The Le Mans 24 hour car race
Saturday, 6th June 2009
The Le Mans 24 hour race, the world’s oldest endurance car race, was first held in May 1923.
Also known as the 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans in French) or the Grand Prix of Endurance, the race is organised by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the 13km circuit (Le Circuit de la Sarthe) includes public roads temporarily closed for the occasion. The aim of the race is to test the speed and endurance of the drivers, and the reliability, endurance and fuel efficiency of the cars.
Normally some 50 cars take part and all race at the same time, but they compete in different classes, of which there are currently four. The classes are divided by the speed, weight and power output of the cars – two classes are for custom-built cars, and two are based on normal production cars. The custom-built cars in tend to win most frequently, but cars from the other classes do occasionally beat them.
Although there were no rules about the number of drivers for each car at first, most teams used two up until the late 1980s, and a few drivers tried to do the race on their own. Since the 1990s teams have had to use three drivers and rules were introduced about how long each of them could drive without a break – no more than 4 hours at a time or 14 hours in total.
The race has a number of unique rules and traditions, including the requirement for cars to go for the first hour of the race without stopping to replace oil, coolant and other fluids. When they go into the pits the cars’ engines have to be switched off, a rule which improves safety and tests the ability of the cars to be restarted repeatedly during the race. Another tradition is the use of a French tricolor to start the race, and the way the winners spray champagne rather than drinking it, a practice started by Dan Gurney in 1967.
Originally the winner was the driver that covered the furthest distance in 24 hours, which gave a small advantage to those that started at the front of the grid. This was changed in 1971 to the number of laps completed.
The race usually takes place on the second weekend of June - 13th/14th June 2009 - with qualifying and practise on the Wednesday and Thursday before, and the race itself starting on the Saturday afternoon.
Tags: french, culture, france, le mans
Posted by Simon Ager under Experience Cultures,
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