The prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans race
When you go to France in June, there are plenty of signs proving that summer is coming such as the World Music Day, Summer day, Father’s day… and the 24 hours of Le Mans. Known since 1923, this car competition takes place on a circuit near Le Mans in the department of the Sarthe. Generally speaking, the automobile race lasts 24 hours but all the previous week of the competition offers various events on the circuit. The 2010 edition will be held on June 12th and June 13th and will be the opportunity to demonstrate the technical advancements in the car industry.
First of all, commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, the competition starts in the beginning of the week with the weighing of the competition cars in the town of Le Mans, and more precisely in the park of the Quinconces des Jacobins. There are two different car categories for the race: “prototype” and “grand tourer”. Then, on the Wednesday and on the Thursday, qualifying and practices follow. On Friday, there is a pilot’s parade in the city and the audience can visit the stands with a week end ticket. The race of the 78th edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans will officially start at 3PM with the flypast of the Patrouille de France and the finishing line will be crossed on Sunday at 3PM. In between, there will be a concert and various activities to celebrate the event like 11 big screens allowing the audience to follow the race in every part of the circuit. The winner will be celebrated just after the race. At the beginning, the winner was determined by distance but it changed: the winner is now the one who makes the higher number of laps.
The 24 hours of Le Mans is a real challenge with different values: sport, technical, popular and media-related. With more than 150,000 spectators, the “Automobile Club de l’Ouest” organizes the race with the most prestigious automobile manufacturers like Audi, Porsche, Jaguar or BMW. The race comprises approximately 50 competitors and is the oldest and the most prestigious of every car races. Since 1949, the start is announced by different personalities such as Steve Mac Queen (1971), Georges Pompidou (1982) or Luc Besson (2003). In 2008, the start was even announced from the International Space Station.
From now on, you can buy your tickets for the race. Several options are available depending on what you would like to attend. For example, the week end pack (from Wednesday to Sunday) is at the price of €65 by person. The circuit of Le Mans is not only popular one time in a year, it also welcomes many events through the year such as the 24 hours of karting and of trucks. If you are interested in Le Mans and its surroundings, why don’t you take a look to Sextant Properties.
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