www.porscheroadandrace.com Dick Barbour goes to Le Mans Published: 9th March 2018 By: Martin Raffauf Online version: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/dick-barbour-goes-to-le-mans/ Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ pulls away at the start of the race – this car was third fastest in qualifying Dick Barbour went to Le Mans as an entrant for the first time in 1978. He entered two Porsche 935s at the classic French Enduro. He had started racing in IMSA in 1977 after having bought one of the original ten Porsche 934.5 models offered by the factory for IMSA racing in 1977. He ran some of the IMSA races with mixed success in 1977. Towards the end of the season, he and Bob Garretson made an agreement for the 1978 season, where Garretson Enterprises, an independent Porsche repair shop in Mountain View, California, www.porscheroadandrace.com would prepare Dick’s car(s) in 1978. They had already made a name for themselves in 1977 by preparing Walt Maas’ IMSA GTU championship winning Porsche 914/6. They had entered eleven races and won eight of them, and finished second, third and fourth in the others, winning the championship over the factory Datsun 240Z of Sam Posey run by Bob Sharp. They had also prepared the winning car at the famous Pikes Peak hill climb (Colorado USA) in 1976, a Porsche powered buggy driven by Rick Mears. Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The #6 Porsche 936/78 on the starting grid, was driven by Bob Wollek/Jürgen Barth (and Jacky Ickx, when his similar #5 car was retired due to an accident) Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The #7 Porsche 936 was driven by Hurley www.porscheroadandrace.com Haywood/Peter Gregg/Reinhold Joest Dick was looking to expand in 1978, and he had ordered a new 935/78 (77A) for Daytona. His old 934.5 from 1977 would need some work and investment to update it to a 935. With Johnnie Rutherford and Manfred Schurti as co-drivers he had finished second overall at Daytona with the new car, after being delayed by a blown tyre in the Daytona banking which lost a lot of time for repairs. For Sebring, two cars were entered, and although Dick’s main car faltered when a shock broke and punctured an oil line, the second car driven by Bob Garretson, Brian Redman and Charles Mendez (the race promoter), won the race. That car was immediately sold to John Paul after Sebring. Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The #43 Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ of Manfred Schurti/Rolf Stommelen begins its attack on the epic endurance race www.porscheroadandrace.com After Sebring, when I joined with the team, we started preparing for two more US races, Talladega and Laguna Seca, and then subsequently Le Mans. The car that had finished second at Daytona, #930 890 0033, also ran at Talladega where it finished third with Dick and Johnnie Rutherford driving. For Laguna Seca we entered two cars, one for Dick, who finished sixth and one for Bob Bondurant (which was the updated 934.5) who was 17th. Then came the big push to get everything ready for Le Mans because back then the transport was usually by boat, so a long lead time was required. Car #91 which is chassis 930 890 0033 sits in the pits. Note the redesigned front air dam with lights integral to the air dam, negating the need for the extra lights on the hood Although I was working with the team quite a bit by then, I was not going to the races (except for Laguna and Sears Point), as the traveling schedule had already been determined for the year when I joined. I helped to get everything prepared and loaded, and then wished www.porscheroadandrace.com the team well. Steve “Yogi” Behr from New York (an IMSA racer from time to time) came and drove one of the trucks back to New York for us to get it to the ship, as there were no other people available to make the drive. The factory 936 sits in the pits on Saturday morning. They were in the next pit to the Dick Barbour team Dick had ordered a brand-new car from the factory for the race. Gary Evans, the team manager, had gone over to Germany to order it earlier in the year, a twin turbo 935, chassis #930 890 0024. Gary and Jerry Woods went to the factory to take delivery before the race, but it was delivered to the track at Le Mans by Porsche with the rest of their cars. It would run as #90, and would be driven by Dick, Brian Redman, and John Paul Sr. We had prepared the second car in California, a single turbo model, #930 890 0033, and this would be driven by Bob Garretson, Bob Akin and Steve Earle. www.porscheroadandrace.com Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The winning car in 1978 was the #2 Renault Alpine 442 driven by Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud – note the large screen to no doubt improve the aero The majority of the team arrived the weekend before and setup in the Le Mans paddock. Several of the team stopped on the way and watched the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. At the Madrid airport, they ran into none other than Bill France Sr. of NASCAR, who gave them directions to the circuit. Ron Trethan, Greg Elliff, Brian Carleton and Alan Brooking watched Mario Andretti win the grand prix in a Lotus 79. Many years later, in a twist of fate, Greg Elliff would restore the same Lotus 79 for Duncan Dayton. At the race, they ran into Bill Broderick (the UNION Oil hat swap guy in victory lane!) who was always in NASCAR victory lane. At the Madrid airport after the race, all the F1 drivers arrived from the track via helicopter, and here the Barbour crew had a beer with Jody Scheckter while waiting for the plane to France. By the time that they got to the team hotel in Pontvallain, France, it was very late and the place was already shut down as everyone had gone to bed. They slept www.porscheroadandrace.com on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and were awoken early by the street sweepers. I guess that is what happens when you travel from Mountain View California to Pontvallain in France for the first time! Pontvallain was just not setup for late arrivals. Paddock in Le mans in 1978, very basic. As new-comers, the team was stuck in the back on the grass The Le Mans circuit back then was very different from today. The Mulsanne had no chicanes, and the pits were old, and quite decrepit, and the signal pits were at the far end of the circuit, many miles away at the Mulsanne corner. Radios back then were problematic, and in any case the American radios did not work too well in France at all, and were technically illegal to use, as you were supposed to have a French license to use any radios. Communications to the signal pits was via old crank-up phones on the wall in the pit boxes. You had to get your timing right and be sure to call the signal pits about when the car came www.porscheroadandrace.com past the pits, so that they could get ready in time. Paddock and team working conditions, were basic at best and much of the paddock was not even paved, and as newcomers, the team got a prime grass corner at the back of the paddock. The hotel was small, and was located in the town of Pontvallain which was well to the south of Le Mans, about an hour’s drive away. The #90 car, the new 935, was delivered by Porsche along with the rest of their cars. The car as delivered still needed some work to become IMSA legal because the rules for Group 5 and IMSA were slightly different. IMSA rules required windshield retaining tabs, rear window straps, and a driver’s window net. The new front air dams that had been built back in California were then fitted. These had been built by Jeff Lateer, and contained all the headlights in the airdam, thereby alleviating the need for the night hood mounted extra lights (lessening the drag on the Mulsanne). The drilled brake rotors on the car as delivered from the factory were removed and replaced with longer lasting solid rotors. Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: The #90 Porsche 935 (chassis 930 890 0024) driven by Dick Barbour, Brian Redman and John Paul passes the pits on its way to a fifth place finish, winning the IMSA category www.porscheroadandrace.com Le Mans 24 Hour, 10/11 June 1978: Dick Barbour brings the #90 Porsche 935/78 into the pits for fuel. Brian Carlton (fueller) and John Clever (vent man) along with Team Manager Gary Evans (yellow jacket) signal him in Both cars were entered in the IMSA class, along with a bunch of Ferrari 512BB, a few RSRs, one BMW CSL, and Brad Frisselle’s Monza. There were Group 6 prototypes from Porsche (936), from Renault, as well as Mirage and these were the cars to beat for overall victory. There were also quite a few Group 5 935s and Group 4 934s as well as 2-litre sports cars.