The 1989 Le Mans 24 hours was the 57th running of the Grand Prix d'Endurance and the last to feature the full 3.7 mile (6km) Mulsanne Straight before two chicanes were added to curb the 250mph top speed of the Group C prototypes.

For the '89 season Mercedes upped their involvement with the Sauber team and the development of their C9, with the German marque's classic 'Silver Arrows' livery returning to Le Mans for the first time in over 30 years. Against 3 Jaguar XJR-9's and a raft of Porsche 962's, the #63 C9 would overcome early troubles to have a clean run for the remainder of the race, taking a dominant victory 5 laps clear of the #61 sister car in 2nd and 7 laps clear of the 3rd place Joest Porsche. The third Sauber C9 would come home in 5th.

This piece features the winning #63 car at speed on the Mulsanne straight before the infamous high-speed kink.