This Saturday one of the greatest racing spectacles in the world is taking place, the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. While not a household name in the US, this race is the most intense endurance car race in the world and possesses no equal in terms of legacy or prestige since its beginnings in 1923.

 

For those of you who don’t know what the 24 Hours of Le Mans is, it is a 24-hour long race in Le Mans, France. The course itself is known as the Circuit De La Sarthe (13.62KM/8.46miles long) and has been featured in the popular Gran Turismo racing games. Unlike NASCAR or Indy Car races with a set number of laps or miles to complete, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a distance race. In this race the objective is to keep the car on the track as long as possible to get the longest distance. The team who gets the longest distance wins. 

 

In the past this has led to issues as there were no driver limitations and any number of drivers could rotate in a car. This led to a few ill advised attempts by drivers to run all 24 hours of Le Mans alone to cut down on driver change time. This practice soon became illegal and now three drivers are required per team and they each can drive at maximum 14 total hours and only in four hour shifts. Other safety issues involved taking the Mulsanne straight and breaking it up with chicanes (sharp turns), as top speeds were reaching over 400km/248mph and becoming unsafe. 

 

 

Manufacturers like Toyota, Audi, Peugeot, Aston Martin, BMW, Nissan, and Honda have all sent cars to compete in this endurance race. 

 

In all of the years of racing Porsche has the most car wins with 16. Audi has experienced a long winning streak with six wins in the 2000s in their R8 car driven by Tom Kristensen, who has the most wins of any Le Mans driver with eight. Ford and Chevrolet both have had success here with Ford winning four times with its GT40 in the 1960s and with Chevrolet looking to get their seventh win this year. Surprisingly, Mazda is the only Japanese car to have won a Le Mans which it did in 1991. These fantastic cars and drivers are the reason you should definitely turn on SPEED and watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans because it is an experience worth witnessing.