
Pole positions at the 24 Hours of Le Mans : 1978, 79 and 81.

Read also :

Winning Porsches at Le Mans (1) : the 917                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Porsche 917/30, the missing link

To learn more about the history of Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours please visit the microsite Mission 2014 – Our Return.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO

Photo : CIRCUIT OF THE 24 HOURS (Le Mans, Sarthe) 24 HORS OF LE MANS, 12 and 13 JUNE 1976. The first appearance of the 936, also marked the first occasion of the duel with their opponents Renault-Alpine which continued until 1978.
 

 

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