9 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LE MANS 2025

WELCOME TO 24 HOUR LEGENDS

There is simply nothing like it anywhere else

THE MEN

From tales of derring-do to under-appreciated talents, Le Mans

“THEY MUST CRAZY” HAVE BEEN

That’s what Aston Martin works driver David Brabham thinks of the men who won the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours. Now ‘Brabs’ gets the chance to jump in and sample the victorious DBR1

HEROES OF LE MANS

The Le Mans 24 Hours attracts the world’s best drivers, bent on risking it all to stamp their names into history. But who is the greatest? We rank our (subjective) choice of the top 50 of all time

LEGENDS OF LE MANS

ALLAN Mc NISH YEARS 1997-2013 STARTS 14 BEST

WOOLF BARNADO

Playboy or professional? Investigating the track record of Woolf Barnato, high priest of the famous Bentley Boys

JAGUAR’S FORGOTTEN LE MANS HERO

At times faster than Moss, and secure enough for Stirling to favour him as his Jaguar co-driver, Peter Walker set the Coventry marque’s Le Mans ball rolling and deserves a better press

DEREK BELL

He’s the English gentleman who’s scored more sports car wins than even he can remember, although no one will ever forget his record at Le Mans and Daytona

ANTHONY DAVIDSON

“ You don’t win Le Mans, Le Mans chooses who wins,” is a phrase this racer grew to accept. Now retired, he looks back at his La Sarthe bad fortune, his F1 pride and his sports car glory days

THE MACHINES

For over 100 years, Le Mans has represented

JAGUAR D-TYPE

It wasn’t simply one of the greatest racing cars of the 1950s, it’s in with a shout of being the greatest racing car of all-time. Fusing aerospace technology with track know-how, Jaguar created a legend that whitewashed its rivals at Le Mans and moved the sport forwards

Under the skin of the D-type

Jaguar mainstay Norman Dewis walks us round one of racing’s greats

THE D-TYPE CAST

Jaguar’s sportscar successes put Britain on the map. In the early 1950s the D-type scored a Le Mans hat trick before Vanwall ended Britain’s championship F1 wait at Aintree in 1957. Paul Parker speaks to several key players in the D-type’s incredible story

WILDEST DREAMS

The 956 on the left was the works team’s first Group C winner at Le Mans, while the 962 on the right was its last. Andrew Frankel , in the ultimate pinch-yourself track session, tests both before taking part in a Goodwood Members’ Meeting cavalcade of raw power

PORSCHE’S CLASS ACT

As Le Mans success stories go, the 956/962’s is unusually long, stretching for 12 years. With input from designer Norbert Singer, Gary Watkins looks back at the moments that made the legend

ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE

With almost 100 chassis built, Porsche’s 956 and 962 models were prolific in the hands of both customers and the factory. That opened the door for some inventive liveries that live long in the memory

BEAST FROM THE EAST

It looked the part but Nissan’s thirsty, big-budget R89C, which was campaigned in the World Sportscar Championship and Le Mans in 1989 and ’90, was dogged by technical problems. Doug Nye dissects Japan’s powerful Group C contender to find out why it was no match for the Sauber-Mercedes and Porsches

THE SCREAM THAT GOT THE CAT

Does the sound of the shrill rotary engine haunt Tom Walkinshaw? Mazda’s 1991 defeat of the overweight Jaguars and fragile Sauber-Mercedes was a classic. Adam Cooper saw it all

THE MOMENTS

For a race that lasts an entire day,

THE WIZARD FROM OZ

Ron Gaudion spent only three seasons as a Jaguar race mechanic – but what seasons

OVER THE HILL?

Ambitious young hotshoe Henri Pescarolo was far from pleased when he was paired with Graham Hill –reckoned by some to be in decline –for Le Mans in 1972, but Graham turned out to be Pesca’s perfect team-mate

KICKING UP A STORM

Talk about winning in your own back yard. Gary Watkins looks back to 1980 when local-boy privateer Jean Rondeau upset the odds in a car bearing his own name to make a piece of history

SO FAR, YET SO NEAR

LEMANS 1969

ALL FOR ONE

Renault had never looked like winning Le Mans — its motorsport programme was too fragmented. That all changed in 1977, but it took another year for this revolution to take effect. Paul Fearnley explains why

WHEN RACING BECAME A MARATHON AND A SPRINT

As the millennium turned, Allan McNish found himself at the heart of a revolution, both in F1 and sports car racing. The pace of change was thrilling, as he recalls

Choose your enemies well

In the Noughties, Allan McNish was one of Audi’s golden boys – but the wins were hard-earned

LE MANS 1998: THE BEGINNING

You always remember your first. Allan McNish’s breakthrough victory with Porsche at the height of GT1’s powers was unforgettable...ish.

ROAD TO TRADITION

The Hotel de France was once a popular sanctuary for Le Mans racers. Now refurbished, its history will surely make it so once again

Take the long way home...

There’s no point rushing back from Le Mans, even if you don’t have a Ferrari

Le Mans: good BoP, bad BoP

This year, the Balance of Performance has to work. As Gary Watkins sets out. If it doesn’t some marques could go

Williamheynes

https://www.williamheynes.com

Pocher Die-Cast Model Kits

HALL & HALL

http://www.hallandhall.net

SALES@CLASSICMOTORUM

www.sales@classicmotorhub.com

RENAULD

http://www.renauld.co.uk

SUPER FORMANCE

http://www.superformance.co.uk

Motor Sports

http://www.motorsports.com

As Motorsport ltd

http://www.asmotorsport.co.uk

ALTAIREGO

http://www.altairego.it

GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Motor Sport Magazine

http// www.motorsportmagazine.com

CKL

http://www.ckl.co.uk

Retro Classic

http://www.retroclassicclothing.com

MGB Le Mans DRX 255C

Motor Sport Magazine

Classic Car Leds

http://www.classiccarleds.co.uk

SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/silverstone-festival

THE VINTAGE SPORTS-CAR CLUB

RICHARD MILLE