24 hours of Le Mans is an annual race hold at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans in France. In short, the goal is to have the car that drives the longest distance within 24 hours. The track is partly public roads and partly a race track (Bugatti circuit). The total length of the track is over 13.5 kilometres.
A bit of history
The 24 hours of Le Mans was first staged in 1923 when the automotive journalist Charles Faroux, the ACO general secretary Georges Durand and the industrialist Emile Coquile agreed to hold the race for car manufacturers to test vehicle durability, equipment and reliability. Since then, the annual race has become the world's oldest active endurance racing event. The 24 Hours of Le Mans has frequently – but not always – been a part of a series, most notably are World Sportscar Championship (1953-1992) and FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC, since 2012). Some statistics here and an overview of winners .
The program and the start
A normal program for Le Mans starts the last monday before the race. The cars are inspected on Monday and Tuesday. Qualifying and practice happens on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, there is a drivers parade through Le Mans city. The race starts on Saturday with a designated starter who wave the French tricolor followed by a fly-over featuring jets trailing blue, white, and red smoke.
The race traditionally began with a so-called "Le Mans start": the cars were lined up along the length of the pits. The starting drivers stood on the opposite side of the track. When the French flag dropped, the drivers ran across the track, entered and started their cars, and finally drove away. This changed because of safety issues.
The drivers complete the lap they're on at the 24 hours mark. The winner is the car that has been driven the longest at the end of that lap. If two cars finish the same number of laps, their finishing order is determined by who crosses the finish line first. For each race, there are one winning team for each class and one overall winner. The overall winner is – naturally – also the winner of its class. All three-time consecutive winning manufacturers permanently keep the trophy.
Classes
The cars used in the race are categorized in different classes with different specifications. Today there are three classes: Hypercar (LMH, the highest class, race cars), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2, race cars) and GT3 (Grand Tourer, sports cars). Since 2012, there have been a special entry at Le Mans, called Garage 56. The sole focus of this entry is to demonstrate experimental features in cars. Most cars have three drivers and each driver have a maximum and minimum limit of time in the car.
A festival
There are more to do than just watch the race. There are several concerts, food stands, gift shops, kids areas and fan zones in addition to the fun fair with the famous ferris wheel. Located by the main entrance to the circuit, a racing museum can be found; the Musée des 24 Heures du Mans.