LeMans1989

After third at Suzuka and a win at Dijon, who would bet against Reinhold Joest coming up with something special? The
team's record is superb; it won in 1984 and 1985, led much of the 1986 race, lost both cars in the first hour POrsche
chip disaster of 1987 and then took third last year, losing out in the Jaguar/factory Porsche battle. This time, the
team has the extra edge to its driver squad which was lacking last year; Stuck and Wollek in #9 is an awesome
combination, with vast experience. This car is a brand new chassis, straight out of the factory, and represents
exactly what the works team would have had this year, apart from the use of Goodyear tyres instead of Dunlop. The
other two cars will be in similar spec, and have an excellent driver lin-up, including veterans Ballot-Lena and Pescarolo
and F1 rookie Pierre-Henri Raphanel. Watch out for unfamiliar pink of Italya Sport joining Blaupunkt livery. Herr Joest's
smile at Dijon suggested he's got something up his sleeve; perhaps he found an extra tweak during his recent visit to
the Weissach wind tunnel. Place your bets...!

#7 - Car described as 'un-driveable' in first session by Frank Jelinski, and after chassis improvements engine dramas
restricted Frank Jelinski to one lap special at very end of Thursday night, earning 13th place. Strong run throughout
first half of the race, running second at dusk. Lost time with thrown wheel balance weight, battling with Mercedes
#61 and Jaguar #1 for second place when blown head gasket caused engine to lose water, causing Pierre-Henri
Raphanel to quit at 23:35.

#8 - First ever race together for Le Mans veterans Henri Pescarolo and Claude Ballot-Lena. Gearbox problems durning
practice restricted laps, and Henri Pescarolo's only flier was cut short y end of final session. Qualified 34th. Henri
Pescarolo forced to do most of night driving, delays including puncture on straight and fractured brake line. Consistent
if unspectacular run earned 6th place at the flag.

#9 - Brand new works chassis with 20 laps of Weissach, and overseen by factory's Norbert Singer. Attempt at pole
ruined by broken qualifying engine early on first day, before any qualifying tyre run. Race engine and soft tyres earned
5th place for Hans Stuck on second day. Hans Stuck admitting to bieng Group C rusty. Bob Wollek held back from first
charge, but worked up to second by lap 5. Took the lead when Jaguar #3 stopped at Mulsanne. Continued to set the
pace through the evening, extending the lead to nearly three laps when 13 minutes was lost with a broken water pipe
at 01:20. Delayed through rest of evening by topping up of water at stops and pit fire at 03:50, but among the
quickest cars during cool of night. Firm 3rd place once all Jaguars delayed, own clutch problem prevented shot at
leading Saubers in morning. Third at the flag, Hans Stuck doing remarkable 197 laps himself!