78 Le Mans - 3 Americans in France
2015, 28 minutes
Le Mans is one of the most prestigious race car tracks in the world where drivers drive the race cars for consecutive 24 hours. As the documentary opens, we see old footage of three Americans, Jim Busby, Kremer Porsche team driver no 1, Chris Cord, diver
Le Mans is one of the most prestigious race car tracks in the world where drivers drive the race cars for consecutive 24 hours. As the documentary opens, we see old footage of three Americans, Jim Busby, Kremer Porsche team driver no 1, Chris Cord, diver no 2, and Rick Knoop, the driver no 3. This documentary is all about these three exceptional American race car drivers who teamed up to race at Lemans and won it in 1978. Le Mans is indeed the most-watched motor support of all times. Its history dates back to May 1923 in France which also makes it one of the oldest car race events. It was initially funded by Emile Coquille and endorsed by the automobile club west. Since 1923, the Lemans event held every year in June except 1936 and 1940 to 1948 during the World War 2 era. The documentary further states how Jim Busby and Erwin Kremer teamed up for this big event. Jim Busby suggested Rick Knoop and Chris Cord to Kremer and he agreed. The three drivers took turns to drive the race cars during the 24 hours of the race and covered a distance of over 5000 KM. It was the time when the war between Ford and Ferrari was going on and the European drivers were considered much better drivers than the Americans. Chris Cord sees a deadly accident on the track where the driver turns 24 yards before the kink on the road and the car hits the dirt and then hits the guard rail and flips upside down. But miraculously the driver of that crash survived. The Porsche that the 3 Americans were driving lost a valve and was leaking oil. Despite all these challenges, the American team managed to win the race. They call it the most amazing experience of their lives and it was a sheer pleasure for them to bring the winning car home.