Tense Le Mans 1973

The three works Ferrari 312PB‘s seem to wait patiently for qualifying in front of their pits, ahead of the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans (picture above), eighth round of the 1973 World Championship of Makes. Ickx and Redman shared #15, Merzario and Pace were in the #16 and Schenken and Reutemann shared the #17.

The race promised to be close, with Ferrari, Matra and Porsche, all having two wins in the championship, along with a surprise victory for Mirage at Spa. It indeed turned to be one of the most tense Le Mans, with the race won in the pits as both Ferrari and Matra took turns in the lead, only to be stymied by mechanical failures.

All three Ferraris had time in the lead, but as mechanical issues overtook them, it was the Matra 670B of Henri Pescarolo (already a winner in 1972) and Gérard Larrousse (who finally took his first Le Mans win, after coming so close many times) that took the checkered flag in the end with a comfortable six-lap margin over the second-placed Ferrari of Merzario and Pace with the Matra of Jabouille-Jaussaud third (picture-below).