24 Hours of Le Mans 1968 A French Odyssey

The 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 36th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 28 and 29 September 1968 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France. Originally scheduled for the weekend of 15 and 16 June, the race had to be delayed until September . The rescheduled race increased the chances of the Group 6 Prototypes against the Group 4 Sports cars, as the new Prototype cars had matured during the season. It also increased the amount of darkness that drivers would be racing in compared to June, by about three hours: a total of 11 hours. Its new date made it the tenth and final round of the 1968 World Sportscar Championship of a tense and close championship between Ford and Porsche. There were also two major accidents during the race ending the racing careers of Willy Mairesse and Mauro Bianchi (Lucien’s younger brother), who both suffered severe burns in the crashes.