Prologue in 1997 - As Tom Kristensen won the first of his nine victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Episodes IV, V and VI were re-released in theaters all over the world.

1999 at Le Mans - That year, the list of manufacturers present at Le Mans was staggering: Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Nissan, Ferrari, Chrysler, Porsche and Panoz. BMW and its V12 LMR prototype emerged victorious after a lengthy duel with the Toyota GT-One, with at the wheel Pierluigi Martini, Joachim Winkelhock and Yannick Dalmas. The latter won his fourth win (at the wheel of a fourth different car, after the Peugeot in 1992, Dauer-Porsche in 1994 and McLaren in 1995) and joined Henri Pescarolo as the winningest French driver at the 24 Hours. In addition to the marques mentioned above, the 67th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans included Audi's first appearance with four prototypes at the start...and a nice formation at the finish, thanks to Emanuele Pirro-Frank Biela-Didier Theys (third) and Michele Alboreto-Dindo Capello-Laurent Aiello (fourth).

1999 at the movies - Once again, "Star Wars Episode I-The Phantom Menace" swept the world's box offices, with nearly a billion dollars grossed, and the "Matrix" was the other science fiction blockbuster of the year. 1999 was also marked by "Eyes Wide Shut": Stanley Kubrick's last film was released a few months after the great director passed away on March 7th. Robert de Niro shined in the popular comedy "Analyze This" as a mafia boss struggling with depression. Released in the U.S. in 1999, the following year "American Beauty" was awarded with the Oscars for Best Film, Best Director (for Sam Mendes) and Best Leading Male (for Kevin Spacey). Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar was awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Film for his movie "All About My Mother" also released in 1999.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DES JACOBINS, TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE VERIFICATIONS FOR THE 1999 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. For its first appearance at the 24 Hours, Audi entered two versions of its R8 prototype: open cockpit (R8R) and closed body (R8C).