1999 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race held at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 12 and 13 June 1999. It was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race was won by the BMW V12 LMR prototype of Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini, and Joachim Winkelhock. Lauded by commentators as one of the best races of the decade, it had equal measure drama, tension and excitement to thrill the crowd. The race had major commitment from more works teams with Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Nissan, Panoz and Riley & Scott all represented. New regulations had moved the GT and Sports prototypes far closer together – closed-top coupés versus open-top spyders. BMW had won Le Mans as an engine-manufacturer with McLaren in 1995 and first competed in the 1928 race. However, their victory was overshadowed by three almost identical accidents with the Mercedes cars – twice during practice with Mark Webber and then in the fifth hour to Peter Dumbreck. At one of the fastest places on the circuit, his car lifted and got airborne, somersaulting three times into the trees next to the track. Incredibly, Dumbreck emerged shaken but unscathed.

With such a strong, diverse field a great race was expected, and it proved to be so. From the start, two cars each from Toyota, Mercedes and BMW all duelled for the lead. After the Mercedes team was withdrawn and the lead Toyota fell back with gearbox issues, it became a close 3-car race into the night. However. when Thierry Boutsen had a major crash at 3am at the fast, sweeping Dunlop curve, it left the two BMW works cars with a comfortable lead. That changed again at midday though, when the throttle stuck open on JJ Lehto's leading BMW, pitching him violently into the track barriers. The last four hours of the race were highlighted by an exciting back-and-forth battle between the remaining, all-Japanese, Toyota and the BMW running on the same lap, which was only resolved in the final hour when the former had a puncture at high speed and lost seven minutes in the pits. The renamed GTS class was dominated by the Chrysler Vipers, with the works ORECA team finishing 1-2 ahead of four other customer cars. This was the final race for Henri Pescarolo who signed off his record-breaking 33rd start as a driver with a 9th place overall while, following his big accident, Thierry Boutsen also announced his retirement.