It’s that time of year again when we drop all that have planned over the weekend to take part in watching the world’s most respected race – 24 Hours du Le Mans. This marks the 82nd running of the world famous race, and man does it have some exciting news for this year.
What’s new for this year?
This year is the first for three top manufactures going all out to claim the top spot. This year marks the return of Porsche, running two factory LMP1 hybrid race cars set out to battle Toyota and the reigning champions, Audi. On top of that, the ACO organizers have imposed rules stating that top-tier LMP1 cars (just listed) will have to run this year’s race using roughly 30% less fuel than that of last year, which will be monitored live throughout the entire race. Let’s introduce the contenders.
Audi’s R18 E-tron quattro will run a 4 liter, turbo diesel V6 engine with flywheel hybrid technology (combined power of nearly 770HP)
Toyota’s TS040 will run a naturally aspirated V8 supplemented by a supercapacitor hybrid storage/deliver unit (combined power of 1000HP)
Porsche’s 919 will run a turbo V4 (yes, V4 motor) with an energy recovery system (ERS) hybrid system (combined power of nearly 800HP)
Garage 56 entry, which is designed for experimental cars, has been taken by Nissan’s ZEOD and will be piloted by Nissan PlayStation GT Academy winner Lucas Ordóñez. We hope this car can make it to the end.
Corvette Racing will be returning for their 15th anniversary of running at Le Mans with guest driver Jordan Taylor, who will join Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia to battle the GTE-Pro category for the top step.
Dempsey Racing is back this year, but fielding a car produced by Proton featuring an all American team of Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster and Patrick Long
As for the track the Ford Chicane now features rather beefy ‘baguette’ inner curbs to dissuade corner cutting (and the subsequent massive intrusion of gravel onto the track surface).
How to enjoy the race remotely!
With all that said, set aside your Saturday and Sunday plans and fill your 24H information needs from the following links:
24Hours of Le Mans Home Page (live timing and ranking)
Before this weekend’s race be sure you print off your spotters guide and study hard all thanks to the hard work from Andy Blackmore, 2014 Le Mans Spotters Guide
Live ACO Official TV-feed can be streamed directly to your iPhone/iPad or Android by the ACO Official app found here: iTunes or Google Play Store
Nismo TV will be hosting their live stream via Youtube
Static Cameras track side from Le Mans will be available here: Lemans-TV
Corvette Racing will be streaming their two cars (in car footage and pit camera) in conjuction with Fox: FoxSports
Live radio commentary is provided by RadioLemans; new this year is a webcam showing their mobile media center
Live timing can be found in three locations: http://en.lemanslive.com/ or http://www.24h-lemans.com/live/en/ or (clean single page) http://live.fiawec.com/
For those located here in the United States you can enjoy the race on TV:
TV SCHEDULE (all times EST):
Saturday, June 14 – 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM (FOX Sports 2, LIVE)
Saturday, June 14 – 6:30 PM to 1:00 AM (FOX Sports 2, LIVE)
Sunday, June 14 – 1:00 AM to 7:30 AM (FOX Sports 1, LIVE)
Sunday, June 15 – 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM (FOX Sports 2, LIVE)
Entire race streamed LIVE on FOX Sports GO (if subscribed and offered in your area)
Pre-made Tweeter feeds for this year’s race
All of these could not be possible without Thomas Baekdal
And of course nothing would be completed without some Videos to get you ready for the race:
Road to Le Mans
We Are Racers Series 1 & 2
Fun Le Man Infographic
sundaydrivenyc 