1984 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 nearly 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 factory Porsche cars had dominated the previous few years but, in 1984, the ACO introduced new regulations whereby cars were strictly limited in the amount of fuel they could consume during the race and Porsche withdrew its cars in protest. With no 956s in the field, and the dominant team of Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell also absent, the race was one of the most open in years. There were of course privately entered Porsches but the real battle for victory was between the works Lancias, Aston Martins and Jaguars, who had returned to the race for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Video

This was originally produced by Videovision in 1984 and is obviously a VHS to DVD transfer. The picture is a little soft and whilst being VHS quality it is a marked improvement over previous years. There is still some luminescent flare and smearing from the headlights, though it's better than the previous three years. By now the coverage had begun to include such things as aerial footage, on-screen graphics and an in-car camera showing you the driver's perspective of the Mulsanne Straight.

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 1984 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 However, given that that format is obsolete the release of this on DVD is to be welcomed.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 far more nighttime racing shown than the previous years due to improvements in the recording equipment and a slightly longer running 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 24 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 condensed into a healthy 78 minute package, but considering this was made for TV (where there was no live coverage) or the home video market, this is understandable.