The 2016 edition of Le Mans Classic was staged 8-10 July at the famed 38-turn, 8.469-mile Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. The eighth edition of this biennial event took place in front of more than 120,000 faithful enthusiasts that came to admire the cars that have written the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Le Mans Classic was created in 2002 by Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest to provide a retrospective for lovers of exceptional motor cars that raced in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours. The first meeting was a big success and since then its renown has grown in leaps and bounds over the events held so far — it has become a must-attend for spectators and participants every two years. This year’s races saw a field of 550 entrants selected by Peter Auto to provide variety and historic consistency among the seven grids of cars that follow one another on the track for the 24 hours.
Among the changes for the 2016 Le Mans Classic was the opening of the circuit on Friday morning for five additional hours of practice session, as well as the Group C race of almost 40 cars. There was also the field of the Jaguar Classic Challenge with 60 cars representing the Coventry make. Victory went to British driver Andy Wallace (19 starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours including outright victory in 1988) at the wheel of the D-Type.
Grid 1 for pre-war cars from 1923 to 1939 kicked off the official start of the 8th Le Mans Classic. At 16:00 American star Pharrell Williams waved the French flag unleashing men and machines on the 13,629-km circuit. The race for the six grids covering the period 1923 to 1981 was under way and would continue into the next day.
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Similar to 2010, 2012 and 2014, Sports Car Digest also documented the 2016 Le Mans Classic, with the following great selection of images that capture the cars that have written the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours. We split up the pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, while the second gallery and vintage race results can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs.
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Featured Photo Gallery
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Last Race Results
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Group C Race
1. Julien PIGUET SPICE SE89C – 1989
2. Eric DE DONCKER SPICE SE90C – 1990
3. Tommy DREELAN/Aaron SCOTT PORSCHE 962 – 1987
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Jaguar Race
1. Julian THOMAS JAGUAR Type E – 1962
2. Carlos MONTEVERDE/Andrew SMITH JAGUAR Type E – 1965
3. Andy WALLACE JAGUAR Type D – 1955
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 1
1. Christian TRABER/Spencer TRENERY TALBOT LAGO Ex Monoplace décalée – 1939
2. Julian BRONSON/Gareth BURNETT TALBOT 105 BGH 21 – 1934
3. Jean-Jacques BALLY/Bertrand LESEUR BMW 328 – 1938
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 2
1. Andy WALLACE JAGUAR Type D – 1955
2. Chris WARD JAGUAR Type C – 1952
3. Nicolas CHAMBON MASERATI 300 S – 1955
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 3
1. Chris WARD LISTER Costin – 1959
2. Steve BROOKS/Patrick BLAKENEY-EDWARDS LISTER Jaguar flat iron – 1958
3. Ivan VERCOUTERE/Andrew WOLFE LOTUS XV – 1959
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 4
1. Shaun LYNN FORD GT40 – 1965
2. Richard MEINS FORD GT40 – 1967
3. Ludovic CARON SHELBY Cobra 289 – 1963
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 5
1. Bernard THUNER LOLA T70 Mk III – 1968
2. Eric DE DONCKER LOLA T70 Mk III B – 1969
3. Toni SEILER LOLA T70 Mk III – 1968
Le Mans Classic 2016 – Grid 6
1. Ulrich SCHUMACHER/Marco WERNER PORSCHE 936 – 1982
2. Patrice LAFARGUE LOLA T298 BMW – 1979
3. Carlos BARBOT LOLA T280 DFV – 1972
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[Source: Peter Auto]
