Protest march
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
Jacky Ickx • Le Mans 24 Hours, 1969
It might have been distinctive and spectacular, but the traditional Le Mans start had its critics. The time had come to take a stance…
Writer: Simon Arron, Illustrator: Guy Allen
Clairvoyants might have had trouble with this one… Jacky Ickx would become known for his stance against the perceived sanitisation of motor racing: at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, for instance, he was the first dissenter to venture out while rivals debated whether or not to boycott the race because they considered Montjuïc Park’s safety installations inadequate.
At Le Mans six years earlier, Ickx had been the lone objector to the traditional Le Mans sprint start, which he felt exposed drivers to compromise when it came to fastening doors and harnesses correctly. In 1968, his compatriot Willy Mairesse had been seriously injured after his door blew open on the opening lap, causing him to crash violently: Mairesse lay in a coma for a fortnight, his racing career over.
One year on, Ickx’s response was to stroll to his Ford GT40 as rivals made their customary, smoke-shrouded getaways, then make sure he was securely belted in – with door properly affixed – before being last of the 45 cars away.
The race began dramatically – Porsche 917 privateer John Woolfe crashing fatally at Maison Blanche before the first lap was run – but Ickx and co-driver Jackie Oliver gradually made their way up the order, moving into the top three after 15 hours and taking the lead with three to go. They eventually beat the Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse by just 120 metres – the closest competitive finish in Le Mans history. Things had been tighter still three years beforehand, but that was a consequence of Ford stage management.
It would be the last time Le Mans began with a traditional running start. In 1970, cars lined up opposite the main pit straight grandstand, as before, but with drivers tightly strapped in by their teams.
For Ickx, Le Mans 1969 proved to be a multi-faceted triumph.