The 1994 running of Le Mans confounded the nay-sayers by supplying excitement by the bucketload.

The demise of the World Sportscar championship after the 1992 season saw a mass exodus of manufacturers to Formula One, leaving a grid shorn of much of the exotic machinery.

The lack of Mercedes-Sauber, Peugeot and others might have seemed grim at the time but on reflection the return of the GT class prompted Le Mans to rediscover its roots – and created the environment for some legendary races.

In the official review of the 1994 event we see Toyota and Porsche unwilling (or perhaps unable) to completely give up on their magnificent Group C beats.

Utilising obscure loopholes in the rules Porsche had two 962s reclassified as GT1 cars while Toyota entered theirs under the new LMP1 category.

Thanks to ingenious entries from a host of smaller manufacturers and great support for the GT racers the Le Mans crowd saw a great ding-dong battle which not only reflected past glories but pointed the way for the future of the historic event.

Sit back and enjoy the evocative sights and sounds of a race packed with incident and excitement, superb driving and all the drama you would expect of the world’s toughest and most spectacular race.

Publisher: Duke Marketing

Status: Current