24h Le Mans
On September 19th at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas will take place a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and a TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race. Jim Hall, creator of the famous Chaparral 2s, will wave the green flag as Grand Marshal of the event.
Though the Chaparral 2s entered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans never made it across the finish line, in 1965 one of Jim Hall's creations won at the 12 Hours of Sebring with Hap Sharp and the billionaire Texan himself behind the wheel. Very fast on the track, Hall marched by his own drum and and is an aerodynamics pioneer, as evidenced by the monumental spoiler on the Chaparral 2.
The "2" was added to the Chapparals after Hall bought the marque from its owners whom had simply named their first race car Chaparral 1. The winning Chaparral 2 at Sebring is now on display, along with six other Chaparrals, in a museum in Midland, Texas.
This year, Hall's son took the wheel of the car that gave his dad the win 50 years ago, just as Hall himself did back in 1985 for the 20th anniversary of his victory...
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, JUNE 10-11 1967. The Chaparral makes a pit stop.
