Unlike fixed-distance races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. Cars have reached speeds of 366 km/h (227 mph) on the circuit; in 1988 a car reached 407 km/h (253 mph) on the main straight, instigating the addition of chicanes to reduce speed. Modern competitors often cover well over 5,000 km; the record is 2010's 5,410 km (3,360 mi).
The race was 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, it concentrated on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars, encouraging innovation in reliability and fuel efficiency. The layout of the track required cars with better aerodynamics and stability at high speeds, particularly on the Ligne droite des Hunaudières, often referred to as the Mulsanne Straight after the village it leads to.
The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organisers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of fuel each car was allowed. In the 2000s, hybrid systems were championed in the Le Mans prototype category as rules were changed to push efficiency.
The race is held in mid-June, near the summer solstice. It begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour it started. Current regulations mandate that three drivers share each competing vehicle, with individual limits of no more than 4 hours driving in any 6-hour period and no more than 14 hours total.
The race starts via a rolling start since 1971. Cars are lined up against the pit wall; when the green flag is waved the cars pull away one by one behind the safety car, and when that car returns to the pit lane the starter waves the French flag to start the race. The traditional Le Mans start — in which drivers ran across the track to their cars — was discontinued in 1970; from 1963 to 1969 qualifying times determined the lineup.
A unique rule requires that cars be switched off while refuelling in the pits, and mechanics are not allowed to work on the car during refuelling. Cars must complete 70 percent of the distance covered by the overall winner to be classified. When two cars finish the same number of laps, finishing order is determined by the faster overall completion time.
There are long-standing traditions at Le Mans, including the waving of the French tricolor to start the race, usually preceded by a fly-over with jets trailing blue, white, and red smoke. Le Mans was also the venue for the first televised instance of a winning driver celebrating by spraying champagne: when Dan Gurney won the 1967 race with co-driver A. J. Foyt, Gurney shook a magnum of champagne and sprayed nearby onlookers including Ford CEO Henry Ford II and team owner Carroll Shelby.
The Circuit de la Sarthe, named after the department containing Le Mans, consists of both permanent track and public roads temporarily closed for the race. Since 1923, the track has been extensively modified, mostly for safety reasons, and is now 13.626 km (8.467 mi) in length. A major change came in 1990 when the FIA decreed it would no longer sanction any circuit with a straight longer than 2 km. Two chicanes were added to the 6-kilometre Mulsanne Straight, dividing it into three pieces of approximately 2 km each, further influenced by the WM P88 reaching 407 km/h (253 mph) driven by Roger Dorchy in the 1988 race. The circuit's current top speed record after the introduction of the chicanes is 366 km/h (227 mph).
The 24 Hours of Le Mans was first run on 26 and 27 May 1923 through public roads around Le Mans. Originally planned as a three-year event under the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, this idea was abandoned in 1928. The early races were dominated by French, British, and Italian drivers and teams, with Bugatti, Bentley, and Alfa Romeo being the top brands. The race was cancelled in 1936 due to general strikes in France, and the outbreak of World War II in 1939 resulted in a ten-year hiatus.
Following reconstruction of circuit facilities, the race resumed in 1949. That year was also Ferrari's first victory, the 166MM of Luigi Chinetti and Peter Mitchell-Thomson. After the formation of the World Sportscar Championship in 1953, of which Le Mans was a part, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and others began sending factory-backed cars. The 1955 Le Mans disaster saw Pierre Levegh's car crash into a crowd of spectators, killing more than 80 people, leading to widespread introduction of safety measures and a rebuilt pit complex set further back.
Ford entered with the GT40, ending Ferrari's dominance with four straight wins from 1966 to 1969. In 1966, the race was won by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon; the "greatest distance" classification rule determined their victory over Ken Miles and Denny Hulme, with McLaren's car having started farther back on the grid, giving it a margin of eight metres in distance covered.
In 1967, when Dan Gurney won with A. J. Foyt, Jacky Ickx opposed the traditional Le Mans start in 1969 by walking across the track while his competitors ran; privateer John Woolfe died in an accident on the first lap of that race, and Ickx won.
Purpose-built sportscars became the norm throughout the 1970s. Porsche was dominant with their 917, 935, and 936 models. French manufacturers Matra-Simca and Renault also gained success, with the first French victories since the 1950 race. In 1975, John Wyer's Mirage won. In 1978, the first win for a turbocharged engine came with the Renault Alpine A443. In 1980, Jean Rondeau won in his self-titled chassis. The rolling Indianapolis start replaced the traditional standing start in 1971.
The 1980s saw dominance by Porsche under the new Group C race car formula encouraging fuel efficiency. Running the 956 and later the 962 — both affordable enough for privateers to purchase — Porsche won seven years in a row from 1981 to 1987. Jaguar broke Porsche's run with victories in 1988 and 1990 with the XJR-9 and Jaguar XJR-12 respectively. Mercedes-Benz won in 1989 with the Sauber C9. Mazda became the first Japanese manufacturer to win, with their rotary-powered 787B in 1991 — the only company to win with a rotary engine. In qualifying for the 1988 race, a WM Peugeot set the never-surpassed speed trap record of 407 km/h (253 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight. In 1992 and 1993, Peugeot dominated with its 905.
The circuit underwent a major change in 1990 when the Mulsanne was modified to include two chicanes to stop speeds over 400 km/h from being reached.
Following the demise of the World Sportscar Championship, Le Mans saw a resurgence of production-based grand tourer cars. Porsche succeeded in racing the Dauer 962 Le Mans as a production car for 1994. McLaren won in 1995 in the supercar's first appearance thanks to the reliability of the BMW V12 powered F1 GTR. BMW scored their first and only overall Le Mans win in 1999. In the same 1999 event, Mercedes suffered three catastrophic though non-fatal crashes from severe aerodynamic flaws with their CLR — including Mark Webber's car flipping on two occasions and Peter Dumbreck's car becoming airborne and landing in the woods — leading Mercedes to withdraw and end its entire sportscar programme.
Audi dominated from 2000 onwards with the R8, winning five consecutive times. After three consecutive Audi victories, Audi provided engine, staff, and drivers to Bentley, which won in 2003 with the Speed 8 beating privateer Audis. At the end of 2005, Audi introduced the diesel-engined R10 TDI, the first diesel to win at Le Mans. Peugeot followed in 2007 with the 908 HDi FAP diesel. The 2009 race was won by Peugeot. The 2010 race saw all four Peugeots retire (three from engine failure) while Audi finished 1–2–3.
In 2011, the race became the premier round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. In 2012, it became the centrepiece of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The 2012 race was the first won by a hybrid electric vehicle, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro.
In 2013, Dane Allan Simonsen died after crashing into the barriers at Tertre Rouge.
Porsche returned in 2014 with a new factory LMP1 programme and won in 2015, 2016, and 2017 with its hybrid 919. Porsche remains the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans with 19 overall victories. Audi withdrew from racing at Le Mans in 2016. In 2018, Toyota won their first Le Mans with Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi, and Kazuki Nakajima driving. Toyota won again in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
In 2021, the Hypercar class was introduced, allowing Le Mans Hypercars (LMH) and, from 2023, LMDh cars to participate. The former LMGTE class was replaced by LMGT3 in 2024.
The race has been cancelled ten times: in 1936 due to a labour strike and between 1940 and 1948 due to World War II. In 2020 it was moved to 19–20 September due to the COVID-19 outbreak and was held behind closed doors for the first time.
As of 2021, the race comprises three classes competing simultaneously. The highest class is Hypercar (LMH or LMDh), which debuted in 2021 as successor to LMP1. The second class is LMP2, where teams run one of four approved chassis — ORECA, Ligier, Dallara, or Multimatic/Riley — with a standard 4.2-litre Gibson V8 engine. The third class is LMGT3, comprising production-based sports cars. A "Garage 56" banner allows concept cars testing new automotive technologies to participate; the programme debuted in 2012.
The most successful manufacturer in the history of the race is Porsche, with 19 overall victories including seven in a row from 1981 to 1987, and 107 class victories. Audi has 13 wins and Ferrari 11, including six in a row from 1960 to 1965. Since 2000, Audi dominated, winning 13 times in 15 years of participation. Jaguar has seven wins.
Tom Kristensen holds the record for most wins by a driver, with nine victories between 1997 and 2013 including six in a row. Jacky Ickx previously held the record with six wins between 1969 and 1982. Derek Bell has five wins. Henri Pescarolo won four times and holds the record for the most Le Mans appearances at 33.
Graham Hill is the only driver to have won the Triple Crown of Motorsport: the Indianapolis 500 (1966), Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969), and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972). Three-time winner Woolf Barnato (1928–1930), Luis Fontés (1935), A. J. Foyt (1967), Nico Hülkenberg (2015), and Fernando Alonso (2018–2019) are the only drivers to have won every Le Mans race in which they participated.
Le Mans has seen many innovations in automotive design. Early competitors used simple curves to reduce drag, with Bugatti developing early aerodynamic forms nicknamed "tanks". The 1950 Briggs Cunningham entry included a Cadillac Coupe de Ville completely rebodied in a streamlined aluminium shape developed by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, nicknamed "Le Monstre" by the French press.
Disc brakes were first seen in 1953 when the Jaguar C-Type raced at Le Mans. In 1955, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR introduced the air brake using a large opening hood on the rear of the car. Anti-lock braking systems became standard on most Group C cars in the 1980s. By the late 1990s, reinforced carbon-carbon brakes were adopted.
The first entry without a piston engine came in 1963 when Rover partnered with British Racing Motors to run a gas turbine car. The Wankel rotary engine was used exclusively by Mazda since its introduction at the race in 1970 before finally winning in 1991. The first non-gasoline car appeared in 1949: the Delettrez Special was powered by a diesel engine. Turbocharging first appeared in 1974 and ethanol fuel in 1980. Supercharging had first been raced in 1929.
Beginning in 2009, new regulations allowed hybrid vehicles with KERS or TERS setups. In 2012 the first KERS-equipped car won: the Audi R18 e-tron quattro with a flywheel hybrid system by Williams Hybrid Power.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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