Paul Newman ignites Le Mans

The Porsche 935/77A of Paul Newman, Rolf Stommelen and Dick Barbour in its striking Hawaiian Tropic livery and its grid girls, just before the start of the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours.

With no other major works cars entered, the Porsche team and its in Groupe 6-entered 936s were the string favourites to win. Their competition came from Cosworth-powered Mirages and Rondeaus and a swarm of Groupe 5 and IMSA-class Porsche 935s. The other big talking point was the presence of Hollywood actor Paul Newman, a very capable racer indeed, driving a 935K3 for Dick Barbour Racing.

When the Porsche 936s and the Mirages ran into problems early, the race became a duel between the 935s of Kremer Racing and Gelo Sportswear. Soon after midnight, heavy storms swept over the circuit and remained for the rest of the race.

Both Gelo cars retired with mechanical issues in the soggy dawn and when the Wollek-Haywood Porsche developed a bad misfire, the Kremer 935 of Klaus Ludwig and the Whittington brother found itself in the lead with a 13-lap advantage over the Dick Barbour Porsche of Paul Newman.

It was a triumph for the Whittington brothers in only their second year of professional racing, but the headlines went to the spectators’ favourite, Paul Newman, who had almost pulled it off (with the help of Stommelen and Barbour, picture-below) and got the biggest ovation when he took the podium with his team mates.