The 24 hour Le Mans race is a one of a kind spectacle in the world of motor-sports. It is the only 24 hour car race of its kind anywhere in the world and it is a test of resilience and automotive engineering excellence. The cars all have to complete a race circuit in a 24 hour time frame with a few pit stops allowed for general maintenance and repairs to the cars and the possibility of changing the driver. If anyone out there has gone on a long car journey before they know just how difficult it can be to keep driving for an extended period of time. The racers in the Le Mans race do it every year and keep doing it over and over again.
The race itself is gruelling and takes every inch of strength and composure that the driver can muster up over the course. The race is also a testament to the high level of engineering excellence that one can find in the cars in the race. A car these days is engineered to be driven for a very long time and most good quality cars can easily be driven for ten years without anything major happening to them. All they require is a tune up and service once in a while. But the difference in the cars in the Le Mans race is that they are being driven at their top speeds, flat out for a continuous period of 24 hours. If something is going to go wrong with the cars it will happen during this long and extended race. "Le Mans, in France, is famous for the 24-hour race, which is a favourite of many British car racing and classic car enthusiasts. Various classes of sports car compete in a battle of reliability, attrition, fuel efficiency and speed during one weekend a year in mid June (12-13 June 2010).
The race that took place was a very exciting one and the highlight of the race seemed to be the entrance of the famous British Formula 1 race car driver Nigel Mansell to the grid. He was taking part in the race this year along with his sons, but his campaign was cut short with a pretty horrific crash early on in the proceedings. This shows just how gruelling and problematic the 24 hour race can be, if a professional F1 driver like Mansell can crash and not be able to complete the race where does that leave the rest of the drivers in the field? Maybe he should have stuck to being retired. Crashes though are part of the race and they happen all the time in all formats of motor-sports. It is just the combination of speed and endurance that sometimes gets the better of the drivers and they lose control of their vehicles. The fact that they are usually pushing the cars to their limits and making them go as fast as they can also contributes to errors in judgment and leads to crashes.
There is a purpose to the Le Mans race that was envisioned when it started in 1923. It is more than just racing at top speeds for the longest time possible and winning the race. There is a definite tie in the world of ordinary cars that the average public drive. "Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines of the time, the 24 Hours Le Mans would instead concentrate on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars. This would drive innovation in not only reliable but also fuel-efficient vehicles, since the nature of endurance racing requires as little time to be spent in the pits as possible". The race then has nobler intentions than simply being a very cool and exciting sport. By pushing manufacturers to produce cars that can go for longer distances with less fuel they are helping the automotive engineering industry test new ideas that will help the dependence on foreign oil and come up with better engineered cars that can be used by the general public.
By also being a testing platform for car makers in addition to a very cool and interesting and unique race, Le Mans has cemented its place amongst the other strong racing formats in the world today and has been able to carve a distinctive niche for itself. The world of motor-sports is wide open these days with the innovations in racing and cars on show. Le Mans is set to continue this tradition for many years to come.
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