I think you are a bit wrong there, Rhino, regarding a limit on the number of stops. The old C1 cars of that era (wish it was the same categories today!!!), just like the current lmp900 cars, used to refuel every 35-40 mins. So that means a minimum of 36 stops.
The only limit I can remember was that each car was allowed only so much fuel for the whole race - I think it was 2500 litres for the C1 cars, and the fuel was metered at each pit. This meant that the Porsches of the day could not use all their power with the twin turbos as they were too thirsty - they had to turn down the boost for some of the time. It also meant that a partly wet race was somewhat interesting as they could conserve their fuel and still keep pace with the non-turbo cars, and step up the power during the dry periods.
The fuel flow during a pit stop was set at 1 litre per second, so a refuelling stop took at least 90 seconds.
Nothing to do with tyres, I know, but.....
DB
