Cohen-Olivar's dedication to Le Mans was the defining characteristic of his racing career. His first start came in 1971 and his last in 2001, a span of three decades that saw him partner with a range of drivers and teams. At the time of his final appearance he was only the ninth driver in the history of the race to have started 20 or more times. The other eight drivers to have reached that mark at the time were Henri Pescarolo, Bob Wollek, Yojiro Terada, Derek Bell, François Migault, Claude Ballot-Léna, Claude Haldi, and Pierre Yver.
Cohen-Olivar's debut at Le Mans in 1971 came alongside Swiss driver André Wicky in Wicky's own Porsche 908. The pair were running in 10th place overall and second in class when the gearbox failed in the twentieth hour. Wicky's entry failed to start in 1972, but the duo returned in 1973 with Philippe Carron as a third driver. They finished 21st overall and 9th in class, completing the race as the slowest finishers — Cohen-Olivar's first Le Mans finish.
In 1974 Wicky ran a De Tomaso Pantera for Cohen-Olivar and Carron, but the car retired in the fourth hour. The 1975 entry, also a Wicky Porsche, featured Cohen-Olivar, Carron, and Joël Brachet; the clutch failed in the seventeenth hour. A 1976 De Tomaso Pantera entry with Jacques Marché and Martial Delalande did not start the race.
Cohen-Olivar joined the French ROC (Racing Organisation Course) team in 1977 with a Chevron B36 shared with Alain Flotard and Michel Dubois, retiring in the eighteenth hour. ROC ran two B36s in 1978; the sister car won its class but Cohen-Olivar's entry, shared with Jacques Henry and Albert Dufrene, again dropped out in the eighteenth hour with engine failure.
The 1979 race brought Cohen-Olivar his best result in several years. Joining a Lambretta-backed entry sharing a Lola T298 with Pierre Yver and Michel Elkoubi, he finished 21st overall and third in the S 2.0 class — his first Le Mans finish since 1973 and his first class podium.
After a return in 1981 with a Lola T298 run by Jean-Marie Lemerle that ended in retirement with electrical failure in the seventeenth hour, Cohen-Olivar achieved his best-ever Le Mans result in 1982. Lemerle, with support from Italian firm Sivama Motor, ran a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo for Cohen-Olivar, Lemerle, and American Joe Castellano. The trio finished 12th overall and second in class — a result that stood as Cohen-Olivar's finest Le Mans performance throughout his entire career.
Beyond Le Mans, Cohen-Olivar also competed in the World Sportscar Championship, participating in select rounds of the series alongside his endurance campaigns.
Cohen-Olivar's career exemplified persistence and devotion to a single great race over many decades. His 20-plus Le Mans starts placed him in rarefied company, and his longevity was recognised as a mark of his dedication to the sport. He died on 21 May 2018.
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