1977 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 45th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 11 and 12 June 1977.
Race
The Porsche 936 won again in 1977 against the Renault and Mirage Renault, with extraordinary driving efforts by Jacky Ickx. His #3 car, the chassis 002 that had won in the previous year, broke down in the early running, so Ickx joined Hurley Haywood and Jürgen Barth in the team's #4 sister chassis 001 which had its woes, too. Ickx pushed hard and took the lead again, taking advantage of the fragile Renault challenge, to score his 4th victory. But Porsche were lucky too; a broken engine nearly halted the Porsche 936/77 in the last hour. The mechanics removed the ignition and injection of the failed cylinder, and the smoking car limped around the track to finish after 24 hours while running, as required.The biggest rule change was the cancellation of restrictions for consumption: Up to now was not required to travel at least twenty laps between two refueling, but the maximum capacity of the tanks was limited to 160 liters and the number of Octane was elevated to 100, like in Formula 1. He was also granted the greatest freedom in repairs: the only things that could not be replaced were the engine block, chassis and body.
Before moving on to Formula 1, Renault was decided to win the race and for 1977 had spent all their energy to achieve that goal. 4 cars of the Renault Alpine A442 type were entered for Jabouille / Bell, Depailler / Laffite, Jaussaud / Tambay and Pironi / Arnoux / Fréquelin crew. Long practice sessions were held by the French team at Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet during the months of January, February and April.
After its thorough preparation, the official Renault team was considered a pre-race favourite.
Porsche entered two 936, driven by Ickx / Pescarolo and Barth / Haywood, the latter having recently achieved his third victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona after driving his Porsche Carrera RSR all night long.
For this edition the Mirage GR8 left the usual Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3 liters, to adopt the Renault V6 Turbo engine, the same of the Alpine. Drivers were Schuppan/Jarier and Posey/Leclère, with Jarier called at last minute to replace Jean-Louis Lafosse, who will quote in court the team
. After long tests at Indianapolis where no failure happened, the Mirage linked on their reliability as slower and heavier than official cars Renault.
The participants in Group 6 "3 liters", with the Ford Cosworth DFV, were the de Cadenet-Lola, with the British team-owner sharing the car with Chris Craft, the French Inaltera with its second participation at Le Mans with two cars for Beltoise/Holbert and "Christine"/Lombardi, and another car in the GTP category and the Lola T286 driven by Perrier/Lapeyre.
In Group 5, only Porsche was present with the 935, the works car of "Martini Racing" for Stommelen/Schurti, and customer cars for Ballot-Léna/Gregg, Schenken/Hezemans/Hayer/Ludwig and Edwards/Faure (Kremer Racing. There was also a Ferrari 365 BB fielded by NART and Aston Martin DBS V8 of a small privateer team.
Official results
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Laps |
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Engine | Laps |
| 1 | S +2.0 | 4 |  Martini Racing Porsche System | Jürgen Barth Hurley Haywood Jacky Ickx | Porsche 936/77 | 342 |
| 1 | S +2.0 | 4 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Jürgen Barth Hurley Haywood Jacky Ickx | Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6 | 342 |
| 2 | S +2.0 | 10 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. Mirage Renault |  Vern Schuppan Jean-Pierre Jarier | Mirage GR8 | 331 |
| 2 | S +2.0 | 10 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. Mirage Renault | Vern Schuppan Jean-Pierre Jarier | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 331 |
| 3 | Gr. 5 | 40 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Claude Ballot-Léna Peter Gregg | Porsche 935 | 315 |
| 3 | Gr. 5 | 40 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Claude Ballot-Léna Peter Gregg | Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6 | 315 |
| 4 | GTP | 88 | Inaltera | Jean Ragnotti Jean Rondeau | Inaltera LM77 | 315 |
| 4 | GTP | 88 | Inaltera | Jean Ragnotti Jean Rondeau | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 315 |
| 5 | S +2.0 | 5 |  Alain de Cadenet | Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft | De Cadenet-Lola LM | 315 |
| 5 | S +2.0 | 5 | Alain de Cadenet | Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 315 |
| 6 | S 2.0 | 20 | Racing Organisation Course | Michel Pignard Albert Dufréne Jacques Henry | Chevron B36 | 303 |
| 6 | S 2.0 | 20 | Racing Organisation Course | Michel Pignard Albert Dufréne Jacques Henry | ROC-Chrysler 2.0L I4 | 303 |
| 7 | GT | 58 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Bob Wollek "Steve" Philippe Gurdjian | Porsche 934 | 298 |
| 7 | GT | 58 | Porsche Kremer Racing | Bob Wollek "Steve" Philippe Gurdjian | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 298 |
| 8 | IMSA | 71 | Luigi Racing | Jean Xhenceval Pierre Dieudonné Spartaco Dini | BMW 3.0 CSL | 291 |
| 8 | IMSA | 71 | Luigi Racing | Jean Xhenceval Pierre Dieudonné Spartaco Dini | BMW M30 3.2L I6 | 291 |
| 9 | IMSA | 50 | Hervé Poulain | Hervé Poulain Marcel Mignot | BMW 320i | 287 |
| 9 | IMSA | 50 | Hervé Poulain | Hervé Poulain Marcel Mignot | BMW M12 2.0L I4 | 287 |
| 10 | IMSA | 61 | Christian Gouttepifre | Christian Gouttepifre Philippe Malbran Alain Leroux | Porsche 911 Carrera RS | 281 |
| 10 | IMSA | 61 | Christian Gouttepifre | Christian Gouttepifre Philippe Malbran Alain Leroux | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 281 |
| 11 | S +2.0 | 2 | Inaltera | Lella Lombardi Christine Beckers | Inaltera LM77 | 279 |
| 11 | S +2.0 | 2 | Inaltera | Lella Lombardi Christine Beckers | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 279 |
| 12 | IMSA | 70 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Simon De Lautour Jean-Pierre Delaunay Jacques Guérin | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 275 |
| 12 | IMSA | 70 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Simon De Lautour Jean-Pierre Delaunay Jacques Guérin | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 275 |
| 13 | S +2.0 | 1 | Inaltera | Jean-Pierre Beltoise Al Holbert | Inaltera LM77 | 275 |
| 13 | S +2.0 | 1 | Inaltera | Jean-Pierre Beltoise Al Holbert | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 275 |
| 14 | IMSA | 79 | Ravenel Frères | Jean-Louis Ravenel Jean Ravenel Jean-Marie Détrin | Porsche 911 Carrera RS | 274 |
| 14 | IMSA | 79 | Ravenel Frères | Jean-Louis Ravenel Jean Ravenel Jean-Marie Détrin | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 274 |
| 15 | GTP | 86 | WM A.E.R.E.M. | Max Mamers Jean-Daniel Raulet Xavier Mathiot | WM P76 | 274 |
| 15 | GTP | 86 | WM A.E.R.E.M. | Max Mamers Jean-Daniel Raulet Xavier Mathiot | Peugeot PRV 2.7L V6 | 274 |
| 16 | IMSA | 75 | North American Racing Team | François Migault Lucien Guitteny | Ferrari 365 GT4/BB | 268 |
| 16 | IMSA | 75 | North American Racing Team | François Migault Lucien Guitteny | Ferrari 4.4L Flat-12 | 268 |
| 17 | GTP | 83 | Robin Hamilton | Robin Hamilton David Preece Mike Salmon | Aston Martin DBS V8 | 260 |
| 17 | GTP | 83 | Robin Hamilton | Robin Hamilton David Preece Mike Salmon | Aston Martin 5.3L V8 | 260 |
| 18 | Gr. 5 | 47 | Anne-Charlotte Verney / BP | Anne-Charlotte Verney René Metge Dany Snobeck Hubert Striebig | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 254 |
| 18 | Gr. 5 | 47 | Anne-Charlotte Verney / BP | Anne-Charlotte Verney René Metge Dany Snobeck Hubert Striebig | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 254 |
| 19 | GT | 56 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Jean-Louis Bousquet Cyril Grandet Philippe Dagoreau | Porsche 934 | 253 |
| 19 | GT | 56 | JMS Racing / ASA Cachia | Jean-Louis Bousquet Cyril Grandet Philippe Dagoreau | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 253 |
| 20 | IMSA | 77 | Wynn's International Kirby-Hitchcock Racing | Dennis Aase Bob Kirby John Hotchkis | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 246 |
| 20 | IMSA | 77 | Wynn's International Kirby-Hitchcock Racing | Dennis Aase Bob Kirby John Hotchkis | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 246 |
| NC | S 2.0 | 31 | Dorset Racing Associates | Ian Harrower Martin Birrane Ernst Berg Richard Down | Lola T294S | 212 |
| NC | S 2.0 | 31 | Dorset Racing Associates | Ian Harrower Martin Birrane Ernst Berg Richard Down | Ford Cosworth BDA 2.0L I4 | 212 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 8 | Équipe Renault Elf | Patrick Depailler Jacques Laffite | Renault Alpine A442 | 289 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 8 | Équipe Renault Elf | Patrick Depailler Jacques Laffite | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 289 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 39 | Gelo Racing Team | Toine Hezemans Tim Schenken Hans Heyer | Porsche 935 | 269 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 39 | Gelo Racing Team | Toine Hezemans Tim Schenken Hans Heyer | Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6 | 269 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 9 | Équipe Renault Elf | Jean-Pierre Jabouille Derek Bell | Renault Alpine A442 | 257 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 9 | Équipe Renault Elf | Jean-Pierre Jabouille Derek Bell | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 257 |
| DNF | GTX | 96 |  GVEA Porsche Club Romand | André Savary Jean-Robert Corthay Antoine Salamin | Porsche 911 Carrera RS | 211 |
| DNF | GTX | 96 | GVEA Porsche Club Romand | André Savary Jean-Robert Corthay Antoine Salamin | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 211 |
| DNF | IMSA | 78 | Charles Ivey Racing | John Rulon-Miller John Cooper Peter Lovett | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 198 |
| DNF | IMSA | 78 | Charles Ivey Racing | John Rulon-Miller John Cooper Peter Lovett | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 198 |
| DNF | IMSA | 80 | Bernard Béguin | Bernard Béguin René Boubet Jean-Claude Briavoine | Porsche 911 Carrera RS | 191 |
| DNF | IMSA | 80 | Bernard Béguin | Bernard Béguin René Boubet Jean-Claude Briavoine | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 191 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 25 | Racing Organisation Course |  Max Cohen-Olivar Alain Flotard Michel Dubois | Chevron B36 | 176 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 25 | Racing Organisation Course | Max Cohen-Olivar Alain Flotard Michel Dubois | ROC-Chrysler 2.0L I4 | 176 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 21 | P.P. Sauber AG / Francy Racing | Eugen Strähl Peter Bernhard | Sauber C5 | 161 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 21 | P.P. Sauber AG / Francy Racing | Eugen Strähl Peter Bernhard | BMW M12 2.0L I4 | 161 |
| DNF | GT | 59 | Schiller Racing Team | François Sérvanin Laurent Ferrier Franz Hummel | Porsche 934 | 160 |
| DNF | GT | 59 | Schiller Racing Team | François Sérvanin Laurent Ferrier Franz Hummel | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 160 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 7 | Équipe Renault Elf | Patrick Tambay Jean-Pierre Jaussaud | Renault Alpine A442 | 158 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 7 | Équipe Renault Elf | Patrick Tambay Jean-Pierre Jaussaud | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 158 |
| DNF | GTP | 87 | Bernard Decure | Bernard Decure Jean-Luc Thérier "Cochise" | Alpine A310 | 137 |
| DNF | GTP | 87 | Bernard Decure | Bernard Decure Jean-Luc Thérier "Cochise" | Renault PRV 2.7L V6 | 137 |
| DNF | GT | 60 | Schiller Racing Team | Claude Haldi Florian Vetsch Angelo Pallavicino | Porsche 934 | 122 |
| DNF | GT | 60 | Schiller Racing Team | Claude Haldi Florian Vetsch Angelo Pallavicino | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 122 |
| DNF | GT | 57 |  Nicolas Koob | Nicolas Koob Willy Braillard Guillermo Ortega | Porsche 934 | 116 |
| DNF | GT | 57 | Nicolas Koob | Nicolas Koob Willy Braillard Guillermo Ortega | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 116 |
| DNF | GT | 55 |  Escuderia Montjuich | Juan Fernández Eugenio Baturone Raphael Tarradas | Porsche 934 | 115 |
| DNF | GT | 55 | Escuderia Montjuich | Juan Fernández Eugenio Baturone Raphael Tarradas | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 115 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 14 | Daniel Broudy | Patrick Perrier Xavier Lapeyre | Lola T286 | 103 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 14 | Daniel Broudy | Patrick Perrier Xavier Lapeyre | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | 103 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 29 | Osella Squadra Corse | Alain Cudini Raymond Touroul Anna Cambiaghi | Osella PA5 | 100 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 29 | Osella Squadra Corse | Alain Cudini Raymond Touroul Anna Cambiaghi | BMW M12 2.0L I4 | 100 |
| DNF | GT | 63 | Joël Laplacette | Joël Laplacette Yves Courage "Ségolen" | Porsche 911 Carrera | 99 |
| DNF | GT | 63 | Joël Laplacette | Joël Laplacette Yves Courage "Ségolen" | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 99 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 32 | André Chevalley Charles Graemiger | André Chevalley François Trisconi Wink Bancroft | Cheetah G501 | 93 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 32 | André Chevalley Charles Graemiger | André Chevalley François Trisconi Wink Bancroft | Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4 | 93 |
| DNF | GTP | 85 | WM A.E.R.E.M. | Marc Sourd Jean-Louis Lafosse Xavier Mathiot | WM P77 | 90 |
| DNF | GTP | 85 | WM A.E.R.E.M. | Marc Sourd Jean-Louis Lafosse Xavier Mathiot | Peugeot PRV 2.7L Turbo V6 | 90 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 48 | Thierry Perrier | Thierry Perrier Jean Belliard | Porsche 911 Carrera | 90 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 48 | Thierry Perrier | Thierry Perrier Jean Belliard | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 90 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 49 | Hubert Striebig / BP | Guy Chasseuil Hubert Striebig Helmut Kirchoffer | Porsche 934 | 65 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 49 | Hubert Striebig / BP | Guy Chasseuil Hubert Striebig Helmut Kirchoffer | Porsche 3.2L Flat-6 | 65 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 11 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. Mirage Renault | Sam Posey Michel Leclère | Mirage GR8 | 58 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 11 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. Mirage Renault | Sam Posey Michel Leclère | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 58 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 41 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Rolf Stommelen Manfred Schurti | Porsche 935/77 | 52 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 41 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Rolf Stommelen Manfred Schurti | Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6 | 52 |
| DNF | GT | 62 | Georges Bourdillat | Georges Bourdillat Bruno Sotty Alain-Michel Bernhard | Porsche 911 Carrera | 51 |
| DNF | GT | 62 | Georges Bourdillat | Georges Bourdillat Bruno Sotty Alain-Michel Bernhard | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | 51 |
| DNF | IMSA | 72 | Luigi Racing | Tom Walkinshaw Eddy Joosen Claude de Wael | BMW 3.0 CSL | 45 |
| DNF | IMSA | 72 | Luigi Racing | Tom Walkinshaw Eddy Joosen Claude de Wael | BMW M30 3.2L I6 | 45 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 3 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Jacky Ickx Henri Pescarolo | Porsche 936/77 | 45 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 3 | Martini Racing Porsche System | Jacky Ickx Henri Pescarolo | Porsche Type-935 2.1L Turbo Flat-6 | 45 |
| DNF | GTP | 89 | Team Esso Aseptogyl | Christine Dacremont Marianne Hoepfner | Lancia Stratos | 37 |
| DNF | GTP | 89 | Team Esso Aseptogyl | Christine Dacremont Marianne Hoepfner | Ferrari Dino 2.4L Turbo V6 | 37 |
| DNF | IMSA | 76 | Jean-Claude Giroix / Garage du Bac | "Dépnic" Jacques Coulon | BMW 3.0 CSL | 28 |
| DNF | IMSA | 76 | Jean-Claude Giroix / Garage du Bac | "Dépnic" Jacques Coulon | BMW M30 3.2L I6 | 28 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 28 | Jean-Marie Lemerle | Jean-Marie Lemerle Alain Levié Pierre-François Rousselot | Lola T294 | 27 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 28 | Jean-Marie Lemerle | Jean-Marie Lemerle Alain Levié Pierre-François Rousselot | ROC-Chrysler 2.0L I4 | 27 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 22 | Chandler Ibec International / Team Lloyd's | Tony Charnell Ian Bracey John Hine | Chevron B31 | 21 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 22 | Chandler Ibec International / Team Lloyd's | Tony Charnell Ian Bracey John Hine | Ford Cosworth FVD 2.0L I4 | 21 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 30 | GVEA | Georges Morand Christian Blanc Fréderic Alliot | Lola T296 | 19 |
| DNF | S 2.0 | 30 | GVEA | Georges Morand Christian Blanc Fréderic Alliot | Ford Cosworth BDG 2.0L I4 | 19 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 42 | Porsche Kremer Racing | John Fitzpatrick Guy Edwards Nick Faure | Porsche 935 K2 | 15 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 42 | Porsche Kremer Racing | John Fitzpatrick Guy Edwards Nick Faure | Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | 15 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 38 | Gelo Racing Team | Tim Schenken Toine Hezemans Hans Heyer | Porsche 935 | 15 |
| DNF | Gr. 5 | 38 | Gelo Racing Team | Tim Schenken Toine Hezemans Hans Heyer | Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 | 15 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 16 | Jacky Haran / Hughes de Chaunac | Didier Pironi René Arnoux Guy Fréquelin | Renault Alpine A442 | 0 |
| DNF | S +2.0 | 16 | Jacky Haran / Hughes de Chaunac | Didier Pironi René Arnoux Guy Fréquelin | Renault 2.0L Turbo V6 | 0 |
| DNS | GTP | 84 | Jean-Louis Chateau | Jean-Louis Chateau | Porsche 935 | |
| DNS | GTP | 84 | Jean-Louis Chateau | Jean-Louis Chateau | Porsche Type-935 2.9L Turbo Flat-6 | |
| DNQ | S +2.0 | 6 | Alain de Cadenet | Richard Bond Tony Birchenhough Simon Phillips | De Cadenet-Lola T380 | |
| DNQ | S +2.0 | 6 | Alain de Cadenet | Richard Bond Tony Birchenhough Simon Phillips | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8 | |
| DNQ | S 2.0 | 27 | Racing Organisation Course | Jean-Louis Bos Fred Stalder Jacky Haran | Chevron B36 | |
| DNQ | S 2.0 | 27 | Racing Organisation Course | Jean-Louis Bos Fred Stalder Jacky Haran | ROC-Chrysler 2.0L I4 | |
| DNQ | IMSA | 73 | Maurice Ouviére | Philippe Jaffrenou Philippe Streiff Roger Dorchy | Porsche 911 Carrera RS | |
| DNQ | IMSA | 73 | Maurice Ouviére | Philippe Jaffrenou Philippe Streiff Roger Dorchy | Porsche 3.0L Flat-6 | |
| DNQ | Gr. 5 | 43 | Louis Meznarie | Thierry Sabine Jean Bélin | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | |
| DNQ | Gr. 5 | 43 | Louis Meznarie | Thierry Sabine Jean Bélin | Porsche 3.2L Flat-6 | |
| DNQ | GT | 66 | Ségolen | Christian Bussi "Ségolen" | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo | |
| DNQ | GT | 66 | Ségolen | Christian Bussi "Ségolen" | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | |
| DNQ | S 2.0 | 20 | Daniel Brillat-Seymaz Racing | Daniel Brillat Eric Vuagnat Sandro Plastina | Cheetah G601 | |
| DNQ | S 2.0 | 20 | Daniel Brillat-Seymaz Racing | Daniel Brillat Eric Vuagnat Sandro Plastina | BMW M12 2.0L I4 |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #9 Renault Sport - 3:31.07
- Fastest Lap - #4 Martini Racing Porsche System - 3:36.50
- Distance - 4671.83 km
- Average Speed - 194.651 km/h
Trophy Winners
- Index of Thermal Efficiency - #26 Sté. Racing Organisation Course