Having just come of our first ever 2-hour endurance race at FRC last Saturday, this coming Saturday will see the 82nd running of the most famous "real car" endurance race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. This year we'll be seeing three major manufacturers competing in the top category for LMP1 prototypes. For the first time in sixteen years, Porsche returns to Le Mans having proving itself its master by securing a total of sixteen victories over the years, more than any other manufacturer in history. Its main competition will come from reigning champions Audi and brash newcomer from last year, Toyota. Amongst the drivers on the Porsche team is ex-F1 Red Bull driver Mark Webber, himself an experienced Le Mans driver whose Mercedes went airborne there in 1999 before the team withdrew their cars.
Mark Webber's dramatic Le Mans flip in 1999:
Peter Dumbreck did the same in his Mercedes that year. Here's a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXZaAuyuYmQ
The German driver Timo Bernhard in his Porsche 911 Hybrid practicing on Wednesday for the 24 Hours of Le Mans:
As of this writing, here are the top ten qualifying times (qualifying is still going on):
Looking at the time differences of a mere second or two, keep in mind that the circuit is eight and a half miles around and takes these very fast cars about three and a half minutes per lap.
It will surely be a classic Le Mans race and will be aired live on SPEED from 8:30AM this Saturday. Don't miss the start on Saturday and the finish on Sunday morning. I for one plan to be up early for the last few hours till the end.
Gordon
