10th May, 2006
Entries for the historic support races at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours
include some rarely seen historic gems. In celebration of the Centenary of the
Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), this year sees not one, but two historic support
races, both taking place on the morning of Saturday 17th June, a few
hours before the start of the modern 24 Hours.
In the ACO Centenary Race for post-War cars up to 1955, entries
include the ex-Fangio Alfa Romeo 6C 3000CM, once given to Peron, President of
Argentina; the Works Ferrari 750 Monza, built by the Factory for Maglioli and
Bucci in the 1955 Buenos Aires 1000Km; and the very first production C-type,
after the first 3 racers – now the oldest C-type in the world.
There’s also the OSCA MT4 originally owned by Briggs Cunningham; an Porsche 356;
Cooper Jaguar UBH 292 – the first Jaguar chassis made by
Cooper and the car driven by Dick Steed in the 1957 Mille Miglia; a 1951
lightweight XK120 built by Jaguar as a standby for Le Mans in case the C-types
weren’t ready; not to mention Aston Martin DB2s, a Gullwing Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari
375MM, Fiat 8V, Triumph TR2 and many other icons of their era.
The ACO Centenary Race for pre-War cars is no less exciting, with entries ranging
from Lagonda V12 Le Mans, to Lea-Francis, Rileys and an ex-Amherst Villiers Bugatti
Type 35, which in 1928 was raced by Raymond Mays. There’s an Invicta (raced in the
1950s by Lord Hamilton) as well as Bentley 3-Litres and 4½-Litres; plus a Stutz
Blackhawk to challenge them. The Aston Martin entries include Speed Models and
Ulsters, while former England Rugby Captain David Cooke will be racing his Alfa
Romeo 6C. Meanwhile there are Talbots, Alta Sports and BMW 328s; plus a whole host
of MGs – from PB to K3.
Each ACO Centenary Race is 40 minutes long, and will start with the
traditional ‘ear of corn’ formation where the drivers run across the track to
their cars. The pace car leading the formation lap before each race will be a
CAV GT – a top quality re-production of the Ford GT40 built by South Africa-based
Auto Futura. Sir Stirling Moss will pilot the CAV GT during the first pace car
lap and, when Sir Stirling takes his place as a competitor on the grid for the
second race, he will hand the CAV GT pace car over to race driver and journalist
Tony Dron.
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