24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is an endurance sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. First run in 1923, it is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world and is widely considered one of the world's most prestigious races. It is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, along with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500, and of the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing, with the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.
Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track are able to achieve speeds of, and reached on the Mulsanne Straight in 1988instigating the addition of more chicanes to the track to reduce speed reached. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure. The race is organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. It is held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, composed of closed public roads and dedicated sections of a racing track.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was often part of the World Sportscar Championship from 1953 until that series' final season in 1992. In 2011, it was a part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Since 2012, the race has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. A 10-hour American version of the race, called Petit Le Mans, has been held annually since 1998.
Purpose
Launched when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines, the 24 Hours of Le Mans would concentrate on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars. This encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible.At the same time, the layout of the track required cars with better aerodynamics and stability at high speeds. While this was shared with Grand Prix racing, few tracks in Europe had straights of a length comparable to the Mulsanne. Additionally, because the road is public and thus not as meticulously maintained as permanent racing circuits, racing puts more strain on the parts, increasing the importance of reliability.
The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organizers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of fuel each car was allowed. Although it was later abandoned, fuel economy remains important as new fuel sources reduce the time spent during pit stops. Such technological innovations have had a trickle-down effect and can be incorporated into consumer cars. This has also led to faster and more exotic supercars as manufacturers seek to develop faster road cars in order to develop them into even faster GT cars.
Additionally, hybrid systems have been championed in the Le Mans prototype category as rules have been changed to their benefit and to further push efficiency.
Race
The race is held in mid-June, near the summer solstice, meaning the shortest night and very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation. Rainy weather is common. The race begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour the race started the previous day.Modern competitors often cover well over. The record is 2010's, more than six times the length of the Indianapolis 500, or about 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix. Drivers and their teams strive for speed and avoiding mechanical damage, as well as managing the cars' consumables – primarily fuel, tires, and braking materials. It also tests endurance, with drivers frequently racing for over two hours before a relief driver can take over during a pit stop while eating and resting. Current regulations mandate that three drivers share each competing vehicle, with individual limits of driving no more than 4 hours in a 6-hour period, and no more than 14 hours total.
Competing teams race in groups called "classes", or cars of similar specification, while competing simultaneously for outright placing amongst all classes. Originally, the race showcased cars as they were sold to the general public, then called "Sports Cars", in contrast with the specialised racing cars used in Grand Prix motor racing. Over time, the competing vehicles evolved away from their publicly available road car roots. Today, the race comprises three classes: the purpose-built Sports prototypes which are also known as "hypercar" and are the highest level in sports car racing, Le Mans Prototypes and the production-based Grand Touring cars similar to sports cars sold to the public which are based on road-going models and therefore, in general, are not as fast as Sports prototypes. These are further broken down into: Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3.
Competing teams have had a wide variety of organizations, ranging from competition departments of road car manufacturers to professional motor racing teams to amateur teams.
The race was part of the World Sportscar Championship every year from its inception in 1953 until its demise in 1992, except during the 1956, 1975–1979 and 1989–1990 seasons. In 2011, the race was part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, and since 2012 it has been part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. However, winning Le Mans is often considered to be more important than winning the championship itself.
The race is also known as a leg of the informal Triple Crown of Motorsport which links Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing to represent a career achievement for drivers. Additionally, it is seen as a leg of the Triple Crown of endurance racing, which links the three largest sports car races together, with the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring forming the other legs. Since 1998, an endurance race called "Petit Le Mans" has been held every year as a 10-hour American version of the Le Mans 24 Hours. From 1999 to 2013, Petit Le Mans was part of the American Le Mans Series along with the 12 Hours of Sebring. Since 2014, the IMSA SportsCar Championship has held all four major American endurance classics, which teams can use to prepare for racing at Le Mans.
Cars
The race has approximately 60 competitors. Each car was required to have at least two seats. However, recently cars only need to have space to accommodate a second seat in the cockpit rather than the seat itself. Two doors are allowed; open cockpit cars do not require doors. Since 2014, all cars in the premier LMP1 category must have a roof due to safety concerns, with open-cockpit cars only permitted in the slightly slower LMP2 category. Since 2017, all prototype cars, Hypercar or LMP2, must have closed cockpits.Although all cars compete at the same time, as of 2021 there are separate classes. A prize is awarded to the winner of each class and the overall winner. The number of classes has varied over the years, but there are now three: Hypercar, LMP2, and LMGT3.
Successor to the Le Mans Prototype 1 is the custom-built Hypercar class. It is the top class and debuted in 2021. The new technical regulations are intended to prevent cost escalations while enabling greater variety in technical approaches and car aesthetics.
This is followed by the LMP2 class where teams are obliged to run one of four approved chassisORECA, Ligier, Dallara, or Multimatic/Rileymated with a standard 4.2-litre Gibson V8 engine. ORECA is the most commonly used LMP2 chassis. LMP1 teams are not subjected to chassis and engine restrictions. Their extra power, lower weight, and more complex aerodynamics result in much quicker lap times; LMP1 cars also may use hybrid technology.
The next class is LMGT3, which are similar to production-based sports cars.
Garage 56
s intended to test new automotive technologies may participate in the race under the "Garage 56" banner. Such entries are classified in the race results, though are not expected to be competitive as their sole focus is to demonstrate experimental features.The program debuted in 2012 with the DeltaWing, an unusual rocket-shaped car fielded by All-American Racers and supported by Nissan. The DeltaWing concept showed promise, delivering nearly LMP2-level performance while consuming only 48% as much fuel, but retired after a collision with an LMP1 car six hours into the race.
In 2013, Garage 56 was given to the Swiss-designed hydrogen-fueled GreenGT H2, which was to be the first car without an internal combustion engine to compete at Le Mans. However, the car was pronounced unfit to take part in the race by the team a few days before the race. In 2016, the H2 went on to complete a single demonstration lap at Le Mans.
The Nissan ZEOD RC, a hybrid electric car based on the DeltaWing's design, took the Garage 56 slot in 2014. Despite an early retirement from the race after only 23 minutes due to a gearbox issue, the ZEOD RC achieved its goals of hitting a top speed of, and completing the first ever lap of Le Mans using exclusively electric power at racing speed.
In 2015, the Garage 56 program took a break as all applications that year were deemed unfit by the ACO.
Frederic Sausset, a quadruple amputee, drove a modified Morgan LMP2 in the 2016 race.
Financial problems forced Welter Racing to cancel its 2017 Garage 56 run with the Green4U Panoz Racing GT-EV, a biomethane-fuel prototype featuring a 3-cylinder 1.2-liter engine fueled by biomethane stored in cryogenic tanks. Welter Racing went on to develop the car with hopes of entering the car in 2018 and 2019, but ultimately did not compete due to complex issues with the car in 2018, and due to Don Panoz's death causing the suspension of the program in 2019. The 2019 slot was also eyed by UK-based constructor Perrinn with the Project 424, an LMP1-based electric-powered car with an autonomous driving mode. However, this did not come to pass, and Garage 56 was left empty in both 2018 and 2019 as the ACO deemed none of the applications to be sufficiently mature.
2020 saw Frederic Sausset attempting to return to Garage 56 under the SRT41 banner by fielding a specially modified Oreca 07 LMP2 car with a lineup of three disabled drivers; however, the attempt was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SRT41 program was delayed to 2021, which saw Garage 56 successfully making a return for the first time in five years. Two of the drivers, paralyzed from the waist down, became the first disabled teammates to compete in the history of the race.
In 2022, Garage 56 was once again empty.
For 2023, a modified NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stock car fielded by Hendrick Motorsports was the Garage 56 entry, with seven-times Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, 2009 Formula One world champion and NASCAR driver Jenson Button, and 2010 Le Mans overall and LMP1 winner Mike Rockenfeller driving the car. The car marked NASCAR's 75th anniversary, which coincided with the race's centenary. Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief during each of his Cup Series championships, was project manager, while the car bore #24 in honour of Hendrick vice chairman and former driver Jeff Gordon.