Eliseo Salazar was close to being one of the winners of the mythical endurance test, but an unusual measure by the team leader deprived him of this joy.
Next weekend a new edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans . The mythical endurance test celebrates its 100th anniversary and will celebrate its 90th edition – there have been years in which it has not taken place due to wars and health problems – with more than 60 vehicles on the track, among which the new Hypercars stand out, as well as a model Nascar who will race as a guest and with the Chilean Nico Pino in the LMP2 category.
It will be the return of a Chilean to the historic Sarthe route after 26 years. In 1997, Elisha Salazar He was competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the sixth time, but it was not his best time and he had to leave after an hour and a half of competition because the Nissan 3.0 V6 turbo engine failed.
It was the last time for the old Formula 1 at Le Mans, a story that began in 1982 and had its best result in 1989 when, together with brothers Alain Ferté and Michel Ferté, they crossed the finish line in eighth place. and were even able to reach higher if the gearbox had not failed.
But the most striking and bitter story would come a year later, as Salazar himself recalled on his Instagram account.
“They say you have to laugh where you have cried. After a few decades, I return to Le Mans for the 100th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The second oldest race in the world. Some time ago, a car bearing my name and the Chilean flag won the general classification of the race, but a few hours from the end, the team favored a driver of his nationality and from a much larger market than ours, when he broke his engine. They changed me for another one that was further behind, for a Brit to win. It’s the hard commercial life of the sport, but that’s in the past and today I’m in it be invited by Peugeot Chile, to see their team which will compete in this legendary edition. Go Peugeot!
How come the Chilean flag intersects with the winning car? Here we tell you one of the most special stories of national motorsport.
The Chilean flag at Le Mans
After the good performance of Eliseo Salazar in 1989 with the Jaguar of the Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) team, in 1990 he was again called up to compete in the English team.
Now his teammates would be John Nielsen and Price Cobb, two drivers with extensive Jaguar experience.
Things started well for Salazar and his team. They finished the qualifying lap in seventh place and were the best for Jaguar, a firm that has seen Nissan and Porsche battle for the top spots. Indeed, the Nissan R90CK of Julian Bailey, Gianfranco Brancatelli and Mark Blundell clinched pole position with a brutal time, six seconds ahead of its nearest rival.
So far, everything was pretty normal, but something was starting to take shape within Walkinshaw’s team.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans started and the Jaguar that carried the Chilean flag with the name of Eliseo Salazar took a correct start, yes the national did not participate in the first section, because by strategy and to prevent any eventuality , one of the three drivers remained unmanned until the start of the race.
About this situation, Eliseo Salazar himself recalled it in a note published by the Motorsport site a few years ago.
“What they said was they were worried about Price (Cobb),” Salazar recalled. “I had been sick and they thought I wasn’t doing well physically at night, so they wanted me to double or triple the hours at the start and then get out of it later.”
The race progresses and the Jaguar of Salazar loses against the Jaguar 1 of Martin Brundle, Alain Ferté and David Leslie, who came to lead the competition.
Of course, as so often, the effort played a trick on the Jaguar 1 and a leak forced the mechanical team to finalize efforts to get it back on track, but with no chance of victory.
Team boss Tom Walkinshaw watched with sadness as his favourite, Martin Brundle, who had not yet gotten into the car, let another year without a win in La Sarthe go by.
Until an unusual decision is made. One of those that in our country it seems that “it only happens to Chileans”.
At the time of the Jaguar 1 problem, of the three other Jaguars in competition, two were driven by two drivers. One of them was Eliseo Salazar’s car, where precisely the Chilean had not yet taken the wheel.
The other Jaguar which had occupied two drivers (Davy Jones, Michel Ferté and the Spaniard Luis Pérez-Sala on standby) was located very far away, so the team owner opted for a drastic and painful measure.
“Tom called me at his motorhome. It was just the two of us. He said it was very important for him and for the team to have Martin in the lead car. I understood that. from a commercial point of view, I am also a businessman. But I told him ‘Tom, this is my life, it is very important for me as a driver.’ It was my big opportunity,” the Chilean commented in the Motorsport interview, adding that the executive’s response was “’it’s Martin, it’s Jaguar, there are 50,000 fans there, and he’s a British driver.’ He asked me to drive #4, which meant that Luis Pérez-Sala wouldn’t be driving at all. But that car was two or three laps behind, and there was no had no chance.”
The decision was made. Brundle would take Salazar’s place in the race-leading car and the Chilean would do the same with the Spaniard’s seat in a car that was far behind in 11th place.
Annoyance at what had happened was reflected as soon as Eliseo got into the car at 10:21 a.m. Driven by bitterness and perhaps with a wounded ego, he starts spinning at very high speed.
“By the time I got in the car I was obviously disappointed and also angry, so I was driving fast. I quickly caught up with Martin and was going to pass him to make up a lap, but they spoke on the radio and told me to back off. So I had to do it,” admitted Salazar.
The race continued on. And the Jaguar in which they put Eliseo did not resist, the engine broke down.
On the other side of the road, Salazar’s Jaguar, with Nielsen at the wheel, crossed the finish line with the Chilean flag on the body and the name Eliseo Salazar. Afterwards, they celebrated with Cobb and Brundle on top of the podium, while Eliseo made his way to the team facilities.
“It could have been one of the highlights of my life, but it ended up being the lowest. The extent of the deal became apparent later when the car won. What if the car had retired? Then I wouldn’t have lost anything. So afterwards I was very disappointed. You don’t have many opportunities like that,” Eliseo said.
“It was a blow to my career and I didn’t race for a few years after that. I did a few races with Spice to finish the season, but then they stopped and I went back to Chile. I finally had an opportunity at the end of 93, when Gianpiero Moretti asked me to try his new Ferrari 333SP, and I went to Fiorano”, recalls Salazar on the Motorsport website.
Regarding this situation, the Chilean would admit in the interview that “at that time, of course, it was devastating. But the rest of my life in motorsport and my career in IndyCar was very fulfilling, and Le Mans is just a memory. Anyway, I respected Tom a lot, I was so sorry for his passing and I will always be grateful for the opportunity he gave me.
Today, Eliseo Salazar is back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He does so as a guest of Peugeot, to see the return of the León brand to Sarthe and the Jaguar XJR-12 which won in 1990 continues with the Chilean flag on its bodywork.
We don’t know if Brundle ever asked for the change, but experts say the Le Mans-winning car is left untouched, witnessing an unusual decision that ‘can only happen to a Chilean’.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
