1974 Le Mans 24 Hours

Matra's Le Mans hat-trick

The claim on the advertising posters that the Le Mans 24-Hour race is "la plus grande ourse du Monde" seemed rather extravagant when the final entry list was published, knowing that the Alfa Romeo team had withdrawn from the race and that the lead would probably be disputed by four Matra-Simcas and two Gulfs, with two turbocharged Porsche 911 Carreras and two Ligier-Maseratis following up, hoping for good placings as the faster prototypes retired. Yet it turned out to be an interesting race with moments of excitement, for by midnight only one matra, that of Henri Pescarolo and Gerard Larrouse, was running strongly; on Sunday morning that car spent an hour in the pits having its gearbox rebuilt, and the turbocharged Porsche driven by Herbert Muller and Gijs van lennep was only one lap behind when the Matra went on its way.