Stability in the face of speed is the iron law of the motorsport classic “24 Hours of Le Mans”, which will be held for the 90th time today (4 p.m., live on Eurosport) at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Toyota, advised by Austria’s former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, has won the last four editions of the long-distance competition in the premier class of hypercars. But Glickenhaus Racing wants to spoil the game at the most important sports car race in the world. After restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, 250,000 motorsport fans are expected again this year.
It sounds like David fighting Goliath. On the one hand the powerful Japanese works team, behind them the self-built racing cars of the US film producer James Glickenhaus. With these he annoyed Toyota this year in the long-distance world championship. “It’s not a gmahde Wies’n. But the expectation is clear. We are the favorites here and want to live up to that,” says Wurz.
With two Toyota GR010 Hybrids, two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs and an Alpine A480 (an actually discarded, old Oreca LMP1), there are only five vehicles in the fastest racing category. Should the hypercars have problems over the long 24 hours, this time 27 brisk specimens are in the small prototype class LMP2 and would be on the spot. Salzburg’s Ferdinand Habsburg is also in one of these cars. Last year, the great-grandson of Austria’s last Emperor Karl I already won a class. “Le Mans has a crazy history, motorsport is simply unimaginable without this race,” says Habsburg. Rene Binder is also at the start for Algarve Pro Racing in LMP2. Richard Lietz drives a Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the LMGTE Pro class.
Eight-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier will be contesting the 24 Hours for the first time in an LMP2-Oreca. A few celebrities also try their hand at the motorsport competition in the continuous loop every year. This time, for example, Hollywood actor Michael Fassbender (“Inglourious Basterds”, “X-Men”), who had been preparing for it for several years.
More works are added
In the coming year, on the 100th birthday of the classic, there will be another upheaval. Ferrari, a nine-time premier class winner, will return to endurance racing after a 50-year absence. In addition to Toyota, Peugeot, Glickenhaus, Audi and Porsche, it is the sixth brand that wants to get involved. With Lamborghini and BMW, two more will be added in 2024.
More about last year’s winner Ferdinand Habsburg:
Long history
The “24 Hours of Le Mans” has been held on the Circuit de la Sarthe (13.5 kilometers) south of the city since 1923. Some sections of the route are normally used as country roads. The longest race distance ever covered is 5410.713 kilometers (Audi 2010). The most successful driver is Tom Kristensen with nine wins from 17 starts. Jochen Rindt (1965), Helmut Marko (1971) and the German-Austrian Hans-Joachim Stuck (1986, 1987) won for Red-White-Red. But the classic also wrote many sad stories. The Viennese Josef “Jo” Gartner had a fatal accident on June 1, 1986.
Source: Nachrichten
