# 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Panoz, Riley & Scott, and Toyota all represented.
The BMW V12 LMR of Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini, and Joachim Winkelhock won overall, with their car's reliability and fuel economy allowing them to beat their faster rivals.

## Pre-race

1999 saw another increase in manufacturers involvement. Although Porsche did not send a team to contest in the prototype classes, Toyota retained their three updated GT-Ones, now moved to the LMGTP class due to the demise of GT1, while Mercedes-Benz debuted three new CLR LMGTPs. Nissan instead moved from GT1 to an open cockpit LMP, as did Panoz.
Newcomer Audi attempted to try their hand at both classes, with two open cockpit R8Rs and two closed cockpit R8Cs. BMW continued with their open cockpit LMPs, updating to the new V12 LMR. The works V12 LMR's were run by Schnitzer Motorsport, while two of the previous year's cars were privately entered.

## Mercedes CLR incidents

The event saw three major crashes involving the team of Mercedes-Benz CLRs during qualifying and the race itself. The CLR had a very short wheelbase and a large amount of overhang (the bodywork outside the wheelbase), resulting in high pitch sensitivity. The amount of overhang and its resulting pitch sensitivity was enough to cause aerodynamic and chassis design flaws with the car. The large amount of overhang allowed for amounts of air to build up underneath the nose of the car, and the amount of air that built up underneath the CLR thanks to the car's frontal pitch being high enough was enough to imbalance the frontal aerodynamics, giving this section more lift than downforce, which allowed the car to take off into the air, especially when following another car and at the tops of hills, when a car's front pitch is at its highest- such as on the run to Indianapolis and on the Mulsanne Straight.
Mark Webber's CLR #4 went airborne at Indianapolis during Thursday night qualifying. On Friday, the team was allowed to rebuild #4 on a new chassis, with tweaks to the rear suspension, in an attempt by Mercedes to cure the problem. Winglets were fitted to the front to increase downforce. All cars had qualified, but during the brief warm-up on Saturday morning, Webber again went airborne when tailing his teammates over the hump of the Mulsanne, landing on his roof and skidding to a stop in the Mulsanne corner. This car was withdrawn from the race, but the two other CLRs continued on, again with emergency tweaks in yet another attempt to alleviate the instability.
A few hours into the race on lap 75, Peter Dumbreck's CLR #5 also went airborne at a crest just before the Indianapolis corner (a very bumpy section of the track), this time flying off the side of the track and landing in the trees. Dumbreck was unharmed in the incident. This incident, unlike the previous two, was actually caught by TV cameras and thus broadcast worldwide. Mercedes-Benz immediately withdrew the remaining CLR #6 and dropped out of sportscar racing for the immediate future.
This was the second time Mercedes-Benz had dropped out of Le Mans and sportscar racing following an incident with one of their cars becoming airborne and leaving the track, the first being the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

## Official results

| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tyre | Laps | Time/Reason |
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Engine | Tyre | Laps | Time/Reason |
| 1 | LMP | 15 | Team BMW Motorsport | Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas | BMW V12 LMR | M | 365 | 24:00:00.000‡ |
| 1 | LMP | 15 | Team BMW Motorsport | Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | M | 365 | 24:00:00.000‡ |
| 2 | LMGTP | 3 | Toyota Motorsports | Ukyo Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki | Toyota GT-One | M | 364 | +1 lap |
| 2 | LMGTP | 3 | Toyota Motorsports | Ukyo Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 364 | +1 lap |
| 3 | LMP | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8R | M | 360 | +5 laps |
| 3 | LMP | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 360 | +5 laps |
| 4 | LMP | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello | Audi R8R | M | 346 | +19 laps |
| 4 | LMP | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 346 | +19 laps |
| 5 | LMP | 18 | Price+Bscher | Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper | BMW V12 LM | Y | 345 | +20 laps |
| 5 | LMP | 18 | Price+Bscher | Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | Y | 345 | +20 laps |
| 6 | LMP | 13 | Courage Compétition | Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella | Courage C52 | B | 342 | +23 laps |
| 6 | LMP | 13 | Courage Compétition | Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella | Nissan VRH35L 3.5 L Turbo V8 | B | 342 | +23 laps |
| 7 | LMP | 12 | Panoz Motor Sports | David Brabham Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | M | 336 | +29 laps |
| 7 | LMP | 12 | Panoz Motor Sports | David Brabham Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger | Ford-Élan 6.0 L V8 | M | 336 | +29 laps |
| 8 | LMP | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | Didier Cottaz Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom | Courage C52 | B | 335 | +31 laps |
| 8 | LMP | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | Didier Cottaz Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom | Nissan VRH35L 3.5 L Turbo V8 | B | 335 | +31 laps |
| 9 | LMP | 14 | Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team | Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferté Patrice Gay | Courage C50 | P | 327 | +38 laps |
| 9 | LMP | 14 | Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team | Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferté Patrice Gay | Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | P | 327 | +38 laps |
| 10 | LMGTS | 51 | Viper Team Oreca | Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupuy | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 325 | +40 laps |
| 10 | LMGTS | 51 | Viper Team Oreca | Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupuy | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 325 | +40 laps |
| 11 | LMP | 11 | Panoz Motor Sports | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | M | 323 | +42 laps |
| 11 | LMP | 11 | Panoz Motor Sports | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli | Ford-Élan 6.0 L V8 | M | 323 | +42 laps |
| 12 | LMGTS | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 318 | +47 laps |
| 12 | LMGTS | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 318 | +47 laps |
| 13 | LMGT | 81 | Manthey Racing GmbH | Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli | Porsche 911 GT3-R | P | 317 | +48 laps |
| 13 | LMGT | 81 | Manthey Racing GmbH | Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli | Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 | P | 317 | +48 laps |
| 14 | LMGTS | 56 | Hugh Chamberlain | Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Toni Seiler | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 314 | +51 laps |
| 14 | LMGTS | 56 | Hugh Chamberlain | Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Toni Seiler | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 314 | +51 laps |
| 15 | LMGTS | 50 | CICA Team Oreca | Manuel Mello-Breyner Pedro Mello-Breyner Tomaz Mello-Breyner | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 312 | +53 laps |
| 15 | LMGTS | 50 | CICA Team Oreca | Manuel Mello-Breyner Pedro Mello-Breyner Tomaz Mello-Breyner | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 312 | +53 laps |
| 16 | LMGTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Emmanuel Clérico Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | D | 309 | +56 laps |
| 16 | LMGTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Emmanuel Clérico Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | D | 309 | +56 laps |
| 17 | LMGTS | 54 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | D | 299 | +66 laps |
| 17 | LMGTS | 54 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | D | 299 | +66 laps |
| 18 | LMGTS | 64 | Konrad Motorsport | Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 293 | +72 laps |
| 18 | LMGTS | 64 | Konrad Motorsport | Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 293 | +72 laps |
| 19 | LMGT | 80 | Champion Racing Dave Maraj | Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer | Porsche 911 GT3-R | P | 292 | +73 laps |
| 19 | LMGT | 80 | Champion Racing Dave Maraj | Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer | Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 | P | 292 | +73 laps |
| 20 | LMGTS | 62 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Vincent Vosse | Porsche 911 GT2 | Y | 290 | +75 laps |
| 20 | LMGTS | 62 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Vincent Vosse | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | Y | 290 | +75 laps |
| 21 | LMGT | 84 | Perspective Racing | Thierry Perrier Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | P | 288 | +77 laps |
| 21 | LMGT | 84 | Perspective Racing | Thierry Perrier Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry | Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 | P | 288 | +77 laps |
| 22 | LMGTS | 57 | Hugh Chamberlain | Thomas Erdos Christian Vann Christian Gläsel | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 270 | +95 laps |
| 22 | LMGTS | 57 | Hugh Chamberlain | Thomas Erdos Christian Vann Christian Gläsel | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 270 | +95 laps |
| NC | LMGTS | 65 | Société Cheréau | Jean-Luc Chéreau Patrice Goueslard Pierre Yver | Porsche 911 GT2 | M | 240 | Not classified |
| NC | LMGTS | 65 | Société Cheréau | Jean-Luc Chéreau Patrice Goueslard Pierre Yver | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | M | 240 | Not classified |
| DNF | LMP | 17 | Team BMW Motorsport | Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW V12 LMR | M | 304 | Accident |
| DNF | LMP | 17 | Team BMW Motorsport | Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | M | 304 | Accident |
| DNF | LMGTS | 53 | Viper Team Oreca | David Donohue Jean-Philippe Belloc Soheil Ayari | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 271 | Mechanical |
| DNF | LMGTS | 53 | Viper Team Oreca | David Donohue Jean-Philippe Belloc Soheil Ayari | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | M | 271 | Mechanical |
| DNF | LMGTS | 63 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Hubert Haupt John Robinson Hugh Price | Porsche 911 GT2 | Y | 232 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTS | 63 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Hubert Haupt John Robinson Hugh Price | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | Y | 232 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 19 | Team Goh | Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Katoh Akihiko Nakaya | BMW V12 LM | M | 223 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 19 | Team Goh | Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Katoh Akihiko Nakaya | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | M | 223 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 26 | Konrad Motorsport | Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel | Lola B98/10 | D | 213 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 26 | Konrad Motorsport | Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel | Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 | D | 213 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMGTP | 10 | Audi Sport UK | James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy | Audi R8C | M | 198 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMGTP | 10 | Audi Sport UK | James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 198 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMGTP | 2 | Toyota Motorsports | Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners Allan McNish | Toyota GT-One | M | 173 | Accident |
| DNF | LMGTP | 2 | Toyota Motorsports | Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners Allan McNish | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 173 | Accident |
| DNF | LMGTS | 61 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ernst Palmberger Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 157 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTS | 61 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ernst Palmberger Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 157 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 27 | Kremer Racing | Tomás Saldaña Grant Orbell Didier de Radiguès | Lola B98/10 | G | 146 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 27 | Kremer Racing | Tomás Saldaña Grant Orbell Didier de Radiguès | Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 | G | 146 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMGTS | 67 | Larbre Compétition | Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy | Porsche 911 GT2 | M | 134 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTS | 67 | Larbre Compétition | Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | M | 134 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTS | 66 | Estoril Racing Communication | Manuel Monteiro Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve | Porsche 911 GT2 | P | 123 | Accident damage |
| DNF | LMGTS | 66 | Estoril Racing Communication | Manuel Monteiro Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | P | 123 | Accident damage |
| DNF | LMP | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas | Nissan R391 | B | 110 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas | Nissan VRH50A 5.0 L V8 | B | 110 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTP | 1 | Toyota Motorsports | Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri | Toyota GT-One | M | 90 | Puncture |
| DNF | LMGTP | 1 | Toyota Motorsports | Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 90 | Puncture |
| DNF | LMP | 25 | DAMS | Christophe Tinseau Franck Montagny David Terrien | Lola B98/10 | P | 77 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 25 | DAMS | Christophe Tinseau Franck Montagny David Terrien | Judd GV4 4.0 L V10 | P | 77 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTP | 6 | AMG-Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy | Mercedes-Benz CLR | B | 76 | Withdrawn |
| DNF | LMGTP | 6 | AMG-Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | B | 76 | Withdrawn |
| DNF | LMGTP | 5 | AMG-Mercedes | Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck | Mercedes-Benz CLR | B | 75 | Accident |
| DNF | LMGTP | 5 | AMG-Mercedes | Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | B | 75 | Accident |
| DNF | LMP | 24 | Autoexe Motorsports | Yojiro Terada Franck Fréon Robin Donovan | Autoexe LMP99 | Y | 74 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 24 | Autoexe Motorsports | Yojiro Terada Franck Fréon Robin Donovan | Ford 6.0 L V8 | Y | 74 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 29 | JB Jabouille-Bouresche | Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori | Ferrari 333 SP | P | 71 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 29 | JB Jabouille-Bouresche | Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori | Ferrari F130E 4.0 L V12 | P | 71 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 32 | Riley & Scott Europe | Marco Apicella Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis | Riley & Scott Mk III/2 | P | 67 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 32 | Riley & Scott Europe | Marco Apicella Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis | Ford 6.0 L V8 | P | 67 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTP | 9 | Audi Sport UK | Stefan Johansson Stéphane Ortelli Christian Abt | Audi R8C | M | 55 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMGTP | 9 | Audi Sport UK | Stefan Johansson Stéphane Ortelli Christian Abt | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | M | 55 | Gearbox |
| DNF | LMP | 31 | Riley & Scott Europe | Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thévenin | Riley & Scott Mk III/2 | P | 25 | Engine |
| DNF | LMP | 31 | Riley & Scott Europe | Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thévenin | Ford 6.0 L V8 | P | 25 | Engine |
| DNF | LMGTS | 60 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ray Lintott Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 24 | Accident |
| DNF | LMGTS | 60 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ray Lintott Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | D | 24 | Accident |
| DNS | LMGTP | 4 | AMG-Mercedes | Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz CLR | B | - | Accident in Practice |
| DNS | LMGTP | 4 | AMG-Mercedes | Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | B | - | Accident in Practice |
| DNS | LMP | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan R391 | B | - | Accident |
| DNS | LMP | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan VRH50A 5.0 L V8 | B | - | Accident |
| DNS | LMGT | 83 | Gérard MacQuillan | Michel Neugarten Gérard MacQuillan Chris Gleason | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Y | - | Did not qualify |
| DNS | LMGT | 83 | Gérard MacQuillan | Michel Neugarten Gérard MacQuillan Chris Gleason | Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 | Y | - | Did not qualify |

## Statistics

* Pole position - #1 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:29.930
* Fastest lap - #3 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:35.052
* Distance - 4968 km
* Average speed - 207 km/h
* Highest trap speed — Toyota GT-One - 352 km/h (practice)