Over 200,000 spectators and a Motors TV television audience of many hundreds of thousands more, were treated to a thrilling prelude to the Le Mans 24 Hours by the Fiskens co-sponsored Le Mans Legends Race on Saturday morning.
In what will be remembered as one of the most exciting Historic Races of all time, the race truly whetted the appetite for the 24 hours with fantastic battles right down the field in conditions which ranged from blazing sunshine to torrential downpours.
Amazingly the overall winner turned out to be the Ford GT40 of Shaun Lynn, incredible for the fact he started the race from 57th on the grid to take victory from the Ferrari 250LM of Peter Hardman. The podium was rounded out by the Ferrari P3 of Nicky Leventis who held off a stern late challenge from the GT40 of Richard Meins.
The battles weren’t confined to the front of the grid however, with each class enjoying superb fights right down the field. Class winners included Tony Dron, who also took 5th overall in his Ferrari 330LMB, David and James Cottingham in their Ferrari 500 TRC, the Jaguar D-Type shared by Gavin Pickering and Spencer Marsh, Jos Koster and Michiel Van Duijvendijk in a Porsche 904, Henri Stepak and Francois Bourdin (Renault A210) and Robin Longdon (Lola Mk1).
With a giant 61-car grid, an appearance from Sir Stirling Moss in an Aston Martin DBR1 and such exciting and competitive racing, the Le Mans Legends race could only be described as a roaring success.
Fiskens sales manager Will Stone said: “It was a brilliant race. The rain didn’t seem to dampen spirits and the driving - all through the field - was excellent. There was so much happening it was hard to keep up with who was where! Full marks must go to Shaun Lynn in his GT40. How many times do you see a car at Le Mans start at the back of the grid and go on to win?! ”
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