# Who is the best privateer driver in Le Mans history?

> 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.

*By YPB Team · Published October 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-privateer-driver-in-le-mans-history*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Henri Pescarolo**
   Four-time Le Mans winner who later ran his own privately funded team to repeated podiums.
2. **Klaus Ludwig**
   Three-time Le Mans winner including the 1979 victory in the privately entered Kremer Porsche 935 K3.
3. **Bob Wollek**
   Frenchman called the best driver never to win Le Mans, a constant privateer-team podium threat.
4. **Reinhold Joest**
   German team owner and driver whose privateer Porsche squad won Le Mans repeatedly.
5. **Masten Gregory**
   American who won Le Mans in 1965 driving for the privateer Ecurie Francorchamps entry.
6. **Alain de Cadenet**
   British amateur who built and drove his own De Cadenet-Lola cars at Le Mans through the 1970s.
7. **Paul Newman**
   The actor-driver who finished second at Le Mans in 1979 with the privately entered Barbour Porsche.

Tags: racing, drivers, motorsport, le mans, endurance