24 Hours of Le Mans
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French race team Larbre Competition has revealed a wild livery for the No. 50 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R it plans to enter in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, which runs the weekend starting June 17. The livery was created by French artist Ramzi Adek who came up with a pop art theme that would fit right in at a Roy Lichtenstein exhibition. In a statement, Adek explained that there are three main elements to the livery referencing the three drivers that will be taking turns behind the wheel. On one side is a woman with a strong gaze defining a fighting spirit. On the opposing side is a man’s...
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BMW M8 teased, will race at Le Mans
BMW M used this weekend’s M Festival held at the Nürburgring to confirm an M8 performance flagship will form part of the new 8-Series range currently in the works. The first member of the new range will be a regular 8-Series coupe. It debuts in 2018 and was previewed on Friday at the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Amazon to debut detailed Le Mans documentary
Amazon is tapping into the love of motorsport. The company's Prime streaming service has announced it will debut a new documentary series that revolves around the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans titled, "Le Mans: Racing Is Everything." The documentary series will be aired exclusively on Amazon and is...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ford planned to race the Mustang at Le Mans, before deciding on the GT
The automotive world collectively gasped when Ford rolled out quite the surprise at the 2015 Detroit auto show. The blue oval welcomed the GT back into its portfolio of performance vehicles, and it had its sights on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Believe it or not, the rebirth of the iconic GT almost...
Sean Szymkowski -
2017 Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 out to defend WEC, Le Mans titles
Porsche has revealed the new LMP1-spec race car that it hopes will earn it its third-straight title in both the World Endurance Championship and the event highlight, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The new car is still classified as a 919 Hybrid, but it is significantly improved compared to the 919...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota reveals 2017 TS050 Hybrid LMP1 endurance racer
A new season of the World Endurance Championship is nearly upon us and Toyota will be back to chase the title. The automaker will do so with the 2017 TS050 Hybrid revealed today and destined to compete in the premier LMP1 class. This is the car Toyota hopes will finally earn it victory in the 24...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Italian supercar Mazzanti, maker of the 1,000-horsepower Evantra Millecavalli, has joined forces with Italian racing team Cetilar Villorba Corse. Cetilar Villorba Corse competes in a number of endurance events, the premier one being the 24 Hours of Le Mans in which it competes in the LMP2 class. The team is made up of drivers Andrea Belicchi, Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Sernagiotto and competes with a Dallara P217 chassis. Mazzanti will serve as technical partner to the team, with its R&D team to work closely with Cetilar Villorba Corse’s drivers and engineers. This will enable both...
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Historic Alpine Le Mans prototype preserved in French shed
It's hard to imagine a more romantic barn find than a dust-covered Le Mans prototype quietly sitting, waiting, in a dilapidated wood shed covered with moss in the south of France. When vintage car racer/restorer Graham Long and I first saw it on a cold, winter evening, it was as if we'd stumbled...
Mitch McCullough -
Audi to end WEC campaign after 2016, including Le Mans
Audi has confirmed earlier reports that it is about to end its participation in the World Endurance Championship. Audi will exit the sport at the end of the 2016 season, in the process ending 18 years of prototype racing. (The final race will be the 6 Hours of Bahrain on November 19.) During those...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Michelin Challenge Design imagines Le Mans in 2030
Michelin loves pushing the envelope when it comes to future automotive design. The tire company often holds design challenge contests that give gifted folks a topic and let them loose. For the 2017 challenge, which is so futuristic that it's taking place in 2016, the contestants were asked to...
Jeff Glucker -
Meet the grand daddy of all Porsche race cars, the 1951 356 SL Gmünd Coupe
Priceless is a word thrown around a lot these days when describing classic cars, but for this 1951 Porsche 356 SL Gmünd Coupe there really isn’t a more appropriate descriptor. It’s the first Porsche sports car developed for racing, and it’s the first to have notched up a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche reveals tech behind Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid
Porsche’s 919 Hybrid is proving to be one of the most successful race cars in the German automaker’s history. It’s currently in its third year of competition and already under its belt are a title in the World Endurance Championship and a pair of victories in the 24 Hours of Le...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] claimed victory at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE Pro class. This win comes 50 years after the Blue Oval pulled off a one-two-three finish at the iconic French race using its iconic GT40. To celebrate the win made by the modern GT, Ford lit up its headquarters as a signal to the world. The Ford GT has won Le Mans. This too is a nod to the past, interestingly enough. Back in 1967, Ford flipped the switches on some well placed lights and turned its world headquarters into a boasting billboard. The message back in Dearborn read simply "Won Le Mans". The...
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Replica of long-lost Briggs Cunningham Corvette shows up at Le Mans
Update: This car is a replica of the Briggs Cunningham #1 1960 Chevrolet Corvette and not the original as stated in an earlier version of the story. A 1960 Chevrolet Corvette long thought lost to history was finally found in 2012. The car was one of three Corvettes fielded in the 1960 24 Hours of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota reveals reason behind last-minute Le Mans fail
Poised to win its first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend, tragedy struck for Toyota as its leading #5 TS050 Hybrid prototype competing in the premier LMP1 category suddenly lost power in the closing minutes of the race. Details are now starting to emerge on what exactly went wrong with the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bugatti CEO drives new Chiron faster than a race car at Le Mans
The fastest car at last weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans wasn't decked out with sponsor graphics and racing tires. It was, instead, a street-legal Bugatti that you, too, can buy... assuming you're of the especially well-heeled variety. We are of course talking about the new Chiron. Bugatti CEO...
Andrew Ganz -
2016 24 Hours of Le Mans: Wins for Porsche, Ford overshadowed by heartbreak for Toyota
It was the cruelest of endings on Sunday at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, with car trouble costing Toyota the overall win in the closing minutes. Heavy rain prior to the race led to some flooding and saw the safety car on the track for almost the entire first hour. Once the race was on, Toyota led...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Ford GT in production guise surprises at Le Mans
There’s an assortment of cars racing around the Circuit de la Sarthe in this weekend’s 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, which at the time of writing is led by Toyota and one of its TS050 Hybrid LMP1s, but one car in particular is creating plenty of excitement off the track. Ford Motor Company...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford thinks it has all the pieces together to dominate the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, but the automaker's racing car isn't quite put together the same way as the 4,000-piece Lego model it is displaying on the sidelines of the grueling race in France. Rendered in 1/3 scale, the Lego version of the new Ford GT race car is on display for the next couple of days at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans alongside a similar model of the original Ford GT40. It was that first GT40 that cemented Ford's reputation at Le Mans by finishing 1-2-3 in 1966 in one of the most dramatic races ever. The Lego...
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Flat out at the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 956
As you get ready to spend a 24-hour chunk of your weekend watching a varied assortment of cars racing around a circuit in the middle of France, enjoy this video of a flying lap from more than three decades ago. The scene is the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans and doing the driving is racing legend Derek...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Watch the Audi R8 safety car drift at Le Mans
During a rainy practice session ahead of this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans, an Audi R8 safety car dramatically sped around the track but was caught on camera in the midst of an epic, apparently unintentional, drift. The R8 was said to be piloted by Yannick Dalmas, a four-time Le Mans champion, but...
Andrew Ganz -
Ford, Porsche secure pole for 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
This is the moment Blue Oval fans around the world have been waiting years for: Ford Motor Company’s [NYSE:F] imminent return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And the American automaker is off to a solid start for this weekend’s race, the highlight of the 2016 World Endurance Championship...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi's 24 Hours of Le Forza solves problem of peeing in a race suit
Blasting the Mulsanne Straight at 200 mph in an LMP1 car must be a hugely thrilling experience, on par with the first bite of candied bacon or wrestling a bear. I've only heard. Wetting yourself? That's not awesome. Anyone who's ever endurance raced will tell you that it's an...
Aaron Cole -
Ford of France celebrates 50th anniversary of Le Mans win with special editions
The latest Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] GT isn't quite ready for showrooms yet, so Ford of France is marking the 50th anniversary of the GT40's now-legendary 1-2-3 win at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans with a special edition package for the Fiesta ST, Focus ST, Focus RS and Mustang GT. Only 50 units...
Andrew Ganz