Le Mans 24 Hours
The first Le Mans 24 Hours, run in May 1923 on public roads near the French city of Le Mans, launched what became the world's most famous endurance race. Unlike a sprint contest, it tested whether a car could survive a full day and night of continuous racing, and that emphasis on reliability gave the event a lasting influence on how cars were built and marketed.
The idea emerged from the booming French motoring culture of the early 1920s. Charles Faroux, a journalist and technical writer, along with Georges Durand of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the industrialist Émile Coquille, is generally credited with devising a race that would reward durable, practical machines rather than raw speed alone. The circuit used closed-off public roads south of the city, including stretches that locals drove on every other day of the year. Early rules reflected the focus on touring cars: entrants were meant to be production-based vehicles, and there were requirements about carrying equipment and about how the car's hood and other components were handled during the race.
The inaugural race was held over a weekend in late May, with cars starting on Saturday afternoon and running through to Sunday. The field was dominated by French marques, though a few foreign entries took part. The winning car was a Chenard & Walcker driven by André Lagache and René Léonard, who covered a distance of roughly 2,200 kilometres. Headlamps, rudimentary by modern standards, and the dusty or muddy roads made the night hours especially demanding, and mechanical failures were common. Finishing at all was an achievement.
The event was initially planned as a multi-year contest, with a prize tied to results over several editions, and it soon became an annual fixture. Bentley's victories in the late 1920s brought British attention and a mythology around the "Bentley Boys," while later decades saw Ferrari, Jaguar, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota build reputations there. The race was not held in 1936 because of labor unrest in France, and it was suspended through the Second World War, resuming in 1949.
Le Mans also carried a darker history. In 1955, a collision sent debris into the crowd and killed more than 80 spectators along with driver Pierre Levegh, still the deadliest accident in motorsport history. It prompted sweeping safety reforms across racing and led some manufacturers and countries to withdraw from motorsport for a time.
The circuit has been modified many times, but the basic format endures: a full rotation of the clock, shared driving, and a premium on endurance. Its legacy lies in the idea, now widely accepted, that racing can serve as a proving ground for technology, a notion that still shapes how automakers approach engineering and brand identity.