Daytime practice began at 3:00pm on Friday, followed by a night session for the 450 historic cars and more than 1000 drivers from all over the world. Sebastien Loeb, nine-time world rally champion, lowered the French flag on Saturday releasing men and their cars to challenge the 13,629 km Le Mans 24-Hours long circuit. The race for the six grids covering the periods from 1923 to 1979 got under way on Saturday 4th of July and continued until Sunday the 5th.
The weather was challenging for competitors and their teams varying from scorching sunshine to torrential rain. Denis Welch Motorsport looked after two Austin-Healey’s, on the two different plateaus. Ex works Le Mans ‘DD300’ with Karsten Le Blanc as a solo driver and Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus in his Healey 100M with co-driver Barrie 'Wizzo' Williams. Both well prepared cars ran smoothly with no major work required, so the team of four mechanics carried out only routine maintenance between the sessions.
A traditional Le Mans-style start preceded the formation lap for the first of 3 races of 43 minutes each, 2 days and 1 night, with the obligatory stop for 90 seconds in each race for driver change overs if necessary.
No less than 75 classics dated from 1957-1961 battled in Plateau 3. Famous ex-works ’DD300’, an original Le Mans car ran quick from the start, punching above its weight to amaze spectators once again. Karsten Le Blanc with the combined time of 2:27:40.927 finished in a fantastic 3rd place overall leaving behind Lotus, Jaguars and Porsches. Congratulations!
It’s worth mentioning that in 2009 ‘DD300’ received a full makeover by Denis Welch Motorsport.
The team Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus with co-driver Barrie ‘Wizzo’ Williams in Austin-Healey 100M started on a very competitive Plateau 2 with 80 cars aged between 1949 to 1956. The team battled to a spectacular 4th place overall in the third race and 8th overall and 3rd in the class in the combined classification.
Nils commented on the start at Le Mans 2014 for us: ‘I came to Le Mans to finish, unlike when I drove it in 2010, and in My Dreams to finish in the Top third. The results achieved made the long journey from Sweden really worthwhile.’
Denis Welch Motorsport was pleased to see great success for the team Jean Pierre Lajournade / Vincent Aubry in the Jaguar E-type Coupe - 3rd overall with combined time at 2:28:54.041. The team Lajournade's/Aubry's amazing result was achieved thanks to their consistency during three races and no mistakes on the track. They finished in 9th place in the first race, and 8th in the second. From beginning they knew the third race was going to be a challenge due to the wet track and pressure for the best result. ‘It was a real pleasure to battle and drive in the rain!’ - says Lajournade. Starting 12th on the grid after the first round he worked his way up to 4th than to 2nd to eventually finished in 6th place.
The car, with a DWM engine, gearbox and axle, worked perfectly and both drivers enjoyed exciting battles on the Le Mans track.
Denis Welch Motorsport motto states that: ‘we are the very best partner, for you to achieve your ambitions and advance your dreams’ - Lajournade’s/Aubry’s victory proves that’s true!
JP Lajournade is soon replacing his E-type for a new Roadster, currently under construction in France. All major parts are supplied by Denis Welch Motorsport, so watch this space!
Once again, the Le Mans Classic proves to be a magic retrospective of the greatest endurance race in the world.
