ARA Racefacts Bulletin and Model Review (August 31, 1997)
1 September 1997
AUTO RACING ANALYSIS RACEFACTS BULLETIN August 31, 1997 History was made in all three "headline" races held as part of the Mosport festival of SCCA and Professional SportsCar-sanctioned events! Tom Kendall (All Sport Roush Ford Mustang) took his eleventh consecutive Trans-Am victory on Sunday as he extended the longest-ever documentable major series road racing win streak! The longest documentable streak for any major series? Steve Kinser's twelve consecutive wins in the World of Outlaws in 1987! Tom qualified fastest, started fifth, and led by lap 4 in the rain! After stopping for slicks on lap 13, Kendall retook the lead on lap fifteen and held it for the rest of the 40-lap event! Kendall won by 1.373 seconds over Dorsey Schroeder (Raybestos Gloy Ford Mustang). Kendall also set Fast Lap! Tom now has 26 Trans-Am wins, just one short of the "solo" (no co-driver) Trans-Am wins record of 27 held by Mark Donohue! Donohue has 29 Trans-Am wins, two scored in endurance events with codrivers. Kendall's victory was his first Trans-Am win at Mosport Park, giving him Trans-Am wins on 17 venues, second only to Donohue's victories on 20 venues! Tom's eleven 1997 wins broke the Donohue record for most Trans-Am wins in a season, ten, set in 1968! Tom will also finish 1997 with a record for best Trans-Am season racewinning percentage even if he fails to win either of the remaining 1997 races! Tom's 9th FQ honor of 1997 tied the all-time record for Trans-Am overall "top class" Trans-Am FQs in a season, shared at 9 FQs in a season by Mark Donohue (9 of a possible 13, 1968), Scott Pruett (9 of a possible 12, 1987), and Scott Sharp (9 of a possible 14, 1993)! The "all-classes" Trans-Am season FQ records is ten (of a possible eleven), set by Horst Kwech in 1970 Under 2-Liter. Tom Kendall's 1997 Mosport Park Fast Lap was his eighth Fast Lap of 1997! Tom's 1997 season Fast Lap total has now broken the previous all-time record season total of seven Fast Laps posted by Willy T. Ribbs (in 15 races) in 1985 and by Darin Brassfield (in 14 races) in 1991! Fast Qualifier Ron Fellows teamed with Rob Morgan (Acxiom Morgan Ferrari 333SP) to win Sunday's Mosport Park Exxon World Sports Car event! Last weekend Ron won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck event at Watkins Glen; he won from the pole there too! The WSC victory was the first in the class for each driver; Fellows had only two prior Exxon series starts, in GTS-1 in the 1993 and 1997 Daytona 24 Hours! The WSC event saw five cars lead (the Morgan Ferrari, the runnerup Leitzinger/Weaver Dyson Ford R & S Mk III, the Lista Ferrari, the Danka Oldsmobile R & S Mk III, and the Dibos Ferrari in that order before the Morgan car achieved the final leadership!) and produce five lead changes! These leading cars comprised the top five, with four on the lead lap and the Eduardo Dibos/Fermin Velez Ferrari fifth after retiring while leading! The Leitzinger/Weaver runnerup finish may have been the "turning point" in the 1997 championship chase as their teammate Elliott Forbes-Robinson suffered a mechanical retirement after 40 laps! On Saturday, the Porsche 911 GT1 scored its first North American victory by taking the Exxon Supreme GTS-1 honors driven by Rohr Racing's Andy Pilgrim and Dorsey Schroeder! Franz Konrad and Nick Ham won for the third consecutive race in GTS-2 (Konrad leads in 1997 GTS-2 wins with 4!) while Derek Hill and Javier Quiros won GTS-3 in their Valvoline/Yokohama PTG BMW M3! Hill and Quiros lead GTS-3 in 1997 with 4 victories apiece; Porsche driver David Murry leads PTG BMW's Bill Auberlen by three points for the driver title while BMW holds a healthy 20-point edge in the Manufacturers battle! Mauricio Gugelmin (Hollywood PacWest Reynard 97I-Mercedes-Firestone) took his first-ever PPG CART World Series win Sunday on the streets of Vancouver! The victory was Mauricio's first since April 12, 1987, when he won the Formula 3000 series race at Silverstone, England in a Ralt RT21-Honda! Gugelmin, the 1981 Brazilian Formula Fiat champion, won twelve 1982 British FF1600 races en route to the 1982 British RAC Formula Ford 1600 championship, second in the BRSCC series, and fifth in the BARC series, driving a Van Diemen RF82! In 1983 he drove a Van Diemen in the European and British Formula Ford 2000 series, winning twice in the European series (Osterreichring, Nurburgring) and six times in the British series; he also won a nonpoint Hockenheim FF1600 race. Mauricio won the 1984 European FF2000 title driving a Reynard 84SF; he won at Hockenheim, Zandvoort, and Mondello Park. He also ranked third in the British series with three wins. Gugelmin moved up to Formula 3 in 1985 and won the British (RAC) title with two wins at Silverstone and one at Zandvoort in a Volkswagen-powered Ralt. He also won the 1985 Macau GP F3 classic! Formula 3000 was next for Mauricio; he ranked 12th in 1986 points (March 86B) and fourth in 1987 with the Silverstone win. Gugelmin competed in Formula One from 1988 through 1992; his 1988-1991 efforts were for the ill-fated March/Leyton House team. He finished fourth, on the lead lap, at Silverstone in 1988 and fifth, a lap down, at the Hungaroring, to rank 12th in 1988 World points and fifth in the Jim Clark Cup for non-turbo cars driving a March 881-Judd. The March 881-Judd took him to a third-place, lead lap finish at Jacarepagua (Brazil GP) in 1989 as he placed 17th in World points. In 1990 the Leyton House-Judd gave him his final World point, a sixth-place, lead-lap finish at Spa, as he ranked 18th in 1990. He scored no points in 1991 nor in 1992 when he drove for Jordan-Yamaha. Jeff Gordon's (Dupont Hendrick Chevrolet Monte Carlo) record third consecutive Darlington Mountain Dew Southern 500 NASCAR Winston Cup win made Jeff not only the second "Winston Million" winner (joining Bill Elliott, 1985) but the first to achieve the feat by winning the Daytona 500, the Charlotte 600 and the Southern 500! Elliott didn't win at Charlotte in 1985, taking his second jewel instead at Talladega. Prior to the inception of the "Million," Lee Roy Yarbrough (1969) and David Pearson (1976) swept the Daytona 500, Charlotte 600, and Darlington Southern 500. Gordon's next most important milestone? Winning the 1997 Winston Cup championship along with the Million! Elliott failed in that quest; although he led Darrell Waltrip by 206 points after the 1985 Southern 500, he lost the title to DW in 1985! ARA MODEL REVIEW BRUMM 1:43 SCALE ALFA ROMEO 33TT12 FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS CAR RACEWINNER, SPA 1975 HENRI PESCAROLO/DEREK BELL Distributed by Automobilia, division of Lustron Industries, Inc. 18 Windgate Drive, New City, New York 10956 Phone or fax: 914-639-6806 e-mail: lustron@worldnet.att.net Brumm website: www.cdsystems.it/brumm This Brumm model is an excellent and faithful replica of the vivid red racewinning car in the May 4, 1975 Spa event, driven by Henri Pescarolo and Derek Bell, still active sports car campaigners in 1997! The victory was the third consecutive for the model in 1975 (the streak eventually reached seven consecutive wins) and was the first of three 1975 victories for the Bell/Pescarolo pairing! The Spa race was scheduled for 1000 kilometers but rain caused the event to be shortened to about 750 kilometers. The model's proportions and details (vivid red with white paint scheme, windscreen, mirrors, airbox, exhausts, wheels and tires, car number, placement and angle of car number, and suspension system, as confirmed from photograph on page 179 in AUTOCOURSE 1975-76, Hazleton, Richmond, Surrey, England and photograph on page 149, AUTOMOBILE YEAR 1975/76, Edita, Lausanne, Switzerland; each photograph is of the specific car racing at Spa) are modeled correctly and in detail! The most easily noticeable feature, a mirror mounted far above and to the left of the driver, is correctly mounted as to height and location although the unusual positioning Alfa Romeo utilized might make one think otherwise! The Campari-sponsored car makes a dramatic model! Brumm models (manufactured in Italy) are 1:43 scale and are presented in see-through plastic display cases with removable covers. The 1:43 scale is a good compromise between space considerations regarding display and sufficient size to permit reasonable levels of detail. Model length: 3.625 inches; width: 1.75 inches; height: 1.375 inch Model construction: Metal with plastic interior (detailed) and windscreen, plastic spoiler Display case length: 5 inches; width: 2.5 inches; height: 2.5 inches In 1975 the Alfa Romeo 33TT12 faced what history has recorded as "limited" opposition, as reflected in three accounts quoted in the following paragraphs. Anthony Pritchard, in his Directory of Classic Prototypes and Grand Touring Cars (Aston Publications, US distributor Motorbooks International), states "In 1975 there was virtually no opposition to the Alfa Romeos, for Matra had now withdrawn and Alfa Romeo continued to run two cars, occasionally three, entered in the name of Willibert (Willy) Kauhsen, a wealthy German private entrant. The Sports Car class at Daytona was cancelled for lack of entries so the team's first race was at Mugello in March. Here the turbocharged Alpine-Renault of Larrousse/Jabouille, running for the first time, scored a totally unexpected victory when the Alfa Romeos were delayed. The cars of Merzario/Ickx and Pescarolo Brambilla finished second and fourth. However, the Kauhsen team pulled itself together and scored victories at Dijon, Monza, Spa, Enna and the Nurburgrging. There were no Alfa Romeos at LeMans, which was not a round in the Championship, and the team rounded off the season with wins in Austria and at Watkins Glen. It was a very hollow Championship victory." In AUTOMOBILE YEAR 1975/76, Jose Rosinski's article entitled "The Alfa Romeo Triumph," writes: "The German ex-driver Willy Kauhsen managed to persuade Alfa Romeo to make an unexpected comeback: the 33TT12 models were entered by private teams, but prepared by Autodelta, and were backed up on the circuits by factory and logistical services exactly as if they were works entries." "Nearly every time, the pattern was the same: the lighter, slimmer, more powerful French (Alpine-Renault Turbo) cars showed that they were the fastest, and then something broke, or a succession of mechanical accidents caused them to lose in the pits all the advantages they had gained on the track. Alfa Romeo, by contrast, showed remarkable reliability, and when they did suffer mechanical mishaps, these were never so serious as to lose them a race-with the single exception of Mugello. In 1974, Matra dominated the racing in utterly convicing fashion, while in 1975, Alfa Romeo fought off some stiff competition. Simple examination of the results give the false impression that the Italians had no rivals, but in fact, they were outclassed in the performance domain by the Alpine-Renault Turbo, which lent an interesting element of uncertainty to races throughout the year-at least in each race the issue was in doubt until the end. The Alpine-Renault lead each of the six events for which it was entered. But, alas, speed alone does not suffice for winning races. It also takes a well-constructed, well-integrated, reliable car, serviced by experienced pit-backing. In 1975, Alpine-Renault was the apprecntice, who lacked the experience to conquer a confirmed champion such as Alfa Romeo. Victory went to the most professional team." "The Willy Kauhsen Racing Team 33TT12s were, in essence, those which competed against Matra in 1974. However, the suspensions were modified to take Goodyear tyres, which replaced the Firestones used the year before. Brakes were made more robust, and the cars were lightened, although they still weighed-in at 740 kilograms." In the John Player Motor Sport Yearbook 1976 (Queen Anne Press, London), Doug Nye concluded "Sports car racing in 1975 wasn't as bad as it has been painted. Indeed, it was certainly less predicable than the years of the Matra monopoly." In ARA's view, Nye's summation is accurate, and while not the most competitive of seasons, 1975 was not without drama and challenge for Alfa Romeo. At Mugello's 1000 Kilometers on March 23, the Bell/Pescarolo pairing was joined by Arturo Merzario/Jacky Ickx in the other 33TT12. They faced two Cosworth Ford-powered Ligier JS2s (Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Jean-Pierre Jarier and Francois Migault/Jean-Louis Lafosse), the Alpine A441-Renault Turbo of Gerard Larrousse/Jean-Pierre Jabouille), the Cosworth Ford-powered Mirage GR7 of Loos Racing driven by Jochen Mass/Tim Schenken, and three Porsche Turbo-powered 908s, two 908/3s shared by Herbert Muller, Leo Kinnunen and Gijs Van Lennep and and one 908/4 shared by Reinhold Joest and Mario Casoni; in all, seven cars capable of defeating the Alfas. The Merzario/Ickx car took pole but Pescaro/Bell started sixth; the Alpine-Renault started second. During the race, Merzario suffered brake pad problems in his Alfa while Bell and Pescarolo encountered handling problems, and the Alpine-Renault won by one lap (with Larrousse setting Fast Lap) over the Merzario/Ickx Alfa with the Pescarol/Bell car fourth, two laps down. The April 6, 1975 Dijon 1000 Kilometers saw Merzario paired with Jacques Laffite in the #1 Alfa. Missing from the opposition list was the one of the Dannesberger Porsche Turbo 908/3 entries and the Loos Mirage. The Alpine-Renault was the new A442 chassis making its first appearance. While the Larrousse/Jabouille Alpine-Renault took the Dijon pole, the Pescarolo/Bell and Merzario/Laffite Alfas started second and third. Merzario and Laffite won the race by a strong seven laps (with Merzario taking Fast Lap) over the Joest/Casoni Porsche Turbo 908/3; Pescarolo and Bell suffered wheelbearing problems and finished fourth, twenty laps behind the winners. The Alpine overheated due to a serious water leak and retired. The series moved on to the Monza 1000 Kilometers on April 20. While Ligier was down to one car (Beltoise/Jarier) the Mirage was back and joined by two Cosworth Ford-powered Lolas, one driven by Vittorio Brambilla. The Mass/Schenken Mirage took the pole. The Merzario/Laffite and Pescarolo/Bell Alfas started second and third, the Alpine-Renault fourth and the Brambilla Lola fifth. In the race, the Ligier and Mirage retired with mechanical problems at about two-thirds distance. Pescarolo and Bell suffered a failure of the crown wheel (ring gear) and retired after completing 132 of 174 laps. Merzario and Laffite won, however, by three laps over Casoni/Joest with the Alpine-Renault third, four laps behind the winning Alfa. Larrousse set Fast Lap in the Alpine-Renault. The Spa 1000 Kilometers was held May 4; rain reduced the even to 762.48 kilometers or 54 laps. Jacky Ickx drove with Merzario in place of Laffite. Alpine-Renault and Mirage skipped the Spa race. The Pescarolo/Bell Alfa took the pole with Ickx/Merzario second, followed by the two Porsche Turbo 908/3s and the Ligier. In the race, the Ligier suffered ignition problems and finished twelfth, nine laps down, and both Porsche Turbo 908/3s were early mechanical retirements. The Alfas scored their first 1-2 with Pescarolo/Bell winning by a lap over Ickx/Merzario. Ickx set Fast Lap. The Enna 1000 Kilometers took place on May 18, 1975; Ligier, the Alpine A442-Renault, and Mirage skipped the event but an Alpine A441-Renault 2 liter was entered, qualified fourth, but did not start due to mechanical problems. Merzario was joined by Jochen Mass, his third partner of 1975! The Merzario/Mass and Pescarolo/Bell Alfas started 1-2 ahead of the Casoni/Joest Porsche Turbo 908/3 and that's the way the finished, with the runnerup Alfa one lap adrift of the winners and Casoni/Joest a whopping 23 laps down. While Enna was the most poorly supported round, the Nurburgring 1000 Kilometers on June 1 featured at least nine potential winners! Laffite was back with Merzario and a third Alfa was entered for Jochen Mass/Jody Scheckter! Two Loos Mirage GR7-Cosworth Fords were entered, for Tim Schenken/Howden Ganley and Tom Pryce/John Watson. Larrousse and Jabouille were back in the Alpine A442-Renault, the wo Porsche 908/3 Turbos were entered, as was a new Jolly Club Lola T380-Cosworth Ford for Vittorio Brambilla/Giorgio Pianta. The Alpine-Renault took the pole with the Alfa Romeos 2-3-4 in the order Pescarolo/Bell, Mass/Scheckter, Merzario/Laffite. The Porsche Turbos and Mirages occupied the next two rows. With Pescarolo at the wheel, the #2 Alfa wrecked on lap one! The Joest Porsche was an early mechanical retirement while Pianta wrecked as did Watson! Merzario and Laffite won with the Schenken/Ganley Mirage second on the same lap; one lap down in third and fourth were the Muller/Kinnunen Porsche and Larrousse/Jabouille Alpine-Renault as four marques finished in the Top Four within one lap of each other! Mass and Scheckter finished sixth in the #3 Alfa, two laps down. Larrousse set Fast Lap in the Alpine-Renault. The competitors moved on to the Osterreichring in Austria for 1000 Kilometers on June 29; heavy rain delayed the start and then caused an early stoppage after 103 laps, or 608.833 kilometers. Alfa returned to two entries, Merzario joined by his fourth partner of the year, Vittorio Brambilla! Mirage skipped the race but Alpine-Renault entered two A442s, with Larrousse/Jarier joined by Patrick Depailler/Jody Scheckter. Larrousse/Jarier won the pole with Depailler/Scheckter third; Merzario/Brambilla qualified second, Pescarolo/Bell sixth with the Porsche Turbos fourth and fifth! The Larrousse/Jarier Alpine was an early mechanical retirement but while Scheckter/Depailler suffered early problems they completed over two-thirds of the event before retiring. Alfa took another 1-2 as Pescarolo/Bell won by 1 minute 22.4 seconds over Merzario-Brambilla! Joest and Casoni finished third for Porsche. The season finale for the series was the Watkins Glen Six Hours on July 12; the race was red-flagged at 94 of 152 laps for rain but restarted and 825.816 kilometers were completed in the six hours. Merzario was joined by his fifth partner, Mario Andretti. Alpine-Renault again entered two cars, while both Porsche Turbos were competing as well. Porsche Carrera RSR GT entries appeared for Hurley Haywood/Bob Hagestad, Peter Gregg/Al Holbert, and Ludwig Heimrath/Rudy Bartling and BMW 3.0 CSLs for Brian Redman/Sam Posey and Hans Stuck/Ronnie Peterson. The Depailler/Scheckter Alpine was an earlyl mechanical retiree while the Larrousse/Jarier Alpine suffered continously from a leaking turbocharger and finished third, albeit only three laps down! The Alfas finished 1-2, with Pescarolo/Bell one minute and twenty seconds ahead of Merzario/Andretti! Alfa thus won the World Championship for Makes with 140 points net (155 gross) to Porsche's 98 net (120 gross) points; Alpine-Renault was third with 54. In eight 1975 races with 17 entries, the Alfa Romeo 33TT12 achieved seven wins, six runnerup finishes, fourteen Top Five and fifteen Top Ten finishes, suffering one mechanical and one accident-caused retirement. The cars achieved four 1-2 finishes (Spa, Enna, Osterreichring, Watkins Glen), nine lead-lap finishes, three poles and three Fast Laps, and two 1-2 starts (Spa and Enna). Its 17 entries completed 2190 of a possible 2302 laps, or 95.1%! The #1 car, with Arturo Merzario teamed with five different codrivers (Jacky Ickx, Jacques Laffite, Jochen Mass, Vittorio Brambilla, Mario Andretti), achieved a win or a runnerup finish in every race, winning at Dijon, Monza, and Nurburgring with Laffite and at Enna with Mass, and taking the runnerup spot at Mugello and Spa with Ickx and at Watkins Glen with Andretti. The car's average finish was 1.5; it won two poles (Mugello and Enna), started second three times and fourth three times for an average start of 2.5. The car completed 1127 of 1129 possible laps, or 99.82%! Merzario scored two Fast Laps in the car, Ickx one. The #2 car, always with the pairing of Pescarolo and Bell, achieved three wins (Spa, Osterreichring, Watkins Glen), a runnerup finish (Enna), two fourth-place finishes (Mugello and Dijon), a mechanical retirement (Monza), and a crashout (Pescarolo at the Nurburgring); its six finishes averaged 2.17. The car took one pole (Spa), started second three times, third twice, and sixth twice for an average start of 3.125. The #3 car, competing only at the Nurburgring, started third there and finished sixth, two laps down. The Alfa Romeo success in 1975 was clearly not due to a raw performance advantage: Alpine-Renault took five Fast Laps (Larrousse 3, Scheckter 2) to Alfa's 3, and Alpine-Renault took four poles to Alfa's 3 with Mirage taking the other! Thus, the Alfa Romeo drivers and the reliability of their mounts were the main contributors to the 1975 championship! Derek Bell's first major pro victory came December 26, 1964 at Mallory Park in a British Formula 3 race driving a Lotus 22-BMC! Bell won three British F3 races in 1965, two in 1966, and three in 1967 plus an international F3 event. Derek Bell's European Formula 2 efforts saw him place fourth in 1968, fifth in 1969 and second in 1970 with two wins. Bell also competed in Formula One in 1970, placing 22nd in the World Championship on the strength of a sixth in the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen for Surtees. Bell's primary emphasis has been on sports car competition; his first major sports car win came at Imola, Italy on September 13, 1970 in a Porsche 917 (with Brian Redman). Bell's first win (of 22!) in an FIA Sportscar World championship race came in the January 10, 1971 Buenos Aires 1000 K in a 917 co-driven by the late Jo Siffert; his most recent came in the 1987 LeMans 24 Hours, his fifth LeMans victory! Bell won the FIA Sportscar World title in 1985 and 1986 after finishing 3-2-4 in 1982-83-84! Bell had earlier taken the European Interserie sports car title in 1975. In IMSA GTP competition, Bell was third in 1984, second in 1985, third in 1986 and fourth in 1993. Derek Bell has won twenty IMSA Exxon races, 19 in GTX/GTP (including three Daytona 24 Hours overall wins: 1986, 1987, and 1989) but has never won Sebring overall, although he was took WSC from second overall in 1994 and finished second overall in 1995 for the third consecutive year! In 1993, Derek won his semifinal race in the 1993 Indianapolis Raceway Park Fast Masters event; in 1995, Derek won a major event for classic sports cars at Silverstone in a Porsche 917K! Bell placed sixth overall in the 1994 LeMans 24 Hours, taking third in LeMans Prototype Class 1 (sixth overall) in a Kremer Porsche K8. Bell competed in IROC in 1985 (placing 6th) and in 1987 (finishing 12th). Derek joined his son Justin and Andy Wallace in a McLaren F1 GTR-BMW in the 1995 LeMans 24 Hours and they finished third overall and second in GT1! Bell ranked 58th in 1995 IMSA WSC points and 23rd in 1996 GTS-1 points. Bell finished sixth overall and fifth in GT1 in the 1996 LeMans 24 Hours. His entry in the 1996 Silverstone BPR GT event did not finish. While Bell has competed in thirteen IMSA-sanctioned Daytona Rolex 24 events, his Daytona 24 starts pre-date the IMSA sanction as he also competed in 1971 and 1973 for a total of 15 starts! Beyond his 1986, 1987 and 1989 wins, he has a total of eight Top Five and ten Top Ten finishes. His 1996 effort placed 21st in GTS-1. Henri Pescarolo took his first of sixty major overall or class wins in international racing events on April 24, 1966; he won a Formula 3 race at Montlhery, France driving a Ford-powered Matra MS5. Henri scored two French F3 wins in 1966 and ten in 1967 including the famed Monaco GP F3 race! Henri's first major sports car victory also came at Montlhery, on May 28, 1967 driving a Ford-powered Matra coupe. He won the 1968 and 1969 Montlhery 1000 Kilometers events and the 1969 Buenos Aires 1000 K. In addition to his Sports Car efforts, Pescarolo competed in Formula Two and Formula One. Pescarolo won the 1968 Albi European F2 race, the 1969 Thruxton European F2 event and the nonpoint Nurburgring race, the 1971 Mallory Park British F2 series race, and European series F2 races at Enna in 1972 and Thruxton in 1973. Henri also competed in Formula One. He ranked twelfth in 1970 World Championship points, achieving a career-best F1 finish of third, on the lead lap, at Monaco driving a Matra MS120 V12! He was fifth, on the lead lap, at Clermont-Ferrand, and sixth, a lap down, at both Spa and Hockenheim. In 1971 Pescarolo ranked 16th in World Championship points; driving for Frank Williams in Cosworth Ford-powered March 711 entries, Henri finished fourth at Silverstone. His last F1 race was the 1976 Watkins Glen U.S. Grand Prix. In sports cars, Pescarolo took his first SWC (FIA Sports Car World Championship) class victory in the Prototype 3000 class in the 1970 Osterreichring event. Drving Alfa Romeo 33-3 entries in 1971, he won the Brands Hatch 1000 K with Andrea De Adamich and took the P3000 class at Monza and Spa. Pescarolo teamed with Graham Hill to win the 1972 LeMans 24 Hours in a Matra MS670. In 1973, Pescarolo again won the LeMans 24 Hours, plus the Vallelunga, Dijon, Osterreichring, and Watkins Glen races! Another LeMans win came in 1974, plus Osterreichring and Kyalami. He won at Spa, Osterreichring, and Watkins Glen in 1975. Henri also ranked second in the FIA Interserie Division II championship. 1976 produced a class victory, in GTP, in the LeMans 24 Hours. Pescarolo returned to the SWC overall win column in 1978, winning at Dijon, Misano, and Vallelunga. In 1979 Pescarolo won the Ricard 24 Hours; this event was part of the French Production Championship! 1980 saw Henri win overall at Dijon in SWC competition and take the Group 5 class at Monza. Pescarolo won the 1981 Suzuka 1000 Kilometers Japanese Endurance Championship event. Pescarolo won overall in the 1982 Monza SWC event and Group C at the Nurburgring. In 1984 he ranked fourth in SWC driver championship points and won the LeMans 24 Hours! Pescarolo won the 1986 Nurburgring SWC race. The 1990s have seen Pescarolo win the 1991 Daytona 24 Hours (and rank 11th in 1991 IMSA GTP points) and take the class win in Category 3 of the 1992 LeMans 24 Hours! On May 29, 1994 Henri teamed with Jean-Claude Basso to win the Montlhery 1000 Kilometers FIA BPR GT event in a Venturi 600LM! Our website at http://members.aol.com/autoracg/ provides a wealth of useful and interesting auto racing information!
