24h Le Mans
Fifty years ago on June 11, 1967, A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney established the first 5,000+ km distance record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As we wait to find out who the...24th driver line-up to reach this milestone will be, here - in descending order of distance covered - is the complete retrospective of what is known as the "5,000 Club."
Evidence of the difficulty of the record, it took 39 years for Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller to beat Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep. To this day, the latter two remain the third fastest driver line-up in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
2010 - Timo Bernhard-Romain Dumas-Mike Rockenfeller (# 9 Audi R15 TDI Plus) 5,420 km
2015 - Earl Bamber-Nico Hülkenberg-Nick Tandy (#19 Porsche 919 Hybrid) 5,395 km
1971 - Helmut Marko-Gijs van Lennep (#22 Porsche 917 K) 5,335 km
1988 - Johnny Dumfries-Jan Lammers-Andy Wallace (#2 Jaguar XJR 9 LM) 5,332 km
1989 - Stanley Dickens-Jochen Mass-Manuel Reuter (#63 Sauber C9 Mercedes) 5,265 km
1967 - A.J. Foyt-Dan Gurney (#1 Ford Mk IV) 5,233 km
2016 - Romain Dumas-Neel Jani-Marc Lieb (#2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) 5,233 km
2009 - David Brabham-Marc Gené-Alex Wurz (#9 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP) 5,206 km
2008 - Dindo Capello-Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish (#2 Audi R10 TDI) 5,192 km
2006 - Frank Biela-Emanuele Pirro-Marco Werner (#8 Audi R10 TDI) 5,187 km
2004 - Seiji Ara-Dindo Capello-Tom Kristensen (#5 Audi R8) 5,169 km
2014 - Marcel Fässler-André Lotterer-Benoît Tréluyer (#2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro) 5,165 km
2003 - Dindo Capello-Tom Kristensen-Guy Smith (#7 Bentley EXP Speed 8) 5,145 km
2002 - Frank Biela-Tom Kristensen-Emanuele Pirro (#1 Audi R8) 5,118 km
2012 - Marcel Fässler-André Lotterer-Benoît Tréluyer (#1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro) 5,115 km
1993 - Christophe Bouchut-Geoff Brabham-Eric Helary (#3 Peugeot 905 Ev1 Ter) 5,100 km
1985 - Paolo Barilla-Klaus Ludwig-"John Winter" (#7 Porsche 956) 5,089 km
2005 - JJ Lehto-Tom Kristensen-Marco Werner (#3 Audi R8) 5,050 km
1983 - Hurley Haywood-Al Holbert-Vern Schuppan (#3 Porsche 956) 5,048 km
1978 - Jean Pierre Jaussaud-Didier Pironi (#2 Renault Alpine A442B) 5,045 km
2007 - Frank Biela-Emanuele Pirro-Marco Werner (#1 Audi R10 TDI) 5,029 km
2000 - Frank Biela-Tom Kristensen-Emanuele Pirro (#8 Audi R8) 5,007 km
2017 - Earl Bamber-Timo Bernhard-Brendon Hartley (#2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) 5,001 km
Through these 23 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there is no shortage of fascinating stories. The upcoming installments in this series will form an anthology. In the meantime, click below to learn more about A.J. Foyt-Dan Gurney and Helmut Marko-Gijs van Lennep, the pioneers of the "5,000 club":
The 24 Hours and the 5,000 km mark (1) - The evolution of a record
PHOTO (Copyright - Archives/ACO): Current distance record-holders at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, that year Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller (from left to right) also clinched the ninth of Audi's 13 wins at Le Mans. The head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, figures in the background of the photo.
