http://www.lemans-history.com//imagens/1968/image8.jpg

The above is a link to a picture of the 1968 Le Mans seconds away from the go, showing the top-10 of the grid in the process:

1. #31 Porsche
2. #33 Porsche
3. #32 Porsche
4. # 9 Ford
5. #10 Ford
6. #24 Matra

..are the ones I'm interested in here, more specifically numbers 5 and 6 on the grid, as all written accounts I have found of the race says that the Matra started fifth and the #10 Ford in sixth, both having recorded identical 3:41.8s during qualifying! The picture obviously shows otherwise.

The thread intended for anything regarding the 1968 edition of the 24 hour race - therefore the title.

Jesper

Presumably the line-up was in the traditional order of biggest to smallest engines

I think by then they had progressed to practice times. The Matra was in the 2 litre class and all the GT40s and Ferraris in the 5 litre class plus the Porsches and Alpines in the 3 litre class that would have all been ahead of the Matra.
There may have been a local rule about tied practice times - who set it first or alphabetical (or maybe French take priorité )

As the photo shows, the cars were lined up in order of practice times. The report in Autosport shows the 'announced official starting order' which shows the Servoz-Gavin/Pescarolo Matra in 5th and the Hawkins/Hobbs GT40 in 6th, both with the same practice time of 3' 41.8" The actual start line-up is described as 'the three Porsche 908s, the two JW GT40s, the V12 Matra, and then the fourth 908, the fastest Alpine and the third JW car' which agrees with the photo. Could it be that, for whatever reason, the GT40 was entitled to 5th starting spot but the organisers tried to pull a fast one by listing the Matra 5th, which then had to be revised after protest? However, there is no mention of any such incident in the Wyer autobiography.

Sad to think that around a minute after this picture was taken the no 8 Ford would crash on the Mulsanne / Hunaudieres Straight, the accident ultimately leading to the driver taking his own life a year later.

I have a reprint of the Autosport race report saying the same about the grid line-up. I would think that the entry setting the time first would be the entry to line up ahead of another entry with equal qualifying time recorded later. This is only guessing and another possibility could be that JW and Matra (a full 3-litre V12 by 1968) doing a deal to get the two Fords alongside each other for grid photos! It could also be that JW succesfully protested the original grid line-up, moving #10 up on the expence of the Matra. For 1968 a total of 10 hours of qualifying was available over Wednesday and Thursday according to TaTS.
At identical 3:57.4 the #66 Porsche and #40 Alfa Romeo started 22nd and 23rd according to various sources, but can any pictures confirm this?

I think the Willy Mairesse accident was given some attention a while back:
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=73115&hl
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=56595&hl

Jesper

Here's a picture of the start. It looks like both the #10 Ford and the #24 Matra were slow to get away, so neither car gained any real advantage from the starting positions, with the fourth 908, the Alpine and the GT40 of Mairesse jumping ahead of both of them :



Its also interesting to note the car in the red background (one of the Alfa Romeo's ?) that's left the start line but the door is still wide open.

With the Autodelta cars starting 14th (#41), 17th (#39), 21st (#38) and 23rd (#40) and the clearly visible David Piper Ferrari #21 in 28th position, the Alfa Romeo in question must be one of the Racing Team VDS cars starting 33rd (#37) and 35th (#65). My best guess would be that its #65 as I do believe its an Alfa Romeo in the first place: http://www.lemans-history.com//imagens/1968/68lm65.jpg

Another car visible is the greenish/dark #43 Jean-Pierre Gaban Porsche 911, that eventually won the 2-litre GT class. For more than half the race though it was following the #44 Auguste Veuillet 911 that retired in the 23rd hour or so with engine failure. How close was this battle?

Jesper

To me one of the strangest cars to appear in 1968 was the Fiat Dino Spider :



I could understanding choosing the Fiat to complete in the GT class against the likes of the Porsche 911's, but it was entered in the Sports Prototype class against purpose built 2 litre prototypes like the Alfa Romeo 33's, Porsche 910's and Ferrari Dino.

It seems strange to me to have used a production based car to compete in the prototye catagory and just as strange that the ACO accepted it. Having said that I understand that it finished the race and only just missed out on being classifed (it only completed two laps less than the 15th places Austin Healey Sprite).

the car had been homologated in 1967 so could if in that specification have run as a GT, but looking at that lump on the bonnet my guess would be that it was modified and either failed GT scrutineering or was entered as a prototype.

If you understand a little bit french you will have the answer about the Fiat in one of the newspapers of 1968.... just check it here : http://www.autodiva.fr/forum/viewtopic.php...068&start=0

Found the Fiat Dino article and partly had it translated through Google. It's mainly a pre-race pr article, but close enough for the weather to play to the advantage of the Fiat. I did get as much that 74 kgs were pared from the car to get down to 1087 kgs for the race, starting at 1161 kgs - Quentin Spurring's recent book about Le Mans 1960-1969 has the weight of the car as 1161 kgs. Was the 1161 kgs the homologated GT-weight of the Fiat Dino? If so, to find 74 kgs during race week would be hard to find. My gut feeling is that this car, for whatever reason, was deliberately entered in the prototype catagory.
It might also be of relevance to ask what kind of commodity Ecurie Fiat Abarth France, the entrant, was at the time.

BTW - the first proper picture I've seen of this car, so thank you Jager. Last year I saw a road going Fiat Dino Coupé '71 (2.4 V6 I believe) that surpassed the beauty of this Le Mans gem - but that is another story.

Jesper

the Alfa 33 is the #65 VDS-car driven by Trosch-Von Wendt, recognizable at the yellow right front wing

With a 3-liter V12? We are told often of French trickery at Le Mans, but this would be a bit too obvious, no?
Of course one could always lose a bank of cylinders, so that would place the car in the 1.5-liter class.

My mistake
Martin Krejci is generally accurate so I took his result here without question. I suspect a typo has crept in.

I would take Krejci's words for good too, but conducting two sites simultinously will allow for the occational slip.

The recent Spurring book has the weight of the #61 Écurie Leopard GT Alpine-Renault A110 at 1255 kgs. As the similar entry #51 weighed in at 737 kgs, I would suspect a case of mistaken idendity.

Jesper

I found this picture to answer your question :

Thank you for posting the grid picture, confirming the starting order of #66 and #40.

Jesper

As a little catching up from me , all JWAE Fords were slow off the grid , as was the Matra (but faster than the Fords) and Ford no.10 in 5th starting position nearly torpedoed the Matra in 6th starting place. Confirmation from Le Mans 1960-1969 by Michel Bollee.