Sunday, May 10, 2015

The 1984 Camel GT Championship season was the 14th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP class prototypes and GTO and GTU class Grand Tourer-style racing cars. It began February 4, 1984 and ended November 25, 1984 after seventeen rounds. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_IMSA_GT_Championship_season.

The 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 52nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 – 17 June 1984. It was also the third round of the 1984 World Endurance Championship.
The works Rothmans Porsche team boycotted the 1984 Le Mans race due to a disagreement between Porsche and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) over the fuel regulations, meaning that drivers such as multiple winners Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell were absent from the race for the first time in many years. Porsche originally stated that its contracted drivers would not be allowed to race with any other team, however they did relent only two or three weeks before the race. 1983 co-winner Vern Schuppan was the only member of the Rothmans team to race in 1984, eagerly snapped up by Kremer Racing to drive a Porsche 956B he would share with fellow Australian, 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones, and experienced French driver Jean-Pierre Jarier.
1984 saw the largest ever influx of Australian drivers in the race, with not only defending race winner Schuppan and ex-World Champion Jones driving, but also Peter Brock and ex-F1 driver Larry Perkins in a 956 supplied by John Fitzpatrick Racing, Rusty French in the second Kremer Porsche 956 (French's drive was a reward from Porsche for winning the 1983 Australian GT Championship in a Porsche 935), Allan Grice in a Charles Ivey Racing 956, and regular Group C2 competitor Neil Crang in a Spice-Tiga Racing Tiga GC84.
Jaguar made its first official appearance at Le Mans for the first time since 1959 when Bob Tullius' Group 44 team brought over its two Jaguar XJR-5's powered by 6.0 litre Jaguar V12 engines from America. Group 44 racing, with the full backing of Jaguar, would compete in the IMSA / GTP class.
Reinhold Joest's privately entered 956 driven by Frenchman Henri Pescarolo and West German Klaus Ludwig won the race in the #7 Porsche 956B. For Pescarolo it was his fourth and last win at Le Mans, while for Ludwig it was his second win. After starting 3rd on the grid, the pair were only in 30th place after the first hour after pitting twice in the first 5 laps to fix a minor fuel feed problem after which the car ran almost faultlessly. The Porsche 956 dominated the final standings, taking the top seven places. The first non-Porsche 956 to finish was the Martini Racing Lancia LC2 of Bob Wollek and Alessandro Nannini. Wollek set the pole for the race with a 3:17.11 (248.873 km/h - 154.642 mp/h), some 11 seconds faster than Ludwig in the fastest Porsche. Formula 2 ace Nannini would set the races fastest lap and new lap record with a time of 3:28.90 (234.818 km/h - 145.908 mp/h) on lap 261, a time that would have been good enough for 5th place on the starting grid.[1]
During the race, a French marshal, Jacky Loiseau (42) was killed when British driver John Sheldon crashed massively in the Aston Martin powered Nimrod NRA/C2 at the flat out right-hand kink on the Mulsanne Straight, a crash that also involved the second Aston Martin Nimrod of American driver Drake Olson, who hit some of the strewn bodywork from Sheldon's Nimrod that had caught fire and crashed as well. He was unhurt. Another marshal, Andre-Guy Lefebvre (48) was seriously injured, but survived. Sheldon survived the 200 mph (322 km/h) crash, but he was severely burned, and the Nimrod's explosive impact against the Armco barriers was so violent, that some of the trees next to the track where the impact took place had been set on fire. The race was not stopped immediately, only that section of the straight was under caution, to protect the marshals and firefighters cleaning up the accident. Soon after, four pace cars were brought out under a full course caution, which lasted for 1 hour. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans.

Race Results:
Rnd Circuit GTP Winning Team GTO Winning Team GTU Winning Team Results
GTP Winning Drivers GTO Winning Drivers GTU Winning Drivers
1 Daytona South Africa #00 Kreepy Krauly Racing United States #4 Stratagraph Inc. United States #76 Malibu Grand Prix Results
South Africa Sarel van der Merwe
South Africa Graham Duxbury
South Africa Tony Martin
United States Terry Labonte
United States Billy Hagan
United States Gene Felton
United States Jack Baldwin
United States Jim Cook
United States Ira Young
United States Bob Reed
2 Miami United States #04 Group 44 United States #47 Dingman Bros. Racing United States #99 All American Racers Results
United States Doc Bundy
United Kingdom Brian Redman
United States Walt Bohren United States Chris Cord
3 Sebring Colombia #48 DeNarvaez Enterprises United States #4 Stratagraph Inc. United States #76 Malibu Grand Prix Results
Colombia Mauricio DeNarvaez
Germany Hans Heyer
Sweden Stefan Johansson
United States Terry Labonte
United States Billy Hagan
United States Gene Felton
United States Jack Baldwin
United States Bob Reed
United States Ira Young
4 Road Atlanta United States #16 Marty Hinze Racing United States #4 Stratagraph Inc. United States #76 Malibu Grand Prix Results
United States Don Whittington United States Billy Hagan
United States Gene Felton
United States Jack Baldwin
United States Bob Reed
5 Riverside United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #38 Mandeville Auto Tech United States #87 Performance Motorsports Results
United States Don Whittington
United States Randy Lanier
United States Roger Mandeville
United States Amos Johnson
United States Elliot Forbes-Robinson
United States John Schneider
6 Laguna Seca United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #77 Brooks Racing United States #99 All American Racers Results
United States Randy Lanier United States John Bauer United States Jim Adams
7 Charlotte United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #4 Stratagraph Inc. United States #99 All American Racers Results
United States Bill Whittington
United States Randy Lanier
United States Billy Hagan
United States Gene Felton
United States Chris Cord
United States Jim Adams
8 Lime Rock South Africa #00 Kreepy Krauly Racing United States #38 Mandeville Auto Tech United States #76 Malibu Grand Prix Results
South Africa Sarel van der Merwe United States Roger Mandeville United States Jack Baldwin
9 Mid-Ohio United States #14 Holbert Racing United States #91 Electrodyne United States #66 Mike Meyer Racing Results
United States Al Holbert
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United States Chester Vincentz
United States Dave White
United States Jack Dunham
United States Jeff Kline
10 Watkins Glen United States #14 Holbert Racing United States #91 Electrodyne United States #87 Performance Motorsports Results
United States Al Holbert
United States Jim Adams
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United States Chester Vincentz
United States Jim Mullen
United States Elliot Forbes-Robinson
United States John Schneider
11 Portland United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #51 Corvette United States #76 Malibu Grand Prix Results
United States Bill Whittington
United States Randy Lanier
United States David Schroeder
United States Tom Hendrickson
United States Jack Baldwin
12 Sears Point United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #77 Brooks Racing United States #98 All American Racers Results
United States Bill Whittington United States John Bauer United States Dennis Aase
13 Road America United States #14 Holbert Racing United States #91 Electrodyne United States #66 Mike Meyer Racing Results
United States Al Holbert
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United States Chester Vincentz
United States Jim Mullen
United States Jack Dunham
United States Jeff Kline
14 Pocono United States #14 Holbert Racing United States #65 English Enterprises United States #87 Performance Motorsports Results
United States Al Holbert
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United States Gene Felton United States Elliot Forbes-Robinson
United States John Schneider
15 Michigan United States #56 Blue Thunder Racing United States #91 Electrodyne United States #84 Dole Racing Results
United States Bill Whittington
United States Randy Lanier
United States Chester Vincentz
United States Jim Mullen
United States Clay Young
16 Watkins Glen United States #57 Blue Thunder Racing United States #91 Electrodyne United States #84 Dole Racing Results
United States Dale Whittington
United States Randy Lanier
United States Chester Vincentz
United States Jim Mullen
United States Clay Young
17 Daytona United States #14 Holbert Racing United States #67 Roush Racing United States #87 Performance Motorsports Results
United States Al Holbert
United Kingdom Derek Bell
United States Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
United States Willy T. Ribbs
United States Elliot Forbes-Robinson
United States John Schneider

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