When will the 24 2023 Hours of Le Mans take place?
The 91st edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans marked by the centenary of the event born in 1923 will be held as usual over two days with a start Saturday, June 10 at 16:00 given by NBA superstar LeBron James and a finish Sunday at 16:00. Thursday will be devoted to the last free practice day and night with, between 20:00 and 20:30 the highly anticipated Hyperpole. 24 cars (eight Hypercars, eight LMP2 and eight LMGTEAam) have obtained their ticket to participate in the session which takes place on a more open track since 62 crews will participate in the event on Saturday. The two Peugeots failed to qualify for this final session reserved for the fastest cars in each category and which will make one of the crews the star of the start.
The program: Thursday 8 June
15h-18h: Free Practice 3 20h-20h30 : Hyperpole
22h-23h:
Free Practice 4
Saturday 10 June
12h-12h15 : Warm-Up
16h: Start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023
How to follow the event live?
La Chaîne L'Équipe is the broadcaster of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France and clear. It will broadcast the race live on Saturday, June 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 21 p.m. and from 22:55 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. On Sunday, June 11, the channel will broadcast for 5 hours until arrival.
Eurosport will broadcast Free Practice 1, 2, 3, 4, qualifying practice and the Hyperpole. The race will be broadcast on Saturday 10 June from 15pm to 17.30pm (on Eurosport 2), then from 17.30pm to 14.30pm on Sunday 11th June (on Eurosport 1) and from 14.30pm to 17pm (on Eurosport 2).
With two special envoys on site, Le Figaro will provide a live full text, followed by the race, photos, reactions so as not to miss anything of this centenary edition.
L'Équipe TV and Eurosport will broadcast the 2023 edition. Panoramic
What is at stake in the 2023 edition?
Centenary celebrations oblige, the 91st edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has brought together an exceptional field with the returns of big names in motorsport: Peugeot, Porsche, Ferrari, Cadillac in particular will try to steal the show from Toyota unbeaten in the Sarthe since 2018. The Japanese brand, which won the first three races of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), will start as the favorite to go for a sixth victory and become the equal of Bentley. A total of 16 cars are entered in the premier class.
The competition will be fierce but it still seems to lack experience, like a Scuderia Ferrari back in the Sarthe after half a century of absence. The Prancing Horse has shown excellent performance on one lap but has no certainty about the reliability of his two cars on two large clock towers. Ferrari has not won at Le Mans since 1965!
Porsche asserts itself as a formidable outsider with four crews entered. The giant of Stuttgart, record holder of victories (19) had left the discipline in 2017 on a triumph against Toyota.
The 2023 edition of Le Mans will also have the American accent since Cadillac will enter three cars and the Glickenhaus team, already present in 2022, two. Finally, the public will necessarily follow with great attention the two Peugeot 9X8, struggling in the World Endurance Championship since the beginning of the season.
The crews of the Hypercar category:
2. Earl Bamber - Alex Lynn - Richard Westbrook (NZL-GBR-GBR/Cadillac V-Series.R)
3. Sébastien Bourdais - Renger Van Der Zande - Scott Dixon (FRA-NED-NZL/Cadillac V-Series.R)
5. Dane Cameron - Michael Christensen - Frédéric Makowiecki (USA-DEN-FRA/Porsche 963)
6. Kévin Estre - André Lotterer - Laurens Vanthoor (FRA-GER-BEL/Porsche 963
7. Mike Conway - Kamui Kobayashi - José Maria Lopez (GBR-JAP-ARG/Toyota GR010 - Hybrid)
8. Sébastien Buemi - Ryo Hirakawa - Brendon Hartley (SUI-JAP-NZL/Toyota GR010 - Hybrid)
38. Antonio Felix Da Costa - William Stevens - Yifei Ye (POR-GBR-CHN/Porsche 963 for Hertz Team Jota)
50. Antonio Fuoco - Miguel Molina - Nicklas Nielsen (ITA-ESP-DEN/Ferrari 499P)
51. Alessandro Pier Guidi - James Calado - Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA-GBR-ITA/Ferrari 499P)
75. Felipe Nasr - Mathieu Jaminet - Nicholas Tandy (BRA-FRA-GBR/Porsche 963)
93. Paul Di Resta - Mikkel Jensen - Jean-Eric Vergne (GBR-DEN-FRA/Peugeot 9X8)
94. Loic Duval - Gustavo Menezes - Nico Müller (FRA-USA-SUI/Peugeot 9X8)
311. Luis Felipe Derani - Alexander Sims - Jack Aitken (BRA-GBR-GBR/Cadillac V-Series.R for Action Express Racing Team, invited to the event)
Non-hybrid prototypes:
4. Tom Dillmann - Esteban Guerrieri - Tristan Vautier (FRA-ARG-FRA/Vanwall Vandervell 680)
708. Romain Dumas - Olivier Pla - Ryan Briscoe (FRA-FRA-USA/Glickenhaus 007)
709. Franck Mailleux - Nathanaël Berthon - Esteban Gutierrez (FRA-FRA-MEX/Glickenhaus 007)
Find the list of entries of the 24 Hours of Le Mans by following this link
Record holder of victories at Le Mans (19), Porsche is also back in the premier category. Paulo Maria / PANORAMIC
How are the three categories divided?
One of the particularities of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is to offer a field composed of several categories with cars with very different performances from each other.
-16 cars will make up the premier category called Hypercar. A group that divides itself into two subcategories: LMH (Le Mans Hypercar with manufacturers who have chosen to design from A to Z and freely the chassis and engine with such as Peugeot, Ferrari or Toyota) and LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h), the preferred option by Porsche or Cadillac with a framed design and a much more restricted technical regulations. Brands that have chosen this route must use one of the four approved chassis (Mutlimatic, Oreca, Ligier and Dallara). Two ways of approaching the competition but in the end, the Fédération Internationale Automobile and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest ensure a balance of performance. On paper, everyone has a chance to go for victory. These closed-bodied cars (with crews of professional drivers) exceed 340 km/h in top speed in the Hunaudières straight.
-Just below in terms of performance, we find the LMP2 category, closed-body prototypes. The 24 cars at the start, eight of which combine professional and amateur drivers, are all equipped with the same Gibson-supplied engine and an Oreca chassis and run on the same tyres. With all participants having the same equipment, many candidates will claim victory. The art of settings will make the difference.
The crew of the Oreca-Gibson n°48 of Idec Sport. Paulo Maria / PANORAMIC
-Finally, we find the LMGTE Am category featuring improved production cars. 21 crews will be at the start at the wheel of Porsche 911, Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, Corvette C8. R or Aston Martin. These cars are much slower than the two previous classes.
A Chevrolet Corvette will be at the start of the event. FLORENT GOODEN / PANORAMIC
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