Circuit-Le Mans
Opened-2002
Location-Le Mans
Modified-2006
Pole position-Left
Width-13m
Length-4180m
Longest straight-450m
Left turns-4
Right turn-9
Biult in-1965
The first race was held on May 26 and 27 1923 and has since been run annually in June, with exceptions occurring in 1956, when the race was held in July, and 1968, when it was held in September, due to nationwide political turmoils in spring of that year (see May 1968). The race has been cancelled twice: once in the year 1936 (Great Depression) and from 1940 to 1948 (World War II and its aftermath).
The 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once widely considered to be the triple crown of sports car racing; driver Ken Miles would have been the only driver to win all three in the same year but for an error in the team orders of the Ford GT40 team at Le Mans, in 1966, which took the win from him, although he finished first.
The race is run on a semi-permanent track which, in its current configuration, is 13.650 km (8.482 mi) long, utilizing mostly country roads that remain open to the public for the majority of the year. Over the years, several purpose-built sections have replaced the normal roads, especially the Porsche Curves section, which bypasses the dangerous former Maison Blanche section, between buildings. The permanent Bugatti Circuit surrounds the facilities at the start/finish.
Usually, around 50 cars race simultaneously, in a number of different categories and classes. Current classes are LMP1 and LMP2, for "Le Mans prototypes" and LMGT1 and LMGT2, for Gran Turismo or "GT" classes. The overall winner is the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours of continuous racing. This rule appears obvious but the 1966 race saw a surprise winner, among the three Ford GT40s that were leading. Ford ordered the leading #1 car to slow down to let the #2 and the #5 cars catch up, in order to create a photo opportunity[1] with all three GT40s crossing the line 1, 2, 3, in a staged finish, only a few meters apart. Yet the #2 car that had covered the same number of laps (360) was pronounced the winner, as it had started further behind on the grid and thus covered a slightly bigger distance in the same time.
To be classified, a car must cross the finish line after 24 hours. This leads to dramatic scenes where damaged cars wait in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restart their engines and crawl across the line to be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (Did Not Finish).
In recent years, each car has a team of three drivers. Before 1970 only two drivers per car were allowed and even solo driving was permitted, in the early decades. Until the early 1980s, most of the cars were raced with a two-driver team. In 1952, Frenchman Pierre Levegh competed alone and looked like the winner but made a shifting mistake in the final hour which handed victory to a Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Luigi Chinetti won in 1949 with a 23.5 hour stint behind the wheel. In 1950, Louis Rosier won the race with his son Jean-Louis Rosier, who drove the car during only two turns.
The 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once widely considered to be the triple crown of sports car racing; driver Ken Miles would have been the only driver to win all three in the same year but for an error in the team orders of the Ford GT40 team at Le Mans, in 1966, which took the win from him, although he finished first.
The race is run on a semi-permanent track which, in its current configuration, is 13.650 km (8.482 mi) long, utilizing mostly country roads that remain open to the public for the majority of the year. Over the years, several purpose-built sections have replaced the normal roads, especially the Porsche Curves section, which bypasses the dangerous former Maison Blanche section, between buildings. The permanent Bugatti Circuit surrounds the facilities at the start/finish.
Usually, around 50 cars race simultaneously, in a number of different categories and classes. Current classes are LMP1 and LMP2, for "Le Mans prototypes" and LMGT1 and LMGT2, for Gran Turismo or "GT" classes. The overall winner is the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours of continuous racing. This rule appears obvious but the 1966 race saw a surprise winner, among the three Ford GT40s that were leading. Ford ordered the leading #1 car to slow down to let the #2 and the #5 cars catch up, in order to create a photo opportunity[1] with all three GT40s crossing the line 1, 2, 3, in a staged finish, only a few meters apart. Yet the #2 car that had covered the same number of laps (360) was pronounced the winner, as it had started further behind on the grid and thus covered a slightly bigger distance in the same time.
To be classified, a car must cross the finish line after 24 hours. This leads to dramatic scenes where damaged cars wait in the pits or on the edge of the track close to the finish line for hours, then restart their engines and crawl across the line to be listed with a finishing distance, rather than dismissed with DNF (Did Not Finish).
In recent years, each car has a team of three drivers. Before 1970 only two drivers per car were allowed and even solo driving was permitted, in the early decades. Until the early 1980s, most of the cars were raced with a two-driver team. In 1952, Frenchman Pierre Levegh competed alone and looked like the winner but made a shifting mistake in the final hour which handed victory to a Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Luigi Chinetti won in 1949 with a 23.5 hour stint behind the wheel. In 1950, Louis Rosier won the race with his son Jean-Louis Rosier, who drove the car during only two turns.
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