Re-live the best of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, just outside the town of Le Mans in Pays de la Loire, France. It is a mix of permanent race track and public roads adapted specifically for the milestone event. The 8.4 mile / 13.6 kilometre circuit takes in part of the Bugatti Circuit - also used for other race series, including MotoGP - before setting off on roads usually taken at somewhat slower speeds. It forms a triangle from the Bugatti Circuit up along the Mulsanne Straight to the village of the same name before heading south to Arnage and then returning to the circuit itself.

There are three classes of cars competing at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans: Hypercar, the top tier; LMP2, which makes a special return to the World Endurance Championship for this round only; and LMGT3, which replaced the LMGTE class beginning this season. The Porsche Penske Motorsport team will field three Porsche 963s, with customer racing teams Hertz Team JOTA fielding a further two and Proton Competition with one. Manthey Racing will run two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in the LMGT3 class. See the Porsche car line up at the 75th anniversary of Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023.

This year’s race will feature a capacity grid of 62 cars across three classes, with seven reserve cars. There are 23 Hypercar entries - the 19 full-season cars which take part in the WEC and four additional entries. The LMP2 class will be represented by 16 entries, including three Pro/Am entries. There will be 23 LMGT3 entries on the grid, increased from the 18 full-season WEC entries and spread across nine manufacturers.

The enduring relationship between Porsche and the 24 Hours of Le Mans began in 1951, with representation at every race since then. Porsche is the only marque to have competed for 65 years without a break and, at that time, has cultivated a raft of records. Its first maiden class podium came in 1951, before its maiden overall podium in 1958. Porsche turned its fastest qualifying lap for the first time 10 years later before its first victory came in 1970.

Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 19 times - the most of any manufacturer. It started with its very first overall win in 1970, with Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood taking victory in a 917 short tail. After going strong in Group 4, 5, and 6 racing in the 1970s, Porsche moved on to dominate the following decade, taking the most consecutive wins of any marque with seven victories in a row from 1981 to 1987. Though Porsche did not challenge for overall wins between 1998 and 2014, it returned to take three-in-a-row from 2015 to 2017 in the returning LMP1 class. After focusing on the GT class, Porsche returned to the top-tier in 2023 and will fight for its milestone 20th overall victory in 2024.