![]() Page Created 15/07/2020 |
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24 Hours of Le Mans: 1928 |
Last Edit: 26/07/2020 |
The 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 6th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 16 and 17 June 1928. Bentley director Woolf Barnato and Australian-born Bernard Rubin in a Bentley 4½ Litre gave the company back-to-back victories after a race-long duel with the Stutz of Édouard Brisson and Robert Bloch. In the process they won the inaugural prize for overall distance. The CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale - the AIACR’s regulatory body) had issued new racing regulations. The Appendix C linked minimum dry-weights (i.e. without liquids, tyres and tools) to engine capacity. In lieu of getting the entrants to drain their cars at scrutineering, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) decreed that 15kg would cover the weight of fluids on cars over 3-litres and 10kg for those under. The required ‘passenger-ballast’ rule of 60kg per extra seat, after the driver's, was maintained and additional to those minimum weights. But the main innovation from the ACO this year was the introduction of the Coupe à la Distance for the car that travelled the furthest over the twenty-four hours. Supercharged engines were now allowed (but not into the final round of the 1927-28 Biennial Cup), with their effective capacity regarded as 1.3 times their swept volume. The driving hood test, when cars had to run the first twenty laps with their hoods up, was discarded. However, all convertibles were still required to have a hood fitted, though stowed. The track re-surfacing was completed along its whole length and reflectors were put on the corners for better awareness at night. Roadside picket fencing was put up at all the spectator access areas and the public address system now also covered all those areas. Where we have not had a model of the car as raced through the business I've added another example of the car as an illustration (where I have one) |