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Le Mans 24 Hours history to be celebrated at Chantilly event

A celebration of the Le Mans 24 Hours will be a central theme of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille in France on Sunday June 30

As well as marking Bentley's centenary and the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 917, a large number of classes will include cars that have raced in the classic event. Notable from the Le Mans story will be a Bentley Speed 6 (1930), a Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé (1953), an Aston Martin DBR1 (1959) and a Porsche 911 GT1 (1997).

Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille has a special relationship with the 24 Hours of Le Mans with ACO president Pierre Fillon on the judging panel for the annual concours event.

At the first running of the event there was a class devoted to pre-1976 mid-engined endurance cars with Ford GT40s, Ferrari 512Ss and Lola T70s.

Since then each of the Concours d'Etat has included GTs and prototypes from all eras of the race and in 2017 the 1958-winning Ferrari TR58 took the 'Best of Show' award.

One of the star exhibits this time will be the rarely-seen 1981 version of the Porsche 917, the 917 K81. This brave Kremer brothers development of the 12-year-old design, with background support from the factory, suffered major issues with tyres and aerodynamics and made little impact on the race before retiring at dusk with engine failure.

Representing the early 1960s will be the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, chassis 0182R (pictured top), registered '1 VEV'. Run by the Essex Racing Stable for drivers including Roy Salvadori, Innes Ireland and Jim Clark, it is now one of the most sought-after cars. In 2018, its sister car '2 VEV' sold for nearly £10million.

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