Mega Gallery & Report: The stunning 12th edition of the Le Mans Classic!

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on July 17, 2025

By Marcel Hundscheid

The renowned Le Mans Classic, organised by Peter Auto and the ACO, took place for the 12th time during the first weekend of July. Organisers can certainly look back on a very successful weekend with pride. Some 238,000 spectators made their way in tropical temperatures to the iconic circuit in the Sarthe region, which consistently attracts exceptional participating cars often seen nowhere else. Motorsport Retro had the privilege to attend the event and created this extensive story.

The six regular grids were present at the 12th edition of the Le Mans Classic, and the programme also included the Porsche Classic Race Le Mans and, of course, Group C prototypes, Endurance Racing Legends, and various demonstrations presented to the large crowds over the three days. The oldest cars at the event were represented on Grid 1, with Fritz Burkard driving to a convincing victory in the first race of the weekend in a 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C. The second race for the oldies was won by another Alfa Romeo 8C, driven by Martin Halusa and Alexander Ames. Sports cars from the 1950s were represented on Grid 2, with nearly eighty entries. All three races on the schedule were convincingly won by Nigel Webb and Chris Ward in a 1952 Jaguar C-Type.

Le Mans cars from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s were represented on Grid 3. Of the more than seventy cars on the starting grid for the first race, Hans Hugenholtz and five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro were the fastest in a 1959 Lister Jaguar Costin. The duo were unable to compete in the second race, and victory went to the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB of Diego Meier and Remo Lips. The third race saw two more winners, this time Thomas Alexander and James Alexander climbing the top step of the podium in a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT.

Nearly eighty sports cars and GTs from the 1960s raced under the banner of Grid 4. The first race proved to be the most spectacular of the weekend, between the Ford GT40s of Emile Breittmayer and Maxwell Lynn. After more than 45 minutes of racing, Breittmayer emerged victorious by just four-tenths of a second. Richard Meins drove his Ford GT40 to a convincing victory in the second race of the weekend. Brothers Loris, Mike, and Liam Hezemans took victory in the third race of the weekend with their beautiful 1965 Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

Sports cars and GTs from the late sixties and early seventies were represented on Grid 5, with seventy-five entrants. No one could match the dominance of Niklas Halusa in his Ferrari 512M, who drove unchallenged to victory in the first race of the weekend. Remo Lips and Frank Stippler, in their exceptionally beautiful 1969 Ferrari 312P, narrowly won the second race after a thrilling duel with the Lola T70 Mk.IIIB of Gerard Lopez and Marcel Fässler. In the third race of the weekend, Niklas Halusa once again showed that his Ferrari 512M was too quick for the rest of the competition, driving to victory once again.

Seventy sports cars and GTs from the late seventies to early eighties competed on Grid 6. Maxime Guenat, in his Lola T286, proved too strong for the rest of the competition and drove unchallenged to victory in both races of the weekend. Around sixty prototypes and GTs from a much more recent era, particularly those from the late nineties and post-millennium, were represented in the Endurance Racing Legends. Ultimately, Maxwell Lynn, racing the beautiful Bentley Speed 8, emerged victorious, driving convincingly to the chequered flag. The sprint race was won by the Zytek 04S, with Max Chilton taking the chequered flag.

Porsche enthusiasts were thoroughly satisfied with the Porsche Classic Race Le Mans. A wide variety of cars that appeared on the scene between 1964 and 1983 were present. Ultimately, it was the exceptionally beautiful 1969 Porsche 917K (917-033) of Mr. John of B that managed to stay ahead of two powerful Porsche 935s to claim the chequered flag.

Group C was less strongly represented in this edition than in recent editions of the Le Mans Classic. Nevertheless, the public could still enjoy nearly 30 iconic sports cars from the heyday of endurance racing. The Lola T92/10, driven by David and Olivier Hart, looked set to take victory in the first race until a 30-second drive-through penalty scuppered this plan, giving victory to Maxime Guenat in a Peugeot 905. The sprint race was an all-Porsche affair, with Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners the eventual winners.

As is customary during the Le Mans Classic, the extensive racing programme featured a number of special cars, some of which we will highlight in more detail.

WM P70

Gérald Welter and Michel Meunier built a sports racing prototype in 1970. It was equipped with a steel monocoque, a tubular frame, and a fibreglass body. A mid-mounted Peugeot 1288 cc four-cylinder engine powered the car. In 2019, a group of fifteen volunteers, including members of the former Welter Racing team under the name Welter Meunier Historique, began a comprehensive, identical reconstruction of the original berlinetta. The engine was rebuilt from three recovered Peugeot 304S engine blocks.

Porsche 917K/81

The Kremer brothers built a brand-new Porsche 917 in 1981 with support from Porsche. The renowned brothers from Cologne, Germany, exploited a loophole in the Le Mans regulations and built a new chassis that ultimately turned out to be fifteen kilograms heavier than the 1969 original. Kremer equipped the 917 with the five-litre engine and entered the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Bob Wollek, Xavier Lapeyre, and Guy Chausseuil. The venture proved unsuccessful, as the 917 retired after seven hours of racing. Later that year, the car returned to the starting grid at Brands Hatch but again failed to finish.

Ferrari 121 LM Scaglietti Spyder

Scuderia Ferrari entered three Ferrari 121 LM Scaglietti Spyders into the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 121 LM used a 4,412 cc straight-six engine fitted with three side-draft Weber carburettors, good for almost 360 hp. With the 121 LM, the marque intended to respond to the unbeatable supremacy of the Mercedes 300 SLR. All three factory cars, which were registered as Ferrari 735 LMs, failed to finish.

The Le Mans Classic remains an unparalleled event on the historic motorsport calendar. The atmosphere, the size of the diverse grids, and, as we mentioned before, the often unique cars make it an event that should be on every motorsport fan’s bucket list. We certainly can’t wait until July 2026, when the inaugural Le Mans Classic Legend takes place.

Results Le Mans Classic 2025

Grid 1

Race 1