Diesel Peugeot wins the greatest motor race in the world - Le Mans 24 Hours.
Some events are iconic in motorsport like the Monaco Grand Prix or Indy 500, but the daddy of all car races is the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans. This year saw the 77th running of the French event and RTÉ Motors was there and stayed awake for all of it!
A crowd of 234,800 was there to see what was billed as a titanic struggle between Peugeot of France and German giant Audi for top honours in the unlimited LMP1 class. LMP stands for Le Mans Petrol class 1 and I think we all agree that it should now be called LMD as diesel power has proven to be unstoppable at the car-breaking event.
Peugeot has been its own worst enemy in the past and last year should have had the beating of the superb Audi R10s. This year the less than glamorously named '908 TDi FAP' (diesel particulate filter) entries should have finished first, second and third ahead of the R15 Audis but for an amazing mess-up in the pits when the number seven car was released after a stop too soon. It was clipped at the left rear by another pitting car, puncturing the tyre and damaging the car. The seven car recovered and posted some of the fastest times in the race but could not make up the time lost. Le Mans is about cars and technology which works and is durable. F1 cars look quite foolish when you consider they’re built to race for just two hours before getting serious garage time.
If you’re not a car nut Le Mans is the perfect event to suck you in. The race starts at 3pm local time and ends the following afternoon at 3pm! Fans come from the four corners of the world to see a range of cars from LMP1s to more humble but still heavily race modified Porsches, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Corvettes (the loudest, primal sounding, smile-inducing machines) race on a track; the majority of which is public road the rest of the year!
Le Mans is a small town about an hour TGV ride south of Paris (it has a Luas!) which hosts the most eclectic blend of race fans. Families in campervans and car clubs en masse (I’m still salivating at the cars in the Porsche camp site) take over the place. The track is over eight miles long and the infield is so massive that most campers bring a bicycle to get to their favourite spots. Arnage and Mulsanne are just two locations where it is extra special.
If your ears are sensitive, bring earplugs as I recorded decibel readings of over 100db at times! The Winning Peugeot No 9 (Alex Wurz/ Marc Gene/ David Brabham) was so quiet and refined I was nearly disappointed; such is the engineering of the 740bhp+ machine. Congratulations must also go to Aston Martin/Lola who had the top placed petrol powered car.
The Le Mans legend grows with every year. Celeb spotters added Patrick Dempsey aka 'McDreamy' (of 'Grey's Anatomy' fame) to the list of stars drivers. His 81 Ferrari (raising funds for the children’s hospital in Seattle) made it through the full 24 hours and he joins Steve McQueen and Paul Newman among Hollywood’s finest to have tackled the track.
Most cars have three drivers who take shifts in the car, usually three back-to-back 45 minute stints on the track with pit stops for fuel and maybe one set of tyres. For once spectators can genuinely feel as tired as the drivers after 24 hours - you wouldn’t get that in Formula 1!
Michael Sheridan
