Which is the greatest race in the world? Nope, it’s not Indianapolis or Monaco in my book, although both rank pretty close to it. It’s the 24 Heures du Mans or Le Mans race as it is popularly known, and this year the event will take place this weekend. Yes, Monaco has glamour and Indianapolis has very high speeds averaging over 200mph a lap. But Le Mans has both speed and glamour and to top it off, the cars are not open wheelers but sportscars you and I may actually dream of buying and racing someday. Okay, that’s a little farfetched but the truth is you do see what look like road-going sports cars participating in this endurance race. Which is what Le Mans is really about. It starts a little before dusk and is on through the night to finish 24 hours later. The winner is the one that covers the maximum distance in 24 hours.

The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held in 1923 and the race has been held 73 times since. The race actually gets its name from the town of Le Mans 200km from Paris as the circuit, which is actually composed of everyday roads, is on its outskirts. The circuit length is 13.650 km, much longer than any current F1 track and the 5km-long Hunaudieres straight (also called the Mulsanne straight because it leads up to the Mulsanne bend used to seeing speeds of 400kph ? in fact the highest speed ever recorded on Hunaudieres is 405kph).

In the interests of safety however, two chicanes were introduced in 1990 to slow the cars down (boo). Safety is a major issue at Le Mans because back in 1955, 50-year old Frenchman Pierre Levegh driving a factory Mercedes 300SLR was involved in an accident in which he died as did 80 spectators. This led to countries like Switzerland banning motorsport and Mercedes withdrew from racing only to return after about 40 years. History was almost repeated in 1999 when the Mercedes CLR driven by Mark Webber became airborne and came crashing down but modern construction technology and safety features saved Webber and he is racing in Formula 1 today.

Le Mans gave the world the Le Mans start in which the cars would be parked on the side of the track and the drivers would line up on the opposite side of the track. At the start signal, the drivers would run across the track and jump into their cars and race off. Although this was quite spectacular, it meant that the cars would be at near racing speed as the drivers still tried to get their safety harnesses on. Safety requirements demanded the abandoning of the start, and so in 1969 the practice was halted in favour of a more traditional start.

In recent times, Audi has been dominating the race including sweeping the top three podium places in 2000 and 2002. Not only that, Germany is the most successful country with 23 wins. It is a fact that marques like Bentley, Porsche (the 911 and 917), Jaguar (the C and D Types), and Aston Martin owe most of their fame due to success at Le Mans. Winning at Le Mans is important to companies that believe in the adage “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday”. So Ford developed special sportscars like the 7-litre-engined Mark IV and of course the legendary GT40. The most successful driver at Le Mans has been Tom Kristensen of Denmark, having won it seven times, including six wins in succession.

A number of privateers participate in the 24 Hours Le Mans race and this is because of the special classes meant for them. Hence the race sees a plethora of constructors like Courage (Coorazh), Matra, Rondeau and Dome as well as Porsche 911s and Ferraris. The race is run by ACO or Automobile Club de ’Ouest according to classes set by it. The LMP1 class, which stands for Le Mans Prototype 1, is the equivalent of F1 while LMP2 is expensive but does encourage privateers. There are also two GT classes, which are meant for privateers running production cars like the Lamborghini Murcielago, Chevrolet Corvette etc.

This year’s race is going to be particularly interesting as Audi is planning an assault with two diesel-engined racing cars. Diesels are not popular in racing but the Audi R10 TDI is a very impressive machine. According to Audi, it is the first sports car that was developed in accordance with the new ACO (Automobile Club de ’Ouest) LM P1 regulations. The car is based around a 5.5litre V12 four-valve-per-cylinder TDI engine, with two turbochargers by Garrett.

What’s interesting about this engine is that the fuel supply is via a Common Rail system whereas the VW group has been concentrating on unit injectors for the production cars. This direct-injection engine develops over 650 hp and importantly, over 1,100 Newton metres of torque. The construction is of carbon-fibre composite around an aluminium honeycomb core and the car weighs 925kg.

Le Mans includes camping facilities, a fairground complete with a ferris wheel and of course, plenty of good food. It’s party time all night long and is easier to access than an F1 race. Last year, over 232,000 spectators lined the circuit to watch the race. This year there may well be more. It is, the greatest race of the year after all.

My favourite long drive

Megha Dalmia
fashion designer

There’s no contest here! The best long drive I’ve ever taken was from Zurich to Lucerne in Switzerland. I’d gone there with my parents in November last year. We stopped by at the very popular Sprungli Caf? in Zurich for a meal before setting out on the almost five-hour trip with my dad at the wheel of a Mercedes Smart car.

It was drizzling and really cold, but all that was soon forgotten as stunning scenes of natural and man-made beauty whizzed by. There were crystal-clear lakes, magnificent mountains, verdant hills spotted with grazing sheep, sprawling vineyards, quaint cottages and beautiful chateaux. The best part was that there was hardly any traffic or even people on the road. It was so peaceful!

Another bit that really impressed me was how organised everything is. Even for a non-local, finding one’s way around is so easy with road maps and signs in English along the way.