Dalmas recounts his 24 1995 Hours of Le Mans

In 1995, Yannick Dalmas went through a somewhat unusual period. After having been one of the major players in the adventure Peugeot 905, with a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992, he contested the DTM at Opel, represented by the Rosberg and Joest teams. In the meantime, the Frenchman doubled his stake in Sarthe in 1994, when Reinhold Joest's group operated the 962 Dauer. Despite two victories in three years, the Varois found himself without a steering wheel for the 1995 edition of the Le Mans classic. Then Keke Rosberg, agent of Mika Häkkinen and therefore close to Ron Dennis, intervenes. The Finn offers the Frenchman a place on a… McLaren. If he is aware of the performance of F1 GTR in BPR, he remains skeptical about the real potential of Gordon Murray's machines on a double clock, what's more in the face of prototypes like the Kremer K8, Ferrari 333 SP – which have just respectively won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring – and other Courages. Before giving his answer, Yannick asks to see this pretty GT up close.
Responding to his wishes, McLaren organized a test at Silverstone with the development chassis. “The car seemed quite heavy to me,” the person remembers. It was rolling and the precision of the gearbox control by cable left something to be desired. In short, I was quite disappointed. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the engine, which had phenomenal torque and an exceptional sound. » Present, Gordon Murray offered him a contract with JJ Lehto – his teammate in DTM – and a Japanese driver (Masanori Sekiya) who would bring a sponsor. “I respond to him by listing the points that surprise me and on which we need to work, then ask to talk about them again after a second test session,” continues Yannick.

The team returns to Silverstone before heading to Magny-Cours at the end of May for a 24-hour simulation. The Frenchman particularly appreciates the atmosphere reigning in Paul Lanzante's team and lets himself be tempted. “There was enthusiasm and goodwill even if, sometimes, we had to improvise,” he recalls. During the simulation, the pace is sustained but without excess. The gearbox control appears to be the Achilles heel of the English, the tendency of the cable to lengthen having repercussions on the engine. The non-assisted steering also poses a problem with significant harsh sensations. No-force braking requires drivers to adapt their driving, and poor lighting leads them to add lamps in the center of the hood. As the laps go by, Yannick and the drivers present – ​​representing the other McLaren teams – get to grips with the F1 GTR. But when the thinking heads of Woking asked Yannick his opinion, he replied: “The task is going to be very, very, tough. »

The rain dance

At Le Mans, a motivated but reserved group presents itself. Responsible for qualifying, Lehto set the best time of the seven McLarens present in 3'57"18 without seeking absolute performance, but still 11" from pole, signed by WR. The No. 1 F59 GTR of Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing is even beaten, in GT1, by three Ferrari F40s. As a precaution, Yannick worries to JJ whether he has over-revved. “Maybe one or two,” he replied. Same for Sekiya. I was sure I had made one. Even if BMW assures us that the V12 can withstand this type of incident without any problem, I insist that they check it. Finally, they realize that the pistons have touched the valves. We have to change the engine, which will take all of Friday and force us to carry out a shakedown at the airport around midnight! »

On Saturday morning, Dalmas and his teammates were very skeptical. But when we tell them about dark clouds not far from the circuit, the smiles return. “In charge of the departure, while I was concentrating in the caravan, I heard a few drops falling. I then said to myself that a miracle was possible.” It's going to take an hour for the rain to come to the party. But among the cars at fault is… the #1 F59 GTR. Yannick hit the tires at the Dunlop chicane, fortunately at low speed. After two hours of racing, the McLaren of Derek Bell-Justin Bell-Andy Wallace is in command. The F1 GTRs monopolize the top three while Yannick is 9th. But Paul Lanzante ordered his pilots to preserve the box. Yannick, for his part, had asked to grease it well along its entire length to maintain the best possible sliding. While the prototypes disappear one after the other from the top places, the McLarens dominate. Nielsen-Bscher-Mass and the Bell family will believe in their lucky stars for a time, but a clutch or gearbox shift will put an end to their dreams.

With precautions

However, before climbing to the top of the podium, Dalmas, Lehto and Sekiya – who came to get married at Le Mans in 1987 – experienced many scares. “We all did a few tricks and survived frightening aquaplaning despite the efforts of the Michelin technicians (who equipped the McLaren Gulf, Giroix and Kokusai. Editor's note) who widened the grooves on the tires,” underlines the Frenchman. We managed to gain three seconds per lap, which allowed us to put pressure on the cars in front of us. We left the Tertre Rouge twenty meters behind the Courage C34 but overtook it before the first chicane thanks to our top speed. But as we braked 100 meters earlier, she overtook us and so on. It was nervously exhausting. »

And for good reason, from Sunday morning, the No. 59 must monitor the comeback of the Andretti-Wollek-Hélary trio who, on a dry track again, managed to catch two of the three laps behind which they were at nightfall. of the night. But they will be three minutes short of preventing McLaren from achieving the crazy challenge of winning at Le Mans in its first participation. “We didn't have a problem with the box because we were very careful,” assures Dalmas. And once the track was dry, we went as fast as possible while remaining reasonable. We had a great group. The mechanics were British, the engine builders German, the pilots were Finnish, French and Japanese, which required us to have an interpreter. But this has never posed a problem for us. This “impossible challenge” side increased energies tenfold. So, since the central driving position made it difficult to change drivers, we agreed to keep the same seat. To make maneuvering easier, we cut the top and bottom of the steering wheel, even though it made life more difficult on the track because of the roll. It is thanks to these details that we made the difference over the other McLarens, whose drivers were less careful than us. One day, I spoke about it with Derek Bell (3rd. Editor's note), who admitted that they had never thought about lubricating the gearbox control or disengaging each gear change. »

Looking back, Yannick Dalmas, who never got behind the wheel of an F1 GTR again, believes that this success is above all that of reason. For him, the F1 GTR “is a real GT which, without the rain, would never have won. But she was there at the right time. » This is often the secret of the most beautiful stories.

Find our McLaren file in AUTO issue 2194hebdo, still available in digital version on all platforms.