The falling-out between the ACO and the FIA had wider technical consequences. FISA imposed a rule limiting any circuit straight to two kilometres in length, forcing the ACO to install two chicanes along the 5.7-kilometre Hunaudières straight. Works were completed in February 1990, after the FISA deadline, confirming the race's exclusion from the championship. The chicanes added 65 metres to the lap, taking the total circuit length to 13.600 km, and created two hard braking zones that would punish gearboxes and brakes throughout the race.
The ACO retained the 900 kg minimum weight for Group C cars, while the 3.5-litre Category 1 formula allowed only 750 kg. The Group C fuel limit stayed at 2,550 litres. The C2 class, abolished in the championship, was reinstated for Le Mans under its previous 750 kg and 1,815-litre restrictions.
With Sauber-Mercedes choosing not to defend their 1989 victory on the grounds that Le Mans was a non-championship event, Jaguar and Nissan were left as the principal favourites. Tom Walkinshaw Racing brought four XJR-12s, eschewing the turbocharged XJR-11 in favour of the car that had been winning in IMSA, fitted with an enlarged 24-valve V12 and new Goodyear tyres requiring extensive aerodynamic revision.
Nissan mounted the largest effort, with nine cars spread across three subsidiaries — IMSA, European, and Japanese — using the R90CK and the slightly revised R90CP. Joest Racing ran four Porsche 962Cs for Porsche, with major aerodynamic updates including new long-tail bodywork promising 10% more downforce.
Mark Blundell took pole in startling fashion. With a special qualifying engine whose wastegates stuck closed, boosting output beyond 1,100 bhp, he set a lap of 3:27.0 — the first Le Mans pole for a Japanese manufacturer and still a power record for the circuit — fully six seconds faster than Oscar Larrauri's Brun Porsche in second. The three Nissans of Hoshino, Brabham and Acheson filled the next positions behind Larrauri, with Jaguar concentrating on race setup rather than grid position.
Saturday was the hottest day of the week. Even before the start, Kenny Acheson's Nissan retired from the formation lap with transmission failure. Bailey and Larrauri quickly set the pace, but the opening hours were defined by a three-way contest between Nissan, Jaguar and the Brun Porsche.
The first major incident came at 8:20 pm when Gianfranco Brancatelli clipped the Toyota of Aguri Suzuki at Dunlop Curve. The Toyota was destroyed at high speed but Suzuki walked away with bruising. Brancatelli's Nissan limped to the pits with a puncture and rejoined, while the Jaguar team took up the chase behind the IMSA Nissan of Brabham, Robinson and Daly. The only full-course caution period came at 12:45 am when the Lancia of Fabio Magnani was sent over the barriers near Indianapolis and into the trees; the car exploded but Magnani escaped with minor injuries.
Through the night, Brancatelli's car suffered gearbox failures, and by morning the IMSA Nissan's fuel bag ruptured during a pitstop inspection at 8:45 am, taking two hours to confirm as terminal. By that point the Nielsen/Cobb Jaguar held a two-lap lead with Martin Brundle transferred into the car to provide a fresh third driver — Cobb was suffering from dehydration and Nielsen had completed multiple triple-stints.
With three hours to run, the Jaguar nursed a damaged gearbox one lap clear of the Brun Porsche, itself three laps ahead of the Lammers/Wallace Jaguar. The chase continued until the cruelest twist of the race: with less than fifteen minutes remaining, telemetry showed an oil pressure drop in the Brun car. Oscar Larrauri was radioed to slow, but managed only to reach the Mulsanne corner before the engine seized. He climbed out devastated; his team had come within sight of the finish.
Jaguar completed an unexpected 1-2 finish. John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle won with a distance of 4,882.40 km at an average of 204.0 km/h. Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace and Franz Konrad were second, and the Alpha Racing Porsche of Tiff Needell, David Sears and Anthony Reid — which had run a completely trouble-free race — took third. The Joest Porsche of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Frank Jelinski finished fourth. Mazda won the GTP class with their only surviving 787, while PC Automotive took the C2 class in their Spice despite three battery changes.
The 1990 race was a suitable farewell for Jaguar Chairman Sir John Egan, who stood on the winners' podium in what would prove his last Le Mans before Ford completed its acquisition of the company for $2.5 billion in November. For Gordon Spice, the ruinous expense of the 3.5-litre experiment bankrupted his team, and the company was sold before the new formula officially began. The Brun and Alpha Porsches demonstrated that their short-tail configuration outperformed the long-tail Joest cars in the new circuit layout — a lesson that shaped preparation for future seasons. The late drama reaffirmed Le Mans's appetite for cruel reversals of fortune at the very last moment.
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