24 Hours of Le Mans – Preview
Yes, it’s that time again when the real racers come out to play. Forget F1, real racing is done on an annual basis at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Le Mans may sound complicated thanks to the various classes but in essence, it’s really simple.
Here goes the quickest and easiest explanation of the race ever. There are multiple classes of race cars from around the world. Each car has three drivers and the emphasis on completing as many laps as possible within a 24 hour period. What makes it interesting as the cars have to drive fast AND efficiently. There’s no point in going flat out all the time as you’ll soon need fuel, brake pads and tyres. It’s a real test of reliability too as mechanical parts are pushed to the limit.
The track combines proper racing circuit as well as sections of public road. During the race weekend and in the weekend running up to the race, the town of Le Mans literally shuts down. The race has been going since 1923 with thousands of petrolheads descending upon the French town each year and for many, it’s a bucket list item.
There are various classes that will be participating and while it’s almost impossible to remember all the cars, it’s interesting to see the huge variety that will be taking to the track.
LMP1: These are the fastest, craziest and general bad asses of Le Mans. The cars look demonic and are built purely for high speed efficiency. In the past it was Audi who had dominated this class and it had healthy competition from Peugeot before the latter withdrew because of a lack of funding. This year, Audi will face a new adversary in the form of Toyota who has its first ever factory team in the class. This class is a combination of diesel hybrid, diesel, petrol and petrol hybrids. It’ll be a fascinating race between the elites of Le Mans.
LMP2: Slightly slower but just as crazy are the LMP2s. These guys are under pressure to match the LMP1 boys but don’t quite have the power. There are also many more cars in this class so competition is stiff. All of these cars are petrol-powered and there is a huge assortment of manufacturers involved including Nissan, Oreca, Honda, Lola and Lotus.
GTE Pro / GTE AM: These two classes are the first to feature cars that actually resemble road-going vehicles. This year there is an abundance of Ferrari 458 Italias, Chevrolet Corvettes, Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs as well as Aston Martin Vantage V8s.
Things to look out for at Le Mans:
1) The crashes: Sadly, Le Mans is infamous for its outrageous crashes thanks to factors like fatigue, weather and mechanical failure. Fingers crossed that no one is seriously injured this year.
2) The overtaking: If there is even the smallest of gaps between vehicles you can be assured that someone will be crazy enough to try squeeze in there. Also well worth a watch are the faster LMP1/LMP2 cars try get past the slower GTE cars. Imagine being in a Ferrari doing 200km/h and a diesel Audi flies past you at 250km/h? That happens all night at Le Mans.
3) Crazy tech: You’ll notice something that resembles an aeroplane cruising around at the back of the field. This year, there’s a class for experimental technologies and Nissan will be unleashing its cool Delta Wing racer with a 300hp Juke engine.
4) The crazy pit stops: Each team has to have three drivers who take it in turns to drive. Cars also have to switch off completely once they have reached their respective garages and are only allowed to switch on once the car has been refuelled/tyres changed.
That’s Le Mans in a nutshell. It’ll be televised on SuperSport this year and I’ve attached a link to the various cars that will be racing around the Le Sarthe circuit. Print out the two pages and have fun spotting the various cars as they hurtle around.
Keep an eye out for a Le Mans gallery after the race…
Pingback: 24 Hours of Le Mans 2012 – GALLERY « DaveTheCarGuy