More Than Half of 50 Great IMSA Drivers Are 24 Hours of Le Mans Winners

By IMSA Wire Service

What do Hurley Haywood, Oliver Gavin, Paul Newman and Patrick Long all have in common?

Well, for starters, they all were named among the list of “50 Great IMSA Drivers” in the “IMSA: Celebrating 50 Years” book produced last year by RACER Studio to help commemorate IMSA’s 50th Anniversary of celebration. They’re also among 30 drivers on the list with at least one victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The list also includes 12 drivers with at least one overall victory in the twice-around-the-clock race around the Circuit de la Sarthe, led by five-time overall winner Derek Bell (1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987) who was one of 10 unanimous selections to the 50 Great IMSA Drivers list.

Another unanimous selection was Haywood, a three-time overall Le Mans winner, whose victories came in 1977, 1983 and 1994. Haywood is the grand marshal of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in a further nod to his indelible legacy on sports car racing worldwide, both the Nos. 93 and 94 Porsche 911 RSRs fielded by the U.S.-based Porsche GT Team in the GTE Pro class this weekend will carry a livery similar to the iconic Brumos Racing livery that Haywood drove to signature IMSA victories.

Other multiple-time overall Le Mans winners on the 50 Great IMSA Drivers list include three-time winners Al Holbert (1983, 1986, 1987) and Allan McNish (1998, 2008, 2013), and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who has overall wins in 1986 and 1987 as well as a LM GT1 class win in 1996.

Haywood, Holbert and Bell are on a short list of drivers who have won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the same calendar year. Haywood was the first to do it in 1977. Bell and Holbert are the only drivers to do it two years in a row, which they did in 1986 and 1987.

A pair of drivers not on the 50 Great IMSA Drivers list also won both Daytona and Le Mans in the same year. Dutch racer Jan Lammers won both in 1988 to make it three years in a row that a driver would win both races.

Mike Rockenfeller is the most recent driver to pull off the Daytona/Le Mans double, which he achieved in 2010. Kamui Kobayashi, two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular Renger van der Zande have a chance to join the list this weekend, as all three are competing in the LMP1 class at Le Mans this year.

Alonso, Kobayashi and van der Zande co-drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R to the overall victory in January’s Rolex 24 along with Jordan Taylor – who is both the youngest member of the 50 Great IMSA Drivers list and a 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, which he accomplished in 2015.

Taylor co-drove to that victory with Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. That victory was Gavin’s fifth class win at Le Mans, equaling Bell as the only two members of the 50 Great IMSA Drivers list to have five Le Mans victories. He will go for his sixth win this weekend – again in the No. 64 Corvette C7.R – with co-drivers Milner and Marcel Fassler.

For more information on the IMSA 50th Anniversary Celebration and the “IMSA: Celebrating 50 Years” book, visit IMSA.com/50.

Members of “50 Great IMSA Drivers” List with 24 Hours of Le Mans Victories
Derek Bell – 5 Overall Wins – 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987
Oliver Gavin – 5 Class Wins – 2002 GTS, 2004 GTS; 2005 GT1, 2006 GT1; 2015 GTE Pro
Bob Wollek – 4 Class Wins – 1977 Group 4-GT; 1992 Group C/Porsche; 1995 WSC/LM Proto 1; 1996 GT1
Johnny O’Connell – 4 Class Wins – 1994 IMSA GTS; 2001 GTS, 2002 GTS; 2009 GT1
Jan Magnussen – 4 Class Wins – 2004 GTS; 2005 GT1, 2006 GT1, 2009 GT1
Hurley Haywood – 3 Overall Wins – 1977, 1983, 1994
Al Holbert – 3 Overall Wins – 1983, 1986, 1987
Allan McNish – 3 Overall Wins – 1998, 2008, 2013
Hans-Joachim Stuck – 2 Overall Wins, 1 Class Win – 1986, 1987 Overall; 1996 GT1
Brian Redman – 1 Overall, 2 Class Wins – 1968 Overall, 1978 IMSA GTX – + 2500, 1980 IMSA GTX
Andy Wallace – 1 Overall, 2 Class Wins – 1988 Overall, 2001 GTP, 2006 LMP2
David Brabham – I Overall, 2 Class Wins – 2007 GT1, 2008 GT1, 2009 Overall
David Hobbs – 2 Class Wins – 1962 GT 1300, 1982 IMSA GTX
Ron Fellows – 2 Class Wins – 2001 GTS, 2002 GTS
Patrick Long – 2 Class Wins – 2004 GT, 2007 GT2
A.J. Foyt – 1 Overall Win – 1967
Price Cobb – 1 Overall Win – 1990
Davy Jones – 1 Overall Win – 1996
Geoff Brabham – 1 Overall Win – 1993
Peter Gregg – 1 Class Win – 1977 Group 5
Paul Newman – 1 Class Win – 1979 IMSA GTX – + 2500
Chip Robinson – 1 Class Win – 1985 IMSA GTP
Bob Tullius – 1 Class Win – 1985 IMSA GTP
Jim Downing – 1 Class Win – 1996 LMP2
Wayne Taylor – 1 Class Win – 1998 LMP1
Butch Leitzinger – 1 Class Win – 2001 LM GTP
Scott Pruett – 1 Class Win – 2001 GTS
Joerg Bergmeister – 1 Class Win – 2004 GT
Jordan Taylor – 1 Class Win – 2015 GTE Pro