Tom Walkinshaw Racing brought five cars and fourteen drivers to the race, fielding the new XJR-9. Designed by Tony Southgate, it featured covers over the rear wheels adding an estimated 10% extra downforce and a Zytek management system raising the V12's output to 730 bhp with improved top speed. The defending Porsche works team entered Le Mans as their sole championship race of the year, fielding three cars with upgraded Bosch Motronic 1.7 systems giving 50 additional horsepower. Their driver lineup — Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig — combined ten Le Mans victories between them.
The Sauber-Mercedes team, formally backed by Mercedes-Benz for the first time, had arrived as strong contenders but were forced to withdraw during qualifying after a third major high-speed tyre failure on the Hunaudières Straight. Mercedes, still deeply cautious about any repeat of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, made the decision to protect the team.
The Hunaudières Straight had been resurfaced for the race with high-grip asphalt using laser technology and a 2-percent gradient, reducing the problematic hump approaching Mulsanne corner. Hans-Joachim Stuck described it as "like driving down the Champs Élysées in a Mercedes limousine."
Stuck led the 1-2-3 Porsche grid into the first corner but Lammers had forced his Jaguar to the front within six laps. For the first four hours all four leading cars — the three Porsches and the Lammers Jaguar — ran closely together, frequently changing position. A blocked fuel filter cost Ludwig two laps in the pole-sitting Porsche early on; thereafter Bob Wollek took up the pursuit from the sister Porsche.
For nine hours, the Wollek and Lammers cars were rarely more than half a lap apart. In the first twelve hours the lead changed 22 times between just four cars. At 2:45am, Wollek brought his Porsche in with a severed fuel line that had burnt out three valves — his race was done. This left the Bell, Stuck and Ludwig Porsche in second and closing all night.
A light shower in late morning allowed Stuck, a specialist in wet conditions, to close on the Jaguar. But as the track dried the Jaguar was able to maintain a gap of around three minutes. Then, forty minutes from the finish, the gearbox broke. Lammers felt the vibration and immediately selected fourth gear; co-driver Jan Dumfries had warned him of exactly this scenario from his own retirement. Lammers drove the final laps without a single gear change and still needed to make a fuel stop — he stalled, and the pit crew shoved him clear to get the car moving.
With a quarter-hour remaining, on Walkinshaw's orders the other two surviving Jaguars formed up behind Lammers to protect their leader if necessary. Ludwig at the Porsche, unaware the Jaguar was crippled, was conserving fuel with almost nothing left. The winning margin was officially 180 metres — among the smallest competitive margins in the race's history.
Andy Wallace, in the winning car, became only the fifth driver to win Le Mans on debut. Jaguar ended a Porsche run of seven consecutive wins, with the British crowd invading the circuit at the finish. The WM-Peugeot team achieved a separate place in history during the race: Roger Dorchy wound up the P88's twin turbos and set a radar-measured 405 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight, becoming the first car to officially exceed 400 km/h at Le Mans. The engine soon blew — mission accomplished. Peugeot honoured the milestone by naming their new sporty hatchback the "405."
Nine of the eleven Porsche 962Cs finished, all in the top dozen. The Joest Porsche was third, nine laps behind. Jaguar retained its World Championship largely through the treble points awarded for Le Mans. At year end, Porsche announced its full works withdrawal from sports-car racing and the end of factory support for customer teams, closing a dominant era in Group C history.
Pole position: Hans-Joachim Stuck, Porsche 962C, 3:15.6 (250.2 km/h)
Fastest lap: Hans-Joachim Stuck, Porsche 962C, 3:22.5
Winning distance: 5,332.97 km
Winner's average speed: 221.8 km/h
Attendance: 260,000–280,000
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