Tazio Magazine - N° 11

Tazio 11 brings some rather amazing stories. First of all, with the help of Jaguar Classic, we got behind the wheel of the 1991 TWR-Jaguar XJR-12. In 1990, this brought the last win at Le Mans for Jaguar. By 1991, it was slapped with more weight to make it less competitive, but since there was no limit on displacement, TWR responded with more ccs for its V12: 7.4-litres (451 cu.in.). Power went over 770 hp. But it’s torque that impresses the most. When you say ‘put the hammer down’, you’re no longer talking about a sledgehammer. You are about to get hit by a wrecking ball.

And then there are all the anniversaries that seem to have gone unnoticed so far. It’s 25 years since Audi arrived at Le Mans with their first prototype. With the help of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, Wolfgang Ullrich and Tony Southgate, we reconstruct the story behind the winningest of all the Audi prototypes; the R8. It’s also sixty years ago since Ford came to Le Mans to teach Ferrari a lesson with the GT40. Things did not go according to the scenario the Ford executives had dreamed up.

It’s also 25 years since the first fully watercooled Porsche 911 took a class victory at Le Mans. The Porsche 996 GT3 R beat most of the faster GT cars, straight out of the box. Roland Kussmaul tells us the story.

What for us felt like a major moment, was the double Matra birthday. It’s sixty years since Matra began producing cars, when the company took over the René Bonnet’s Djet model. And it’s fifty years since Matra took the last of its three victories at Le Mans. When we discussed the story with author Richard Lieberman, he insisted: ‘I don’t just want to do a story on Matra statistics.’ And so, together with our chief photographer Dirk de Jager, he set out for Romorantin, France, where they found the Matra spirit to be still very much alive.

And then there is our interview with Kurt Ahrens, the man who was not only the fastest in the ill-handling initial Porsche 917, but also the man who helped sort it out. He almost got killed in the process.

And what about NASCAR’s history at Le Mans, or the collection of rain pictures we selected from the Revs Institute archives, the Peugeot 905,… the list goes on.

Also, for the first time, you can read Peter Stevens’ take on Le Mans liveries.