Why did races used to start with drivers running to the car?
Discussion
Well, the name has pointed me to a lot of articles telling me why they had to *stop* using the Le Mans start, but no more info on why they chose it to begin with (that I can find, anyway).
A weekend at the library might be in order.
A weekend at the library might be in order.
The Le Mans start was to stop the drivers cheating, as they had to put the hoods up on the cars before they drove off, and some drivers used to cheat by putting up the car hood early.
From 1925, the cars no longer lined up in rows but were placed in what was to be called the "Le Mans start" :
i.e, lined up diagonally against the pits in decreasing cubic capacity order.
To prevent the drivers from jumping the gun in putting up their hood, they were lined up on the other side of the road and sprinted to their cars. This type of start was used until 1969!
From 1925, the cars no longer lined up in rows but were placed in what was to be called the "Le Mans start" :
i.e, lined up diagonally against the pits in decreasing cubic capacity order.
To prevent the drivers from jumping the gun in putting up their hood, they were lined up on the other side of the road and sprinted to their cars. This type of start was used until 1969!
lbc said:
The Le Mans start was to stop the drivers cheating, as they had to put the hoods up on the cars before they drove off, and some drivers used to cheat by putting up the car hood early.
From 1925, the cars no longer lined up in rows but were placed in what was to be called the "Le Mans start" :
i.e, lined up diagonally against the pits in decreasing cubic capacity order.
To prevent the drivers from jumping the gun in putting up their hood, they were lined up on the other side of the road and sprinted to their cars. This type of start was used until 1969!
The run was stopped, but for a while, they still started lined up against the pits and started on the button. – See the McQueen Le Mans film for a superb action sequence.From 1925, the cars no longer lined up in rows but were placed in what was to be called the "Le Mans start" :
i.e, lined up diagonally against the pits in decreasing cubic capacity order.
To prevent the drivers from jumping the gun in putting up their hood, they were lined up on the other side of the road and sprinted to their cars. This type of start was used until 1969!
RealSquirrels said:
i'd love to know if anyone ever got in the wrong car, just for a laugh.
I was chatting to an old (about my age now) mechanic at a Silverstone Historic and he was tending a Moss F1 Lotus. I mentioned that I'd seen him a few times in sports cars and mentioned the Scagliatti 250SWB at Brands and he said he was there and we were immediate friends. He told the story below, much to the amusement of his mate, a bit younger but not much. 'That one again' he said.For Le Mans style starts (not only used for Le Mans by the way) Moss used to use a little trickery, such as a bit of wood to stop the door closing properly so he could open the door without using the handle. He had a bet once with Hawthorn as to who could get around the first corner first. The amount of money was circa £5.
The drivers were all stood on their spots. The 30secs to go board went up and Hawthorn strolled across the circuit. The only noise to break the silence was Moss calling out: You b
d, Hawthorn.Hawthorn got a time penalty but got his £5.
Things were different in those days.
Great Dane said:
The english privateer John Woolfe was killed in 69 on the first lap because of this start.. he did have time to do up his belt in the 917...
"Did" or "didn't"?Didn't some of the drivers (led by Jackie Ickx) stroll to their cars in protest over the traditional Le Mans start at the beginning of the 1970 or 1971 race?
Pwig said:
They still do it in some motorbike races!
A club I used to race with (Andreas Racing Association on the IoM) runs an endurance event as a season closer complete with Le Mans start with the bikes been held from the rear by a team member as the designated rider sprints across the track. It's not a terribly serious affair with a lot (most?) teams just treating it as a bit of fun and a chance to give pit crew, mates, and supporters who have (or can be bothered to get and fancy a go) race licenses a chance to get some "seat time". The second time I did it the bike we were using had been fitted with an auxiliary start button mounted on the seat hump (I think the idea was that during TT/Manx GP pit stops the crew rather than rider would take responsibilty for starting the bike to avoid embarassing incidents due to premature departure) with the result that inevitably our bike was running before the rider was within three feet of it, resulting in a lightning getaway.
Yes of course it got spotted and we were penalised but that's not the point, we were never going to win anyway and everybody had a jolly good laugh about it in the pub afterwards which very much was the point :-)
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