25th - 26th June
55 starters 20 classified finishers1960 saw the Americans back in strength with the national colours of blue stripes on a white background being carried by 4 Chevrolet Camaros, 3 from the Briggs Cunningham stable which also entered a Jaguar designated the E2A, the forerunner of the E - Type. Camoradi was the other team carrying the US banner with one Chevrolet Camaro and 3 Maseratis. Gendebien's second win put him on an equal footing with Rossignol, Birkin, Sommer, Wimille, Bueb and Flockhart. As for his co - driver Paul Frere, his first victory was also to be his last as, faithful to a promise made to his wife, he hung up his helmet with the winner's garland still warm in his hands! Indeed, there were 3 Belgians among the first four drivers as Teddy Pilette shared the second - placed Ferrari with Ricardo Rodriguez. An error in calculating fuel consumption almost eliminated all the Testa Rossas in the first hour. A Maserati was quickest on Les Hunaudieres at 273 km/h and also set the fastest lap but the trident emblemed cars proved allergic to the rain. Lotus and D. B shared the honours in the Indexes. The overweight Corvettes (1350 kilos) were unable to match the pace of the G. T Ferraris. With no more works Aston Martins and Jaguar on the decline the race was Italian dominated. The start of an event again marked by violent storms, was given by the Prince de Merode, President of the F. I. A and the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium.
CIRCUIT :
413,461 kms. No significant changes.
REGUlATIONS:
No cubic capacity limit for the GTs but a minimum of 1000 ccs. The interval between refuelling in oil and water reduced to 25 laps while refuelling in petrol was free. No driver could cover more than 52 consecutive laps. 25 cm minimum imposed for the windscreens as in the Appendix "c" (sport) and "J" (grand touring) of the C. S. I. Fuel tank capacity varied between 60 and 140 litres according to the cubic capcity.
STARTERS:
55 cars 5 nations 18 makes
France: 5 D. B. s
Germany: 6 Porsches
Great Britain: 2 A. C. s, 2 Aston Martins, 2 Austin Healeys, 2 Jaguars, 1 Lola, 4 Lotuses, 1 M. G, 3 Triumphs.
Italy: 1 Alfa Romeo, 1 Conrero, 12 Ferraris, 3 Fiat - Abarths, 3 Maseratis, 2 Oscas, 1 Stanguellini.
United States of America: 4 Chevrolets.SUMMARY:
The Jaguar prototype, E2A, which set the fastest lap in practice, appeared in the Briggs Cunningham colours and was a forerunner of the E - Type (or a development of the D-Type according to a Jaguar press release of 6th April 1960) and had an all - aluminium 3 litre engine. Power was transmitted through a 4 speed gearbox and the car is reckoned to have touched 300 km/h on Les Hunaudieres. The Chevrolet Corvettes were fitted with fuel injected (Rochester) 4640 cc engines. Maserati was back with three 3 litre Tipo 61s with modified bodywork of which no. 24 exploited the new windscreen regulations to their very limit. Original bodywork clothed the Triumph TR4s fitted with 2000 cc double overhead camshaft engines. The Porsche RS 60 were Evolutions of the RSK, and also present was a Carrera 1600 GS designed by Abarth and built by Reuter. The M.G. Twin Cam fitted with a pretty hardtop, had an engine bored out to 1762 ccs. One of the 5 D. B. s, all weighing under 500 kgs, was fitted with a peculiar "van" type body. Lightest car was the Lola - Climax which topped the scales at a mere 457 kgs!
Masten Gregory set off like a bat out of hell in his "Birdcage" Maserati leading for just over the first hour. Then down came the rain which drowned the Tipo 61's electrics, a malady which also eliminated the Munari Scarlatti car. The Ferrari camp also hit trouble as 2 of the works cars (Scarfiotti Rodriguez and Phil Hill - Von Trips) ran out of fuel before the end of their first stint. The Scuderia had underestimated the effects of the new windscreen regs on fuel consunption. As the new Jaguar went out during the night due to fuel injection pipe failure leading to burned pistons and a blown gasket, the remaining Testa Rossas only had to contend with an old D - Type and 2 privately entered DBRI Aston Martins. Early-morning saw the demise of the D - Type and finally Ferrari scored a one - two with one of the Aston Martins in third place but unable to match the pace of the second placed Luigi Chinetti entered 250 TR driven by Ricardo Rodriguez and Teddy Pilette. Porsche again failed to shine and even if the 3 Triumph TR4s made it to the finish, valve problems towards the end of the race prevented them from covering the necessary distance to be classified. In the GT category the Corvettes were no match for the Ferraris, victory going to local boy Fernand Tavono with the Belgian "Loustel " as his co - driver, followed by 3 other Ferraris all on the 'same lap. Lotus came first and second in the Thermal Efficiency Index.
RECORDS:
Once again the rain prevented the old records from being broken. Masten Gregory's Maserati was the quickest but his 4'04", 198, 605 km/h, was still well down on previous yearSports Car Races
Author: ArchitectPage
