An Australian at Le Mans

Vern Schuppan, as a kid in his native Australia and as far as he can remember, always dreamed of Porsches and of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: “At the time, it was the Porsche 917 that filled my dreams. Years later, after racing all over the world in all sorts of cars, my dream of winning le Mans in a Porsche came true.”

In 1983, in his tenth participation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – after having finished runner-up with Jean-Pierre Jarier in 1977 in a Mirage GR8, and again second in 1982 with Jochen Mass in a Porsche 956 – Vern Schuppan finally prevailed next to Americans Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert, in a works Rothmans Porsche 956, and became the first Australian to win the great endurance classic.