1999 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999.
Pre-race
1999 saw another increase in manufacturers involvement. Although Porsche did not send a team to contest in the prototype classes, Toyota retained their three updated GT-Ones, now moved to the LMGTP class due to the demise of GT1, while Mercedes-Benz debuted three new CLR LMGTPs. Nissan instead moved from GT1 to an open cockpit LMP, as did Panoz.Newcomer Audi attempted to try their hand at both classes, with two open cockpit R8Rs and two closed cockpit R8Cs. BMW continued with their open cockpit LMPs, updating to the new V12 LMR.
Mercedes CLR incidents
The event saw three major crashes involving the team of Mercedes-Benz CLRs during qualifying and the race itself. An aerodynamic design flaw in the CLR allowed for large amounts of air to build up underneath the nose of the car, especially when following another car and at the tops of hills, such as on the run to Indianapolis and on the Mulsanne Straight.Mark Webber's CLR #4 became airborne at Indianapolis during Thursday night qualifying. On Friday, the team was allowed to rebuild #4 on a new chassis, with tweaks to the rear suspension, in an attempt by Mercedes to cure the problem. Winglets were fitted to the front to increase downforce. All cars had qualified, but during the brief warm-up on Saturday morning, Webber again became airborne when following his teammates over the hump of the Mulsanne, landing on his roof and skidding to a stop in the Mulsanne corner. This car was withdrawn, but the two other CLRs continued on, again with emergency tweaks to attempt to stop the instability.
A few hours into the race on lap 75, Peter Dumbreck's CLR #5 also became airborne just before the Indianapolis corner, this time flying off the side of the track and landing in the trees. This incident, unlike the previous two, was caught by TV cameras and thus broadcast worldwide. Mercedes-Benz immediately withdrew the remaining CLR #6 and dropped out of sportscar racing for the immediate future.
This was the second time Mercedes-Benz had dropped out of Le Mans and sportscar racing following an incident with one of their cars becoming airborne and leaving the track, the first being the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
Race
In the early part of the race, the top qualifying #1 and #2 Toyotas driven by Martin Brundle and Thierry Boutsen fought with the #6 Mercedes driven by Bernd Schneider, and the #5 Mercedes driven by Christophe Bouchut. The #17 BMW was never far behind and used its superior fuel economy to gain the lead through the pit stops. Toyota #1, #2, Mercedes #6 and BMW #17 all led the race at various points. At 8pm, 5 hours into the race the #17 BMW lead the race with #2 Toyota 2nd, #5 Mercedes 3rd and #6 Mercedes 4th. It was during this fight for second and third place when Dumbreck's crash occurred. This led to the immediate withdrawal of the remaining #6 Mercedes.Following a lengthy safety car period as a result of Dumbreck's accident, Brundle retired the #1 Toyota at 11:30pm. He was trying to claw back time from an earlier mechanical issue when he suffered a puncture at high speed on braking for the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. The puncture sent the car veering sideways into the barrier, badly damaging the rear suspension. Brundle tried to get the car back to the pits but eventually stopped at Arnage. At the front the race was still between the #17 BMW and the #2 Toyota, the Toyota having the superior pace but the BMW able to go further on each tank of fuel. Following them were the #15 BMW and the #3 Toyota. At around 2am, the #2 Toyota being driven by Thierry Boutsen suffered a high speed crash under the Dunlop bridge, following a collision with a slower car that was being overtaken. The car was destroyed and Boutsen had to be extracted from the car suffering from an injury to his lower back. The Belgian driver ended his racing career after this accident.
By dawn, the #17 BMW was four laps in front of its sister 15 BMW. At approximately 10am, JJ Lehto driving #17 BMW suffered a stuck throttle and crashed in the Porsche curves. The front of the car was badly damaged and it could not continue. This left the sister #15 BMW almost a lap ahead of the #3 Toyota. With this sniff of a win Ukyo Katayama set the fastest lap of the race of 3:35. He narrowed the gap to less than a minute when another tyre blowout befell the Toyota team. However, Katayama was able to return to the pits for new tyres and continue. By then bar any problems for the BMW the race was out of reach. Audi came in 3rd at their first attempt at Le Mans.
The 1999 race was the last for several of the major manufacturers. Only Audi returned for 2000. Mercedes pulled out of sports car racing altogether following the CLR incidents and concentrated on the new German Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series, BMW concentrated their efforts on their supply of engines to the Williams team in Formula One. Toyota also pulled out as despite their pace over 1998 and 1999, only one of their cars finished the race over both of those years. Toyota would eventually return to Le Mans in 2012, as well as the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship and eventually won the race for the first time in 2018.
Official results
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tyre | Laps |
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Engine | Tyre | Laps |
| 1 | LMP | 15 |  Team BMW Motorsport | Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas | BMW V12 LMR | 365 | |
| 1 | LMP | 15 | Team BMW Motorsport | Joachim Winkelhock Pierluigi Martini Yannick Dalmas | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | 365 | |
| 2 | LMGTP | 3 |  Toyota Motorsports | Ukyo Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki | Toyota GT-One | 364 | |
| 2 | LMGTP | 3 | Toyota Motorsports | Ukyo Katayama Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 364 | |
| 3 | LMP | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro | Audi R8R | 360 | |
| 3 | LMP | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys Emanuele Pirro | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 360 | |
| 4 | LMP | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello | Audi R8R | 346 | |
| 4 | LMP | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Michele Alboreto Rinaldo Capello Laurent Aïello | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 346 | |
| 5 | LMP | 18 |  Price+Bscher | Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper | BMW V12 LM | 345 | |
| 5 | LMP | 18 | Price+Bscher | Thomas Bscher Bill Auberlen Steve Soper | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | 345 | |
| 6 | LMP | 13 | Courage Compétition | Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella | Courage C52 | 342 | |
| 6 | LMP | 13 | Courage Compétition | Alex Caffi Andrea Montermini Domenico Schiattarella | Nissan VRH35L 3.5 L Turbo V8 | 342 | |
| 7 | LMP | 12 | Panoz Motor Sports |  David Brabham Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | 336 | |
| 7 | LMP | 12 | Panoz Motor Sports | David Brabham Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger | Ford-Élan 6.0 L V8 | 336 | |
| 8 | LMP | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | Didier Cottaz Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom | Courage C52 | 335 | |
| 8 | LMP | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | Didier Cottaz Marc Goossens Fredrik Ekblom | Nissan VRH35L 3.5 L Turbo V8 | 335 | |
| 9 | LMP | 14 | Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team | Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferté Patrice Gay | Courage C50 | 327 | |
| 9 | LMP | 14 | Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team | Henri Pescarolo Michel Ferté Patrice Gay | Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 | 327 | |
| 10 | LMGTS | 51 | Viper Team Oreca |  Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupuy | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 325 | |
| 10 | LMGTS | 51 | Viper Team Oreca | Olivier Beretta Karl Wendlinger Dominique Dupuy | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 325 | |
| 11 | LMP | 11 | Panoz Motor Sports | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli | Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S | 323 | |
| 11 | LMP | 11 | Panoz Motor Sports | Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Max Angelelli | Ford-Élan 6.0 L V8 | 323 | |
| 12 | LMGTS | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 318 | |
| 12 | LMGTS | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Tommy Archer Justin Bell Marc Duez | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 318 | |
| 13 | LMGT | 81 | Manthey Racing GmbH | Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 317 | |
| 13 | LMGT | 81 | Manthey Racing GmbH | Uwe Alzen Patrick Huisman Luca Riccitelli | Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 | 317 | |
| 14 | LMGTS | 56 | Hugh Chamberlain |  Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Toni Seiler | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 314 | |
| 14 | LMGTS | 56 | Hugh Chamberlain | Ni Amorim Hans Hugenholtz Toni Seiler | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 314 | |
| 15 | LMGTS | 50 | CICA Team Oreca | Manuel Mello-Breyner Pedro Mello-Breyner Tomaz Mello-Breyner | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 312 | |
| 15 | LMGTS | 50 | CICA Team Oreca | Manuel Mello-Breyner Pedro Mello-Breyner Tomaz Mello-Breyner | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 312 | |
| 16 | LMGTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Emmanuel Clérico Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 309 | |
| 16 | LMGTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Emmanuel Clérico Jean-Claude Lagniez Guy Martinolle | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 309 | |
| 17 | LMGTS | 54 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 299 | |
| 17 | LMGTS | 54 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Paul Belmondo Tiago Monteiro Marc Rostan | Chrysler 8.0L V10 | 299 | |
| 18 | LMGTS | 64 | Konrad Motorsport | Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater | Porsche 911 GT2 | 293 | |
| 18 | LMGTS | 64 | Konrad Motorsport | Franz Konrad Peter Kitchak Charles Slater | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 293 | |
| 19 | LMGT | 80 | Champion Racing Dave Maraj | Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 292 | |
| 19 | LMGT | 80 | Champion Racing Dave Maraj | Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Bernd Mayländer | Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 | 292 | |
| 20 | LMGTS | 62 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Vincent Vosse | Porsche 911 GT2 | 290 | |
| 20 | LMGTS | 62 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Vincent Vosse | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 290 | |
| 21 | LMGT | 84 | Perspective Racing | Thierry Perrier Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 288 | |
| 21 | LMGT | 84 | Perspective Racing | Thierry Perrier Jean-Louis Ricci Michel Nourry | Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 | 288 | |
| 22 | LMGTS | 57 | Hugh Chamberlain |  Thomas Erdos Christian Vann Christian Gläsel | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 270 | |
| 22 | LMGTS | 57 | Hugh Chamberlain | Thomas Erdos Christian Vann Christian Gläsel | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 270 | |
| NC | LMGTS | 65 | Société Cheréau | Jean-Luc Chéreau Patrice Goueslard Pierre Yver | Porsche 911 GT2 | 240 | |
| NC | LMGTS | 65 | Société Cheréau | Jean-Luc Chéreau Patrice Goueslard Pierre Yver | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 240 | |
| DNF | LMP | 17 | Team BMW Motorsport | Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW V12 LMR | 304 | |
| DNF | LMP | 17 | Team BMW Motorsport | Tom Kristensen JJ Lehto Jörg Müller | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | 304 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 53 | Viper Team Oreca | David Donohue Jean-Philippe Belloc Soheil Ayari | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 271 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 53 | Viper Team Oreca | David Donohue Jean-Philippe Belloc Soheil Ayari | Chrysler 8.0 L V10 | 271 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 63 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Hubert Haupt John Robinson Hugh Price | Porsche 911 GT2 | 232 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 63 | Roock Racing International Motorsport | Hubert Haupt John Robinson Hugh Price | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 232 | |
| DNF | LMP | 19 | Team Goh | Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Katoh Akihiko Nakaya | BMW V12 LM | 223 | |
| DNF | LMP | 19 | Team Goh | Hiro Matsushita Hiroki Katoh Akihiko Nakaya | BMW S70 6.0 L V12 | 223 | |
| DNF | LMP | 26 | Konrad Motorsport | Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel | Lola B98/10 | 213 | |
| DNF | LMP | 26 | Konrad Motorsport | Jan Lammers Peter Kox Tom Coronel | Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 | 213 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 10 | Audi Sport UK | James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy | Audi R8C | 198 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 10 | Audi Sport UK | James Weaver Andy Wallace Perry McCarthy | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 198 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 2 | Toyota Motorsports | Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners Allan McNish | Toyota GT-One | 173 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 2 | Toyota Motorsports | Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners Allan McNish | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 173 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 61 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ernst Palmberger Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 911 GT2 | 157 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 61 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ernst Palmberger Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 157 | |
| DNF | LMP | 27 | Kremer Racing |  Tomás Saldaña Grant Orbell Didier de Radiguès | Lola B98/10 | 146 | |
| DNF | LMP | 27 | Kremer Racing | Tomás Saldaña Grant Orbell Didier de Radiguès | Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 | 146 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 67 | Larbre Compétition | Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy | Porsche 911 GT2 | 134 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 67 | Larbre Compétition | Jean-Pierre Jarier Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 134 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 66 | Estoril Racing Communication | Manuel Monteiro Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve | Porsche 911 GT2 | 123 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 66 | Estoril Racing Communication | Manuel Monteiro Michel Monteiro Michel Maisonneuve | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 123 | |
| DNF | LMP | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas | Nissan R391 | 110 | |
| DNF | LMP | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas | Nissan VRH50A 5.0 L V8 | 110 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 1 | Toyota Motorsports | Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri | Toyota GT-One | 90 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 1 | Toyota Motorsports | Martin Brundle Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri | Toyota R36V 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 90 | |
| DNF | LMP | 25 | DAMS | Christophe Tinseau Franck Montagny David Terrien | Lola B98/10 | 77 | |
| DNF | LMP | 25 | DAMS | Christophe Tinseau Franck Montagny David Terrien | Judd GV4 4.0 L V10 | 77 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 6 | AMG-Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy | Mercedes-Benz CLR | 76 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 6 | AMG-Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | 76 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 5 | AMG-Mercedes | Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck | Mercedes-Benz CLR | 75 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 5 | AMG-Mercedes | Christophe Bouchut Nick Heidfeld Peter Dumbreck | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | 75 | |
| DNF | LMP | 24 | Autoexe Motorsports | Yojiro Terada Franck Fréon Robin Donovan | Autoexe LMP99 | 74 | |
| DNF | LMP | 24 | Autoexe Motorsports | Yojiro Terada Franck Fréon Robin Donovan | Ford 6.0 L V8 | 74 | |
| DNF | LMP | 29 | JB Jabouille-Bouresche | Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori | Ferrari 333 SP | 71 | |
| DNF | LMP | 29 | JB Jabouille-Bouresche | Jérôme Policand Mauro Baldi Christian Pescatori | Ferrari F130E 4.0 L V12 | 71 | |
| DNF | LMP | 32 | Riley & Scott Europe | Marco Apicella Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis | Riley & Scott Mk III/2 | 67 | |
| DNF | LMP | 32 | Riley & Scott Europe | Marco Apicella Carl Rosenblad Shane Lewis | Ford 6.0 L V8 | 67 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 9 | Audi Sport UK | Stefan Johansson Stéphane Ortelli Christian Abt | Audi R8C | 55 | |
| DNF | LMGTP | 9 | Audi Sport UK | Stefan Johansson Stéphane Ortelli Christian Abt | Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 | 55 | |
| DNF | LMP | 31 | Riley & Scott Europe | Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thévenin | Riley & Scott Mk III/2 | 25 | |
| DNF | LMP | 31 | Riley & Scott Europe | Philippe Gache Gary Formato Olivier Thévenin | Ford 6.0 L V8 | 25 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 60 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ray Lintott Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani | Porsche 911 GT2 | 24 | |
| DNF | LMGTS | 60 | Freisinger Motorsport | Ray Lintott Manfred Jurasz Katsunori Iketani | Porsche 3.8 L Turbo Flat-6 | 24 | |
| DNS | LMGTP | 4 | AMG-Mercedes | Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz CLR | - | |
| DNS | LMGTP | 4 | AMG-Mercedes | Mark Webber Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz GT108C 5.7 L V8 | - | |
| DNS | LMP | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan R391 | - | |
| DNS | LMP | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | Aguri Suzuki Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan VRH50A 5.0 L V8 | - | |
| DNS | LMGT | 83 | Gérard MacQuillan | Michel Neugarten Gérard MacQuillan Chris Gleason | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | - | |
| DNS | LMGT | 83 | Gérard MacQuillan | Michel Neugarten Gérard MacQuillan Chris Gleason | Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 | - |
Statistics
- Pole position - #1 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:29.930
- Fastest lap - #3 Toyota Motorsport / TTE - 3:35.052
- Distance - 4968 km
- Average speed - 207 km/h
- Highest trap speed — Toyota GT-One - 352 km/h