Every year in June, the 24 Hours of Le Mans rekindles the passion of motorsport aficionados. "This is the most beautiful race in the World Endurance Championship," explains Jean Todt, former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, while journalist Gérard Holtz evokes "one of the most beautiful sporting spectacles that can exist". Created on May 26, 1923, the event celebrates its 100th edition this year (June 10 and 11). The director Karim Ben Mahmoud takes advantage of this anniversary to propose the documentary 24Hours of LeMans. Enter the legend!, which traces the incredible history of this race.
Time corridor
From the outset, this 90-minute co-production between Troisième Œil Productions and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest invites viewers to take a deep corridor of time to get behind the wheel of old-fashioned cars. Everyone is then surprised to dream in front of the bodies of the 33 single-seaters that took the start of the first edition. The somewhat jerky black and white images retained all their magic.
Over the years, Le Mans has become an extraordinary technological and human challenge. An incredible race that alternates day, night, good weather, rain, cold ... Designed in the Sarthe bocage by taking sections of departmental roads, the circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans offers an iconic setting, inscribed in the collective memory. 300,000 spectators around the track and nearly 110 million television viewers worldwide follow the race. "On Sunday morning, fans can attend mass in the heart of the circuit," says one of them in front of the camera.
Hair-raising
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My god! The turbo accelerates badly," smiled Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner, when he recalled his first success on a Porsche with a turbocharged engine in 1976. The images become almost surreal when they show a few years later cars flying towards the sky at more than 300 km / h at the end of the straight line of Hunaudières. The crashes do not forget the exploits of French drivers Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo.
The human adventure is the common thread of this hair-raising documentary. "The 24Hours of LeMans is the toughest race I've raced in my career...", concludes Denmark's Tom Kristensen, who has written his name on the list nine times between 1997 and 2013. A record to beat on this mythical event