The FIA had announced a sweeping overhaul of Group C from 1991: the turbo era would end, fuel restrictions would be lifted and cars would run 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated engines in a format designed to attract Formula 1 manufacturers. With 1989 and 1990 designated transitional seasons, minimum weight rose by 50 kg and manual boost control was banned. Group C2 would cease at the end of 1989. Spice Engineering made history by entering the first 3.5-litre cars at Le Mans, using the Cosworth DFZ engine.
Porsche did not run a works team but provided factory support to Joest, Brun and Vern Schuppan's team. The Joest team's lead car — driven by Bob Wollek and Hans-Joachim Stuck — was a freshly prepared car from the Weissach factory running the updated 3.0-litre water-cooled engine. Jaguar prepared four XJR-9s under new TWR technical director Ross Brawn, their twin-turbo successor not yet ready. Nissan switched from March chassis to a new Lola R89C powered by the twin-turbo VRH35 engine capable of over 800 bhp, while Toyota brought their new 3.2-litre 89C-V in a new European-based operation. Aston Martin returned after 30 years with the AMR-1, a Callaway-developed 685 bhp V8 car that proved to be slower than expected owing to excessive downforce.
Sauber-Mercedes locked out the front row in qualifying, with Jean-Louis Schlesser on pole at 3:15.0 and Mauro Baldi second at 3:15.7. From the start, Davy Jones' Jaguar led the first three hours before suddenly losing power on the Hunaudières Straight, dropping the car a lap down.
With the Saubers running to a prescribed pace, the Joest Porsche of Wollek and Stuck moved to the front and led for six hours into the night. By midnight, Wollek and Stuck had a two-lap advantage. Then at 1:20am, Stuck came in with an overheating engine — a radiator hose had slipped. Fifteen minutes of repairs erased the lead and handed the position to Jan Lammers' Jaguar.
Through the small hours, the two Saubers closed in. Baldi and Mass were both closing on the leading Jaguar, which developed niggly problems. At dawn, Jaguar's situation collapsed rapidly: the Ferté brothers lost 70 minutes without third gear, John Nielsen retired with a broken engine, and Lammers brought the leading car in covered in oil from a broken gearbox seal. They rejoined 10 laps down. A spectacular morning confrontation between Baldi's Sauber and Mass's Sauber left them racing each other on the lead lap, with the Joest Porsche lurking just behind.
At 7:30am, fading brakes meant Baldi couldn't slow in time at the Dunlop chicane and he spun off. Stanley Dickens in the Mass/Reuter/Dickens Sauber swept through to a lead he would not surrender. Acheson, taking over from Baldi, drove the final stint with a jammed gearbox fixed in fifth gear — the Mercedes torque being sufficient to circulate without changing ratio. The three Saubers crossed the line in formation, although a crowd invasion prevented them actually reaching the finish line.
Sauber-Mercedes secured first, second and fifth, the first time a German manufacturer had won Le Mans since 1940. Wollek and Stuck brought the Joest Porsche home third, managing a slipping clutch; the crew had poured cola on the clutch during fuel stops in an attempt to remove leaked oil. Lammers' wounded Jaguar finished fourth. All three Saubers classified at their first attempt over 24 hours was a remarkable reliability achievement given the team's fragile transmission concerns.
Mazda again finished all three GTP cars, the lead 767B of Kennedy and Dieudonné coming seventh overall — 32 laps further than the team had ever previously achieved at Le Mans.
The race marked the end of an era for the Mulsanne Straight. Both WM and Sauber had reached 400 km/h during the weekend. In December, the FIA passed regulations prohibiting racing circuits from having straights longer than two kilometres. Two chicanes would be installed on the Hunaudières before the 1990 race, breaking the legendary full-length straight into three sections and permanently ending the era of 400 km/h speeds at Le Mans.
Pole position: Jean-Louis Schlesser, Sauber C9, 3:15.0 (249.9 km/h)
Fastest lap: Alain Ferté, Jaguar XJR-9LM, 3:21.1
Winning distance: 5,265.12 km
Winner's average speed: 220.0 km/h
Attendance: 230,000
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