Tuesday Facts

The coming weekend marks the annual event and the running of the 82nd 24 Heures du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans). Here are a few facts about this historic race.

1. On May 26th and 27th, 1923 was the very first running of the event. French drivers André Lagache and René Léonard won the event and completed 128 laps (2209.536 km) around the 17.262 km course.
2. The two leading manufacturers with the most wins in this race are both German companies. Porsche accumulated 16 wins (1970-71, 1976-77, 1979, 1981-87, 1994, 1996-98) and Audi with 12 wins (2000-02, 2004-08, 2010-13). The leading American manufacturer is Ford with only 4 wins (1966-69).
3. Germany is the leading nation in wins by 4 manufacturers (Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche) with 31 total wins.
4. Tom Kristensen (DEN) leads the drivers' table with the most career wins (9) and most consecutive wins (6).
5. The United Kingdom and France are currently tied for drivers with the most wins at 29.
6. The most laps completed is currently 397 laps (5410.71 km), this was done by the Audi Sport North America team driven by Mike Rockenfeller (GER), Timo Bernhard (GER) and Romain Dumas (FRA) in the Audi R15 TDI Plus on June 12th and 13th, 2010.
7. In 1990, an FIA ruling stated that no straight could be longer than 2 km in length. This rule led to the installation of chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight. The year before, the Sauber C9-Mercedes-Benz reached a top speed of 399 kph (248 mph).
8. Pierre Levegh (FRA), driving a Lago-Talbot, attempted to drive the race solo in 1952 only to have a connecting rod break when he over-revved the engine and had to retire 90 minutes before the finish while leading.
9. AJ Foyt (USA) was the first driver to win Le Mans (co-driver: Dan Gurney (USA)) and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year (1967).
10. The race has been held every year except in 1936 (French Strike) and 1940-1947 (World War II).
11. In 1970, only 7 cars were able to receive the checkered flag at the end of the 24 hours. In 1971, only 13 cars were able to finish. In both of those years, only two manufactures finished the race. Ferrari and Porsche.