1976 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 44th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1976. This year the FIA introduced its new Group 5 and Group 6 regulations and the race was now open to nine distinct classes, although it was still not part of the World Championship seasons. Porsche introduced its new models, the 936 in Group 6, the 935 in Group 5 and the 934 in Group 4. In response, BMW had its modified 3.0 CSL in Group 5. It was the year that turbos arrived in considerable numbers, with over a dozen turbocharged entries, led by the Renault Alpine A442. It saw the arrival of French prototype manufacturers Jean Rondeau and Gérard Welter in a new GTP class and a first-time invitation to American IMSA and NASCAR entries.^[1]

Once an initial challenge from Renault Alpine was seen off, the 936 of previous race-winners Jacky Ickx and Gijs van Lennep built a relentless, inexorable lead that was never headed. Even a 30-minute stop to repair a cracked exhaust on Sunday morning was not enough for the following pack and they won by a comfortable 11-lap margin. Second was the Mirage of French drivers François Migault and Jean-Louis Lafosse – the same car that had finished third the year before. Alain de Cadenet’s privateer effort showed far greater reliability this year and he achieved his best Le Mans result with third place.

The works Porsche 935 turbo of Rolf Stommelen and Manfred Schurti was fourth, easily winning the Group 5 class. After early issues, Henri Pescarolo and Jean-Pierre Beltoise bought their new Inaltéra home in 8th to take the inaugural GTP-class win. André Gahinet's privateer Porsche 911 was the unexpected winner in Group 4 when all the major teams, and their new Porsche 934s faltered. The race also saw the death of Frenchman André Haller when his Datsun 260Z crashed at speed at the Mulsanne Kink and caught fire.