Le Mans

How does one explain the magic of Le Mans, one of the toughest motor races in the world? During the 24 hours it lasts, the cars can clock up in excess of 3,000 miles, while lap speeds may be over 150 mph and along the Mulsanne straight cars have reached almost 250 mph. But it is also a very historic race, since its inception in 1923, despite many alterations to the detailed regulations, the basic pattern of the race and the circuit is the same now as it was for that first one. Le Mans is much more than a race. It is a festival and also a legend, particularly perhaps to the British public; the legend of the big green cars dominating the foreign opposition, born with the run of Bentley victories in the vintage years and so skilfully revived by Jaguar in the 1950s. Le Mans made the sporting image of both these British makes; and the British wins made Le Mans the most important motor race in the eyes of the British public. It is often forgotten that Le Mans is but one of many sports car races counting towards the manufacturer's annual championship; but there is no doubt that it is the premier race in that championship, both as far as the participants and the public are concerned. And naturally, the organisers of the race—the Automobile Club de l'Ouest— have carefully nurtured their image of independence, even at the cost of seeing their race on occasion excluded from the championship of the Commission Sportive Internationale. But often as not, it is the CSI who have sought a compromise solution in the face of the enormous popularity of the Le Mans 24-hour race. In this day and age when motor sport is largely kept alive by commercial sponsorship, Le Mans is above all the race which because of the enormous publicity value of a win, still attracts more outright works participation than is common in, for instance, modern Grand Prix racing; the cars at Le Mans are still identifiable as cars. That is not to say that the Le Mans entry list does not owe much to outside support and sponsorship; but it is a nice touch when for instance a Porsche wins to be able to point out that this make has competed in all Le Mans races since 1951; or when considering Ferrari's latest entries, to remember that Ferrari won in 1949, on their first Le Mans appearance, and have scored a total of nine victories since. That is perhaps what Le Mans is all about—a living tradition, which has been captured within these pages, both in historical outlook and a year by year resume illustrated with a varied selection of entrants from 1923 to 1982. Results have also been incorporated, not as a complete list, but the most important results of each race: first three cars finishing, all class and category wins; subsidiary awards, such as Biennial Cup and Index wins.