Le Mans

'bout time for another post, here it is,

The 24 Hours Of Le Mans

(credit: Well, it says on the photo...)

As a car guy, I can't ignore the last great auto race. The race that survived the oil crisis. The race that carried on, even after horrific crashes. The race that still has a 3.7  mile long straight! (That bit was meant to be read in the same tone that the announcer uses before the Super Bowl) Now, more to the point, the 24 Heures du Le Mans is going to happen next weekend!

If you didn't know, Le Mans is special for a lot of reasons. For starters, It literally takes 24 hours. That's a pretty long time to drive a racecar. This is why there are three drivers to a car, driving in shifts.

Le Mans is actually four races all happening at the same time, in different classes of cars. There are the:


GTE Amateurs
They drive heavily modified supercars, and are amateur drivers.


(credit: dailysportscar.com)

GTE Professionals
They drive the same cars as the amateurs, but are professional drivers, racing for a REALLY REALLY rich privateer team, or a manufacturer.


(credit: ??)

LMP2

Up here, in the Le Mans Prototypes classes, they don't allow amateurs. They are bespoke built for the Circuit de La Sarthe.

(credit; www.autosport.com)

LMP1

These are the real spaceships. They can have engines with over 1000 horsepower! Only really serious teams can afford one of these.

(same picture as beginning of post)

So, the contenders in the LMP1 class are: Porsche with their innovative hybrid system, and the most wins of any manufacturer. Toyota, gunning for their first Le Mans win, and known for straight line speed. Also, there is an independent team, known as ByKolles.


If you feel like all that's a bit foreign, Ford races in the GTE classes. However, the GT40's have proven to be the slowest cars in testing. Hopefully this is just mind games, and a few Ford's qualify.

Keep on the lookout for Vipers and Corvettes, too. They are a favorite at Le Mans, because of their excellent straight line speed.

I'm sure there will be a few Ferrari's that enter, as well.  If a few Ferrari's qualify, and a few Ford's do the same, I really hope that this will be like the '66 Le Mans (and the '67 (and the '68 (and the '69))). Watch here to find out why Henry Ford II decided to build a Ferrari slayer (alternatively, in episode 6 of The Grand Tour, James May goes through the entire history).


Also, I recommend that you read the Wikipedia article about Le Mans.

Do you have any thoughts about cats? What drives you crazy? I welcome all respectful comments, so keep it clean. One post a week, so stay tuned!

Sorry if this post took a long time.