Le Mans again and again
06/18/2016
The 84th edition of the legendary motorsport classic " 24 Hours of Le Mans " starts today. Three Swiss drivers in the three top teams from Porsche, Audi and Toyota are among the favorites for overall victory. The Alpine democracy has always been well represented at Le Mans, but hardly ever with as many chances as this year.
The race took place for the first time on May 26/27, 1923, back then over a lap length of 17.3 km. The first race was won by André Lagache and René Léonard in a Chenard & Walckerwith a total distance of 2209.536 km.
From 1932, the 13.5 km route south of the city of Le Mans was used. The route has only changed slightly over the years. The endlessly long "Ligne Droite des Hunaudières", or "Mulsanne Straight", which is almost five kilometers long, was defused in 1990 with two braking chicanes. This reduced the top speed from over 400 km/h to around 340 km/h. Despite this, the lap times are repeatedly beaten and, despite several yellow periods, race distances of well over 5000 km are now covered (in 2015 it was 5382.82 km, the record distance has been held since 2010 by Rockefeller, Dumas and Bernhard in the Audi R15 TDI Plus with a whopping 5410.713 km).
The most successful drivers in the classic include, above all, Tom Kristensen with nine wins in 17 starts, Jacky Ickx with six and Derek Bell, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro with five wins each.
The three Swiss drivers Marcel Fässler, Sebastien Buemi and Neel Jani are in good spirits and hope that the technology will deliver what it promises. But one important point has already been fulfilled. For the third time, a Swiss driver will start from pole position. In 2015, it was Neel Jani's Porsche with the sensational time of 3:16.887, which is still the lap record. Before Jani, it was the legendary Jo Siffert (pictured above) who set pole in 1968. We won't know until tomorrow afternoon whether the pole will finally bring luck. Not so far, because neither Siffert (gearbox failure) nor Jani in 2015 (technical problems) have been successful.
Ford, back in the GT class 50 years after its legendary victory in 1966, has two cars in first and second place. Some cannot shake off the feeling that Ford is being presented with a gift to mark its 50th anniversary, as the "balance of performance" is not quite right for the GT cars, which led to an unscheduled meeting on Thursday.
We will see and wish the three representatives from Switzerland and their colleagues: Good Luck!
