The eighth book in the "Swiss at Le Mans" series (Les Suisses au Mans) is once again packed with interesting motorsport reports and photos on 356 pages! The most interesting part of the book is of course the second section, which contains several historical articles and photos. Many pages are dedicated to the years 1923, 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003. 20 pages about Herbert Müller from Aargau and Angelo Pallavicini from Zurich are very interesting. The latter celebrated his greatest motorsport success in 1979 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his private Porsche 934 Carrera RSR Turbo. Together with fellow drivers Herbert Müller and Marco Vanoli, Angelo Pallavicini finished fourth overall and won Group 4. Angelo Pallavicini competed in Le Mans four times between 1977 and 1985, of which he was only able to finish the race in 1979.
Many celebrities in attendance
Like last year, the book launch took place in Romanel-sur-Lausanne, where many prominent racing drivers and more than 200 guests were invited to owner Alexandre Pesci's Speedy Garage on December 11. The event celebrated not only the publication of the latest book by authors Christian Borel, Mario Luini, Gérard Vallat, Benoit Wyder and Jean-Marie Wyder, but also the Swiss Lotus-Rebellion team's (which Alexandre Pesci also owns) renewed world championship title as the best private LMP1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Lotus-Rebellion Lola B12-Toyota was of course on display in the Speedy Garage and its drivers, ex-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld, Nicolas Prost, Andrea Belicchi and Mathias Beche, were also present and were busy signing autographs.
Frenchman Loïc Duval, who, like Michael Schumacher, lives in Gland (canton of Vaud), also found his way to Romanel-sur-Lausanne. The winner - together with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish - of this year's 24-hour race was happy to be photographed with Louis Delétraz, son of former Formula 1 driver Jean-Denis Delétraz and promising Formula Renault driver.
40 model vehicles from former Herbert Müller racing cars
A highlight of the book launch was the exhibition of 40 models of the racing cars Herbert Müller drove, brought by miniatures specialist Jean-Philippe Rossel(www.smallcar.ch): Ferrari 250 GTO 1000 Km Nürburgring 1964, Porsche 904 GTS Le Mans 1964 (11. with Claude Sage), Ford GT40 Le Mans 1965 (retirement with Ronnie Bucknam), Ferrari Dino 206, Porsche 904/8 Sierre-Montana Hill Climb 1964, Ferrari 330 P3 Le Mans 1967 (retirement with Jean Guichet), Porsche 917 Le Mans 1971 (2nd place with Richard Attwood), De Dewey's Dewey's Dewey. with Richard Attwood), De Tomaso Pantera Le Mans 1972 (retirement with Cox Kocher), Porsche 917/30 Interseries and, to mention just a few, the two Porsche RSR Turbo from Le Mans 1973 (4th with Gijs van Lennep) and Le Mans 1974 (2nd with Gijs van Lennep).
Original Porsche 934 Carrera RSR Turbo from Pallavicini
The private Porsche 934 Carrera RSR Turbo of Angelo Pallavicini mentioned at the beginning of this article (fourth overall together with Herbert Müller and Marco Vanoli and winner in Group 4 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979) stood in Romanel-sur-Lausanne in both 1:18 scale and 1:1 scale. This car is still owned by Angelo Pallavicini today and still has the original Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona stickers.
Jo Siffert's children, Véronique (she drove an Isuzu at the Moroccan Rallye des Gazelles this year) and Philippe (he took part in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 911 GT2) enjoyed having their picture taken in front of Herbert Müller's Porsche 934 Carrera RSR Turbo. In 1971, "Stumpen Herbie" was a member of the Gulf Wyer Racing Team together with the unforgettable Jo "Seppi" Siffert, who drove the unbeatable Porsche 917 at Le Mans.
Claude Sage (79 years old, two Le Mans participations), former Honda Switzerland Director and former Salon de Genève President, was also present in Romanel-sur-Lausanne. Together with Herbert Müller, he drove a Porsche 904 GTS from Scuderia Filipinetti in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Original GT 40 from Le Mans
Herbert Müller also drove a Ford GT40 at Le Mans. In the Speedy Garage on December 11, not just one but two original examples of the Ford GT40 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four years in a row from 1966: the famous GT40, which was with Yamaha in Japan for a long time and is a rare example with a valid road registration. A total of 124 were built, including twelve prototypes and ten Mk 4s. Ford itself speaks of 94 production cars, of which seven Mk 3s and 31 Mk 1s were converted for the road.
Former Herbert Müller colleagues
Among the many Herbert Müller colleagues, the following former racing drivers were met at the Garage Speedy: Bernard Chenevière (67 years old, 6 Le Mans participations):
Among other things, he drove the famous Porsche 908-02 Toblerone. Also present were the raging journalist Mario Luini (62 years old, three Le Mans participations, including together with ski star Philippe Roux), Eric Chapuis (71 years old, two Le Mans participations), Olivier Haberthur (50 years old, two Le Mans participations) and Heinz Schulthess (74 years old, three Le Mans participations), who also took part in the Lignières Historique race this year).
The oldest former Le Mans participants were André Wicky (85 years old, 12 Le Mans participations), Georges Gachnang (82 years old, 1 Le Mans participation) and John Gretener (87 years old, 1 Le Mans participation). All three drove an AC Bristol ACE together in the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans. Incidentally, Georges Gachnang is Sébastien Buemi's and Natacha Gachnang's grandfather!
However, John Gretener is better known as a rally co-driver. He drove for both the Porsche works team and the Triumph works team. At the 1970 RAC Rally, Claude Haldi and his co-driver John Gretener finished 12th in a works Porsche 914/6. Incidentally, Claude Haldi is the Swiss record holder with 22 (!) Le Mans participations.
John Gretener was also Jean-Jacques Thuner's co-driver. Both took part in various rallies on Triumph Spitfire in 1964 and 1965, including the Monte-Carlo Rally, the Alpine Rally, the Tour de France and the Coupe des Alpes. And the two met again on December 11 at the Speedy Garage. Incidentally, Jean-Jacques Thuner (80 years old) took part in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans with a factory Triumph Spitfire together with the very famous rally driver Simo Lampinen from Finland. Both crossed the finish line in 13th place.
Last but not least, several racing drivers from the Swiss classic car scene were present at this Le Mans book vernissage, including René Desbaillets (Griffon) from Geneva and Heinz Hofer from Bern, who took part in various historic events this year with his Maserati 26 M from 1926.
Speaking of historic Maserati: a beautiful Maserati 450 S Competzione from 1956 was exhibited in the Speedy Garage on December 11.
Book information
- The book can be ordered directly via www.lessuissesaumans.ch
- 356 pages
- Language only in French, but the German edition from 2011 is still available
- Main author: Jean-Marie Wyder
- Co-authors: Christian Borel, Mario Luini, Gérard Vallat and Benoît Wyder
- Price: CHF 99.-
- Further details: http://www.lessuissesaumans.ch/nos-publications.html
