Le Mans 73

In 1973 Matra competed against Ferrari for the World Champion title for constructors and Ferrari came to Le Mans as the race could be decisive for the title. The beginning of the sport championship had showed that the Matras 670 had better handling but the Ferraris showed better reliability.

John Wyer was back with two Cosworth-powered Gulf Mirage M6 roadsters. In 1000 km races the M6s had proven they were serious competitors and only a slight advantage allowed the Matras and Ferraris to dominate them. But had that time nobody would consider the a car powered Cosworth DFV, a flat plane V8 engine known for its destructive vibrations, as a favorite for Le Mans.

Ferrari sent the Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace 312 out first as a rabbit. The Matra raced theur plan and let the Ferrari go. While the Matra were all running at the same speed, the Ferraris had diversified plans Carlos Reutemann and Tim Schenken were running among the Matra. While Jackie Ickx and Brian Redman were running with the slowest 3L cars the Lolas and the private Alfa Romeo.

Ferrari swapped the lead with Matra through the next four hours, but Pescarolo could repeat his victory with Gérard Larrousse as co-driver.

// Extracted from Wikipedia (see full text clicking here)//

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