1981 Le Mans 24hr

Introduction

Arguably the World's most prestigious endurance motorsport event, the Le Mans 24hr race takes place annually at the 8.5 mile Circuit de la Sarthe. The track is made up partly of public roads that are open to the public most of the year and closed off for racing, with the famous 3.7 mile Mulsanne Straight where cars reach 250mph!

Organised and run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the race began in 1923 and has gained a reputation as the ultimate test of car and driver. At the time, there were less restrictions on the time a driver could spend at the wheel and the number of drivers per car. The race traditionally began with the drivers sprinting to their cars when the flag was dropped, now replaced with an Indianapolis-style rolling start.

The 1981 race was a first for the wrong reasons, as a pace car was deployed following Thierry Boutsen's tragic 230mph crash. Sadly, the pace car was needed again a few laps later when Jean Louis Lafosse also lost his life in a high-speed accident.

Video

This was originally produced by Videovision in 1981 and is obviously a VHS to DVD transfer. The picture is a little soft and there is a noticeable amount of luminescent flare and smearing from the headlights.

Audio

A perfectly acceptable Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack with informative and well delivered commentary, obviously provided after the event rather than live.

Conclusion

As I said, this was originally produced by Videovision in 1981 and is exactly the same as the VHS would have been. However, given that that format is obsolete the release of this on DVD is to be welcomed. There is a distinct lack of the nighttime racing, but this is perhaps understandable given the quality of the recording equipment at the time.

Whilst not the most accomplished motor racing DVD ever produced, I quite enjoyed this despite its shortcomings and it is interesting to see what the Le Mans 24 hours race looked like 27 years ago. I imagine the DVD of this year's event would be considerably longer, with better photography, more varied camera angles and behind the scenes footage making for a more entertaining package.

24 hours of racing plus build up and celebration has been distilled into a 48 minutes package which is a little stingy, but considering this was made for TV or the emerging home video market, this is understandable. Le Mans fans will no doubt welcome this DVDs release to see the likes of Joachim Stuck, Hurley Haywood, Jean Rondeau, Jackie Ickx and Derek Bell in action in what are now classed as classic cars.