Few people had the courage to put their money on the Sauber-Mercedes for victory at Le Mans. The Joest Porsche was heavily favored to win. The Jaguar team was fast and had won in '88.
Sauber drivers qualified two cars on the front row of the grid, but this means little at Le Mans. Schlesser (#62) earned pole, and Baldi (#61) sat alongside. The #63 car of Mass broke its special "long" 5th gear during qualifying and was relegated to 11th on the grid. This special gearing allowed the C9s to reach 250mph on the long Mulsanne straight, but the more reliable "short" 5th gear used at other circuits was selected for the race.
The endurance classic turned into a battle royale between the world's premiere automakers: Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes. The two front-row C9s held the lead for the first two laps but then backed off the pace according to team strategy. Mass did the first two stints in the #63 car, moving through the field well. Reuter promptly ran over a piece of broken exhaust pipe on the track, resulting in a small hole in the belly of the Silver Arrow. After stops to remove the debris and change the nose section, he rejoined the race down in 20th position. When Dickens took over, he moved the car all the way back up to 8th.
During the night, driving duties in the #63 car were shared by Mass and Dickens, the less experienced Reuter getting some rest. The pair drove carefully but fast, avoiding incident.
By dawn, the #61 and #63 Silver Arrows had moved into 2nd and 3rd places, sandwiched by a pair of Jaguar XJ-R9 LMs. Soon, the Saubers would inherit 1st and 2nd when the lead Jaguar pitted for a new gearbox. The two Mercedes-powered racers swapped places with each pit stop but settled into their final order at 7:30am when Baldi spun into the gravel and needed 3 minutes to regain the track and a further 6 minutes for repairs in the pits.
Number 63 held the lead without falter for the last 8½ hours. In the closing laps, radio contact with the pits allowed the three Silver Arrows to locate each other on the long Circuit de la Sarthe so that the C9s could cross the finish line in their triumphant team formation! The day marked Mercedes' second remarkable victory at Le Mans and their first official appearance since 1955, cementing a place in history for the Silver Arrows!
