1960 24 Hours of Le Mans

1960 24 Hours of Le Mans
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The 24 Heures du Mans was the 28th 24 Hours of Le Mans, Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 25/26 June 1960, on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was the fifth and final round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. It was also the fifth round of the inaugural FIA GT Cup. Some 200,000 spectators had gathered for Europe’s classic sports car race, around an 8.36-mile course. The prospect of an exciting duel between the title contenders Ferrari and Porsche was enough to draw large crowds to the 24 Hours race.

Just 73 racing cars were registered for this event compared to the 97 for 1959, of which only 58 when allowed to practice, trying to qualify for the 55 places for the race. The number of starters increased by one for this race, from the 54 of previous years.

With last year’s winner Aston Martin having moved onto Formula One, the race should be Scuderia Ferrari’s for the taking, despite being behind Porsche in the championship standings. The Italian outfit, together with a numerous privateer teams would have 13 Ferrari 250s, in different guises and classes, to take the title fight to the Germans. The works squad of drivers included 1958 winners, Phil Hill/Wolfgang von Trips, and they were joined by Willy Mairesse/Richie Ginther and Olivier Gendebien/Paul Frère. Interestingly, prior to this race, Gendebien was raced for Porsche.

Ferrari’s main challenge would come from a number of sources. Porsche, Maserati and even Corvette. As championship leader, Porsche should have be consisted among the favourites although their cars ran in a smaller class than their Italian rivals, but with drivers of the calibre of Jo Bonnier and Graham Hill, could they take the spoils. As for the Americans, the Corvettes were entered in the same class as the Ferraris, the cars were much heavier and bulky then the European sportscars, but they would have an advantage – their engines.

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