1999 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans Races
Previous = 1998
Current = 1999
Next = 2000The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 12 and 13, 1999.

Pre-race

1999 saw another increase in manufacturers involvement. Although Porsche did not send a team to contest, Toyota retained their three updated GT-Ones, now moved to the LMGTP class due to the demise of GT1, while Mercedes-Benz debuted three new CLR LMGTPs. Nissan instead moved from GT1 to an open cockpit LMP, as did Panoz.

Newcomer Audi attempted to try their hand at both classes, with two open cockpit R8Rs and two closed cockpit R8Cs. BMW continued with their open cockpit LMPs, updating to the new V12 LMR.

Mercedes CLR incidents

This event became famous for the incidents involving the team of Mercedes-Benz CLRs during qualifying and the race itself. An aerodynamic design flaw in the CLR allowed for large amounts of air to build up underneath the nose of the car, especially when following another car and at the tops of hills, notably on the run to Indianapolis and on the Mulsanne straight.

Mark Webber's CLR became airborne at Indianapolis during qualifying and was repaired with tweaks to the rear suspension in an attempt by Mercedes to cure the problem. All cars qualified, but during the brief warm-up on the day of the race, Mark Webber again became airborne when following his teammates over the hump of the Mulsanne, landing on his roof and skidding to a stop in the Mulsanne corner. This car was withdrawn, but the two other CLRs continued on, again with emergency tweaks to attempt to stop the instability.

Unfortunately a few hours into the race Peter Dumbreck's CLR also became airborne at Indianapolis, this time flying off the side of the track and landing in the trees. This incident, unlike the previous two, was caught by TV cameras and thus broadcast worldwide. Mercedes-Benz immediately withdrew the remaining CLR and dropped out of sportscar racing for the immediate future.

This would be the 2nd time Mercedes-Benz had been forced to drop out of Le Mans and sportscar racing following an incident with one of their cars becoming airborne and leaving the track, the first being the 1955 Le Mans disaster

Official Results

tatistics

* Pole Position - #1 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:29.930
* Fastest Lap - #3 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:35.052
* Distance - 4968km
* Average Speed - 207km/h
* Highest Trap Speed - Toyota GT-One - 352 km/h (practice)