Known all over world thanks to the legendary race, the Le Mans area could be considered the birthplace of the automobile: in 1873, Amédée Bollée invented the "Obéissante," the first automobile for individuals. It made it to Paris in 1875 in…18 hours! His elder son Amédée built the first petrol engine, while his younger son Léon invented a calculator and became an automobile constructor. And, one could also call Le Mans the birthplace of aviation - or almost...

Indeed, after a first successful flight in 1903 at Kill Devil Hills (North Carolina) where a monument and a museum are dedicated to them, Léon Bollée invited brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright to France. Wilbur accepted the invitation and brought to France a "Flyer" with which he conducted tests between June and July of 1908 before executing a public flight on August 8, 1908 at the Mulsanne hippodrome, a few meters from the famous straight.

According to a local newspaper at the time, Wilbur Wright's plane rose in the air and made three full loops at an altitude of 15-20 meters before landing safely. A monument is in place commemorating that first flight. In the crowd was present a certain...Louis Blériot, who went on to become the first to cross the Channel by plane the following year.

During his time in France, Wilbur Wright, who continued his experiences at the Auvours military camp, beat numerous records: duration, altitude, distance...like some of today's drivers at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, such as Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, distance record-holder at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2010 with an Audi R15.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: Copyright - Archives ACO

PHOTO: Wilbur Wright at the controls of a Flyer III A at Le Mans in 1908.