Max Mimoun Cohen-Olivar

Max Mimoun Cohen-Olivar (30 April 1945 – 21 May 2018) was a Moroccan racing driver. He is considered to be one of the greatest Moroccan racing drivers of all time. He competed extensively in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and at the time of his final appearance in 2001 he was only the ninth driver to start the race 20 or more times. The others were Henri Pescarolo, Bob Wollek, Yojiro Terada, Derek Bell, François Migault, Claude Ballot-Léna, Claude Haldi and Pierre Yver.

Le Mans

His first appearance in the race was in 1971, when he partnered André Wicky in the Swiss driver's own Porsche 908. The gearbox failed in the twentieth hour, with the pair in 10th place in the race and second in their class. The Wicky car failed to start the race the following year, but they had better luck in 1973 as they were joined by the Swiss driver Philippe Carron. The trio were the slowest of all the finishers, 21st on the road and 9th in class. For 1974 Wicky ran a De Tomaso Pantera for Cohen-Olivar and Carron, but the duo retired in the fourth hour of the race. In 1975 Cohen-Olivar drove the lead Wicky Porsche, alongside Carron and Frenchman Joël Brachet. They were uncompetitive again, before the clutch failed in the seventeenth hour, causing Cohen-Olivar's third retirement in four Le Mans entries.

Wicky entered a De Tomaso Pantera for Cohen-Olivar, Jacques Marché and Martial Delalande for the 1976 race but the trio did not start the race. In 1977 Cohen-Olivar joined the French ROC (Racing Organisation Course) entry, driving a Chevron B36 alongside Alain Flotard and Michel Dubois. The car once again failed to make the finish, dropping out in the eighteenth hour. ROC ran two B36s in 1978, and while the other car managed to win the S 2.0 class, the car Cohen-Olivar shared with Frenchmen Jacques Henry and Albert Dufrene suffered a similar fate to the previous year, again retiring in the eighteenth hour, this time with an engine failure.

For 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cohen-Olivar joined up with a new French entry under the Lambretta banner, sharing a Lola T298 with Pierre Yver and Michel Elkoubi. This combination gave Cohen-Olivar his first finish since 1973, and even some silverware, as they finished 21st overall and third in the S 2.0 class.

Despite this success, the team did not enter the race again, and it wasn't until 1981 that Cohen-Olivar was able to race at Le Mans again. He again raced a T298, this time owned by Frenchman Jean-Marie Lemerle. The car was co-piloted by Lemerle and his fellow Frenchman Alain Levié. Another uncompetitive race for Cohen-Olivar ended in the seventeenth hour when the car's electrics failed. He remained with Lemerle in 1982, who with support from Italian firm Sivama Motor was able to run a new car, a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo. Levié was replaced in the team by American Joe Castellano, and the trio had much better luck than the previous year, with 12th overall and second in class. This 12th place would remain Cohen-Olivar's best ever result in the race. 1971 Wicky Racing Team P3.0 Porsche 908/02 Porsche 908 3.0 F8 BUE DAY SEB BRH MNZ SPA TGA NÜR

ÖST GLN

1972 Wicky Racing Team S3.0 Porsche 908/02 Porsche 908 3.0 F8 BUE DAY SEB BRH MNZ SPA TGA NÜR

ÖST

1973 Wicky Racing Team S3.0 Porsche 908/02 Porsche 908 3.0 F8 DAY VAL

SPA TGA NÜR

ÖST GLN

Supercar S2.0 Lola T294 Ford Cosworth FVC L4

SPA NÜR IMO

Wicky Racing Team GT De Tomaso Pantera Ford 5.8 V8

ÖST GLN LEC BRH KYA 1977 S2.0 Lola T294 Ford Cosworth BDG L4 DIJ MNZ VAL PER EST

IMO SAL

1979 Lambretta S.A.F.D. S2.0 Lola T298 BMW M12 2.0 L4 DAY MUG

SIL NÜR PER GLN BRH VAL

1980 Jean-Marie Lemerle S2.0 Lola T298 ROC-Chrysler-Simca 2.0 L4 DAY BRH MUG MNZ SIL NÜR

GLN MOS VAL

1981 Jean-Marie Lemerle S2.0 Lola T298 BMW M12 2.0 L4 DAY SEB MUG MNZ RSD SIL NÜR

PER DAY GLN SPA MOS ROA BRH NC 0 1982 Jean-Marie Lemerle Gr.5 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Lancia 1.4 L4t MNZ SIL NÜR

SPA MUG FUJ BRH NC 0 1983 Scuderia Sivama Motor C Lancia LC1 Lancia 1.4 L4t MNZ SIL NÜR

SPA FUJ KYA NC 0

Helmut Gall B BMW M1

MNZ

LMS

Hubert Striebig C2 Sthemo SMC2

FUJ KYA SAN John Bartlett C1 Lola T610 Cosworth DFL 3.3 V8

MOS 1985 Bartlett Racing C2 Chevron B62 Cosworth DFL 3.3 V8 MUG MNZ SIL

FUJ SHA NC 0

Chevron B62

Bardon DB1

Porsche Kremer Racing C1 Porsche 956 Porsche Type 935/76 2.6 F6t

NOR

Tiga GC285

FUJ Tiga GC286

John Bartlett Racing

Bardon DB1

JAR

MNZ

Roy Baker Racing Tiga GC286

SPA FUJ Charles Ivey Racing Tiga GC287 Porsche Type 935/76 2.6 F6t

NOR BRH

Ark Racing C2 Ceekar 83J-1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8

Swiss Team Salamin C1 Porsche 962C Porsche Type 935/79 2.8 F6t

Automobiles Louis Descartes

ALD 04 BMW M88 3.5 L6

Primagaz Competition Cougar C12

BRN Roy Baker Racing Tiga GC286

NÜR

FUJ SAN

Swiss Team Salamin

SUZ

MEX

Team Lee-Davey

BRH 1990 Swiss Team Salamin C Porsche 962C Porsche Type 935 3.0 F6t SUZ MNZ SIL SPA DIJ

NC 0

Porsche Type 935 3.2 F6t

NÜR MAG MEX AUT

Porsche Type 935 3.0 F6t

1992 Equipe Alméras-Chotard C3 Porsche 962C Porsche Type 935 3.0 F6t MNZ SIL

DON SUZ MAG NC 0

Footnotes

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1971 Wicky Racing Team André Wicky Porsche 908/02 P3.0 DNF DNF 1972 Wicky Racing Team André Wicky Walter Brun Porsche 908/02 S3.0 - DNS DNS 1973 Wicky Racing Team André Wicky Philippe Carron Porsche 908/02 S3.0 270 21st 9th 1974 Wicky Racing Team Philippe Carron De Tomaso Pantera-Ford GT 16 DNF DNF 1975 Wicky Racing Team Philippe Carron Joël Brachet Porsche 908/02 S3.0 161 DNF DNF 1976 Wicky Racing Team Jacques Marché Martial Delalande De Tomaso Pantera-Ford GTX - DNS DNS 1977 Société R.O.C. Alain Flotard Michel Dubois Chevron B36-ROC-Chrysler S2.0 176 DNF DNF 1978 R.O.C. La Pierre du Nord Jacques Henry Albert Dufrene Chevron B36-ROC-Chrysler S2.0 195 DNF DNF 1979 Lambretta S.A.F.D. Pierre Yver Michel Elkoubi Lola T298-BMW S2.0 248 21st 3rd 1980 Jean-Marie Lemerle Jean-Marie Lemerle Lola T298-ROC-Talbot S2.0 - DNQ DNQ 1981 Jean-Marie Lemerle Jean-Marie Lemerle Alain Levié Lola T298-BMW S2.0 104 DNF DNF 1982 Jean-Marie Lemerle Jean-Marie Lemerle Joe Castellano Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Gr.5 295 12th 2nd 1983 Scuderia Sivama Motor Oscar Larrauri Massimo Sigala Lancia LC1 C 217 NC NC 1985 Goodmands Sound Bartlett Chevron Racing Richard Jones Robin Smith Chevron B62-Ford Cosworth C2 19 DNF DNF 1986 Porsche Kremer Racing Pierre Yver Hubert Striebig Porsche 956 C1 160 DNF DNF 1987 Charles Ivey Racing John Cooper Tom Dodd-Noble Tiga GC287-Porsche C2 224 DNF DNF 1988 Primagaz Competition Patrick de Radiguès Cougar C12-Ford Cosworth C2 273 NC NC 1989 Tiga Race Team John Sheldon Robin Donovan Tiga GC289-Ford Cosworth C2 126 DNF DNF 1990 Team Davey Giovanni Lavaggi Tim Lee-Davey Porsche 962C C1 306 19th 19th 1991 Team Salamin Primagaz Antoine Salamin Marcel Tarrès Porsche 962C C2 101 DNF DNF 1992 Equipe Alméras-Chotard Jean-Marie Alméras Jacques Alméras Porsche 962C C3 85 DNF DNF 2000 Seikel Motorsport Michel Neugarten Tony Burgess Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 302 18th 3rd 2001 Seikel Motorsport Tony Burgess Andrew Bagnall Porsche 911 GT3-RS GT 272 12th 6th