On November 20, 1873, the seven-year presidential term was adopted under the initiative of President Patrice de Mac Mahon. On June 16, 1996, Manuel Reuter won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans along with Davy Jones and Alexander Wurz in a TWR Porsche WSC-95, seven years after his first victory.

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Legendes

24 Heures du Mans

Historique

24 HOURS OF LE MANS CENTENARY – PERPETUAL INNOVATION The rear engine became the norm in Formula 1 after Jack Brabham’s Cooper won two world titles in 1959 and 1960, but the transition took a little longer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gradually, however, the rear engine became the norm for prototypes and most GT cars on the track today. Here’s a short history of a concept that eventually gained traction.

Traditional car architecture placed the engine at the front, the passengers in the middle and the boot at the rear. A drive shaft sent the engine&rsquo;s power through the gearbox to the rigid, suspended rear axle, because there was no way of transmitting the power to the front wheels, which had to steer the car at the same time. All the cars that competed at the first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923 were built according to this design.&nbsp;

However, for a well-balanced car, all the weight needs to be located between the front and rear axles, with the weight of the overhang kept to a minimum. Gradually, therefore, the engines were moved back into the front compartment, pushing the driver further back.

Then in 1958, and again in 1959 with the Formula One world title, Jack Brabham and his John Cooper-designed single-seater proved that a mid-rear engine was the better solution, with the weight more efficiently distributed This layout also made the car much lighter by doing away with the heavy drive shaft.

<h3>&ldquo;The horse pulls the cart, it does not push it&rdquo;</h3>

So what are the main drawbacks of a front-engined car? When braking on the approach to a bend, the weight is transferred to the front axle (mass transfer), which is already heavy enough with the weight of the engine. The car will seek to continue straight on and it is more difficult to correct because the steering becomes heavier. The car has difficulty entering the bend. At the same time, the mass transfer has taken the weight off the rear axle, which is already lighter, and the wheels have less grip. As a result, we need to limit braking power on the rear axle to prevent the wheels from locking.

Conversely, with a mid-rear engine, there is less weight on the front axle and understeer is limited. In addition, the engine&rsquo;s weight at the rear keeps the rear tyres more firmly on the road. More braking force can thus be applied to the rear axle when entering a bend. Then when accelerating to exit the corner, the mass transfer to the rear will add to the weight of the engine and allow more power to be transferred without skidding.&nbsp;

However, there was still much hesitation in endurance racing. After the 1960 and 1961 victories, Enzo Ferrari apparently said: &ldquo;The horse pulls the car. It does not push it.&rdquo; But more importantly, endurance racing preferred cars that were closer to production models than single-seaters. And the interior space requirements in these cars meant that the front-engine layout was the favoured option.

<h3>From the 4 CV to Ferrari</h3>

The drawback of rear-engined cars was well known to connoisseurs, namely that placing the weight behind the wheel axis causes oversteer and spinning. Nonetheless, the first such car was fielded at the 1949 race&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;the Renault&nbsp;4 CV.&nbsp;

Then in 1950, the manufacturer MAP debuted a car with a diesel, mid-rear engine. The same period also saw a few cars with front engines and front-wheel drive, such as the Panhard. In 1951, Porsche made its first appearance at Le Mans with the rear-engined 356.

In 1959, John Cooper entered a mid-engined Cooper Monaco in the 24 Hours. Unfortunately, it was forced to retire after a crash 6 hours into the race.

As for Ferrari, it finally presented the 246 SP with its V6 mid-engine at the end of 1961, before entering in the race in 1962. It was entrusted to the Rodriguez brothers and excelled alongside its front-engined rivals until the transmission failed in the 14th hour. However, the car had convinced the people in Maranello and in 1963, the mid-engine triumphed in a 250&nbsp;P driven Ludovico Scarfiotti and Lorenzo Bandini. No front-engined car has ever taken overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since then.

<h3>From back to front in the GT classes</h3>

Things were different in the GT class, where the cars were derived from production models and where a concern for interior space took precedence over performance. Ferrari, Corvette, Aston Martin and the others long resisted change. Nonetheless, almost all GT cars are mid-engined nowadays&hellip; even the Chevrolet Corvette, which kept its previous front engine until 2020!

&nbsp;

There have been a few attempts to return to a front engine since the turn of the century, with the Panoz, a kind of Batmobile-inspired car that ran from 1999 to 2003 and had a starring role (in the guise of a Leader) in the 2002 movie Michel Vaillant. Nissan also entered the front-mid engined GT-R LM Nismo in 2015. This was an ill-conceived project and the car only made a single, dismal Le Mans appearance: after being demoted to the back of the prototype grid, it made an early exit from the race with no real chance to demonstrate any performance.

Putting the engine at the rear is an attractive idea, but it requires heavy architecture to fit the engine on board. As a solution, stressed member engines were introduced at the end of the 1960s. In this set-up, the engine is a stress-bearing structural member, bolted to the monocoque chassis at one end and the suspension and gearbox at the other. The renowned V8 Ford Cosworth was a prime example. When an engine is developed for racing, it is usually designed to be load-bearing. This saves a lot of weight on the chassis. If it is derived from the production model, however, this will probably not be the case, because the engine block is not designed to undergo the twisting and bending experienced in a race.

PHOTOS: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS &ndash; TOP TO BOTTOM (COPYRIGHT&nbsp;: ACO ARCHIVES): in 1963, the Ferrari 250 P was the first rear-engined car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Lorenzo Bandini/Ludovico Scarfiotti (winners) and Umberto Maglioli/Michael Parkes (third, pictured); the engine of the Renault 4CV was located in the rear overhang, i.e. behind the axis of the rear wheels; the first rear-engined Ferrari to race at Le Mans, the Dino 246 SP driven by Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez (#28) was forced to retire early in the 1962 race; 67 years after it first appeared, the eighth generation of the Chevrolet Corvette finally switched to a mid-rear engine in 2019 (the year of the final outing of the front-engined C7 at the 24 Hours) and made its Le Mans debut in 2021; the Panoz was the first front-engined prototype to finish in the top 10 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Here, it is seen playing the role of Leader, Michel Vaillant&rsquo;s adversary in the film that was in part shot at the 2002 24 Hours.

Rear we go! A history of engines at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

With two months to go until the opening round of the championship, preparations are well underway for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, with a provisional entry list featuring a record 48 entries!

For the new season of the Asian Le Mans Series, the provisional grid is split equally between 24 prototypes (nine LMP2s and 15 LMP3s) and 24 GT3s. &nbsp;

Pierre FILLON, President of the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest: &ldquo;The Asian Le Mans Series is poised for one of its most amazing seasons yet. With a record-breaking field of 48 cars in 2023, we are in for some fierce competition! The series is of vital importance for the ACO and the variety of marques entered this season proves just how attractive it is. See you on 10 February when the flag will be lowered to launch the championship!&rdquo;&nbsp;

Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequien, CEO, ALMEM and LMEM: &ldquo;It is fantastic to see the Asian Le Mans Series go from strength to strength. What is particularly pleasing is the growth in prototype entries, opening this class of racing to a new region and a new audience. I look forward to what I am sure will be a stellar season!&rdquo;

The 2023 season will mark the return of a number of Asian teams who have already triumphed in the past. 2018/2019 GT champions CarGuy will return with their #57 Ferrari 488 GT3 as will 2019/2020 champions Hub Auto Racing, fielding their Mercedes AMG GT3. HubAuto Racing remains the only Asian team to have secured pole in the LMGTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

As was the case in 2022, seven different manufacturers will be represented in the GT class. Lamborghini will return to the series with a Huracan GT3 EVO driven by a new team: Leipert Motorsport. 
In all, there will be five Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3s, a BMW M4 GT3, four Ferrari 488 GT3s, a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO, three McLaren 720S GT3s, five Mercedes AMG GT3s and five Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.

The Asian Le Mans Series draws teams and drivers from all over the world with a total of 33 teams of 13 different nationalities.

It&#39;s an intensive season for the competitors as the championship takes place over just two weeks, with the Asian Le Mans Series returning to the United Arab Emirates. The four races will be run from 11 to 19 February 2023. The races will last four hours and will be held at the Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit, with a mixture of day and night races.

<ul>
	<li>
	Race 1 &ndash; Saturday 11 February 2023, Duba&iuml; Autodrome
	</li>
	<li>
	Race 2 &ndash; Sunday 12 February 2023, Duba&iuml; Autodrome
	</li>
	<li>
	Race 3 &ndash; Saturday 18 February 2023, Yas Marina Circuit
	</li>
	<li>
	Race 4 &ndash; Sunday 19 February 2023, Yas Marina Circuit
	</li>
</ul>

The full entry list including drivers will be published before the start of the season.

See the <a href="https://www.asianlemansseries.com/" target="_blank">Asian Le Mans Series website</a> for details.

A record-breaking grid for the Asian Le Mans Series

The 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the centenary edition of the prestigious race. Early ticket sales have reached unprecedented levels, to the extent that all grandstands and certain other products have already sold out. Read on for more information.

Tickets for the 24 Hours of Le Mans went on sale on 21 October. The ACO subsequently began taking bookings for the camping and parking areas exclusively from Members on 29 November. Non-members will be able to book from 10:00 CET on Monday 5 December.

We have had to make several changes for this unique event. It is our firm intention to improve the spectator experience next year by welcoming more of you to the circuit, offering more food and refreshment outlets, encouraging you to share the fan zone experience and reducing vehicle traffic within the confines of the circuit.

We&nbsp;wish to offer some explanations:

1/ Parking

Parking areas located within the confines of the circuit, usually allocated to the organisation, teams and media, will be moved off-site. For this reason, the White, Blue and Green parking areas have been reassigned to these users. These three external parking areas will free up a considerable amount of space within the Circuit des 24 Heures which will be used to extend the race village and host new activities and entertainment.&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>
	The Expo parking area&nbsp;and Expo campsite from 2022 have been merged for safety reasons. This will now be the Expo parking area&nbsp;only and will consequently increase capacity and help traffic to flow more smoothly during the event.&nbsp;This parking area is now sold out.
	</li>
	<li>
	We are continuing our policy of offering as many free parking spaces as possible. These will be made available in the following parking areas: Raineries, Rotonde, ActiSud, Etamat, A&eacute;rogare and Fresne.
	</li>
</ul>

Pushing on with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments, the ACO will renew its &quot;Green Ticket&rdquo; initiative this year. This low-carbon ticket gives a 10% discount on Admission prices to spectators who use virtuous forms of transportation (train or hybrid, rechargeable hybrid or electric vehicles, on presentation of proof before or during the event).

The ACO welcomes persons with reduced mobility and is working to improve its PMR facilities, including parking. A dedicated parking area will be available within the circuit and another nearby for blue badge holders.

2/ Camping areas

&nbsp;The ACO has revised its camping areas to offset the closure of the Blue Zone.&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>
	We are still taking bookings for the Beaus&eacute;jour campsite which has been redesigned for 2023 to offer&nbsp;an experience befitting of the Centenary. Free shuttles will take spectators to and from the circuit. A fan zone with a big screen and eateries will be set up at the heart of Beaus&eacute;jour.
	</li>
	<li>
	Clos Fleuri, a new camping area located near to the Mulsanne Straight, has been brought on-line this year.
	</li>
	<li>
	L&#39;Hippodrome camping area is also new for 2023, but has already sold out.
	</li>
</ul>

We are working on opening further new camping areas in liaison with the local authorities and hope to start taking bookings for them very soon.

The ACO is doing its utmost to welcome fans in the best possible conditions. 
To meet this aim, we shall be introducing a new &ldquo;Practice, Qualifying + Race&rdquo; ticket in response to demand.

We look forward&nbsp;to celebrating what promises to be a wonderful 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary.

24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary: booking information

Fantastic prizes are waiting to be won every day up to Christmas with the 24 Hours of Le Mans advent calendar.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans advent calendar is back with lots of treats in store! Once again, the prestigious race&rsquo;s partners have joined up with the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest to put together a bumper collection of surprises for our passionate fans. A Premium Pack for two people to attend the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, a ride in the MissionH24 electric-hydrogen prototype, a &euro;200 fuel voucher from TotalEnergies, model cars signed by drivers from the Toyota and Peugeot Hypercar programmes, and even a ride in the Goodyear blimp &ndash; there&rsquo;s something for everyone!

Try your luck every day from 1 December up to Christmas with our easy-to-enter competition.&nbsp;<a href="https://shakr.cc/4nfud" target="_blank">Click here</a>&nbsp;every day, select the day&#39;s box and fill in the form to enter the draw. Then scratch out all the squares to see if you have won. If the Centenary Trophy appears in colour, you&rsquo;re the day&rsquo;s lucky winner! If not, never mind &ndash; you can try again tomorrow!

Don&#39;t forget to come back every day and check out what new surprise the 24 Hours of Le Mans advent calendar has in store!

<h3>Looking for Christmas ideas?</h3>

The 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Store has stacks of different gift ideas for fans of the classic French endurance race that will celebrate its centenary next year. Clothing, models cars, books, luggage, limited-edition photographs and other unique gifts to delight your loved ones.

<a href="https://boutique.lemans.org/en/" target="_blank">&gt;&gt;&gt; Visit the 24 Hours of Le Mans Christmas Store now! &lt;&lt;&lt;</a>

Enter the Great Race to Christmas with the 24 Hours of Le Mans Advent Calendar!

24 Heures du Mans 1996

The&nbsp;lapse of time between two wins at the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans is often very brief, three years&nbsp;maximum, but there are exceptions: six years between the first and second victories clinched by&nbsp;seven-time winner Jacky Ickx and five-time winner Derek Bell. The&nbsp;record is currently&nbsp;held by Manuel Reuter&#39;s teammate in 1996, Alexander Wurz, youngest winner to-date at Le Mans&nbsp;(22 years old), with a 13-year time lapse!

Photo copyright Archives ACO

24H LE MANS

Today's Photo Story - The TWR Porsche driven by Manuel Reuter winner at Le Mans in 1996

Related News

Rear we go! A history of engines at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

A record-breaking grid for the Asian Le Mans Series

24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary: booking information

Enter the Great Race to Christmas with the 24 Hours of Le Mans Advent Calendar!