Le Mans 1986 Jo Gartner crash

Le Mans 1986 Jo Gartner crash

Author
Discussion

lasuze

Original Poster:

53 posts

163 months

Monday 2nd April 2018
quotequote all
Now I'm happy to be corrected if I've got this totally wrong, however

Jo Gartner crashed on the Mulsanne straight.

Then why is his stone memorial located between Arnage and the Porsche curves

As stated before I might have got this wrong but can anybody help me out

Great Dane

2,723 posts

166 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
lasuze said:
Now I'm happy to be corrected if I've got this totally wrong, however

Jo Gartner crashed on the Mulsanne straight.

Then why is his stone memorial located between Arnage and the Porsche curves

As stated before I might have got this wrong but can anybody help me out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Enjolras pixs coming along

lasuze

Original Poster:

53 posts

163 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for the reply Great Dane but that link does not work

Great Dane

2,723 posts

166 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
Great Dane said:
lasuze said:
Now I'm happy to be corrected if I've got this totally wrong, however

Jo Gartner crashed on the Mulsanne straight.

Then why is his stone memorial located between Arnage and the Porsche curves

As stated before I might have got this wrong but can anybody help me out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Enjolras pixs coming along
couldn't find my pixs but thatnk to google maps... here is the exact place... the white 'blob' is his memorial... I visit it every year... Being a Dane I also go to Allan's tree https://goo.gl/maps/RoFM7nDwswP2

lasuze

Original Poster:

53 posts

163 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
Yes thanks for that I know it well and have visited on several occasions, but why is it there?

Surely that's not where he crashed

fatboy18

18,947 posts

211 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
From the Wiki
"Whilst contesting the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans for Kremer Racing with teammates Sarel van der Merwe and Kunimitsu Takahashi, Gartner's Porsche 962 suffered a mechanical failure at 2:10 am on the Sunday morning, and turned hard left into the barriers on the Mulsanne Straight at 160 mph (260 km/h). The car somersaulted down the track, hit a telephone pole and caught fire resting on the barriers on the opposite side of the track. Gartner was killed on impact,[3] due to a broken neck.[2] Although the cause of the accident was never determined, two marshals saw Gartner brake on the straight before the car veered off into the barriers.[2] Gartner was the last fatality at the Le Mans 24 Hours under race conditions until Allan Simonsen was killed in the 2013 race."

The Memorial between Arnage and Porsche curves is (or should be) for Sébastien Enjolras
From the Wiki
" On 3rd May 1997 pre-qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours a month before the race, the rear bodywork detached from Enjolras' car, causing it to become airborne and fly over the safety barriers after the Arnage corner. The car overturned and exploded at high speed, killing Enjolras instantly. Welter withdrew Enjolras' and its other entries, and single-piece bodywork was subsequently banned. He was the first driver fatality at the event since Jo Gartner in 1986, and remained the most recent driver to die until Allan Simonsen's fatal crash in 2013."


Edited by fatboy18 on Tuesday 3rd April 00:57

lasuze

Original Poster:

53 posts

163 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
Thanks fatboy18 I never could read the inscription clearly on the memorial

I'll have a closer look in June

Cheers all I'll now sleep contently!

Great Dane

2,723 posts

166 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
lasuze said:
Thanks for the reply Great Dane but that link does not work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Enjolras

Blib

44,075 posts

197 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
We were at the 2013 race. We were staying with an old friend who lived in the town.

This woman's son was working for Aston Martin at the time and had accompanied the team back to his home town. Sadly, after the accident, he was given a new, far more onerous task. That of escorting Simonsen's family to the hospital.

To compound the family's involvement, his father was a chief fire officer for the town.

A sombre weekend.

Edited by Blib on Tuesday 3rd April 20:03

fatboy18

18,947 posts

211 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2018
quotequote all
Blib said:
We were at the 2013 race. We were staying with an old friend who lived in the town.

This woman's son was working for Aston Martin at the time and had accompanied the team back to his home town. Sadly, after the accident, he was given a new, far more onerous task. That of escorting Simonsen's family to the hospital.

To compound the family's involvement, his father was a chief fire officer for the town.

A sombre weekend.
Myself and my son were with some American Friends standing on the infield at Tete Rouge Corner when that happened, Now doubt about it Simonsen was on a mission, he was flying, When the car bounced back hard off the Arnaco we realised it was not going to end well, then the blue tarpaulin was put over the car while emergency services were working frown

eastlmark

1,654 posts

207 months

Wednesday 4th April 2018
quotequote all
I was half dozing in the car with the commentary on the radio when Jurgen Barth came on and announced the death of Joe Gartner. I started the engine and drove home...... took me till 2005 to ever go back there again.

The Outsiders

16 posts

77 months

Sunday 8th April 2018
quotequote all
Seem to remember visiting the 24hr cafe and the remians of the Porsche were just parked up next to the cafe...horrible sight