1978 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 46th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1978. In many ways it was a continuation of the race from the year before – the two main protagonists would be the very evenly-matched works teams of Alpine-Renault and Porsche, with four cars each.

This time it was the Porsche team that had reliability issues – on only the second lap of the race two of their cars were in the pits. Renault soon established a solid hold of the top three positions. Like the year before, after the Ickx /Pescarolo car had early problems, Ickx was transferred to the second Porsche of Barth/Wollek. Once again he set about driving back through the field during the night, getting up to second by midnight behind the Jabouille/Depailler car. But a loss of fifth gear cost them half an hour to repair it. When the lead Renault stopped on the circuit with a jammed gearbox, there was a sense of déjà vu for the French team. The sister car of Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi inherited the lead, with a 7-lap margin over the Porsches. Although the second-placed Porsche pulled back two laps, this time Renault would not be denied, and Pironi took the flag for a popular local victory with a record race-distance.

Porsche were second and third, the remaining Renault fourth with the Porsche 935s of customer teams in the next four places. The race also saw several high-speed crashes on the Mulsanne straight, only one driver was seriously injured.

Where we have not had a model of the car through the business as raced I've added another example of the car as an illustration (where I have one)

Pos	Car	No.	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Reason
1		2	Renault Sport	Didier Pironi  Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Renault Alpine A442B	Renault 2.0L V6 twin-turbo	369	N/A
2		6	Martini Racing Porsche System	Jürgen Barth  Bob Wollek  Jacky Ickx	Porsche 936-78	Porsche 935/73 2.1L F6 twin-turbo	364	N/A
3	(example)	7	Martini Racing Porsche System	Hurley Haywood  Peter Gregg  Reinhold Joest	Porsche 936-77	Porsche 911/78 2.1L F6 turbo	362	N/A
4		4	Renault Sport /  Écurie Calberson	Guy Fréquelin  Jean Ragnotti  José Dolhem  Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault-Alpine A442A	Renault 2.0L V6 twin-turbo	358	N/A
5	(example)	90	Dick Barbour Racing	Dick Barbour  Brian Redman  John Paul Sr.	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 930/78 3.0L F6 turbo	337	N/A
6	(example)	44	Porsche Kremer Racing	Jim Busby  Chris Cord  Rick Knoop	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 930/72 3.0L F6 turbo	336	N/A
7		41	ASA Cachia /  Team Pace	Alfredo Guaraná  Paulo Gomes  Mário Amaral	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	329	N/A
8		43	Martini Racing Porsche System	Rolf Stommelen  Manfred Schurti	Porsche 935-78	Porsche 935/79 3.2L F6 twin-turbo	326	N/A
9	(example)	72	J. Rondeau (private entrant)	Jean Rondeau  Bernard Darniche  Jacky Haran	Rondeau M378	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	294	N/A
10	(example)	10	Grand Touring Cars Inc	Vern Schuppan  Jacques Laffite  Sam Posey	Mirage M9	Renault 2.0L V6 turbo	293	N/A
11	Still Looking	31	Société Racing Organisation Course La Pierre du Nord	Michel Pignard  Lucien Roussiaud  Laurent Ferrier	Chevron B36	Simca-ROC 2.0L S4	284	N/A
12	(example)	66	A.-C. Verney (private entrant) / BP Racing	Anne-Charlotte Verney  Xavier Lapeyre  François Servanin	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L F6	279	N/A
13	(example)	71	André Chevalley Racing (private entrant)	André Chevalley  François Trisconi	Inaltéra LM77	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	279	N/A
14	(example)	97	Charles Ivey Racing	Larry Perkins  Gordon Spice  John Rulon-Miller	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L F6	278	N/A
15	(example)	8	A. De Cadenet (private entrant)	Alain de Cadenet  Chris Craft	De Cadenet LM78	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	273	N/A
16	(example)	86	Écurie Grand Competition Cars  North American Racing Team	François Migault  Lucien Guitteny	Ferrari 365 GT/4 BB	Ferrari 4.9L F12	262	N/A
17	(example)	62	"Ségolen" (private entrant)	"Ségolen" (André Gahinet)  Christian Bussi  Jean-Claude Briavoine	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	259	N/A
N/C*	Still Looking	23	P. Sauber AG /  Francy Racing	Marc Surer  Eugen Strähl  Harry Blumer	Sauber C5	BMW-Mader 2.0L S4	257	N/A
N/C*	Still Looking	20	Cheetah Racing Cars	Sandro Plastina  Mario Luini  Jean-Daniel Grandjean	Cheetah G-601	Cosworth BDG 2.0L S4	250	N/A
N/C*	(example)	64	G. Bourdillat (private entrant)	Georges Bourdillat  Alain-Michel Bernhard  Jean-Luc Favresse	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Porsche 3.0L F6	241	N/A
N/C*	(example)	25	Team Pronuptia	Bruno Sotty  Gérard Cuynet  Jean-Claude Dufrey	Lola T294/296	Cosworth FVC 1.9L S4	238	N/A
N/C*		24	Team Pronuptia	Michel Elkoubi  Pierre Yver  Philippe Streiff	Lola T296	Cosworth FVC 1.9L S4	232	N/A
N/C*	(example)	28	D. Lacaud (private entrant)	Dominique Lacaud  Michel Lateste  Jean-François Auboiron	Lola T297	BMW 2.0L S4	217	N/A
N/C*	(example)	45	Porsche Kremer Racing	“John Winter” (Louis Krages)  Dieter Schornstein  Philippe Gurdjian	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	182	N/A
DNF		1	Renault Sport	Jean-Pierre Jabouille  Patrick Depailler	Renault Alpine A443	Renault 2.1L V6 turbo	279	Gearbox (20hr)
DNF		5	Martini Racing Porsche System	Jacky Ickx  Henri Pescarolo  Jochen Mass	Porsche 936-78	Porsche 935/73 2.1L F6 twin-turbo	255	Gearbox (20hr)
DNF		88	Pozzi Thompson JMS Racing	Jean-Claude Andruet  Spartaco Dini	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L F12	251	Engine (22hr)
DNF		87	Luigi Chinetti Sr.	Jacques Guérin  Jean-Pierre Delaunay  Gregg Young	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L F12	232	Engine (19hr)
DNF	(example)	89	Pozzi Thompson JMS Racing	Claude Ballot-Léna  Jean-Louis Lafosse	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L F12	218	Accident (18hr)
DNF	Still Looking	19	IBEC Racing Developments	Guy Edwards  Ian Grob  Ian Bracey	Ibec-Hesketh 308LM	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	195	Engine (20hr)
DNF	Still Looking	30	Société Racing Organisation Course / La Pierre du Nord	Jacques Henry  Albert Dufrène  Max Cohen-Olivar	Chevron B36	Simca-ROC 2.0L S4	195	Gearbox (19hr)
DNF	(example)	78	WM AEREM Team Esso Aseptogyl	Xavier Mathiot  Marc Sourd Christian Debias	WM P78	Peugeot PRV 2.7L V6 turbo	186	Accident (18hr)
DNF	Still Looking	27	Mogil Motors Ltd / Kores Racing	Tony Charnell  Robin Smith  Fréderic Alliot  Richard Jones	Chevron B31	Cosworth BDG 2.0L S4	181	Accident (16hr)
DNF		76	WM AEREM Team Esso Aseptogyl	Christine Dacremont  Marianne Hoepfner	WM P76	Peugeot PRV 2.9L V6	171	Accident (19hr)
DNF	(example)	68	H. Poulain (private entrant)	Hervé Poulain  Edgar Dören  Gerhard Holup  Roman Feitler	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	167	Gearbox (17hr)
DNF		3	Renault Sport	Derek Bell  Jean-Pierre Jarier	Renault-Alpine A442A	Renault 2.0L V6 twin-turbo	162	Gearbox (12hr)
DNF	(example)	91	Dick Barbour Racing	Bob Garretson  Steve Earle  Bob Akin	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	159	Accident (15hr)
DNF	Still Looking	29	Société Racing Organisation Course / Modylook	Michel Dubois  Daniel Gache  Julien Sanchez	Chevron B36	Simca-ROC 2.0L S4	142	Chassis (15hr)
DNF		48	Mecarillos-Cégécol Racing Team	Herbert Müller  Claude Haldi  "Nico" (Nick McGranger)	Porsche 935	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	140	Accident (14hr)
DNF	(example)	26	GVEA	Georges Morand  Eric Vaugnat  Christian Blanc	Lola T296	Cosworth BDG 2.0L S4	130	Accident (13hr)
DNF	(example)	21	J.-M. Lemerle (private entrant)	Jean-Marie Lemerle  Alain Levié  Pierre-François Rousselot	Lola T294	Simca-ROC 2.0L S4	126	Engine (13hr)
DNF	(example)	65	J. Laplacette (private entrant)	Joël Laplacette  Yves Courage  Antoine Salamin  Gérard Vial	Porsche 930	Porsche 3.3L F6 turbo	116	Engine (12hr)
DNF	Still Looking	34	BMW (GB) Racing  Toleman Delivery	Dieter Quester  Tom Walkinshaw  Rad Dougall	Osella PA6	BMW M12 2.0L S4	113	Accident (10hr)
DSQ	(example)	12	Simon Phillips Racing (private entrant)	Simon Phillips  Nick Faure  John Beasley  Martin Raymond	De Cadenet-Lola T380	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	99	Insufficient distance (13hr)
DNF	(example)	32	Dorset Racing Associates	Ian Harrower  Juliette Slaughter  Brian Joscelyne	Lola T294	Cosworth FVC 2.0L S4	61	Accident (13hr)
DNF	(example)	61	Auto Daniel Urcun (private entrant)	Guy Chasseuil  Jean-Claude Lefévre	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	61	Gearbox (7hr)
DNF	(example)	77	WM AEREM Team Esso Aseptogyl	Jean-Daniel Raulet  Max Mamers	WM P77	Peugeot PRV 2.7L V6 turbo	44	Fuel pump (7hr)
DNF	(example)	94	Whittington Bros. Racing	Don Whittington  Bill Whittington  Franz Konrad	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	41	Accident (9hr)
DNF	(example)	85	"Beurlys" (private entrant)	"Beurlys" (Jean Blaton)  Teddy Pilette  Raymond Touroul	Ferrari 512 BB	Ferrari 4.9L F12	39	Gearbox (5hr)
DNF	(example)	69	Frères Ravenel VSD (private entrant)	Willy Braillard  Jean-Louis Ravenel  Jean "Jacky" Ravenel	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	35	Engine (8hr)
DNF	(example)	46	Porsche Kremer Racing	Martin Raymond  "Steve" (Jean-Pierre Wielemans)  Mike Franey	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	34	Engine (4hr)
DNF	(example)	11	Grand Touring Cars	Sam Posey  Michel Leclère	Mirage M9	Renault 2.0L V6 turbo	33	Engine (7hr)
DNF	Still Looking	84	Brad Frisselle Racing  Wynn's Belgium	Brad Frisselle  Bob Kirby  John Hotchkis	Chevrolet Monza	Chevrolet 5.7L V8	30	Engine (5hr)
DSQ	(example)	33	Cloud Engineering  Dorset Racing Associates	Bob Evans  Richard Down	Lola T294	Cosworth FVC 2.0L S4	23	Insufficient distance (4hr)
DNF	(example)	47	Weisberg Gelo Team	John Fitzpatrick  Toine Hezemans	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	19	Engine (4hr)
DNQ	(example)	9	A. de Cadenet (private entrant)	Bob Evans  John Cooper  Pete Lovett	De Cadenet-Lola LM77	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	Still Looking	14	BP Racing (private entrant)	Jörg Obermoser  Guy Chasseuil  Hubert Striebig	ToJ SC303	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	(example)	22	L'Agence Locomotiv (private entrant)	Anna Cambiaghi  Jean-Claude Guérie  Martine Rénier	Lola T296/297	Simca-ROC 2.0L S4	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	(example)	40	AMG Motorenbau GmbH	Hans Heyer  Clemens Schickentanz	Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC	Mercedes-Benz 4.5L V8	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	(example)	60	Mecarillos Racing Team	Gérard Bleynie  Roland Ennequin  Simon Delatour	Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	0	Did not qualify
DSQ	(example)	63	C. Gouttepifre (private entrant)	Christian Gouttepifre  René Boubet  Raymond Touroul	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L F6	0	Illegal engine[48]
DNQ	(example)	73	B. Decure (private entrant)	Marcel Mignot  Guy de Saintpierre	Alpine A310	Renault PRV 2.7L V6	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	(example)	96	Garage du Bac (private entrant)	Alain Cudini  Pierre Dieudonné  "Dépnic" (Jean-Claude Depince)	BMW 3.5 CSL	BMW M30 3.5L S6	0	Did not qualify
DNQ	(example)	98	T. Perrier (private entrant)	Thierry Perrier  Joël Mouetron  Jean Belliard	Porsche 911 Carrera RS	Porsche 3.0L F6	0	Did not qualify
DNA	(example)	42	Konrad Racing	Franz Konrad  Volkert Merl	Porsche 935-77	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	0	Did not arrive
DNA	(example)	50	Morfe Racing with Polaroof	Richard Jenvey  John Morrison	Lotus Esprit S1	Lotus 907 2.0L S4	0	Did not arrive
DNA	(example)	70	R. Hamilton (private entrant)	Robin Hamilton  David Preece	Aston Martin DBS	Aston Martin 5.3L V8 turbo	0	Did not arrive
DNA	(example)	92	Holly Cars LSA		Porsche 934	Porsche 3.0L F6 turbo	0	Did not arrive