Links have remained close between the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and NASCAR. The big, cumbersome V8s proved to be a hit with the locals, but neither car lasted the distance-low-octane gas saw one car's engine fail on the second lap, and the other was out with a broken transmission by hour 11. But the oddest American entry was probably in 1976, when the people behind NASCAR entered a pair of stock cars. Ford, having been snubbed in its attempt to buy Ferrari, took the Italians on at their own game, winning four times between 19 with its GT40s.Īnd in recent years, production-based Dodge Vipers and Chevrolet Corvettes have repeatedly claimed wins in the GT classes. Cadillac sent a very odd-looking car nicknamed "Le Monstre" there in 1950. Over the years, Le Mans has attracted more than a few entrants from the USA. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world's oldest motor races, and it's a strenuous test for both people and machines. AdvertisementĬhris Graythen/Getty Images This has happened before Not only did the Garage 56 entry not embarrass itself, but it went more than two seconds a lap faster than any of the production-based GT cars. There was even talk of trackside marshals waving a white flag-for a slow car ahead-to warn other competitors if they were going to encounter the stock car in one of the track's more curvy sections.
NASCAR stock cars are not exactly small, and they're known for going fast in a straight line, not for their cornering prowess. It was certainly an incongruous sight as the NASCAR stock cars took to the track this weekend with the normal prototypes and GT cars at a test held before next weekend's race at Le Mans. But this year's entry is a bit different-and a little more familiar to Americans. And there have been attempts to run a hydrogen-powered racer from Garage 56.
#Camaro6 driving impression drivers#
In 2016, quadruple amputee Frédéric Sausset did something neither of those two Nissans could manage, finishing the race in a specially modified prototype with the SRT 41 team, which repeated the feat with a pair of paraplegic drivers in 2021. These have included the pint-size Nissan Deltawing in 2012 and the closely related electric Nissan ZEOD RC in 2014. When Le Mans renovated its facilities in 2012, it built 55 pit garages for regular entrants in its annual 24-hour race and one more for entrants that want to demonstrate something new (there are actually a total of 62 entrants this year, but the special one is still called Garage 56). Chris Graythen/Getty Images reader comments 103 with
0 kommentar(er)
