The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most exciting and demanding races in motorsport history. It catches the attention of millions of fans around the world, and fascinates experienced professionals due to the very special challenges it poses.
From an engineering perspective, beside the complex task of building a car reliable and safe enough to be driven at the limit for 24 consecutive hours, yet still capable of competitive performance at the more conventional tracks and events that are part of endurance championships around the world, there are a number of human and physical challenges the teams working on track need to overcome.
For starters, driver crews normally include three or more drivers, with different driving styles and preferences in terms of set-up. In some classes, at least one of them is normally not a professional driver either, so the teams must find the best compromises to enable the best possible average performance across the whole race.
Then there’s the track itself, which has a layout unique in today’s motorsport scene. The combination of a permanent circuit and open street sections include very long straights, separated by a mix of slow corners and extremely fast sections, such as Indianapolis or the Porsche Curves. At 13.6kms, the circuit is also very long, nearly twice the distance of Spa Francorchamps, the longest track on the Formula 1 calendar.
Top class cars operate at full throttle for more than 80 per cent of each lap, with top speeds in excess of 330km/h (205mph) and lateral acceleration peaks over 3.5g.
To complicate things further still, both track
