No factory budget, no safety net, just a car and a crew chasing the big teams around La Sarthe. These are the independents who beat the odds, and a few who came heartbreakingly close.
1Henri PescaroloFour-time Le Mans winner who later ran his own privately funded team to repeated podiums.
2Klaus LudwigThree-time Le Mans winner including the 1979 victory in the privately entered Kremer Porsche 935 K3.
3Bob WollekFrenchman called the best driver never to win Le Mans, a constant privateer-team podium threat.
4Reinhold JoestGerman team owner and driver whose privateer Porsche squad won Le Mans repeatedly.
5Masten GregoryAmerican who won Le Mans in 1965 driving for the privateer Ecurie Francorchamps entry.
6Alain de CadenetBritish amateur who built and drove his own De Cadenet-Lola cars at Le Mans through the 1970s.
7Paul NewmanThe actor-driver who finished second at Le Mans in 1979 with the privately entered Barbour Porsche.
Photo credits
- Henri Pescarolo — Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Klaus Ludwig — Crosa from Nuernberg, CC BY 2.0
- Bob Wollek — Eddi Laumanns aka RX-Guru, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Reinhold Joest — David Merrett from Daventry, England, CC BY 2.0
- Masten Gregory — Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Alain de Cadenet — Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0
