The 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 25th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 22 and 23 June 1957, on the Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. Some 250,000 spectators had gathered for Europe's classic sports car race, around an 8.38-mile course. The prospect of an exciting duel between Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Porsche was enough to draw large crowds to the 24 Hours race, now back at its usual date and reintegrated into the World Championship.
British motorsport achieved unprecedented success at the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Jaguars securing five of the top six positions. This performance was particularly impressive to viewers given that the leading cars were private entries, and not factory-backed works teams, making the victory over manufacturer-backed competitors even more remarkable.
Regulations After the major changes in the previous year, the ACO relented on its engine-size limitation – prototypes were again an open limit. They did, however, address body-shape requirements: the token second seat. Cars now had to have at least two doors and both seats had to be the same size, in a cockpit a minimum 1.2m wide.Clausager 1982, p.98 The minimum windscreen height was reduced from 20 to 15 cm, maximum fuel-tank size was 120 litres, and the total fuel usage restrictions were removed a year after they were imposed. One of the oldest regulations was removed – of having to carry all spares and tools on the car, allowing them to be left in the pits.Spurring 2011, p.280Frère 1958, p.165
This all re-aligned with the FIA/CSI, who themselves issued a major new Appendix C to the Sports Car regulations based closely on the 1956 ACO regulations.Moity 1974, p.68 Therefore, the Le Mans race was drafted back into the World Sportscar Championship.
The number of starters was fixed at 55. The maximum drive time stayed at 14 hours, but drivers were now limited to a maximum single stint of 36 laps, down from the previous year's 72 laps. The interval between refuelling was reduced for the first time, down to 30 laps from 34 laps. This year, for the Index of Performance, the target distances for nominal engine sizes were set as follows (according to a specific formula):Clarke 1997, p.162: Autocar Jun21 1957
Engine Capacity Total Distance Average Speed S-4000 3710.8 km 154.6 km/h S-3500 3671.2 km 153.0 km/h S-3000 3619.0 km 150.8 km/h S-2500 3547.1 km 147.8 km/h S-2000 3441.9 km 143.4 km/h S-1500 3272.7 km 136.4 km/h S-1100 3040.0 km 126.7 km/h S-1000 2956.5 km 123.2 km/h S-750 2666.7 km 111.1 km/h
The Hors Course rule was revised: there would be systematic disqualification after every 6 hours (rather than previous 12 hours) of cars that had fallen more than 20% below its nominal Index of Performance at that time. Finally, the ACO formalised a ban on female drivers, after the death of Annie Bousquet in the 1956 12 Hours of Reims
Entries A total of 82 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 58 were allowed to practice, trying to qualify for the 55 starting places for the race. The big talking point with the entry list was the non-appearance of the works Jaguar team, which had retired from racing at the end of the previous year; and the arrival in force of Maserati in the top class.
Category Classes Entries Large-engines S-5000 / S-3000 22 Medium-engines S-2000 / S-1500 15 (+2 reserves) Small-engines S-1100 / S-750 18 (+3 reserves)
In the absence of the works team, the defending champions put their support behind their customer teams. Ex-works driver Duncan Hamilton and Ecurie Ecosse both had one of the experimental fuel-injected 3.8L-engined cars, capable of nearly 300 bhp. Ecurie Ecosse also ran the 3.4L car that Paul Frère had crashed early in the previous year's race (and arriving still in its British Racing Green straight from the Jaguar factoryLaban 2001, p.122). Frère himself was racing for his native Equipe Nationale Belge using the same car the team had finished 4th in 1956. Finally there was the car for French industrial diamond-manufacturer privateer Jean Brussin (racing under the pseudonym “Mary”) in conjunction with the Lyon-based Los Amigos racing team.Spurring 2011, p.283
Aston Martin, now managed by Reg Parnell as John Wyer had moved up to be general manager, brought three works cars: their new DBR2, as well as two DBR1/300s with uprated 3.0L engines generating 245 bhp. Their regular drivers Roy Salvadori and Tony Brooks were paired with new team-members Les Leston and Noël Cunningham-Reid respectively. The one-off DBR2 used the defunct Lagonda P166 frame fitted with the 3.7L engine of the new DB4 road-car (producing 290 bhp) and given to the Whitehead brothers.Spurring 2011, p.292 The team had good reason to be confident for outright honours, after Brooks and Cunningham-Reid raced to victory over the Italians in their DBR1/300 at the most recent round of the championship: the 1000km of Nürburgring. There was also an older DB3S entered for two French gentleman-drivers filled a vacant fourth works entry.Spurring 2011, p.293
Ferrari arrived, it hoped, with an overwhelming force of ten cars. The works team had two of their mighty new Type 335 S, with its big 4.0L V12 engine (capable of 390 PS) for their grand prix drivers: Mike Hawthorn / Luigi Musso and Peter Collins / Phil Hill - their driver ranks were sadly depleted after the deaths, earlier in the year, of works drivers Eugenio Castellotti and then Alfonso de Portago (in an accident that led to the end of the iconic Mille Miglia). The team also ran a pair of Type 250 TR prototypes testing for the upcoming CSI regulations changes.Spurring 2011, p.288 One with a 3.0L V12 for Ferrari test-driver Martino Severi and Stuart Lewis-Evans, and the other with a 3.1L V12 for Maurice Trintignant and Olivier Gendebien, who had been Ferrari's best performers in the previous year's race, finishing 4th. There were also a pair of privately entered 3.5L 290 MM and three 2.0L Testarossas (including Equipe Nationale Belge running a Jaguar, Ferrari and a Porsche to hedge their bets).Spurring 2011, p.289
Maserati also turned up with confidence this year: Stirling Moss was now a Maserati works driver, and was to drive the coupé version (designed by Vanwall’s Frank Costin) of the 450S with French-American Harry Schell, while the spyder version was run by Jean Behra / André Simon. Its 4.5L V8 developed 420 bhp (being the biggest engine in this year’s race) although the cars still used big, obsolete drum brakes. Along with these were a 3.0L car and a pair of smaller 2.0L cars. Juan Manuel Fangio (who had won at Sebring with Behra in a 450 spyder) was present in the pit, as a ‘reserve driver’ to put concern in the opposition teams.Spurring 2011, p.294Moity 1974, p.66
France, now a fading force in the major categories was only represented by a pair of Talbot-Maseratis for the Ecurie Dubonnet team and two works Gordinis (as usual, split between the S-3000 and S-2000 classes). As it turned out, this was to be the last appearance from these stalwart supporters of the race.
Although Bristol was no longer running, its 2.0L engine was used by Frazer Nash and debutante AC Cars to take on the five medium-engined privateer Ferraris and Maseratis in the S-2000 class. Without Lotus present, the six Porsches had the S-1500 class to themselves. The works team brought a pair of 550As as well as one of the new 718 RSK for Umberto Maglioli and East German Edgar Barth. The other three were Belgian, French and American private entrants.Spurring 2011, p.291
The British instead pushed into the S-1100 class with the FWA-Climax engine powering the Lotus (after a class win at Sebring), Cooper and Arnott cars. They were up against a Stanguellini stepping up a class, and a 1-off appearance from Germany of an unusual, plastic DKW using its 3-cylinder 2-stroke motorcycle engine (developing less than 50 bhp!).Spurring 2011, p.297
The smallest, S-750, class was the usual assortment of French and Italian cars except for a lone Lotus muddying the waters. Colin Chapman had convinced Coventry Climax to develop a short-stroke version of its successful FWA engine (generating 75 bhp) to take on the French in the lucrative Index of Performance (the handicap system which measured cars exceeding their specified target distance by the greatest ratio). Lotus works driver Cliff Allison, and Keith Hall, were its drivers. Lucky to reach scrutineering in time, it was presented with no exhaust and without having the engine been run.Spurring 2011, p.286
Practice and Pre-Race A number of events were held over the race weekend to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the ACO – postponed as they were from the previous year after the 1955 disaster. Seventy classic French cars from the very earliest years of the organisation, with drivers in period costume,Frère 1958, p.192 did demonstration laps of the circuit in a ‘Race of Regularity’ – the winning 1908 Roland-Pillain recorded doing over 50 mph along the Mulsanne straight .Clarke 1997, p.177: Road & Track Sep 1957 This year also saw a demonstration lap performed by the first turbine car – a Renault L’Etoile Filante.Clausager 1982, p.99
The big Italian cars set the first sub-4 minute laps in practice: Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari, then Fangio driving Behra's Maserati spyder – his 3.58:1 being the fastest single lap of the decade.Spurring 2011, p.279 Moss had a major moment when the special new large brakes on his car locked coming up to Mulsanne corner at top speed. Getting back to the pits he got the regular brakes fitted instead. Meanwhile, the works Ferraris were fitted with experimental pistons and one of the works prototype Testarossas suffered piston failure before it could get to do any laps. It was scratched when other cars started getting similar problems and time ran out to make repairs. Severi & Lewis-Evans were allowed to change to the Type 315 S that had won that fateful Mille Miglia.Spurring 2011, p.287 It was a harbinger for bad problems to come.
The lead Ecosse Jaguar had developed a misfire in practice. After the crew fixed it, Murray took it out onto public roads to test it at 4am on race-day morning. Winding it up to its 178 mph top speed he was lucky not to be held by the gendarmerie.Laban 2001, p.124 The Whitehead brothers found their new Aston Martin DBR2 was very quick, but deliberately eased off in practice in case team manager Reg Parnell bumped them from the car for his other drivers. In Friday practice, one of the Talbots had terminal issues and had to be scratched. It was also soon apparent that the little French cars would have a fight on their hands this year, as the small Lotus-Climax was proving to be very quick – almost 25 seconds per lap quicker.Clarke 1997, p.179: Road & Track Sep 1957 Chapman's own 1475cc Lotus had practiced faster than the Porsches in its class (and breaking the S-1500 lap record), but dropped a valve and had to be withdrawn. His American co-drivers, Herbert MacKay-Fraser and Jay Chamberlain (Lotus’ agent in California) were substituted into the team's S-1100 reserve entry. This left the S-1500 class the sole preserve of Porsche.
Race Start Despite the poor weather leading up to race day, it began cloudy and humidly muggy. By the 4 pm start, the crowd was around 250,000. The usually quick and nimble Moss was slowed trying to squeeze into his cramped Maserati coupé so the first car to clear the startline was the Ferrari of Peter Collins, leaving a long trail of rubber, followed by the three Aston Martins. Unfortunately, the final appearance of Talbot was rather ignominious: its transmission broke as it left its start-box and it only went a handful of metres giving its driver, Bruce Halford the shortest debut on record.