1949 Post-war, racing returns at Le Mans. Well, for one driver at least...

March 6th 2023

Luigi Chinetti anchored Ferrari's 1949 Le Mans win, driving their 2-liter 166 Barchetta for over 22 hours. The race saw 49 crews and was held after a decade.

It must have been like receiving a gift without the wrapping, handed to you in a carrier bag. The Hon Peter Mitchell-Thomson – Lord Selsdon of Croydon – was a nominal winner of the 17th 24 Heures du Mans in 1949… except he only drove a few laps. Victory was anchored by Luigi Chinetti, who handled their 2-litre Ferrari 166 Barchetta for 22 hours and 51 minutes, the US-based Italian claiming his third outright win to go with his 1932 and 1934 triumphs (alongside Raymond Sommer and Philippe Étancelin). It was an act of remarkable fortitude and gritty determination.

Sterling work by the ACO, with support from local government, ensured that roads had been resurfaced, new pits erected and grandstands built on ground hitherto pockmarked by German landmines by the time racing resumed at Le Mans for the first time in a decade. Forty-nine crews started the race, with minister of transport Monsieur Pineau dropping the flag at the 4pm start on Saturday, June 25. Three hours in and Eugène Charboud was the pride of France, leading the way in the Delahaye he was sharing with Charles Pozzi, trailed by the similar car of Simon/Flahault. In third was Chinetti. Shortly thereafter, Charboud’s car was ablaze while Flahault was in the pits with his car’s 4.5-litre straight-six being attended to. The Ferrari now led.

By midnight Chinetti was still out in front, but on the same lap as the Écurie France Vallé/Mairesse Talbot and the Veuillet/Mouche Delage. His car’s entrant took over for the briefest of spells during the night, with Chinetti eking out an advantage by dawn. By 11am he held a three-lap lead, but in the closing stages the Ferrari’s clutch began to slip. What’s more, the car’s cockpit was awash with oil. Second on the road was the 3-litre Delage of Juan Jover and Henri Loveau, the latter having had to dig the car out of a sandbank with his bare hands earlier in the race.

Loveau chased down Chinetti, and with 20 minutes to go was just nine miles adrift. However, the ailing Ferrari held together, completing 1970 miles at an average speed of 82.27mph. It marked Ferrari’s maiden win in the great race, Chinetti and Selsdon also receiving the biennial Rudge-Whitworth Cup and Index of Performance Cup, handicap prizes based on engine displacement.

Maintaining Britain’s honour was the third-place Frazer Nash of H J Aldington and its owner, Norman Culpan. Five places further was the class-winning HRG ‘Mobile Galosh’ of Eric Thompson – making his second-ever race start – and Jack Fairman.

Why did Chinetti drive for so long? Its owner was reputedly ill, but some historians claim his Lordship’s mystery ailment was something self-inflicted… RH

The winners

1930

Bentley Speed Six
Woolf Barnato/Glen Kidston
2931km
First female entrants Marguerite Mareuse and Odette Siko finish seventh in a Bugatti Type 40