The 1985

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the fourth round of the

1985 World Endurance Championship The 1985 World Sportscar Championship season was the 33rd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1985 World Endurance Championship which was contested over a series of races for Group C1 and Group C2 Prototypes, ...

. It took place at the

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, on 15 and 16 June 1985. During Thursday's practice, Briton driver Dudley Wood in a John Fitzpatrick entered Porsche 962C tangled with the Swiss driver Jean-Pierre Frey in an Alba AR2 on the

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is int ...

at 200 mph (320 km/h). They crashed, and they both went over the barriers and into the trees, similar to John Sheldon's crash the year before. The impact was so hard, it even cracked the Porsche's engine. No one was killed. As a result, neither car started the race.Archived a
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During qualifying, German driver Hans-Joachim Stuck recorded the fastest ever lap of Le Mans for the time - at an average speed of 156.471 mph (251.815 km/h). His record would be held for 32 years, until

Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and the ...

broke it in

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in a

Toyota TS050 Hybrid The Toyota TS050 Hybrid is a sports prototype racing car developed for the 2016 Le Mans Prototype rules in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car is the direct successor of the Toyota TS040 Hybrid, which competed in both the 2014 and 201 ...

, averaging a speed of 156.512 mph (251.882 km/h), on a slower and safer variation of the circuit. Klaus Ludwig took his third overall win, and his second in a row, in the same 956B chassis, 956B-117, which had won the 1984 race. 6-time winner

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

finished his final 24 Hours of Le Mans in 10th place.

Official results

† – #41 failed post-race inspection for being underweight. Finished 24th prior to disqualification.

Statistics

* Pole Position: Hans-Joachim Stuck, #2 Rothmans Porsche - 3:14.80 (156.470 mph/251.815 km/h) * Fastest Lap: Jochen Mass, #1 Rothmans Porsche - 3:25.10 * Distance: 5088.507 km * Average Speed: 212.021 km/h

References

* * {{24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Le Mans races

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...