1987 - Le Mans - Win Percy's massive accident (if you can see anything!)

As Jan Lammers came in to complete his stint, it wasn't John Watson who took over, but Win Percy. The west countryman who cherished the ambition of driving again for Jaguar at Le Mans, after his 1986 stint, but was not originally scheduled to run this year as Tom Walkinshaw preferred to have only two drivers per car.

However, when Uncle Win took the wheel for just-in-case qualifying on Wednesday night, he was fastest Jaguar driver throughout until Martin Brundle pipped him by a second in the closing stages. He was thus the logical choice for the night stint.

Things went badly, however when according to Tony Southgate (designer of the car) he inadvertently brushed the brake pedals as the mechanics changed the pads during the handover.

The pistons popped out of the right-hand caliper, necessitating replacement of the red-hot component. Two laps before Win finally joined the race, and that was enough to drop the best-placed Jaguar from immediate contention.

Then, ironically it was that car which brought Porsche one of the pace cars it had been expecting. Approaching Mulsanne Kink at 2.40am, the Jaguar suddenly veered hard right and spun backwards into the armco with horrendous force before barrel-rolling anything more than 10 times.

Tim-Lee Davey, follwing a way back in the Bardon having been passed by the Jaguar just after Tetre Rouge, recalled tghe incident with rolling eyes, "I never want to see one that big, that close again! There was a flash of blue from the left rear of the Jag and then there was literally pieces everywhere." He picked up a puncture on the debris and was forced to pit.

The Jaguar was history. By the grace of God, Win was unharmed bar bruising and shock, even though the car had slid upside-down for some yards and his helmet had bee scraped badly.

It is a testament of Jaguar's inherent structual strength that he was around to relive the experience. "I was just thinking what a nice night it was when there was an explosion behind me and we spun into the barriers," he explained before flying off home.

Mercifully, the Jaguar stayed within the confines of the triple-tier armco, but its gearbox was ripped off and the monocoque slammed right through the kink, to come to a rest on the left-hand side of the road beyond it.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• 1987
• Le
• Mans
• Win
• Percy
• accident
• crash
• Mulsanne
• Hunaudieres
• kink
• Jaguar
• XJR-8

[bigsw2000]

I still have a little bit of this car at home. Small piece of blue foam, not sure what part of the car it is from