The Drivers Club’s annual rendezvous at the Rétromobile show (Paris, 8–12 February) provided the occasion to award a special trophy to Romain Dumas, 2016 World Endurance Drivers’ Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.

24H Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans

After receiving a flood of applications from all over France for the upcoming third Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour, the world's best-selling miniature cars marque has announced the contest's three finalists. The final will be held on Saturday 14 June at 18:00 during the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans.

After considering&nbsp;a&nbsp;creative and bold array&nbsp;of vehicles, the French jury &ndash;&nbsp;composed of members of the Automobile Club de l&#39;Ouest, Etienne Moustache (content creator and ambassador for the third year) and&nbsp;MATTEL teams &ndash;&nbsp;met for deliberations. Three exceptional cars will be showcased during the 93rd 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.

The jury will convene again for the final&nbsp;on Saturday 14 June.&nbsp;For this important&nbsp;decision, Hot Wheels&trade;&nbsp;designer Craig Calum will offer his expertise in selecting&nbsp;the French finalist. This year as always, the public will have a say in choosing its favourite vehicle! The big winner of the Hot Wheels&trade; Legends Tour France will be named on Saturday 14 June at 18:00 by the members of the French jury and&nbsp;ambassador &Eacute;tienne Moustache!

<h2>THE SURPRISING&nbsp;2 Deuch&nbsp;Buick V8 (Montlaur, France)</h2>

With its unlikely look&nbsp;and muscle car roar, Henri Valat&#39;s &quot;Deuch V8&quot; certainly makes an impression. Born from the fertile&nbsp;imagination of one&nbsp;special&nbsp;enthusiast, this unique model boldly combines a 2CV body with a Buick V8 engine, mounted on a custom-designed chassis.&nbsp;The culmination&nbsp;of a project launched&nbsp;in 1982, this custom creation with a resolutely Hot Wheels&trade; style has been fully&nbsp;restored by hand by&nbsp;Valat. At&nbsp;65 years old, he proved that passion for automobiles knows no age limits.&nbsp;A finalist in the 2025 Hot Wheels&trade; Legends Tour France, his supercharged 2CV was&nbsp;gunning for a spot&nbsp;in the top 3 to be invited to the legendary Le Mans circuit&nbsp;and hopefully to become a Hot Wheels&trade; miniature in its own right.

<h2>The Stunning&nbsp;Honda S2000 (Wingles, France)</h2>

A diehard fan of&nbsp;Japanese cars, S&eacute;bastien (age&nbsp;37)&nbsp;transformed his Honda S2000 into a one-of-a-kind model, as radical as it is elegant.&nbsp;Acquired in 2019, this Japanese sports car has undergone several modifications, including a rare carbon body kit installed by only two other enthusiasts in all of Europe. For&nbsp;the interior, bucket seats, harnesses&nbsp;and a roll bar are testaments to S&eacute;bastien&#39;s attention to detail. Selected among three French finalists, he&nbsp;dreams of his model becoming a 1:64 scale miniature.

<h2>The Incredible&nbsp;Nissan S14 (Annecy, France)</h2>

A longtime&nbsp;fan of&nbsp;mechanics and Japanese culture, Micka&euml;l Lahais has brought&nbsp;a true legend of the 1990s back to life: the&nbsp;Nissan S14.&nbsp;With its sharp look and 200 hp turbo engine, this iconic drift model has always thrilled the public.&nbsp;But in Lahais&#39;&nbsp;hands, the S14 has become&nbsp;much more than a car. It is now a singular model meticulously modified to reflect his vision of tuning on a scale of 1.&nbsp;Every detail reflects Lahais&#39;&nbsp;high standards, from the sleek lines to the car&#39;s performance level, while respecting its original spirit. As&nbsp;a finalist in the Hot Wheels&trade; Legends Tour France, he hopes to see his car reach a new level: becoming a Hot Wheels&trade; miniature.

From&nbsp;10-14 June, Hot Wheels&trade; is inviting&nbsp;the public to the Family Fan Zone to experience highlights and discover the three finalists in&nbsp;the 2025 Hot Wheels&trade; Legends Tour! 
Throughout the&nbsp;week, fans can explore&nbsp;a Hot Wheels&trade; pop-up store&nbsp;and come to vote for their favourite finalist. A new feature this year are&nbsp;the&nbsp;Hot Wheels&trade;&nbsp;with Logitech G racing simulators for an even more adrenaline-fueled experience.&nbsp;On Saturday&nbsp;14 June (the day of the final), the public is welcome to meet the French contest ambassador,&nbsp;Etienne Moustache, during an autograph sessions starting at 11:00!&nbsp;At 18:00, the big&nbsp;winner of the third edition of the Hot Wheels&trade; Legends Tour France will be revealed, alongside the members of the French Jury and its ambassador.

The three 2025 Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour finalists announced

At this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (10-15 June), the Automobile Club de l’Ouest spectators will feel part of the race. Five Fan Zones and two villages open on Tuesday 10 June in the circuit grounds, offering masses of things to do for all the family.

FIVE FAN ZONES IN ALL, TWO NEW FOR 2025 
Designed to make fans feel part of the race, these special themed areas offer a variety of activities suitable for all.

<ul>
	<li>Family Fan Zone&nbsp;The ideal place to introduce youngsters to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.</li>
	<li>Concert Fan Zone The place for movers and shakers. You&rsquo;ll find a zip line, a football pitch, a casino and live music on several evenings.</li>
	<li>Porte Est/East Gate Fan Zone&nbsp;Head here to wind down and reflect. Have a break in the Relax zone by Au F&eacute;minin and raise your environment and well-being awareness thanks to the Impact &amp; Nous booths:&nbsp;Restos du C&oelig;ur, SAMJI&nbsp;and La Ligue contre le cancer.</li>
</ul>

NEW FOR 2025

<ul>
	<li>Karting Fan Zone&nbsp;Dedicated to motorsport, this zone boasts a Racing Avenue paddock, simulators, retrogaming and the 24H Inside set. A hilltop vantage point offers splendid views of the Porsche Curves and the Karting turn.</li>
	<li>Tertre Rouge fan zone&nbsp;An area for adventures! This zone offers a rock-climbing wall, big air, laser game, rope course and a dance floor, not to mention direct views of the track between the Dunlop Footbridge and the Forest Esses.</li>
</ul>

All the fan zones have big tv screens, snack bars and toilets. See the <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/program">spectator information page on our website for full details</a>.

TWO VILLAGES FOR THE FULL RACING SPECTRUM 
The two race villages are both not-to-be-missed attractions.

<ul>
	<li>The Manufacturers Village Featuring major players in the automotive industry:&nbsp;Alpine, BMW M, Ford, Genesis, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Toyota Gazoo Racing and Iron Dames.</li>
	<li>ACO H2 Hydrogen Village&nbsp;The cutting-edge hydrogen prototype and its key components are displayed in a futuristic bubble. Symbio will be exhibiting the car&rsquo;s fuel cell and Michelin its tyres, while McLaren Applied, Multimatic, Bosch, Isoclima, Sobek, Momo and Brightloop share their expertise with visitors. Thanks to TotalEnergies, the village will have a 700-bar mobile H2 filling station where refuelling demonstrations will take place on Wednesday and Friday. Don&rsquo;t miss that! On Wednesday, ACO president Pierre Fillon and H24Project president Jean-Michel Bouresche will officially open the ACO H2 Hydrogen village. Note 11:30 on 11 June in your diary! They will be making some important announcements!</li>
</ul>

IMPACT CHALLENGE: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY TOGETHER

This year, the ACO&rsquo;s commitment to social responsibility shifts up a gear with the Impact Challenge. A step on from the Green Ticket, the game involves our spectators in our sustainability policy. The Impact Challenge gives new meaning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans spectator experience. Included in the 24H EXPERIENCE app, the challenge comprises 170 missions to defend the interests of the planet and those who live on it.

New fan zones and an even better spectator experience

The 24 Hours of Le Mans saw the light of day on 26 May 1923. Over a century later, the race continues to fuel the legend. In 18 days, Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota will all fight for a prestigious victory in the 93rd edition of the French endurance classic.

The inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans was held on 26-27 May 1923 &ndash; precisely 102 years ago! Devised as an open-air testing laboratory for motor cars, this new type of event would revolutionise racing and shape a legend. Over a century later, the race constantly reinvents itself while remaining true to its roots.

<h2>A competition designed to improve&nbsp;motoring</h2>

From the outset, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was perceived as a technological challenge&nbsp;for manufacturers and a sporting challenge for drivers. Unlike pure speed races, endurance was intended to test the cars&rsquo; reliability, fuel consumption, lighting and roadholding quality. A philosophy that still holds true today.

Many new technologies have been tested down the years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including disc brakes, LED then laser headlamps, road surfacing, hybrid systems and a 100% renewable fuel. Several have found their way into production cars. Tomorrow, a clean, efficient fuel will be at the heart of innovation thanks to the MissionH24 initiative &ndash; hydrogen.

<h2>Outstanding moments throughout history</h2>

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is also a compendium of emotions, heroic exploits and events that have shaped the legend. Who can forget Bentley&rsquo;s domination of the 1920s (five wins between 1923 and 1930), the head-to-head between Ferrari and Ford in the sixties, Mazda&rsquo;s 1991 triumph with its rotary engine, the Audi era with its all-conquering prototypes or, more recently, Ferrari&rsquo;s stunningly successful comeback in Hypercar?

Each decade has brought its share of feats and surprises. They have all helped make the 24 Hours of Le Mans the world&rsquo;s greatest endurance race and a benchmark in motorsport alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix.

<h2>And tomorrow?</h2>

Since the Centenary in 2023, the race attracts a crowd of over 300,000 spectators from all over the world. Drivers, engineers, fans and volunteers alike are all drawn to the circuit to live their dream and share their passion. And tomorrow? Looking to the immediate future, the 2025 race will see some of the biggest carmakers on the planet &ndash; Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota &ndash; fight for victory among a field of 62 cars, almost twice as many as in 1923 (33).

While the cars, the racetrack and the technologies have all evolved, the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has remained unchanged: push oneself to the limit, drive back the boundaries of what humans and machines can accomplish and write a page of history, day and night. 
On 26 May 1923, the 24 Hours of Le Mans came into being. On 26 May 2025, the race is looking to the future with the same ambition:&nbsp;to be the theatre of all manner of achievements.

24 Heures du Mans 2024 - 100 ans d'histoire et d'activité racontée par Stéphane Bern

24 Hours of Le Mans – 102 years of endurance, innovation and passion

A few days before the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, the chain of events resulting from Mike Conway’s accident led to Akkodis ASP Team calling up Jack Hawksworth – 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD Pro champion – to stand in for José María López in the Lexus RC F GT3. Hawksworth will be back in 2025.

Jack Hawksworth&nbsp;will replace&nbsp;Ben Barnicoat for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025), with the Chesterfield-born driver still recovering from a bike accident. Hawksworth will share the wheel of the #78 Lexus RC F GT3 with Finn Gehrsitz&nbsp;and Arnold Robin. 
Last year, Esteban Masson, Takeshi Kimura and Hawksworth drove the #87 Lexus to 10th place in the LMGT3 class after entertaining hopes of a podium for a while.

The #78 Lexus RC F GT3 currently lies third in the chase for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 Teams on the back of a fourth place in the Qatar 1812 Km and a third place in the 6 Hours of Imola.

Jack Hawksworth to replace Ben Barnicoat for Akkodis ASP Team

Drivers Club chairman G&eacute;rard Larrousse presented the award to Romain Dumas in recognition of his remarkable 2016 season, highlighted by his second Le Mans victory last June, in the Porsche 919 Hybrid. The 2016 World Endurance Champion was flattered to receive the award from Larrousse, another two-time winner at the Circuit de la Sarthe (with Henri Pescarolo in 1973 and 1974). At the French motorsport federation&rsquo;s awards ceremony last December, Dumas cited Larrousse as his inspiration for his success across a range of disciplines.

&nbsp;

Dumas&rsquo; 2016 season was marked by two special wins in close succession. Just one week after snatching the 24 Hours title at the death with teammates Neel Jani and Marc Lieb, Dumas claimed victory in the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado (USA), one of the world&rsquo;s oldest motorsport competitions.

&nbsp;

Although Dumas&rsquo; plans for this year&rsquo;s 24 Hours of Le Mans are still under wraps, he is already working on the 2017 Pikes Peak programme, as revealed to Larrousse at R&eacute;tromobile before joining the Porsche stand.

24H LE MANS

Romain Dumas receives 24 Hours of Le Mans Drivers Club award

Related News

The three 2025 Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour finalists announced

New fan zones and an even better spectator experience

24 Hours of Le Mans – 102 years of endurance, innovation and passion

Jack Hawksworth to replace Ben Barnicoat for Akkodis ASP Team

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