1980 24 Hours of Le Mans

1980 24 Hours of Le Mans
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The 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 48th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1980. It was the seventh round of the 1980 World Championship for Makes.

Porsche again sent no works Group 6 cars, in order to not compete against their many customers in their 935 Group 5 cars. The lone Group 6 Porsche, a Martini Racing-sponsored roadster entered by Joest Racing for Reinhold Joest himself and Jacky Ickx, was christened the Porsche 908/80 by the team (and "FrankenPorsche" by journalists), but looked much like the 1977 version of the 936. For a long time the car was believed to be a hack on a 908 chassis until it was discovered that it was in fact built on a real 936 replacement chassis, the 936-004. As Porsche didn't wish to be in the business of selling 936s to customers, the secret was kept by using a 908 chassis number plate.

The 908/80 was favorite but Porsche could also count on many 935, five Group 5 plus eight IMSA GTX, including three cars from the Sebring-winning Dick Barbour team. Most of the opposition was in the GTP class: three WM-Peugeot and a trio of local heroes, the Le Mans-built Rondeau-Cosworth.

The start was the probably wettest ever at Le Mans. Ickx laid back in his roadster until he could actually see something else than the fog created by closed-cabin cars: Porsche 935s, BMW M1s and Rondeau coupes.

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