1990 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 58th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 1990.[1]
1990 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
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Index: Races | Winners |
Track changes
Two chicanes were introduced along the Mulsanne Straight prior to the race. This was done to reduce the maximum speed of the cars after the Sauber C9 of Kenny Acheson reached 400 km/h (249 mph) the previous year.[2][3] FISA refused to renew the licence for the track unless the chicanes were installed to comply with a ruling passed by the World Motor Sport Council.[4] The ruling decreed no circuit licensed by FISA may have a straight longer than 2km.[4]
Race
The Sauber team did not compete after backers Mercedes pulled out of the race when it was declared a non-championship event.[5] This left Jaguar, Nissan and Porsche as the main contenders for the overall winner.[6] The #3 Jaguar (now running an XJR-12) walked away with the trophy, after the Nissans and the #1 Jaguar broke down.[6] After electrical problems with his own car, Martin Brundle replaced Eliseo Salazar in the Jaguar #3 car en route to victory.[6]
Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).
Statistics
- Pole Position - Mark Blundell, #24 Nissan Motorsports International - 3:27.020[1]
- Fastest Lap - Steve Millen, #84 Nissan Performance Technology Inc. - 3:40.030[1]
- Distance - 4882.4 km
- Average Speed - 204.036 km/h
- Highest Trap Speed — Jaguar XJR-12 - 353 km/h (219 mph) (race), Nissan R90CK - 366 km/h (227 mph) (qualifying)
References
- "1990 Le Mans 24 hrs overview". Motor Sport Magazine. July 1990. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "1989 Le Mans 24 Hours" C.Moity & J.M. Teissedre, Autotechnica, London 1989
- http://www.mulsannescorner.com/maxspeed.html
- "FISA waves stick at Le Mans". Motor Sport Magazine. January 1990. p. 74. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "Mercedes' Le Mans Dilemma". Motor Sport Magazine. April 1990. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "The Year of the Cat". Motor Sport Magazine. July 1990. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-01-08.