After the absence of almost three decades, Jaguar returned to top flight sports car racing in 1985. this is the action-packed story of how the legendary British marque roared back to victory. Archive race footage traces the full story of how tom Walkinshaw racing took Jaguar to the top, claiming World Championship success and securing Jaguar's first victory at the Le Mans 24 hour for 31 years.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. It is considered one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world[2] and has been called the "Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency". The event represents one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, with the other events being the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours.
Now you can experience all the highlights of this extraordinary event on DVD in Le Mans 1990. Incredible footage brings you the full story of more than 2,800 miles of racing at the classic Circuit de la Sarthe as the Jaguars, Nissans and Porsches battled with each other. There may have been attempts to cut the speed along the infamous Mulsanne straight, but the average speed remained above an incredible 125mph - and this DVD captures all the action and atmosphere of this historic event. Among the major motorsport names which competed at the 1990 Le Mans were greats like Derek Bell, Martin Brundle, Andy Wallace, Hans Joachim Stuck and many, many more.
Once again the Rothmans Porsche team fielded three works cars as the Stuttgart marque challenged for yet another victory. However, the British Jaguar team was ready to break the Porsche domination with its awesome Silk Cut-backed XJR-6s. It looked set to be a showdown between the turbo-charged works 962Cs and the Jaguar V12s, but the Joest team, victors in '84 and '85, could not be discounted and the Porsche 956B of Klaus Ludwig, Paolo Barilla and John Winter would lead the early running. Tragically, what looked set to be one of the greatest Le Mans races ever was marred by the death of popular Austrian racer Jo Gartner in a crash during the night. With all three Jaguars and two of the works Porsches forced out by accidents and reliability problems, the number one Rothmans Porsche of Derek Bell, Hans Stuck and Al Holbert was left to take a subdued victory - the fourth for Le Mans legend Bell.
It had been 30 years since Jaguar's last Le Mans win, and the trio of Silk Cut-backed XJR-8LMs were determined to end that losing streak. However, the dominant works Rothmans Porsches were equal to the challenge and prepared three of the awesome turbo-charged 962Cs to face the V12 British attack. Reliability and accidents, many sparked by wet conditions, would decimate the field, reducing the works Porsche challenge to just one car before nightfall. The hours of darkness would claim one of the Jaguars, Win Percy luckily escaping a massive crash - captured on this review by an amateur cameraman. Reliability problems would be Jaguar's undoing, a second car retiring with eight hours to go and the final XJR-8LM dropping down the order as it battled mechanical woes. That left the Porsche of Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Al Holbert virtually unchallenged in the final hours, but the victory was no less sweeter for that - they had taken Jaguar on, and won.
Incredible footage brings you the full story of almost 3,000 miles of racing at the classic Circuit de la Sarthe as the Mazdas, Jaguars and Mercedes battled with each other against a background of controversy over rule changes. Despite questions over rules, the teams did their talking on the track, and this review captures all the action and atmosphere of this historic event. Among the major motorsport names which competed at the 1991 Le Mans were legends like Derek Bell and Hans Joachim Stuck, British stars like Johnny Herbert and Derek Warwick, plus a young man by the name of Michael Schumacher!
Incredible footage brings you the full story of more than 3,200 miles of racing at the classic Circuit de la Sarthe as the Porsches, Jaguars and Mercedes-powered Saubers battled with each other. Among the major motorsport names which competed at the 1989 Le Mans were legends like Jochen Mass, Hans Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Bob Wollek, plus British stars like James Weaver and Tiff Needell. In addition to the race action, this review brings viewers all the colour and atmosphere that surrounds this amazing event.
Jaguar lined up five of the awesome Tom Walkinshaw-prepared XJR-9s in the determined hope of taking the British marque's first Le Mans victory in more than 30 years. However, the V12 Jags would have to overcome the trio of works Porsche 962Cs, as well as a huge number of privately-entered machines. Overheating, reliability problems and fuel consumption issues dented the challenges of both Porsche and Jaguar, leaving just one car from each marque battling for the win. With the end in sight, and the XJR-9 of Johnny Dumfries, Andy Wallace and Jan Lammers out in front, a sudden rain shower allowed the second-place Porsche of Derek Bell, Klaus Ludwig and Hans-Joachim Stuck to catch up. As the dramatic footage of this amazing duel shows, it was too little, too late. Nothing could stop Jaguar at last claiming victory.
The story of triumph and tragedy in the 1986 World Rally Championships.
