October 9, 2002
Story and photos by Ed McDonough

A Classic 24 Hours

There have been classic races at Le Mans, and races for classics, but the 2002 Le Mans Classic was about as close as you could come to seeing the ‘old days’ recreated at the circuit at La Sarthe. The Peter Auto organization took on a tremendous task of trimming the entry down to 325 cars, divided into five groups or ‘plateaus’ as they were called, based loosely on age and also handicapped by a system that recalled the old Le Mans Index of Thermal Efficiency. The five groups would each have 4 races running over the traditional period from 4 PM Saturday to the same time on Sunday. The individual races were not classics in themselves but the overall production was a superb event, and brought back many memories. Each race lasted 35 minutes with a 25 minute break before the next group went out. Amazingly, the event stayed fairly close to the schedule throughout.

As expected there were hordes of Italian machines, and in the end they did exceedingly well.

David Piper’s Ferrari 330P2 appeared in the 1965 race, and won that year at Monza and Brands Hatch Here it overtakes the 1300 Simca Abarth of Norbert Gelleschun. The Simca raced at the 1962 Le Mans.

The Alfa Romeo TZ of Jason Wright, co-driven by Phillip Walker. This was one of 5 TZs entered, one by American Scott Gauthier.

An Italian duo chase some big American iron, exiting Indianapolis and heading towards Arnage, two corners which remain reasonably intact.

Yet another battle of the Italians versus the Americans, here a Mustang fights with a quartet of exotic Ferraris.

A handful of Birdcage Maseratis appeared, including this Tipo 63 in the 1957-1961 age group, driven by its owner Philippe Marcq and co-driver d’Ansembourg.

The Tipo 61 Maserati Birdcage of Hartmut Ibing with co-driver John Hugenholtx was one of the front runners in 1957-1961 group, with the ex-Camoradi Team long-tail version proving very quick on the long straights. Here it slides through Indianapolis. This pair was second in the group after their four races.

There were some significant differences in car speed and driver ability. Here Carlos Monteverde takes his 3 liter Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa around the outside of the Morgan Plus 4 of Pierre-Henri Mahul.

Philippe Lancksweert brought his 1954 Ferrari 375, with 4.9 engine, a car which had seen action in 1954 at Silverstone, the Mille Miglia, Le Mans and the Tour of Sicily. It finished well down in the very competitive 1945-1956 group.

While some cars were shared by as many as four drivers, American Bill Binnie did all four stints in his lovely ex-Fangio Maserati 300S, the car with which the maestro had won at Interlagos and Rio in 1958.

It was a sensational event for father and son Paul and Matt Grist and their 1936 Alfa Romeo 2900A, the 1936 Mille Miglia winner. The Grists won all four of the 1923-1939 races on the road and won the handicap award as well, the only pair to achieve that. Here Matt Grist lines up for Arnage.

Good weather meant night racing wasn’t as hazardous as expected though there was a big crash for one of the Alpines at the first chicane on the Mulsanne.

Early morning at Arnage Corner and the Gendarmes have little to do but watch the slightly smokey 275GTB/C Ferrari of Anil Thadani in the final group for 1966-1975, which saw him up against the fastest sports racers.

An Alfa TZ chases several Ferraris exiting Mulsanne Corner. This corner has been eased significantly over the years from the original 90 degree right-hander which made it much more challenging.

Night practice on Saturday, after the first group races had begun, was an interesting time for all the groups trying to squeeze some time on the circuit. Here Jon Shipman and Mark Hales try Shipman’s Alfa T33/3. It went on to win two of its races, and was the only car in the 1966-1975 group to finish in the top six each time. It won the group outright and on handicap, thus making Alfa Romeos the winners in the oldest and newest categories.

Jean-Francois Bentz and co-drivers Poulain and Meyners shared this Alfa T33/2. The remarkable paint scheme by Bettina Reims got lots of attention, but groans from the purists. Here it passes a Porsche on the exit of Indianapolis.

Another view of the 33/2.

This Ferrari 308GT4,ex-NART car, was driven by Brandan Wang, having run at Le Mans in 1974 and 1975.It was disqualified then for being too slow, and it wasn’t much quicker this time but added the sense of quirkiness which Le Mans always had.

Another rear view exiting Indianapolis on the short run to Arnage.

The Shipman Alfa T33/3 harries the ex-Bonnier Lola T70 as the field rushes down the Mulsanne Straight on the first lap of their 3rd race. The circuit no longer comes straight ahead as it used to do, but eases off to the right. This photo is taken from the roundabout which now sits at the end of the famed Mulsanne Straight.

A Porsche 906 trails a Ferrari and the rest of the field as the cars turn right at Mulsanne and head up the very fast road to Indianapolis.

Marco Cajani shared another Alfa 33, this one the 33/3 of Joe Nastase, another of the V8 engine cars. They ran consistently to finish 4th in the group, an amazing overall Alfa Romeo performance at Le Mans.