1989 24 Hours of Le Mans

1989 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Le Mans in 1989

The 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 57th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1989.

Race

The race was the last time the 24 Hours of Le Mans ran without the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight; for the interest of safety to reduce speeds after speeds reaching 250 mph (402 km/h) in the previous years and this race, these chicanes were installed the next year and remains in use. The speeds on the Mulsanne Straight were so high that many of the drivers were concerned if their cars would stay on the ground over the humps and bumps of the straight. There were no serious accidents, something Le Mans in the 1980s had many of.

Having run his cars at Le Mans for a decade, Peter Sauber was aided by Mercedes in winning the 1989 race. His "Silver Arrows" Sauber C9s finished 1st, 2nd and 5th, with Porsches and Jaguars finishing behind.

Qualifying

Class leaders are in bold

Pos	No.	Team	Car	Class	Time	Gap
1	62	Team Sauber Mercedes	Sauber C9	C1	3:15.040
2	61	Team Sauber Mercedes	Sauber C9	C1	3:15.670	+0.630
3	1	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-9	C1	3:18.350	+3.310
4	3	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-9	C1	3:19.480	+4.440
5	9	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	C1	3:19.800	+4.760
6	4	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-9	C1	3:20.190	+5.150
7	17	Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	C1	3:20.260	+5.220
8	2	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-9	C1	3:20.650	+5.610
9	5	Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	C1	3:21.510	+6.470
10	11	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 962CK6	C1	3:22.700	+7.660
11	63	Team Sauber Mercedes	Sauber C9	C1	3:22.860	+7.820
12	24	Nissan Motorsport	Nissan R89C	C1	3:24.090	+9.050
13	7	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	C1	3:24.770	+9.730
14	10	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 962CK6	C1	3:24.920	+9.880
15	25	Nissan Motorsport	Nissan R89C	C1	3:25.380	+10.340
16	202	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Mazda 767	GTP	3:25.450	+10.410
17	37	Toyota Team Tom's	Toyota 89C-V	C1	3:25.600	+10.560
18	55	Team Schuppan	Porsche 962C	C1	3:26.890	+11.850
19	23	Nissan Motorsport	Nissan R89C	C1	3:26.950	+11.910
20	6	Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	C1	3:27.070	+12.030
21	14	Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962C GTi	C1	3:27.750	+12.710
22	33	Team Schuppan	Porsche 962C	C1	3:27.790	+12.750
23	15	Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962C GTi	C1	3:27.970	+12.930
24	36	Toyota Team Tom’s	Toyota 89C-V	C1	3:28.320	+13.280
25	38	Toyota Team Tom’s	Toyota 89C-V	C1	3:28.640	+13.600
26	27	Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	C1	3:29.410	+14.370
27	16	Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	C1	3:29.900	+14.860
28	201	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Mazda 767	GTP	3:31.380	+16.340
29	13	Courage Compétition	Cougar C22LM	C1	3:31.490	+16.450
30	72	Obermaier Racing	Porsche 962C	C1	3:32.000	+16.960

Official results

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	C1	63	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jochen Mass Manuel Reuter Stanley Dickens	Sauber C9	M	389
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
2	C1	61	Team Sauber Mercedes	Mauro Baldi Kenny Acheson Gianfranco Brancatelli	Sauber C9	M	384
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
3	C1	9	Joest Racing	Hans-Joachim Stuck Bob Wollek	Porsche 962C	G	382
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
4	C1	1	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jan Lammers Patrick Tambay Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Jaguar XJR-9LM	D	380
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
5	C1	62	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jean-Louis Schlesser Jean-Pierre Jabouille Alain Cudini	Sauber C9	M	378
					Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Turbo V8
6	C1	8	Joest Racing	Henri Pescarolo Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Louis Ricci	Porsche 962C	G	371
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
7	GTP	201	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	David Kennedy Pierre Dieudonné Chris Hodgetts	Mazda 767B	D	368
					Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor
8	C1	4	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Alain Ferté Michel Ferté Eliseo Salazar	Jaguar XJR-9LM	D	368
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
9	GTP	202	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Takashi Yorino Hervé Regout Elliot Forbes-Robinson	Mazda 767B	D	365
					Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor
10	C1	16	Brun Motorsport	Harald Huysman Uwe Schäfer Dominique Lacaud	Porsche 962C	Y	351
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
11	C1	18	Aston Martin Ecurie Ecosse	Brian Redman Michael Roe Costas Los	Aston Martin AMR1	G	340
					Aston Martin (Callaway) RDP87 6.0L V8
12	GTP	203	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Marc Duez Volker Weidler	Mazda 767	D	339
					Mazda 13J 2.6L 4-Rotor
13	C1	55	Team Schuppan	Vern Schuppan Eje Elgh Gary Brabham	Porsche 962C	D	321
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
14	C2	113	Courage Compétition	Jean-Claude Andruet Philippe Farjon Shunji Kasuya	Cougar C20B	G	312
					Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6
15	C1	20	Team Davey	Tim Lee-Davey Tom Dodd-Noble Katsunori Iketani	Porsche 962C	D	308
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
16	C2	171	Team Mako	Robbie Stirling Ross Hyett Don Shead	Spice SE88C	G	307
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
17	C2	108	Roy Baker Racing GP Motorsport	Dudley Wood Evan Clements Philippe de Henning	Spice SE87C	G	303
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
18	C2	126	France Prototeam	Jean Messaoudi Pierre-François Rousselot Thierry Lecerf	Argo JM19C	G	297
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
19	C2	104	Graff Racing	Jean-Philippe Grand Remy Pochauvin Jean-Luc Roy	Spice SE89C	G	291
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
20 DNF	C1	14	Richard Lloyd Racing	Derek Bell James Weaver Tiff Needell	Porsche 962C GTi	G	339
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
21 DNF	C1	10	Porsche Kremer Racing	Kunimitsu Takahashi Bruno Giacomelli Giovanni Lavaggi	Porsche 962C	Y	303
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
22 DNF	C1	25	Nissan Motorsport	Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson Arie Luyendyk	Nissan R89C	D	250
					Nissan VRH35Z 3.5L Turbo V8
23 DNF	C2	101	Chamberlain Engineering	Fermín Velez Nick Adams Luigi Taverna	Spice SE88C	G	244
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
24 DNF	C1	17	Repsol Brun Motorsport	Oscar Larrauri Walter Brun Jesús Pareja	Porsche 962C	Y	242
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
25 DNF	C1	21	Spice Engineering	Ray Bellm Gordon Spice Lyn St. James	Spice SE89C	G	229
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
26 DNF	C1	15	Richard Lloyd Racing	Steven Andskär David Hobbs Damon Hill	Porsche 962C GTi	G	228
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
27 DNF	C1	32	Team LeMans Co. Courage Compétition	Takao Wada Akio Morimoto Anders Olofsson	March 88S	Y	221
					Nissan VG30 3.0L Turbo V6
28 DNF	C1	2	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	John Nielsen Andy Wallace Price Cobb	Jaguar XJR-9LM	D	215
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
29 DNF	C2	106	Porto Kaleo Team	Robin Smith Vito Veninta Stefano Sebastiani	Tiga GC288	G	194
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
30 DNF	C1	34	Equipe Alméras Frères	Jacques Alméras Jean-Marie Alméras Alain Ianetta	Porsche 962C	G	188
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
31 DNF	C1	12	Courage Compétition	Patrick Gonin Bernard de Dryver Bernard Santal	Cougar C22LM	G	168
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
32 DNF	C1	23	Nissan Motorsports	Masahiro Hasemi Kazuyoshi Hoshino Toshio Suzuki	Nissan R89C	D	167
					Nissan VRH35Z 3.5L Turbo V8
33 DNF	C1	19	Aston Martin Ecurie Ecosse	David Leslie Ray Mallock David Sears	Aston Martin AMR1	G	153
					Aston Martin (Callaway) RDP87 6.0L V8
34 DNF	C1	22	Spice Engineering	Thorkild Thyrring Wayne Taylor Tim Harvey	Spice SE89C	G	150
					Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8
35 DNF	C2	103	France Prototeam	Bernard Thuner Pierre de Thoisy Raymond Touroul	Spice SE88C	G	133
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
36 DNF	C2	107	Tiga Race Team	Max Cohen-Olivar John Sheldon Robin Donovan	Tiga GC289	G	126
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
37 DNF	C1	7	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Pierre-Henri Raphanel Louis Krages	Porsche 962C	G	124
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
38 DNF	C1	52	WM Secateva	Pascal Pessiot Jean-Daniel Raulet Philippe Gache	WM P489	M	110
					Peugeot ZNS4 3.0L Turbo V6
39 DNF	C1	13	Courage Compétition	Pascal Fabre Jean-Louis Bousquet Jiro Yoneyama	Cougar C22LM	G	110
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
40 DNF	C2	102	Chamberlain Engineering	John Hotchkis Sr. John Hotchkis Jr. Richard Jones	Spice SE86C	G	86
					Hart 418T 1.8L Turbo I4
41 DNF	C1	3	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Davy Jones Derek Daly Jeff Kline	Jaguar XJR-9LM	D	85
					Jaguar 7.0L V12
42 DNF	C1	27	Repsol Brun Motorsport	Rudi Seher Franz Konrad Andres Vilariño	Porsche 962C	Y	81
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
43 DNF	C1	5	Brun Motorsport From-A Racing	Harald Grohs Akihiko Nakaya Sarel van der Merwe	Porsche 962C	Y	78
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
44 DNF	C2	177	Automobiles Louis Descartes (ALD)	Alain Serpaggi Yves Hervalet Louis Descartes	ALD C289	G	75
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
45 DNF	C1	33	Team Schuppan	Will Hoy Jean Alesi Dominic Dobson	Porsche 962C	D	69
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
46 DNF	C1	72	Obermaier Racing Primagaz Competition	Jürgen Lässig Pierre Yver Paul Belmondo	Porsche 962C	G	61
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
47 DNF	C1	37	Toyota Team Tom's	Geoff Lees Johnny Dumfries John Watson	Toyota 89C-V	B	58
					Toyota R32V 3.2L Turbo V8
48 DNF	C2	151	Pierre-Alain Lombardi	Pierre-Alain Lombardi Bruno Sotty Fabio Magnini	Spice SE86C	G	58
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
49 DNF	C1	6	Brun Motorsport Alpha Racing Team	Maurizio Sandro Sala Walter Lechner Roland Ratzenberger	Porsche 962C	Y	58
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
50 DNF	C1	36	Toyota Team Tom's	Hitoshi Ogawa Paolo Barilla Ross Cheever	Toyota 89C-V	B	45
					Toyota R32V 3.2L Turbo V8
51 DNF	C1	11	Porsche Kremer Racing	Hideki Okada George Fouché Masanori Sekiya	Porsche 962CK6	Y	42
					Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
52 DNF	C2	105	Porto Kaleo Team Noël del Bello	Jean-Claude Justice Noël del Bello Jean-Claude Ferrarin	Tiga GC289	G	36
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
53 DNF	C1	38	Toyota Team Tom's	Kaoru Hoshino Didier Artzet Keiichi Suzuki	Toyota 88C	B	20
					Toyota 3S-GTM 2.1L Turbo I4
54 DNF	C2	175	ADA Engineering	Ian Harrower Laurence Bristow Colin Pool	ADA 02B	G	14
					Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8
55 DNF	C1	24	Nissan Motorsports	Julian Bailey Mark Blundell Martin Donnelly	Nissan R89C	D	5
					Nissan VRH35Z 3.5L Turbo V8
DNS	C1	51	WM Secateva	Roger Dorchy Michel Maisonneuve Philippe Gache	WM P489	M	-
					Peugeot ZNS4 3.0L Turbo V6
DNQ	C1	26	Mussato Action Car	Almo Coppelli Franco Scapini Ernst Franzmaier	Lancia LC2	D	-
					Ferrari 308C 3.0L Turbo V8
DNQ	C2	176	Automobiles Louis Descartes	Thierry Serfaty Sylvain Boulay William Batmalle	ALD 04	G	-
					BMW M80 3.5L I6
DNQ	C2	178	Didier Bonnet	Didier Bonnet Gérard Tremblay Gérard Cuynet	ALD 05	A	-
					BMW M80 3.5L I6
DNQ	C2	179	Didier Bonnet	Jean-Luc Colin François Cardon Yves Bey-Rozet	ALD 06	G	-
					BMW M80 3.5L I6

Statistics

• Pole Position - Jean-Louis Schlesser, #62 Team Sauber Mercedes - 3:15.040 (155.234 mph/249.826 km/h)
• Fastest Lap - Alain Ferté, #4 Silk Cut Jaguar - 3:21.093
• Distance - 5265.115 km
• Average Speed - 219.990 km/h
• Highest Trap Speed - Jaguar XJR-9 - 241.713 mph (389 km/h) (race), Sauber Mercedes C9 - 249.13 mph (401 km/h) (qualifying)