About Le Mans 

So what is it about Le Mans that makes it one of the most popular races for the lovers of fast cars?

Sure, the challenge of putting together a car which can survive a gruelling 24 hours on the track plus a team that has the ability to maintain the pace for a full day and night of racing has something to do with it; but Le Mans has also been instrumental in the history of racing and in car design all together.

The Le Mans race was the birthplace of what has become a tradition of race winners ever since; popping the cork of a very expensive bottle of champagne and spraying the contents over your fellow competitors and anyone who might be standing in the way. More than 40 years ago in 1967, Dan Gurney who won the race with fellow team member A. J. Foyt, shook the magnum bottle of champagne handed to him in a moment of euphoria and sprayed the contents over the crowd in front which included Ford CEO Henry Ford II, team manager Carroll Shelby and a number of journalists. Observers have since then had stand well clear of spraying distance, as the crazy act soon became a tradition.

The rules, challenges and difficulties of Le Mans have been the reason for a number of technological advancements. For those lucky enough to have driven man’s ultimate motorised invention, a Porsche, you might wonder why the ignition switch in these vehicles is always located on the left hand side. This development was made in order to get off to a quick start at Le Mans because it allowed the driver to turn on the engine with the left hand while putting it into gear with the right.

Being quick to turn on the engine used to be extremely important in Le Mans racing; for many years, the traditional start saw racers line up and then sprint to the cars. This start technique was fraught with problems, most of them safety related. In the rush to get out of the blocks, many drivers would start up and drive off before they were properly buckled into their seats. Although the Le Mans start has now been replaced with the rolling or “Indianapolis” start, Porsche has kept the ignition switch on the left hand side, great for anyone who needs a quick getaway.

Other advances to come out of Le Mans include supercharging (1929) and turbocharging (1974), disk brakes (introduced by Jaguar in 1953) and air brakes in 1955 (by Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR).

Le mans has raced side by side with innavation for many years.