AUSSIES AT LE MANS: Part 5, the many and the few
MANY AUSSIES have raced at Le Mans. To tell all their individual stories would take more time than we have to give here – but they deserve to be told regardless. Here’s some of the other names to have featured over the years.
Read Part 1 of ‘Aussies at Le Mans’ here.
Read Part 2 of ‘Aussies at Le Mans’ here.
Read Part 3 of ‘Aussies at Le Mans’ here.
Read Part 4 of ‘Aussies at Le Mans’ here.
Derek Jolly made his Le Mans debut in 1959, driving a Lotus 15 with none other than Graham Hill, though they would fail to finish.
Melbournian Paul Hawkins moved to England in the 1960s to chase his racing dream, and contested three Grands Prix, gaining the notable attention by becoming one of just two drivers ever to have crashed into the Monaco Harbor, which he did when his Lotus spun into the water during the 1965 Monte Carlo classic.
It was in Sportscars where Hawkins made his name. He won the Monza 1000km in a Ford GT40, driving with David Hobbs, in 1968, finishing third at Watkins Glenn and at the Nürburgring as well.
He made his Le Mans debut earlier than that, however – driving an Austin Healey Sebring with American John Colgate Jr in 1961. He would return in 1965, finishing 12th in another Healey, before teaming with Mark Donohue in a Holman & Moody Ford GT40 the following year, failing to finish after a differential failed after five hours.
He led the race early in 1967, this time sharing a GT40 with Ronnie Bucknam, and were running strongly in sixth before a broken valve saw them fail to finish just after the 18 hour mark. It was a case of what could have been for the team, the sister Shelby American entry driven by AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney beating the Ferrari’s by four laps as the Americans routed the Italians in their famous battle.
Hawkins was back in a Ford the following year, driving with David Hobbs – with whom he had his longest co-driving relationship – though they failed to finish.
Sadly, Hawkins was killed in 1970, burning to death while testing a Lola sports car at Silverstone.
Neil Crang made four starts at Le Mans in the 1980s, his first coming with Ray Bellm and Gordon Spice in a Tiga GC286 in 1984 – his exploits that year clearly shrouded by the high profile addition of Aussie heroes Peter Brock and Larry Perkins in their Bob Jane-backed T-Marts Porsche. Crang would serve as one of the directors of Schenken’s Tiga company.
Open wheel ace Lucio Cesario drove for the Martini Lancia team in 1985, and finished sixth on debut in the Ferrari-powered car.
A year later Mike Hall drove a Tiga with David Andrews and Duncan Bain, failing to finish.
Two years after conquering the Mountain, Czech refugee turned Bathurst winner Tomas Mezera went to Le Mans, pairing with a pair of Sweedish drivers to finish 15th outright in a Porsche 962, the early stages of what would be a lengthy relationship with the brand that would end with him serving as Australia’s chief Porsche driving instructor for years.
Mark Skaife had won everything there was to win in Australia when he first went to Le Mans in 1997, sampling the circuit La Sarthe aboard a Newcastle United-liveried Lister Storm with accomplished copilots Tommy Erdos and Julien Bailey. The 7-litre Jag-V12 powered monster was out after 77 laps.
MARK WEBBER
MARK WEBBER did a lot in Sports Car Racing. Pre-F1 he proved himself as a teammate to one of the greatest of all time, German great Bernd Schneider, in the fearsome Mercedes-Benz CLK GT1 cars.
Post-F1 life he then helped Porsche return to the pinnacle of Sports Car racing, bringing his years of F1 experience to the new team as they developed the 919 Hybrid into the machine that could win the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Having been denied for so long in Formula 1, Webber’s W.E.C crown in 2015 was sweet, sweet redemption: He was officially a World Champion.
And yet his five flirtations with the 24 Hours of Le Mans are probably most famous for producing images and moments that will be replayed for as long as Le Mans is a race, and probably longer. The backflipping Mercedes now entrenched in the race’s history, and as a dark spot on Mercedes’ mostly glorious racing heritage.
Fifteen years following the Mercedes era, Webber returned with Porsche. 2014 was a learning year, but 2015 was the real challenge – a chance to add Le Mans to his Monaco victories and join the very few who had claimed both of the famous European Motorsport Majors.
Ultimately, he was a lap short; he, Timo Bernhard and Kiwi Brendon Hartley finishing behind the sister car to deliver Porsche a crushing 1-2 result; their 17th outright win at Le Mans and their first in more than 15 years.
Though not a win, Webber’s second position was a useful haul of points as he built towards the end of season goal of lifting the WEC crown. Not a win, but important none the less.
Ray Lintott was known for racing a Dodge Viper in Australian GT racing in the 1990s, but made his Le Mans debut late in the decade, tackling the 1999 race with Manfred Jurasz and Oliver Thevenin in a Porsche 911 GT2. It would last just 24 laps.
Like Skaife before him, Aussie Touring Car hero Jason Bright had ticked all the boxes locally before he first went to Le Mans in 2013. Driving a Ferrari for 8 Star Motorsport in the LM GTE Am class, he partnered with Venezuaelan Enzo Potolicchio and Rui Aguas, from Portugal, they completed 294 laps but ultimately failed to finish.
Aussie open-wheel and later Sports Car ace John Martin made his debut in 2013, driving a G-Drive Racing Oreca in LMP2 with his World Endurance Championship co-drivers, Roman Rusinov and Mike Conway.
The week had gone well, too; the trio crossing the line in third position in class only to be later disqualified after the car was found to have exceeded the maximum fuel capacity of 75 litres.
Ryan Briscoe’s post IndyCar career saw him shift successfully to Sports Cars, and his Le Mans debut came in 2013 alongside Scott Tucker, Marino Franchitti and the now infamous Level 5 Racing team that Tucker funded from his payday loans business. They would fail to finish.
Stephen Wyatt was a GT3 and GTE regular in the first half of the 2010s, linked mainly to AF Corse-run programs. That’s where he found himself during his Le Mans debut in 2014, sharing a 458 GT2 with Michele Rugolo and Sam Bird.
An Aussie who left our shores early to chase his racing dream, James Allen made his Le Mans debut in 2017 and, with Graff Racing, finished a fine sixth outright – fifth in LMP2 – with Richard Bradley and Franck Matelli.
Well known in Australia, Nick Foster has gradually built his long-distance racing credentials in Europe after a successful Carrera Cup campaign and championship win Down Under. After plying his trade in multiple series for several seasons, he made his Le Mans debut in 2020, finishing 18th in a Eurasia Motorsport Ligier with Roberto Merhi and Nobuya Yamanaka.
John Corbett made his debut last year, finishing 28th for Racing Team India Eurasia, his Ligier shared with Tom Cloet and James Winslow.
And finally, the 40th and most recent Aussie to make his Le Mans debut was Scott Andrews.
The young man from Victoria raced a Kessel Racing Ferrari in GTE Am last year, driving with Mikkel Jensen and Takeshi Kimura.
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Richard Craill (administrator)
Working full time in the motorsport industry since 2004, Richard has established himself within the group of Australia’s core motorsport broadcasters, covering the support card at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix for Channel 10, the Bathurst 12 Hour for Channel 7 and Porsche Carrera Cup & Touring Car Masters for FOX Sports’ Supercars coverage. Pretends to be a PR guy / Journalist and sometimes photographer to make ends meet when not yelling at a television in a padded room.
