LeBron James, two-time Olympic basketball champion, four-time NBA champion and the best power forward in its history, served as the official starter at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary.

24H Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans

Porsche will once again race for a good cause during the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans (12-16 June). For every lap completed by its Hypercars, the German marque will donate €750 to charities benefitting sick children and their families.

Like last year, each lap completed by&nbsp;the three&nbsp;Porsche 963 Hypercars fielded by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-looking-to-score-20th-win-at-2024-24-hours-of-le-mans-57973" target="_blank">Porsche Penske Motorsport</a>&nbsp;will earn&nbsp;select&nbsp;charities a donation of&nbsp;&euro;750. The total amount raised will then be disbursed&nbsp;to three charitable assocations&nbsp;supporting gravely&nbsp;ill children and their families.

The three&nbsp;worthy organisations&nbsp;are&nbsp;Kinderherzen retten e.V., Interplast Germany e.V. and the&nbsp;Ferry Porsche Foundation. In 2023, at&nbsp;the 24 Hours&nbsp;Centenary, the trio of&nbsp;Porsche 963s covered a total of 733 laps for a donation of&nbsp;&euro;549,750, which&nbsp;Porsche then increased to&nbsp;&euro;911,000.&nbsp;The&nbsp;initiative earned&nbsp;Porsche the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/a-look-back-at-the-centenary-porsche-wins-sustainable-endurance-award-by-dhl-58162">2023 Sustainable Endurance Award by DHL</a>.

Kinderherzen retten e.V. was able to offer heart operations to nine children from El Salvador, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan at the University Medical Center Freiburg in Germany. Interplast Allemagne e.V. used the donation to fund&nbsp;medical missions in Tanzania and Mozambique, among others, and the Ferry Porsche Foundation has continued to provide support to&nbsp;seriously ill children and their families.

At this year&#39;s 24 Hours, the #4, #5 and #6 Porsche 963s will once again sport &quot;Racing for Charity&quot; stickers on their liveries. The German carmaker&nbsp;is currently leading the FIA World Endurance Hypercar Manufacturers Championship ahead of Toyota and Ferrari.

Porsche continues “Racing for Charity” initiative

The private British team pulled off a surprise result in the third round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship today. In LMGT3, Iron Lynx's #60 Lamborghini chased down win in the final 20 minutes of the race.

There were plenty of surprise twists today at the 2024 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium with&nbsp;88,180 spectators watching on in ideal Spring weather.

Proton Competition&#39;s #99 Porsche 963 Hypercar driven by&nbsp;Neel Jani and Julien Andlauer dominated the first three hours of the race until Ferrari AF Corse&#39;s #51&nbsp;499P snatched the lead. Pole-sitter Porsche Penske Motorsport&#39;s #5&nbsp;963 was forced to retire after butting the wall at the Bus Stop chicane.&nbsp;

With two hours remaining, Earl Bamber, fourth overall in the #2&nbsp;Cadillac duelling with the #99&nbsp;Porsche, made contact with Team WRT&#39;s #31&nbsp;BMW in the Kemmel straight.&nbsp;The shocking&nbsp;off-track exit&nbsp;forced&nbsp;race control to neutralise the race for repairs to the&nbsp;safety rail. The race was then resumed&nbsp;for the&nbsp;duration equivalent to the neutralisation, i.e. 1 hour 44 minutes.

Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s #12&nbsp;Porsche 963, unlike the #51&nbsp;Ferrari, opted to refuel&nbsp;prior to&nbsp;the&nbsp;neutralisation and reclaimed the race lead. Callum Ilott and&nbsp;Will Stevens finished ahead of Porsche Penske Motorsport&#39;&#39;s #6&nbsp;Porsche 963 and Ferrari AF Corse&#39;s #50 Ferrari 499P. Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s win is the first for a private team in the&nbsp;Hypercar era.

<h4>Provisional Hypercar&nbsp;top 5&nbsp;</h4>

1. #12 Porsche 963&nbsp;&ndash; Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; 141 laps 
2. #6 Porsche 963&nbsp;&ndash; Porsche Penske Motorsport 
3. #50 Ferrari 499P&nbsp;&ndash; Ferrari AF Corse 
4. #51 Ferrari 499P&nbsp;&ndash; Ferrari AF Corse 
5. #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid&nbsp;&ndash; TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing

In LMGT3, though the Iron Dames team&#39;s #85&nbsp;Lamborghini Hurac&aacute;n LMGT3 Evo2 had clinched pole position, Manthey EMA&#39;s #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 led the field up until the race&nbsp;neutralisation. Once again&nbsp;underway, Michelle Gatting brought the #85&nbsp;Lamborghini back to the helm, but the Italian team lost all hopes of winning due to an error&nbsp;during&nbsp;refuelling.&nbsp;Iron Lynx was headed for the win&nbsp;with the #60 Lamborghini, but a final pit stop on the penultimate lap allowed the Manthey EMA&#39;s #91 Porsche&nbsp;to take the lead ahead of Manthey PureRxcing&#39;s #92 Porsche and the #60&nbsp;Lamborghini as well.

<h4>Provisional LMGT3 top 5</h4>

1. #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3&nbsp;&ndash; Manthey EMA &ndash; 130 laps 
2. #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3&nbsp;&ndash; Manthey PureRxcing 
3. #60 Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2&nbsp;&ndash; Iron Lynx 
4. #85 Lamborghini Hurac&aacute;n LMGT3 Evo2&nbsp;&ndash; Iron Dames 
5. #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo&nbsp;&ndash; United Autosports

The next round of the 2024 FIA WEC season is the&nbsp;92nd&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans (12-16 June). After three different winners in as many races so far, it&#39;s anyone&#39;s game!

Extended Highlights I 2024 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa I FIA WEC

FIA WEC I Les meilleurs moments des TotalEnergies 6 Heures de Spa

FIA WEC – Hertz Team JOTA delivers upset at TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

MissionH24, a collaborative program between the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and H24Project, has been present since Thursday at Spa-Francorchamps, for the 3rd round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Its various actions during this Belgian weekend have one objective: to promote hydrogen in competition.

Exhibited in the hydrogen village, in the middle of the fan zone, the H24, an electric hydrogen racing prototype, still brings together so many visitors, curious to discover this new technology. If in the stand, the team can answer many questions, on the track, St&eacute;phane Richelmi, one of the reference drivers, at the wheel of the H24, demonstrates the potential and reliability of hydrogen in competition.

After refueling at the H2 mobile station developed and operated by TotalEnergies, the H24 completed several loops of the legendary Belgian track at the end of the morning, a few hours before the start of the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, in front of a large audience.

Among them, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, secretary general of Hydrogen Europe, was particularly attentive to these demonstrations, as were the participants in the H2 forum, co-organized by Automotive Skills Alliance, GreenSkillsforH2 and Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis and the Automobile Club de l&#39;Ouest . Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO and co-president of MissionH24, as well as MissionH24 partners, Richard Mille and Pierre-Gautier Caloni (TotalEnergies), Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequin, CEO of FIA WEC, Bernard Niclot, innovation manager for the ACO, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, consultant and Amaury Bertholome, general director of the Spa circuit- Francorchamps, witnessed the zero-emission running of the H24 from the side of the track.

Next round : at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the H24 will take to the track on Saturday June 15, alongside several hydrogen prototypes, notably the Alpenglow Hy4, revealed on May 10 at Spa.

Mission accomplished for the H24 at Spa-Francorchamps

If you've ever been to the 24 Hours, you've noticed British spectators come out in droves, bringing with them excited enthusiasm and everything from tents to supercars in the colours of past Le Mans icons. Why are Brits such big fans? It’s a story as old as racing.

<h2>Less French, More Brits</h2>

To gain&nbsp;a better understanding, let&#39;s&nbsp;go back in time. The 24 Hours attracted a British fan base right from its maiden running in 1923 thanks to the conspicuous presence of a Bentley on&nbsp;the decidedly French starting grid. Race founders Georges Durand and&nbsp;Charles Faroux&nbsp;preferred not to restrict this test of production cars solely to French marques. The next year proved key in their&nbsp;international approach after&nbsp;Bentley&#39;s shocking win skyrocketed the race&#39;s reputation&nbsp;across the Channel.

Dynamics began shifting&nbsp;during the Roaring 20s. Lorraine-Dietrich dominated the 24 Hours in&nbsp;1925 and&nbsp;1926, but the number of manufacturers&nbsp;from Italy, the UK and even the US continued to grow. The ACO felt&nbsp;the&nbsp;more the merrier!&nbsp;Race director at that time,&nbsp;Charles&nbsp;Faroux: The high number of entrants representing America, England, Italy, France&hellip;places the Endurance Grand Prix at the very top of the world&rsquo;s major automobile events.

After the withdrawal of&nbsp;Lorraine-Dietrich in 1927 and the stock market crash two years later, a plethora of small French constructors, regulars at Le Mans, were forced to&nbsp;close their doors. Bentley took advantage of the&nbsp;absence, kicking off&nbsp;the era of the famous&nbsp;Bentley Boys, a group of well-to-do gentlemen drivers&nbsp;led by three-time 24 Hours winner&nbsp;Woolf Barnato. Bernard Rubin, Glen Kidston, Henry Birkin and other British (or from countries under crown influence) drivers won every running&nbsp;of the race&nbsp;between&nbsp;1927 and&nbsp;1930, all for Bentley.

The Brits were welcomed with open arms in France during those extremely difficult times, but the ACO nevertheless regretted&nbsp;not having&nbsp;serious French competitors to give them a run for their money. This period saw the emergence of Lagonda, Alvis and Aston Martin (who jumped to tag certain&nbsp;models with the moniker&nbsp;&ldquo;Le Mans&rdquo; in lower categories). Spectators from across the country flocked to the race to cheer on their heroes. The 24 Hours of Le Mans was without a doubt&nbsp;the biggest British event of the season...run in France.

<h2>The British Invasion</h2>

In 1935, Luis Font&eacute;s and&nbsp;Johnny Hindmarsh claimed the top step on the podium with their&nbsp;Lagonda M45R Rapide, bringing the&nbsp;win scoreboard&nbsp;to Britain 6-3 France. A nine-hole golf course was&nbsp;constructed in&nbsp;1935 as an additional&nbsp;draw for enthusiasts across the Channel.&nbsp;The British press was unanimously supportive of&nbsp;the role played by the race&nbsp;during this period. As published in MOTOR magazine: No race has pushed our sports cars to the front of the global automotive stage with more prestige than the 24 Hours.

After WWII, which caused&nbsp;the 24 Hours to go on hiatus from&nbsp;1940 to&nbsp;1948, Brits still held a strong foothold at Le Mans, and it was Jaguar&#39;s turn in the spotlight. The innovative&nbsp;Type C was the first racing car equipped with disc brakes (1953), and the iconic lines of the&nbsp;Type D marked a generation.&nbsp;Le Mans has always played a major role in British motorsport culture, and Jaguar&#39;s five victories from&nbsp;1951 to&nbsp;1957 only strengthened those unbreakable ties.

Aston Martin won the race in 1959, and even Ferrari&#39;s domination failed to&nbsp;dampen British passion for the 24 Hours. The same can be said for&nbsp;Porsche&#39;s reign of seven consecutive wins between&nbsp;1981 and&nbsp;1987. And when the&nbsp;Jaguar XJR-9LM won the race in&nbsp;1988,&nbsp;a massive crowd flooded the track with Union Jacks as far as the eye could see. Team principal&nbsp;Tom Walkinshaw and his guys managed to defeat the titan that was&nbsp;Porsche at that time. It was a celebration for the ages.

<h2>The Greats&nbsp;Live On Forever</h2>

No matter the state of car&nbsp;manufacturing&nbsp;at any given time, the Brits&nbsp;have always answered the call of Le Mans. The Volkswagen Group, owner of the likes of&nbsp;Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini, chose in the early 2000s to evoke the Bentley Boys&#39; glory days. The famed&nbsp;Bentley EXP Speed ​​8s competed against the&nbsp;legendary Audi R8s&nbsp;equipped with the same engine. In 2003, Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello/Guy Smith won Le Mans&nbsp;at the wheel of an&nbsp;iconic British racing&nbsp;green prototype a stunning 73 years after the marque&#39;s last triumph&nbsp;at the race. Fans went wild.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans sees Brits arrive&nbsp;in staggering numbers every year&nbsp;to relive cherished memories and create new, unforgettable ones. Events like the <a href="https://www.classicbw.org/en/homepage/" target="_blank">Classic British Welcome</a>, created in&nbsp;2001 and held at&nbsp;Saint-Saturnin, allow everyone to enjoy and embrace this extraordinary atmosphere.

The&nbsp;unwavering loyalty of British fans will soon be rewarded. This year, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/aston-martin-to-compete-in-hypercar-with-the-heart-of-racing-57907" target="_blank">Aston Martin is set to&nbsp;make its big return to the top category with the&nbsp;Valkyrie&nbsp;Hypercar</a>&nbsp;fielded&nbsp;by the&nbsp;Heart of Racing team!

Aston Martin Valkyrie to fight for Le Mans Victory in 2025

L'Aston Martin Valkyrie se battra pour la victoire lors des 24 Heures du Mans 2025

Why are Brits such diehard 24 Hours of Le Mans fans?

24 Heures du Mans 2023

Since&nbsp;1949, the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest has granted a well-known figure the honour of lowering the French flag to signal the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. These stars of their respective fields have included the likes of&nbsp;Brad Pitt in 2016, Rafael Nadal in 2018, Alain Delon in 1996 and&nbsp;Steve McQueen in&nbsp;1971.

Naturally, the ACO sought&nbsp;an individual of equal renown to serve at the historic&nbsp;Centenary in June and was fortunate enough to welcome one of the greatest athletes in sporting history.&nbsp;LeBron James released the&nbsp;62 cars to kick off the race. LeBron James:&nbsp;&quot;There is nothing like watching and experiencing a sport at its highest level. It&#39;s an honour for me to take part in this historic moment in racing and to contribute to the centenary celebration of one of the greatest sporting events in the world. I can&#39;t wait to give the start of this emblematic race and to see the drivers take on the legendary Le&nbsp;Mans circuit.&quot;&nbsp;

During the official pre-race ceremony, LeBron James was handed the French flag by a&nbsp;soldier&nbsp;of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment (RIMa) from Champagn&eacute; (local La Sarthe region). He then addressed, in French, the drivers on the grid:&nbsp;&quot;Pilotes, d&eacute;marrez vos moteurs&quot; (&quot;Drivers, start your engines&quot;).

The photo

On&nbsp;Saturday 10 June at&nbsp;16:00 local time,&nbsp;NBA legend LeBron James gave the start at the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans Centenary, following in the footsteps of&nbsp;Brad Pitt, Rafael Nadal, Alain Delon, Georges Pompidou,&nbsp;Steve McQueen and other icons.

24H LE MANS

A look back at the Centenary: LeBron James gives the start

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Why are Brits such diehard 24 Hours of Le Mans fans?

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