24 Hours of Le Mans

This article is about the sports car race in France. For the motorcycle race, see 24 Hours of Le Mans (motorcycle race). For other uses, see 24 Hours of Le Mans (disambiguation). For the 2024 race, see 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Not to be confused with 24 Hours of Lemons.

24 Hours of Le Mans
FIA World Endurance Championship
VenueCircuit de la Sarthe
LocationFrance Le Mans, France
47°57′00″N 00°12′27″E / 47.95000°N 0.20750°E / 47.95000; 0.20750
First race1923
First WEC race2012
Last race2024
Distance13.626 km/ 8.467 mi
Duration24 hours
Most wins (driver)Denmark Tom Kristensen (9)
Most wins (team)Germany Joest Racing (13)
Most wins (manufacturer)Germany Porsche (19)

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France.[1] It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races,[2][3] and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500—that form the Triple Crown of Motorsport, and is also one of the races alongside the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring that make up the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing.[2] Run since 1923, it is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world.[4]

Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track are able to achieve speeds of 366 km/h (227 mph), and reached 407 km/h (253 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight in 1988 – instigating the addition of more chicanes to the track to reduce speed reached. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure.[5] The race is organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It is held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, composed of closed public roads and dedicated sections of a racing track.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans was frequently part of the World Sportscar Championship from 1953 until that series' final season in 1992. In 2011, it was a part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Since 2012, the race has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship.[6] In the World Endurance Championship's super-season of May 2018 to June 2019, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was both the second and the last round of the season.[7]

  1. ^ "Weekly auto agenda: Le Mans". The Independent. 11 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b Walker, Kate (14 June 2018). "Fernando Alonso Takes Another Shot at a Motorsport Triple Crown". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Top 10 most prestigious races in the world". us.motorsport.com. 20 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  4. ^ Hargreaves, Eilidh (14 June 2019). "An insider's guide to the Le Mans 24 hours: how to experience the ultimate endurance race in style". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
  5. ^ "FIA WEC 86th 24 Heures du Mans Race – Provisional Classification" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 17 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Past seasons". fiawec.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Calendar". fiawec.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.