The 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend

[spyboy1]

I'm not sure how many of you are into racing at all, but one of the greatest sporting events on my annual calendar is the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. Four separate classes of over 50 wild looking cars all on the track at the same time. The speed difference in the classes results in the fastest cars constantly having to make their way past the slower cars in the dark, likely in the rain this weekend. It's really spectacular stuff you don't get to see but a few select times a year.

Last year's winner in the rain

The cars are Audi, Peugeot, Corvette, Aston Martin, Saleen, Ferrari, Porsche, Panoz and bunch of other protoypes that look cool that you've never heard of. Maybe you've seen the cars playing Grand Turismo 4, but have never seen the real ones racing live. See them here -> http://racingfanatics.com/2007%20Home%20Pa...Gallery%20I.htm

In the age of the internet, it's become a very interesting event to not only watch on the tube, but follow via the internet.

There's going to be the usual TV coverage on Speed Channel, totalling 17.5 hours with some breaks for Formula One qualifying and NASCAR, but some of the most interesting use of the internet can be found this weekend.

First up is the amazing coverage provided by http://www.radiolemans.com/ This service started out as a temporary community radio station for the English fans who travel to the race and has now grown into a week long, full-time online radio station. They cover the practice and qualifying, have interviews and play music the entire week of the race and then cover the race itself from start to finish with a group of true enthusiasts so knowlegeable I'd put them up against any crew covering any sport any where any time. They're that good.

The official web site at http://www.lemans.org/ also has a lot to offer, with news and such, but the nice feature they have is live timing and scoring so you can see all cars progress throughout the race.

http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_gb.html

I also participate in the forums at http://community.americanlemans.com/forums/7/ShowForum.aspx , which is the fourms for the American Le Mans Series so you can chat with others as the race progresses. This is good for catching up on events you miss when taking a break for an hour or two.

There's several dedicated sports car web sites that will also give you updates, photos and other info like spotters guides of the full grid with photos.

http://the-paddock.net/

http://www.planetlemans.com

Here's an insanely complete and detailed Guide to the 24 Hours - a 123 page pdf file! http://www.clubarnage.com/caguide/

Clearly I could go on all day about this, but here's a video to give you a small flavor of the track, 8 miles of mostly public roads, unlike todays tracks that are all dedicated race tracks. Yes, they race on roads the public uses every day that are closed off just for the race.

JeffB

[-Helix-]

I'm expecting to see some Peugeot domination. With Seabass at the wheel of one of them, I'm guessing it's going to be a French driver in a French car in 1st at the end of the race. I'm sure the locals would enjoy that.

Looking forward to it though. It's coming up fast.

[Alphabet Man]

The 24hour race is what, just one race a year? i think Bathurst had the race a few years back. I'm not too up to date with it atll.

[spyboy1]

The 24hour race is what, just one race a year? i think Bathurst had the race a few years back. I'm not too up to date with it atll.

Le Mans is just once a year and the only time this group of cars runs 24 Hours.

There are a few other 24 Hour races, like Spa in Belgium, Nurburgring in Germany and Daytona in Florida, but the cars that run those races are all from different race series from each other and can't touch Le Mans for the to-the-limit speed, technology and looks by far.

Bathurst had a 24 for just two years and it was going to grow into something great, but for some reason it they stopped after year two. A real shame and a total missed opportunity. Bathurst is perhaps my favorite track on the planet and certainly in the top 4 with Spa, Nurburging and Road America. For those of you who have never heard of it, it runs to, up and along the ridge of a freakin mountain! It then runs down out of the mountain, takes a left along the start/finish straight another left ( at "Hell Corner"! ) and back to the mountian for the next climb. Wicked awesome.

[Alphabet Man]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Have you ever been up to Bathurst and driven around it, I tell ya, it's an awesome track to drive.

I wonder if they'll ever come back (the 24hours races), but i can say it won't reach the heights that Bathurst 1000 does each year up there.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

oh i am excited.

is the ford saleen twin turbo in the race this year?

[spyboy1]

oh i am excited.

is the ford saleen twin turbo in the race this year?

There are a pair of Saleen s7r's in the race this year with normally aspirated 7.0 liter V8's. No turbos, but loads of displacement and "grunt".

[-Helix-]

Well, one of the Audis are out already. Quite the crash too. And a Corvette is out due to transmission problems. Sucks for them.

I'm surprised both Peugeots aren't doing as well as I thought they would.

[spyboy1]

This is the coolest use of the internet!

I've got live timing and scoring showing every car and it's position in the race, as well as in it's class, intervals to the car ahead and other stats like last lap speed and fastest lap speed.

Then I've got a headline news ticker in one window that automatically updates, a chat forum in another.

A fourth has the weather radar from France, I've got streaming audio of the race broadcast from Radio Le Mans and even a yahoo widget that is counting down the time left in the race.

I love the internet!