Drivers Hail End of Perilous Straight : Le Mans: Motor racing’s governing body has ordered that the long and spectacular Mulsanne stretch be broken up by small turns.

Few tears were shed by the world’s top sports car drivers after motor racing’s governing body sounded the death knell for the famous and highly dangerous Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.

The straightaway, almost four miles long, has been the focus for years of an almost ghoulish fascination among racing fans who flock in the thousands to attend the 24-hour sports car race in western France.

But, after the announcement last week of new safety regulations by the International Motor Sports Federation, known as FISA, the long and spectacular straight will have to be broken by chicanes-- small turns to slow cars down--and its straight sections reduced to a maximum of 1 1/4 miles each.

World sports car driving champion Jean-Louis Schlesser of France, well aware of the special significance of Le Mans in his sport, was adamant that the move to reduce the straight is absolutely correct and in the best interests of all concerned.

“In this,” he said, “we are talking about life. It is about life--and life has rules. It is the same for racing. You must have rules for safety and you must respect them.”

Next year’s planned race at Le Mans may not take place if the circuit’s administrator, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, fails to satisfy all the new safety conditions.

The club’s circuit license expires at the end of this year and will not be renewed unless FISA is satisfied that all its instructions on safety improvements at Le Mans have been carried out.

Schlesser--and he is not the only driver--has no doubt about the situation.

“Le Mans has to do something because it is the best-known race in the world, and they have to show the way,” he said.

“In the past the cars have reached 300 or maybe 330 kilometers per hour (185 to 205 m.p.h.) after four or five kilometers (2-3 miles). Now, after 1 1/2 kilometers (one mile) we are at 380 k.p.h. (235 m.p.h.) and we are planning to go faster. If we do nothing about this in the future, the car will fly!”

The world champion added: “Spectators are forbidden from the straight. It is too dangerous. They are not allowed to go there. So why do the drivers have to go there?”

Schlesser told Reuters how it feels to be driving a racing sports car down the Mulsanne straight and why it is dangerous.

“It is strange. The problem is that it feels like nothing very special--nothing different--and that is why it is so dangerous,” he said.

“This is because we, the drivers, get used to it. We are proficient, and for us it is not complicated to drive on it--but that is the great danger with the speed, and that is why I am against it.

“The problem is that if you have any problems at all at that speed, you can do nothing. Nothing at all. And do not forget that small planes take off now at about 200 k.p.h. (125 m.p.h.) and we are racing at double that speed with only 900 kilos (1,980 pounds of car weight).”

Schlesser admitted that, as a Frenchman, he would feel some sadness if the Le Mans 24-hour race was not run again but he stressed that the safety aspect could be ignored no longer.

“It is one of the most dangerous circuits in the world and was certainly, with the straight, the most dangerous I drove on this year.”