The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race held at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 12 and 13 June 1999. It was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race was won by the BMW V12 LMR prototype of Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini, and Joachim Winkelhock. Lauded by commentators as one of the best races of the decade, it had equal measure drama, tension and excitement to thrill the crowd. The race had major commitment from more works teams with Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Nissan, Panoz and Riley & Scott all represented. New regulations had moved the GT and Sports prototypes far closer together – closed-top coupés versus open-top spyders. BMW had won Le Mans as an engine-manufacturer with McLaren in 1995 and first competed in the 1928 race. However, their victory was overshadowed by three almost identical accidents with the Mercedes cars – twice during practice with Mark Webber and then in the fifth hour to Peter Dumbreck. At one of the fastest places on the circuit, his car lifted and got airborne, somersaulting three times into the trees next to the track. Incredibly, Dumbreck emerged shaken but unscathed.
With such a strong, diverse field a great race was expected, and it proved to be so. From the start, two cars each from Toyota, Mercedes and BMW all duelled for the lead. After the Mercedes team was withdrawn and the lead Toyota fell back with gearbox issues, it became a close 3-car race into the night. However. when Thierry Boutsen had a major crash at 3am at the fast, sweeping Dunlop curve, it left the two BMW works cars with a comfortable lead. That changed again at midday though, when the throttle stuck open on JJ Lehto's leading BMW, pitching him violently into the track barriers. The last four hours of the race were highlighted by an exciting back-and-forth battle between the remaining, all-Japanese, Toyota and the BMW running on the same lap, which was only resolved in the final hour when the former had a puncture at high speed and lost seven minutes in the pits. The renamed GTS class was dominated by the Chrysler Vipers, with the works ORECA team finishing 1-2 ahead of four other customer cars. This was the final race for Henri Pescarolo who signed off his record-breaking 33rd start as a driver with a 9th place overall while, following his big accident, Thierry Boutsen also announced his retirement.
Regulations The lip-service that the big works-teams had been paying to the GT regulations was finally addressed by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The ACO changed the name of their LM-GT1 class to LM-GTP to face that reality. Homologation approval was no longer required, nor the 3-year notice period for major technical modifications.Spurring 2014, p.334 There was now a closer alignment between the GTPs and the Prototypes. Essentially, the ACO saw them as equivalent with the key difference being that the GTPs were closed-top while the Prototypes were open-top. Both classes had a maximum width of 200 cm, and the area of flat-bottom floor now had to cover the full width. The maximum engine size for both was 4.0-litres if turbocharged. Normally-aspirated maximums were 6.0-litres for the prototypes and 8.0-litres for GTS. Technical aids like traction control and ABS-brakes were now banned, even if previously homologated. Likewise, automatic gearboxes were disallowed, as were electronic or hydraulically controlled differentials. The fuel-tank volumes were standardised between the prototypes and GT cars. Formerly 80 and 100 litres respectively, they were all aligned to now be 90 litres. There was a difference though with tyre-widths, with the prototypes allowed 16" versus the 14" of the GTP. Finally, the prototype class was split into two divisions, rated on minimum weights of 900 kg and 650 kg.Clarke 2000, pp.158-9 Motor Sport Jun 1999Williams 2023, p.357 Designer Tony Southgate put it thus: "Now that the sportscars have the same fuel tank, they've come much, much closer to GTs. They also have rear diffusers, which gives them about 10% more downforce. Some cars now have F3000 type roll-hoops, which gives them a little less drag than before. Generally, the GTs have a little less drag, so they should be quicker on the straight. They are slightly more efficient, although it's not night and day. However, they use 14% smaller tyres, so theoretically they should be slower round corners. GTs also have bigger engine restrictors, so they have more power."
The complete dominance of Mercedes-Benz in the 1998 series had seen the other teams abandon the GT1 class and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) had dropped the GT1 class from their series. The ACO renamed its LM-GT2 class as LM-GTS, and cars had to have a metal chassis. A loosening of the air-restrictor and turbo-boost limits gave a nominal increase in maximum engine power. A new class, LM-GT, was introduced beneath LM-GTS to attract privateers, for regular production models sold in recognised "major countries". The minimum weight for the LM-GTS and LM-GT classes was set at 1100 kg.
The pitwork rules were that only four people could work on the car in the pitlane, while an unlimited number could assist in the team garage. While refuelling, no other activity aside from driver exchange and cleaning could be performed and the engine had to be turned off. Afterward, the engine had to be restarted internally without external assistance. Around the track, new grandstands were built next to the ACO offices, and while extending the commercial and catering area infield of the Dunlop Curve, the workers unearthed an unexploded 25 kg bomb from the Second World War. The circuit also became the first to be fully covered by remote camera surveillance for the race management to enable them to see the whole track.Bernard et al 2023, p.65Bernard et al 2023, p.69 Without other media conflicts this year, the start-time reverted to the standard 4pm. This year, the ACO introduced a new entertainment for the spectators, with a major concert to be held in the later evening. The headline act was the late Bob Marley's band, The Wailers.Bernard et al 2023, p.318
Entries The notable absentee this year was the Porsche works team, having achieved its aim with victory in 1998. It was replaced by another major German organisation: the Volkswagen Group, represented by its subsidiary Audi. This set up a contest between the three German companies (Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi) and the two major Japanese teams of Toyota and Nissan; along with the dark-horse entries from Panoz and Courage. The biggest class was the rejuvenated LMP with 20 qualifiers, while the new LM-GT class only attracted four Porsche entries. A notable change this year was the drop in the number of turbo engines involved.Spurring 2012, p.333 The international series for prototypes was renamed the Sports Racing World Cup. Still predominantly a European series, an additional 9th round was held at Kyalami. It drew teams with Ferraris, Riley & Scott, Lola and Tampolli. In recognition of the growing alignment between the ACO and Don Panoz's new American Le Mans Series, the ACO gave automatic entries to class-winners at that flagship event, the Petit Le Mans.
Thus, the automatic entry-list this year included the following class champions:
1998 FIA GT Championship GT1 class-winner (AMG-Mercedes) 1998 Le Mans 24hr GT1 class-winner (Porsche AG) – not taken up 1998 Petit Le Mans GT1 class-winner (Champion Racing) 1998 Le Mans 24hr LM-P1 class-winner (Doyle-Risi Racing) – not taken up 1998 Petit Le Mans LM-P1 class-winner (Doyle-Risi Racing) – not taken up 1998 FIA GT Championship GT2 class-winner (Viper Team ORECA) 1998 Le Mans 24hr GT2 class-winner (Viper Team ORECA) 1998 Petit Le Mans GT2 class-winner (Freisinger Motorsport)
The pivot in regulations provided much excitement, with another close-fought race in prospect between a number of strong teams. The undoubted speed and development of the Toyotas left journalists placing them as strong favourites.
Class Quantity Turboengines LMP-900 23 / 20 3 / 3 LMP-650 0 / 0 0 / 0 LM-GTP 8 / 7 5 / 5 LM-GTS 18 / 16 9 / 8 LM-GT 5 / 4 0 / 0 Total Entries 54 / 47 17 / 16 Note: The first number is the number that pre-qualified, the second the number who started.
LMP
The disappointing debut of the BMW prototype in 1998 had warranted a full overhaul. Graham Humphrys was hired as chief designer, with the new model to again be built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering. After summer testing it was found only 68 parts of the almost 3500 components would be carried over into the new car, the BMW V12 LMR. The bodywork redesign had an F1-style roll-bar and offset airbox that improved airflow to the rear wing which, overall, improved downforce. The carbonfibre/honeycomb monocoque chassis was completely new, with the engine set further back to improve weight distribution. Ballast had to be added to bring the weight up to the requisite 900 kg. The upgraded 6.0-litre V12 had better fuel efficiency and could now be tuned up to 570 bhp and reach 325 kph.Spurring 2012, pp.336-7Williams 2023, p.358 This year, the cars were run by Team Schnitzer under Charly Lamm in conjunction with BMW Motorsport directors, Mario Theissen and former F1-winner Gerhard Berger. The team now had proven reliability, with JJ Lehto, Jörg Müller and Tom Kristensen winning the Sebring 12 Hours in March. Three cars were sent to Pre-Qualifying although only two arrived on race-week. The one left out was another BMW Art Car, decorated with a design by artist Jenny Holzer.Clarke 2000, p.160 Motor Sport Jun 1999 The Sebring-winners kept their lead car, with talismanic triple-winner Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini and Joachim Winkelhock in the second. This was a new chassis after their original one had been wrecked at Sebring. BMW Motorsport sold their two 1998 cars to privateers Thomas Bscher and Kazumichi Goh. Having both run their McLaren-BMWs previously, they now entered their new BMW prototypes, still fitted with 1998-spec engines. Bscher renewed his partnership with David Price, whom he had raced with in 1995 and 1996. Williams engineer Gordon Day kept the basic set-up of the post-1998 Le Mans version. The aerodynamics were updated after testing in the Williams wind-tunnel, modifying the nose section and increasing the rear wing.Spurring 2012, pp.349-50 Bscher reunited Steve Soper with the car he had raced the year before and brought in Daytona GT-class-winner Bill Auberlen. The Team Goh BMW was also prepared by David Price Racing. Their drivers were an experienced Japanese team of Hiro Matsushita, Hiroki Katoh and Akihiko Nakaya.Laban 2001, p.241