Claude Roger Léon Ballot-Léna (4 August 1936 – 5 December 1999)[1] was a French racing driver born in Paris.

Claude Ballot-Léna
Ballot-Léna c. 1988
Born(1936-08-04)4 August 1936
Paris, France
Died5 December 1999(1999-12-05) (aged 63)
Paris, France
Cause of deathCancer
Awards1969 Spa 24 Hours winner
1983 24 Hours of Daytona winner
NASCAR Cup Series career
6 races run over 2 years
First race1978 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race1979 Firecracker 400 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Career

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He won the 1969 Spa 24 Hours in a Porsche 911 and the 1983 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 935 Turbo owned by Preston Henn. He also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans many times from 1966 until the 1980s and other than record holder Tom Kristensen has scored the most class victories at Le Mans with seven wins driving Porsche, Ferrari and Jaguar GT class cars. Ballot-Léna was also one of the earliest European NASCAR drivers when he made six Winston Cup starts in 1978 to 1979 at Talladega Superspeedway, Daytona International Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway.[citation needed]

He died on 5 December 1999 in Paris from cancer.[1]

Motorsports career results

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24 Hours of Le Mans results

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24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1965   Abarth France   Frank Ruata Abarth 1000 SP P
1.15
- DNQ DNQ
1966   Jean-Louis Marnat & Cie   Jean-Louis Marnat Marcos Mini Marcos GT 2 2-BMC P
1.3
258 15th 5th
1967   S.E.C. Automobiles CD   Dennis Dayan CD SP66C-Peugeot P
1.15
25 DNF DNF
1968   Auguste Veuillet   Guy Chasseuil Porsche 911T GT
2.0
224 DNF DNF
1969   Auguste Veuillet   Guy Chasseuil Porsche 911T GT
2.0
301 11th 2nd
1970   Établissement Sonauto   Guy Chasseuil Porsche 914/6 GT GT
2.0
285 6th 1st
1971   Auguste Veuillet - Sonauto   Guy Chasseuil Porsche 908/2 P
3.0
DNF DNF
1972   Charles Pozzi   Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 365 GTB/4 GT
5.0
306 5th 1st
1973   Automobiles Charles Pozzi   Vic Elford Ferrari 365 GTB/4 GT
5.0
316 6th 1st
1974   Robert Buchet   Vic Elford Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GT DNF DNF
1975   Écurie Robert Buchet   Jacques Bienvenue Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GT 304 8th 4th
1976   Ecurie T.S.   Guy Chasseuil WM P76-Peugeot GTP DNF DNF
1977   JMS Racing / ASA Cachia   Peter Gregg Porsche 935 Gr. 5 315 3rd 1st
1978   Pozzi-Thompson JMS Racing   Jean-Louis Lafosse Ferrari 512BB IMSA
2.5
218 DNF DNF
1979   JMS Racing / Charles Pozzi   Michel Leclère
  Peter Gregg
Ferrari 512BB/LM IMSA
2.5
219 DNF DNF
1980   Ch. Pozzi - JMS Racing   Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 512BB/LM IMSA 129 DNF DNF
1981   Charles Pozzi S.A.   Jean-Claude Andruet
  Hervé Regout
Ferrari 512BB/LM IMSA
GTX
328 5th 1st
1982   Charles Pozzi - Ferrari France   Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 512BB/LM IMSA
GTX
57 DNF DNF
1983   Preston Henn T-Bird Swap Shop
  John Fitzpatrick Racing
  Preston Henn
  Jean-Louis Schlesser
Porsche 956 C 327 10th 10th
1984   Group 44 Jaguar   Tony Adamowicz
  John Watson
Jaguar XJR-5 IMSA
GTP
212 DNF DNF
1985   Group 44 Jaguar   Bob Tullius
  Chip Robinson
Jaguar XJR-5 GTP 324 13th 1st
1986   Porsche AG   René Metge Porsche 961 GTX 321 7th 1st
1988   Chamberlain Engineering   Jean-Louis Ricci
  Jean-Claude Andruet
Spice SE88C-Ford Cosworth C2 17 DNF DNF
1989   Joest Racing   Henri Pescarolo
  Jean-Louis Ricci
Porsche 962C C1 371 6th 6th
Source:[2]

NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1978 GC Spencer Racing 49 Dodge RSD DAY
22
RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL
18
DOV CLT NSV RSD MCH DAY
35
NSV POC TAL
37
MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT NA 0 [3]
1979 6 Olds RSD DAY
DNQ
CAR RCH ATL
27
NWS BRI DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY
31
NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL ONT NA 0 [3]
Daytona 500
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Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1978 GC Spencer Racing Dodge 35 22
1979 Oldsmobile DNQ

References

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  1. ^ a b "matchID - Claude Ballot-Léna". Fichier des décès (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Claude Ballot-Léna, France". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Claude Ballot-Lena − 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
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