Twenty-four hours. One day. That’s all that separates the 60 cars that will roll into action at the Circuit de la Sarthe at 3pm local time on Saturday afternoon from victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Of course, it’s not that simple. Those 24 hours will be spent battling rivals around the fast and demanding 8.47-mile circuit.
The fight will last right to the end as well. Last year, a Toyota TS050 Hybrid prototype was leading the race with less than five minutes to go when a defect on the air line leading to the turbo caused it to grind to a halt, handing glory to the rival Porsche team.
Porsche and Toyota are both back this year and, with Audi having quit prototype sportscar racing at the end of the 2016 season, they are set to face off for glory.
But Le Mans is about more than just how many hours the racing lasts. We’ve dug out some other fascinating stats about the biggest sportscar race in the world.
22,984 gearchanges
The number made by the winning Porsche in 2016.
17hr 17min
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I have unavoidably watched
The Hybrids are irredeemably hideous cars. Really look away ugly. As as for the noise. Hoover v Dyson.
Watching geeks play self-indulgent games is painfully far away from the drama of a 956.
Evidently...
It's a pity that they have