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Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Le Mans Classic: Breaking the 50-year curse
Almost 50 years since Porsche delivered it to Jean ‘Beurlys’ Blaton, and after six attempts at Le Mans (Classic), 911MotorsportBelgium finally broke the curse that seemed to hound their Porsche 934, chassis 0153. This July, Johan-Frank Dirickx and crew, did not just finish at Le Mans Classic, they took a fabulous class win as well. Buckle up for an insider’s view at Le Mans Classic 2025, as told by 911MotorsportBelgium’s co-driver Quinten Devreker.
The Porsche 934 Turbo RSR was presented 50 years ago, and ran its first races one year later. With the Turbo, Porsche promised its private clients access to close to 500 hp and 300 kph. A beast. Only, beasts come with reputations, and the Porsche 934 was no stranger to that. This particular car, chassis 0153, had a particularly troublesome time at Le Mans, failing to reach the finish in each of its participations.
Hell-bent on turning this 934’s fortune, owner Johan-Frank Dirickx of the JFD Collection, had come prepared to Le Mans Classic (LMC) in 2023. Despite two engine rebuilds by ‘Porsche specialists’, our engine seized just five laps into the event. For our big man, this was not the time to throw in the towel; he just saw it as a signal to do things his own way, the way 911MotorsportBelgium operates best. After a year in the magic hands of Raf Verhoeven, our in-house rebuilt engine was finally ready for its successful roll-out at the Abbeville Track this April (see Tazio Magazine, issue 15). The second that engine reawakened, one thing was clear to me: LMC 2025 was going to be a very different ball game!
World’s greatest campsite
Arriving at Le Mans Classic always feels like you are being teleported back to the opening scenes of Steve McQueen’s greatest movie. As you enter the campsite, you see a Lola T70, a Chevron B or an Alfa Romeo TZ1 being unloaded from their trucks in between the trees. Or you find a Ferrari 275 GTB and Porsche 924 GTR casually parked behind the lavatories. As we are towing our beast from the campsite to the paddock, we see a 917 and a 935 K3 standing next to the garbage containers, because where else would you leave them right?
Entering the world’s most remarkable motorsport amphitheatre, the Le Mans pitlane, is a spectacle of its own. Moving through a dark and narrow hallway below the pit grandstand on Friday afternoon, I’m all geared up, filled with excitement, ignoring that slight nudge of nervousness. As I enter the pitlane, darkness makes way for a bright open sky. Is there a better place to be on Earth right now? Not in my world! Our beautiful red-and-white Porsche 934 Turbo RSR in ‘VSD’ livery suddenly stops right in front me. As ‘Le Patron’ Johan gets out of the car, that typical hoarse idle engine sound welcomes me. While I’m getting strapped in the hot seat, I hear a short “all fine Sir” from Johan, and with that, the door shuts. It’s (finally) time to hit the Circuit de La Sarthe once more after two years of waiting. My first qualifying session gets underway.
‘Give me boost’
Leaving the pitlane, a quick check-up on the (well-filled) dashboard tells me our Porsche 934 seems to be in good condition. After a gentle warm-up lap, I feel it is time to stretch the legs of our beast a bit. Moving through the Dunlop Curve, Dunlop Chicane, and the Esses, the 934 feels in its element through those sweeping sections. It is mainly a question of anticipating correctly the spooling of the single turbocharger to keep the car where you want it to be. Approaching Tertre Rouge, we properly line up the Zuffenhausen rollercoaster for the real thing: the long straight of Les Hunaudières!
Even though the long four-speed gearbox and the limited exhaust noise don’t really give me that impression, passing the noise-making BMW M1 and Porsche 911 Carrera RSR make it clear that we are indeed travelling (really) fast! I approach the first chicane cutting up the long straight. 300 Metres, 200 metres,… God I love those splendid brakes taken from the 917. Coming out of the chicane, my mind immediately goes ‘boost, please give me boost’. The beast responds me in the form of a slight spooling whistle, shakes off the turbolag and catapults me towards the second chicane, and then again towards Mulsanne Corner.
Red flag
This part of the track also brings to light another ‘interesting’ feature of the Porsche 934. It is not just the ‘from zero to slingshot’ big turbo effect, which by the way doesn’t always kick in at the same rpm, let alone in a consistent way at the same corner on different laps. No, the Porsche 934 has another surprise in store. Under the Group 4 regulations at the time, Porsche wasn’t allowed to redesign the original rear wing. As it turned out, at high speeds, the rear of the Porsche 934 actually generates… lift! Which makes those two slight righthand corners on the fastest part of the track between the Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners quite a peculiar handful.
Through Indianapolis and Arnage the Porsche 934’s chassis feels perfectly balanced, and as the turbo kicks in again, we’re going once more through all the gears towards the wonderful Porsche Curves. The agility of the chassis and the Avon slick tyres make the 934 a joy to steer through this section, although keeping the turbo ready for deployment as you hit the exit of this section makes it a bit tricky. With only the Ford Curves and the Raccordement to conclude, I feel this is going to be a good marker lap. And then what happens? Red flag! Session over!
Slow zones
Slightly frustrated, I enter the pitlane. My mind travels back to the exact same thought I experienced here two years ago. The Porsche 934 feels like it was built for this place. Spa-Francorchamps is nice, but here at Le Mans, the whistles, the bangs, the flame-spitting exhaust, the slingshots, the turbolags, they all make sense! Ending the session in 66th place was not where we expected to be, but one look at our data shows we never had a clean lap due to the many slow zones and the red flag either. And with four competitors out already – one of them a Porsche 934/5 with engine trouble – we should not complain too much.
Night practice
During night practice, the first part went very well for Johan. For me, this is the first time I’m getting to enjoy the magic of Le Mans Classic at night behind the wheel. On the straight, I hit 282.6 kph, with margin left, apparently. The next thing I know, I was in for one of those unpleasant surprised historic racing can throw at you. In the braking zone for the first chicane on the Hunaudières straight, all of a sudden a greasy spot has appeared. Luckily, I had come off the accelerator 100 metres before my usual braking spot, crucially giving me both the time and space to come up with a solution. Aiming and sliding the Porsche 934 just before the first left kerbstone, I manage to kill the momentum with just a slight excursion through the gravel with the left wheels only. My heart rate probably went into hyperdrive, but I manage to get the car through without so much as a scratch.
Race 1 and 2(?)
‘Le Patron’ takes the start in our first race of the weekend on Saturday and manages to moving up four places before the mandatory pitstop, where I am ready to do my duty. Just as I’m ready to pull away, I hear one of our boys shout that one word no driver wants to hear at this moment: ‘STOP!’
As I pull the kill switch, I feel the car is being jacked up at the rear. Bummer! Luckily, we have completed enough laps to be classified, and even ended up second in class. However, we now had a camshaft sealing problem that needed to be fixed over the next four hours. Which brings me to the part I like the most about historic racing (besides being behind the wheel). The never-ending willingness to succeed of our 911MotorsportBelgium, their creative problem-solving skills, and the immediate support of other competitors. That’s what it’s all about in a team sport like this. Seeing the excitement, a couple of hours later in the eyes of The Boys when they fixed the issue, is just priceless.
Another thing you need to be able to do, is cope with disappointment. Here you are, waiting on the pre-grid, at night, in the pouring rain, ready to race, with a mechanic sitting next to you in the cockpit, and the windows fogging up. Two hours later, you are still sitting there, only to suddenly hear that your second race of the weekend is being cancelled due to the conditions. Aagh!! Really?
Mission accomplished
A short nap later, we prepare ourselves for the final race of the weekend, with a wet track for breakfast on a what is a drizzling Sunday morning at Le Mans. It seemed the ideal breakfast for ‘Le Patron’, as he stormed through the field from 66th, gaining 17 places in three laps, before handing over our beast to me for the last time. Having never driven the car in the rain, I was a bit curious to say the least. To my surprise, the Porsche 934 is an absolute joy to drive in the rain at Le Mans. I expected the rear to be all over the place (my preferred style) but with a smooth driving style on the wet line, the car really grips at the front and back, even with the turbo on. With fogged up windows, and plenty of rain falling, I continue on Johan’s progress, finally netting 37th overall by just 0.02 seconds at the finish line (sorry Mister Chevron B). More importantly, we won our GTS32C class this time! Mission accomplished for the Porsche 934 Turbo RSR, at last!
A love affair?
After experiencing another tremendous Le Mans Classic with 911MotorsportBelgium I can only conclude two things. First of all, what this team has achieved over the past two years with the Porsche 934 Turbo RSR is immense. Since the rebuild, and besides that small sealing hiccup, the car hasn’t missed a beat. It is now more powerful, slightly more predictable, a lot more enjoyable, and certainly more reliable than ever before. My utmost respect to the entire team! Last but not least, I do agree that it’s (usually) an untamed beast to drive. I totally get why it is called ‘the widow maker’. But when you get everything right, and you respect this beast, it’s so hard not to fall in love with its beauty, or at least, it is for me.
Most certainly, to be continued…
