Starter
Words Nathan Chadwick
24-hour party people get ready Love motor racing and questionable fast food, and hate sleep? Then 24-hour racing events are for you. But as Le Mans celebrates its 100th birthday this year, which other overnighters should you consider? LE MANS 24 HOURS
SPA 24 HOURS
NÜRBURGRING 24 HOURS
DAYTONA 24 HOURS
First run in 1923 as an endurance test rather than for outright speed. It still uses normal roads for the annual race, and during these days competitors often cover 5000km around the 13.6km circuit.
Upon its launch in 1924 as a race between Malmedy, Francorchamps and Stavelot, the track was 15km. It was halved in 1973. Mainly known for touring cars until the mid-1990s, and for GTs since the 2000s.
Endurance racing had been held on the ’Ring before 1970, but the 24-hour race in its current form has been running since then. Aimed at amateurs, with 200 cars on the narrow 16-mile GP track and Nordschleife.
The first 24-hour event took place in 1966, with Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby taking victory in a GT40. It’s been a fixture on the winter-racing scene ever since, taking in Daytona’s banking and ‘road’ circuit.
Greatest victory
A debate that will rage on until the Earth is swallowed into the sun, but Jacky Ickx going from 15 laps down to win in 1977 has to be a highlight. The racing star also had a role in the closest finish ever – beating Hans Hermann by 120 yards in 1969 after 24 hours of competition.
In 1992, Steve Soper had written off his chances of victory, and was set to fly home to see his new child. Thinking otherwise, Bigazzi’s boss put him in the BMW M3 for the final stint. Soper treated it like a sprint, passing Eric van de Poele on the penultimate lap to win by 0.48 seconds.
Memorable races on the ’Ring tend to be those that aren’t red-flagged for many hours at a time due to rain or fog. However, in 1988 privateers Edgar Dören, Gerhard Holup and Peter Faubel beat the factory Ford Sierra Cosworth team with a decidedly old 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR.
Ferrari locked out the podium in 1967. The cars crossed the line abreast; this win unofficially named the 365GTB/4 ‘Daytona’.
Most successful manufacturer
Porsche has claimed 19 outright wins and 107 class victories.
BMW absolutely romps away with the crown in Belgium, with 24.
Again it’s BMW that leads the way, boasting 20 victories in Germany.
Porsche has 18 wins to its name at the famous Florida circuit.
Most successful driver
Tom Kristensen leads this race by three from Ickx, with nine victories between 1997 and 2013.
Eric van de Poele has chalked up five victories.
Timo Bernhard, Pedro Lamy and Marcel Tiemann are in a three-way tie on five victories apiece.
Hurley Haywood and Scott Pruett currently share honours at Daytona with five wins each.
Weirdest car
2012’s Nissan Deltawing was an odd ’un, while 1963’s Rover-BRM used a gas turbine. But the oddest looking has to be 1950’s Le Monstre; a Cadillac Series 61 with experimental windtunnel-honed bodywork.
The Red Pig – an AMGtuned Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 – eschewed lightness and a small footprint to bulldoze its way to a 1971 class victory.
Look out for...
The Great British Welcome sees 1000 cars descend upon the small village of Saint-Saturnin to the north of Le Mans on the Friday before the race.
The Wednesday before the race is dedicated to a parade around the town of Spa. It’s also a chance to buy the invariably necessary wet-weather gear.
For almost the entire week leading up to the event, the circuit and the surrounding forest turn into a full-on techno rave. Pack the glow sticks.
If you’re claustrophobic, the empty grandstands in the middle of the night that are more used to packed NASCAR crowds will come as a welcome relief.
This year?
June 10-11 24h-lemans.com
June 29-July 2 totalenergies24hours.com
May 18-21 24h-rennen.de/en/home
2024 dates TBC imsa.com
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Magneto
The GX class debuted at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2013 – its only year. It was a class made up of purpose-built production Porsche Caymans and diesel Mazda 6s. All Mazdas retired, and David Donohue won by nine laps.
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