24h Le Mans
On 23 November 1976, Jacques Mayol, whose story was the inspiration for the Luc Besson movie “The Big Blue”, became the first man to free-dive to a depth of 100 metres. Fifty years earlier, on 12–13 June 1926, Robert Bloch and André Rossignol in a Lorraine Dietrich B3-6 became the first 24 Hours of Le Mans winners to average more than 100 kph (106.35 kph).
It took another 25 years to break through the 150-kph average speed barrier – achieved by Peter Walker et Peter Whitehead in a Jaguar XK120 in 1951. Fifteen years later, Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren exceeded an average speed of 200 kph with the Ford GT40. The Ford GT40 went on to set a new benchmark of 218 kph just twelve months later. However, the 220-kph barrier remained intact until 1971 when Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko drove the Porsche 917 to victory at an average of over 222 kph. That record then stood for a remarkable 39 years. It was finally eclipsed by just 5 kph in 2010 when Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller triumphed in an Audi R15.
Photo: copyright ACO archives
