1983 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.

For the past two years the Porsche team of Jackie Ickx and Derek Bell had towered above the competition but 1983 was to be more of a contest when an early spin saw them drop to 44th and they had to fight their way through the pack to challenge the 956 driven by Vern Shuppen, Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert for first place.

Video

This was originally produced by Videovision in 1983 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 two 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 1983 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 However, given that that format is obsolete the release of this on DVD is to be welcomed.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 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 25 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 62 minutes package, but considering this was made for TV (where there was no live coverage) or the home video market, this is understandable. Le Mans fans will no doubt welcome this DVDs release to see the likes of Vern Shuppen, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert, Jackie Ickx and Derek Bell in action. The Lanciers, Sauber BMWs, Peugeots and Aston Martins make for a great line up and this race has a great finish.

Having recently reviewed this, the 1981 and 1982 races, of the three this is the best race and the DVD to buy if you have to pick one.