1991 24 Hours of Le Mans

An entirely new complex along the front stretch was built, housing modern pit stalls, garages, and the new observation suites built above the garages.

As for the race, the grid line-up was an unusual affair. 1991 was supposed to be the first year the World Sportscar Championship ran to the new '3.5L' rules, which meant a new breed of sports-prototypes. Although TWR-Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot all built cars to the new regulations for the 1991 championship series, the number of privateer teams was low and there was simply not enough of these new cars to fill the grid. The FIA allowed the first 10 spaces on the grid to be reserved for the fastest qualifying 3.5L cars from the World Sportscar Championship, while the rest of the field was made up of older formula Group C cars. In another twist, some teams which had 3.5L cars, but entered previous year's championships with Group C cars, were allowed to enter their "obsolete" but more reliable (and for Le Mans in 1991, quicker) Group C racers. In the case of TWR Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, their 3.5L cars (the XJR-14 and C291 respectively) failed to qualify and instead they raced using their XJR-12 and C11 models. Peugeot Sport on the other hand only had their 905 model to race, with 1991 being their first full season in sportscar racing. Being the only factory team running the 3.5L formula, the French marque had the honour of starting 1st and 2nd, even though they had only set the 3rd and 8th fastest qualifying times.

Class leaders are in bold

The two Peugeots immediately led away at the start, whilst the top Group C cars, led by Mercedes, made light work of the other 3.5L cars. Peugeot’s joy was short-lived though, the #5 briefly catching fire whilst refuelling at its first pitstop, although it quickly rejoined the race. More serious problems loomed however, their cars started suffering from engine problems and would both drop out before nightfall. With the French team out, the three Mercedes took control at the front, with Jean-Louis Schlesser in car #1 and Michael Schumacher in #31 debating the lead throughout the early hours. Their only drama came when Wendlinger spun under the Dunlop Bridge on cold tires having just taken over the #31, forcing him to pit for a new rear wing.

Jaguar had a difficult race. They qualified poorly due to carrying a 200 kg weight penalty for running their older Group C cars (which badly affected the handling), and they never looked like repeating the previous years success. The Porsches had to carry the same penalty and they too never featured in the victory battle. Thus as the race settled down, the job of chasing Mercedes fell to the #55 Mazda of youngsters Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler. Mazda hadn’t been viewed as victory contenders before the race, their 787B having achieved virtually nothing in the way of results previously. However, the team had exploited a loophole in the rules, which stated that naturally aspirated, rotary-powered old Group C1 cars weren't required to run at 1000 kg, but at 850 kg, and eventually the Mazda managed to run at 830 kilogrammes. Combined with their rotary Wankel engine providing better fuel mileage than the other ballasted cars, it left them running a strong fourth as night fell.

Mercedes were looking comfortable out front, but as Sunday rolled around their race began to unravel. The #31 had to pit several times to fix a gearbox problem, which cost 9 laps and dropped it down the field. The #32 then dropped out when it ran over debris; the impact damaged an engine mounting and the subsequent vibrations caused it to expire just before dawn. With the #1 spooked by the downfall of their teammates, the Mazda, now up to second, upped the pace in an attempt to try to break the final Mercedes. #31 was forced to pit again with high water temperature, and then at noon Alain Ferté brought a steaming #1 down pit lane having befallen the same fate. The alternator bracket had sheared, and in the process had snapped the water pump drive belt. Unlike their teammates however, their engine had overheated beyond repair and the dominant car of the race was pushed into the garage to retire.

From there the Mazda was never headed, and crossed the line with a two lap advantage over second place to secure a surprising and popular victory. It was the first Japanese car to ever win Le Mans, as well as the only non-piston engined car ever to do so. Jaguar’s reliability made up for their pace disadvantage, and the British marque secured second, third and fourth place, with the remaining #31 Mercedes recovering to complete the top five.

This Mazda 787B became the first Japanese car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
					Engine
1	C2	55	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Volker Weidler Johnny Herbert Bertrand Gachot	Mazda 787B	D	362
					Mazda R26B 2.6L 4-Rotor
2	C2	35	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Davy Jones Raul Boesel Michel Ferté	Jaguar XJR-12	G	360
					Jaguar 7.4L V12
3	C2	34	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Bob Wollek Teo Fabi Kenny Acheson	Jaguar XJR-12	G	358
					Jaguar 7.4L V12
4	C2	33	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Derek Warwick John Nielsen Andy Wallace	Jaguar XJR-12	G	356
					Jaguar 7.4L V12
5	C2	31	Team Sauber Mercedes	Karl Wendlinger Michael Schumacher Fritz Kreutzpointner	Mercedes-Benz C11	G	355
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
6	C2	18	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Oreca	David Kennedy Stefan Johansson Maurizio Sandro Sala	Mazda 787B	D	355
					Mazda R26B 2.6L 4-Rotor
7	C2	58	Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing	Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell Frank Jelinski	Porsche 962C	G	347
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
8	C2	56	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Oreca	Pierre Dieudonné Takashi Yorino Yojiro Terada	Mazda 787	D	346
					Mazda R26B 2.6L 4-Rotor
9	C2	11	Porsche Kremer Racing	Manuel Reuter Harri Toivonen JJ Lehto	Porsche 962CK6	Y	343
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
10	C2	17	Repsol Brun Motorsport	Oscar Larrauri Jesús Pareja Walter Brun	Porsche 962C	Y	338
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
11	C2	12	Courage Compétition	François Migault Lionel Robert Jean-Daniel Raulet	Cougar C26S	G	331
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
12	C1	41	Euro Racing Team Fedco	Kiyoshi Misaki Hisashi Yokoshima Naoki Nagasaka	Spice SE90C	G	326
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
13 NC	C2	53	Team Salamin Primagaz Team Schuppan	Hurley Haywood James Weaver Wayne Taylor	Porsche 962C	D	316
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
14 NC	C1	43	Euro Racing PC Automotive	Richard Piper Olindo Iacobelli Jean-Louis Ricci	Spice SE89C	G	280
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
15 NC	C2	15	Veneto Equipe	Luigi Giorgio Almo Copelli	Lancia LC2	D	111
					Ferrari 308C 3.0L Turbo V8
16 DNF	C2	1	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jean-Louis Schlesser Jochen Mass Alain Ferté	Mercedes-Benz C11	G	319
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
17 DNF	C2	49	Courage Compétition Trust Racing	Steven Andskär George Fouché	Porsche 962C	D	316
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
18 NC	C2	47	Courage Compétition	Michel Trollé Claude Bourbonnais Marco Brand	Cougar C26S	G	293
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
19 DNF	C2	51	Team Salamin Primagaz Obermaier Racing	Jürgen Lässig Pierre Yver Otto Altenbach	Porsche 962C	G	232
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
20 DNF	C2	32	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jonathan Palmer Stanley Dickens Kurt Thiim	Mercedes-Benz C11	G	223
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
21 DNF	C2	52	Team Salamin Primagaz Team Schuppan	Eje Elgh Roland Ratzenberger Will Hoy	Porsche 962C	D	202
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
22 DNF	C2	57	Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing	Louis Krages Bernd Schneider Henri Pescarolo	Porsche 962C	G	197
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
23 DNF	C2	36	TWR Suntec Jaguar	David Leslie Mauro Martini Jeff Krosnoff	Jaguar XJR-12	G	183
					Jaguar 7.4L V12
24 DNF	C1	39	Graff Racing Automobiles Louis Descartes	Jean-Philippe Grand Michel Maisonneuve Xavier Lapeyre	Spice SE89C	G	163
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
25 DNF	C2	16	Repsol Brun Motorsport	Harald Huysman Robbie Stirling Bernard Santal	Porsche 962C	Y	138
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
26 DNF	C2	45	Euro Racing Chamberlain Engineering	Nick Adams Robin Donovan Richard Jones	Spice SE89C	G	128
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
27 DNF	C2	14	Team Salamin Primagaz	Antoine Salamin Max Cohen-Olivar Marcel Tarrès	Porsche 962C	G	101
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
28 DNF	C2	21	Konrad Motorsport	Franz Konrad Anthony Reid Pierre-Alain Lombardi	Porsche 962C	Y	98
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
29 DNF	C2	50	Courage Compétition Alméras Frères	Jacques Alméras Jean-Marie Alméras Pierre de Thoisy	Porsche 962C	G	86
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
30 DNF	C1	44	Euro Racing Chamberlain Engineering	John Sheldon Ferdinand de Lesseps Charles Rickett	Spice SE89C	G	85
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
31 DNF	C1	8	Euro Racing	Cor Euser Charles Zwolsman Tim Harvey	Spice SE90C	G	72
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
32 DNF	C1	6	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Keke Rosberg Yannick Dalmas Pierre-Henri Raphanel	Peugeot 905	M	68
					Peugeot SA35 3.5L V10
33 DNF	C1	40	Euro Racing A.O. Racing	Lyn St. James Desiré Wilson Cathy Muller	Spice SE90C	D	47
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
34 DNF	C2	13	Courage Compétition	Johnny Dumfries Anders Olofsson Thomas Danielsson	Cougar C26S	G	45
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
35 DNF	C1	37	Automobiles Louis Descartes Racing Organization Course (ROC)	Bernard Thuner Pascal Fabre	ROC 002	G	38
					Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5L V8
36 DNF	C1	5	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Peugeot 905	M	22
					Peugeot SA35 3.5L V10
37 DNF	C2	46	Porsche Kremer Racing	Tomás López Rocha Gregor Foitek Tiff Needell	Porsche 962CK6	Y	18
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
38 DNF	C1	7	Automobiles Louis Descartes	Philippe de Henning Luigi Taverna Patrick Gonin	ALD C91	G	16
					Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5L V8
DNS	C2	59	Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing	Franz Konrad Jürgen Barth	Porsche 962C	G	-
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
DNS	C1	4	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Teo Fabi Kenny Acheson Andy Wallace	Jaguar XJR-14	G	-
					Jaguar Cosworth HB 3.5L V8
DNQ	C2	48	Courage Compétition	Chris Hodgetts Andrew Hepworth Thierry Lacerf	Cougar C24S	G	-
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
DNQ	C1	2	Team Sauber Mercedes	Karl Wendlinger Michael Schumacher Fritz Kreutzpointner	Mercedes-Benz C291	G	-
					Mercedes-Benz M291 3.5L Flat-12
DNQ	C2	42	Euro Racing	Justin Bell Shunji Kasuya	Spice SE88P	G	-
					Ferrari 308C 3.5L Turbo V8
DNQ	C2	54	Team Salamin Primagaz Team Davey	Katsunori Iketani Mercedes Stermitz Val Musetti	Porsche 962C	G	-
					Porsche Type-935 3.2L Turbo Flat-6

• Pole Position - Jean-Louis Schlesser, #1 Team Sauber Mercedes - 3:31.270
  • #3 Silk Cut Jaguar was originally on pole but was withdrawn prior to the race.
• Fastest Lap - Michael Schumacher, #31 Team Sauber Mercedes - 3:35.564
• Distance - 4922.810 km
• Average Speed - 205.333 km/h
• Highest Trap Speed — Sauber Mercedes C11 - 342 km/h (race), Sauber Mercedes C11 - 363 km/h (qualifying)