Circuit de la Sarthe

For the French road bicycle racing stage race, see Circuit de la Sarthe (cycling).
"Hunaudières" redirects here. For the car, see Bentley Hunaudières.
Circuit des 24 Heures
Circuit de la Sarthe
Location Le Mans, Pays de la Loire, France
Coordinates 47°56′15.7″N 0°13′32.2″E / 47.937694°N 0.225611°E / 47.937694; 0.225611Coordinates: 47°56′15.7″N 0°13′32.2″E / 47.937694°N 0.225611°E / 47.937694; 0.225611
Owner Automobile Club de l'Ouest
Ville du Mans
Operator Automobile Club de l'Ouest
Opened 1923
Major events ACO / FIA WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
FIM MotoGP
French Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans Moto
Circuit de la Sarthe
Surface Tarmac
Length 13.629 km (8.469 mi)
Turns 38
Lap record 3:17.475 (André Lotterer, Audi Sport Team Joest, 2015, LMP1)
Bugatti Circuit
Surface Tarmac
Length 4.273 km (2.655 mi)
Turns 14
Lap record 1:32.879 (Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 2015)

The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans,[1] also known as Circuit de la Sarthe[2] (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Maine, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track also includes local roads that remain open to the public most of the year. The circuit, in its present configuration, is 13.629 kilometres (8.47 mi) long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world. Capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000.

Le Mans is a sportscar race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine and drivetrain components. However, the times spent reaching maximum speed also mean tremendous wear on the brakes and suspension as cars must slow from over 200 mph (320 km/h) to around 65 mph (100 km/h) for the sharp corner at the village of Mulsanne.

Track modifications

The track, which was a triangle from Le Mans down south to Mulsanne, northwest to Arnage, and back north to Le Mans, has undergone many modifications over the years, with CIRCUIT N° 15 being in use since 2014. Even with the modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is still known for being very fast; with average speeds in excess of 230 km/h (140 mph) being achieved by the prototypes.

In the 1920s, the cars drove from the present pits on Rue de Laigné straight into the city, and after a tight right-hander near the river Sarthe Pontlieue bridge (a hairpin permanently removed from the circuit in 1929), left the city again on the rather straight street now named Avenue Georges Durand after the race's founder. Then 17.261 kilometres (10.725 mi) long and unpaved, a bypass within the city shortened the track in 1929, but only in 1932 the city was bypassed when the section from the pits via the Dunlop Bridge and the Esses to Tertre Rouge was added. This classic configuration was 8.369 miles (13.469 km) long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy. Its frighteningly narrow pit straight was narrowed off to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider just for the pits. The pit straight was about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide (the pit straight was widened in 1956) and the race track and pits were not separated for another 15 years. The pit area was modified at a cost of 300 million francs, the signalling area was even moved to the exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track was resurfaced.

With cars getting ever faster in the 1960s, criticism rose, especially when several drivers were killed, often in the testing session in April. Since 1965, a smaller but permanent Bugatti Circuit was added which shares the pit lane facilities and the first corner (including the famous Dunlop bridge) with the longer version. For the 1968 race, the Ford chicane was added before the pits to slow down the cars. The circuit was fitted with Armco for the 1969 race. The Maison Blanche kink was prone to criticism, a number of nasty accidents happened at the very fast kink over the years, such as John Woolfe being killed there in his Porsche 917 in 1969 and three Ferrari 512s (including two works cars) were involved in a pile-up there in 1970, with the latter shunt sealing the very fast classic circuit's fate. The circuit was modified ten more times—in 1971 (a year where the prototypes were averaging over 240 km/h (150 mph), which was also the last year the classic circuit was used) Armco was added to the pit straight to separate the track from the pits, and in 1972, the last part of the race track was revamped considerably—with the quick Porsche curves bypassing Maison Blanche and part of the first straight and all of the second straight between the pits and Maison Blanche. One of the Porsche Curves was affectionately named "Maison Blanche" and a short straight with a slight kink and two chicanes before the pits named the Ford chicanes were all added.

The chicane at the Dunlop Bridge.

In 1979, due to the construction of a new public road, the profile of Tertre Rouge had to be changed. This redesign led to a faster double-apex corner as well as requiring the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge. In 1986, because of construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner, a new portion of track had to be built in order to avoid the roundabout. This created a right hand kink prior to Mulsanne corner. In 1987, a chicane was added to the very fast Dunlop curve where cars would go under the Dunlop bridge at 180 mph (290 km/h), now they would be slowed to 110 mph (180 km/h).

In 1990, two chicanes were added onto the Mulsanne Straight (explained in more detail below), and in 1994, the Dunlop chicane was tightened, in 2002, the run to the Esses was revamped because of a reconstruction of the Bugatti Circuit. The Le Mans circuit was changed between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses, with the straight now becoming a set of fast sweeping turns. This layout allowed for a better transition from the Le Mans circuit to the Bugatti circuit. This layout change would also require the track's infamous carnival to be relocated because the area it had once occupied became runoff. The carnival was relocated to the Porsche curves, and in 2006, the ACO redeveloped the area around the Dunlop Curve and Dunlop Chicane, moving the Dunlop Curve in tighter to create more run-off area, while also turning the Dunlop Chicane into a larger set of turns. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for the Bugatti Circuit. This second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge.

Following the fatal crash of Danish driver Allan Simonsen at the 2013 race at the exit of Tertre Rouge into D338, Tertre Rouge was re-profiled again. The radius will be moved in approximately 200m for safety reasons with new tyre barriers at the exit.[3]

Part of the Mulsanne Straight.

Le Mans was most famous for its 6 km (3.7 mi) long straight, called Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, a part of the route départementale (for the Sarthe département) D338 (formerly Route Nationale N138). As the Hunaudières leads to the village of Mulsanne, it is often called the Mulsanne Straight in English, even though the proper Route du Mulsanne is the one from or to Arnage.

After exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, cars would spend almost half of the lap at full throttle, before braking for Mulsanne Corner. The Porsche 917 long tail, used from 1969 to 1971, had reached 362 km/h (225 mph),.[4] After engine size was limited, the top speed dropped until powerful turbo engines were allowed, like in the 1978 Porsche 935 which was clocked at 367 km/h (228 mph).[5] Speeds on the straight by the Group C prototypes reached over 400 km/h (250 mph) during the late 1980s. At the beginning of the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Roger Dorchy driving for Welter Racing in a "Project 400" car, which sacrificed reliability for speed, was clocked by radar travelling at 405 kilometres per hour (252 mph)). Fatal high speed accidents in the 1980s happened to Jean-Louis Lafosse in 1981 and to Jo Gartner in 1986.

As the combination of high speed and high downforce caused tyre and engine failures, two roughly equally spaced chicanes were consequently added to the straight before the 1990 race to limit the achievable maximum speed.[6] The chicanes were added also because the FIA decreed it would no longer sanction a circuit which had a straight longer than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).,[7] which is roughly the length of the Döttinger Höhe straight at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The fastest qualifying lap average speed dropped only from 249.8 to 243.3 km/h (151 mph) in 1993, and it rose up to 249.2 km/h in 2015, not far from the all time best of 250 and 251 km/h set by the Porsche 917 and 956. Regarding the lap record in the race itself, 2015 saw the fastest ever, with the help of turbos and hybrid power.

Lap records

Years Record year Distance record Average race speed Lap record (in race) Driver – car Lap record (qualifying) Driver – car
Circuit N°1 – 17.262 km
1923–1928 1928 2,669.27 km
Bentley		 111.219 km/h (69 mph) 8:07 (127.604 km/h)
in 1928		 H.Birkin
Bentley
Circuit N°2 – 16.340 km
1929–1931 1931 3,017.654 km
Alfa Romeo		 125.735 km/h (78 mph) 6:48 (144.362 km/h)
in 1930		 H.Birkin
Bentley
Circuit N°3 – 13.492 km
1932–1955 1955 4,135.38 km
Jaguar D		 172.308 km/h (107 mph) 4:06.6 (196.963 km/h)
in 1955		 M.Hawthorn
Jaguar D
Circuit N°4 – 13.461 km
1956–1967 1967 5,232.90 km
Ford Mk IV		 218.038 km/h (135 mph) 3:23.6 (238.014 km/h)
in 1967		 M.Andretti & D.Hulme
Ford Mk IV		 3:24.04 (236.082 km/h)
in 1967		 B.McLaren
Ford Mk IV
Circuit N°5 – 13.469 km
1968–1971 1971 5,335.31 km
Porsche 917		 222.304 km/h (138 mph) 3:18.4 (244.397 km/h)
in 1971		 J.Oliver
Porsche 917		 3:13.9 (250.069 km/h)
in 1971 		P. Rodríguez
Porsche 917
Circuit N°6 – 13.640 km
1972–1978 1978 5,044.53 km
Alpine-Renault A442 B		 210.189 km/h (131 mph) 3:34.2 (229.244 km/h)
in 1978		 J.P.Jabouille
Alpine-Renault A443		 3:27.6 (236.531 km/h)
in 1978		 J.Ickx
Porsche 936
Circuit N°7 – 13.626 km
1979–1985 1985 5,088.51 km
Porsche 956		 212.021 km/h (132 mph) 3:25.1 (239.169 km/h)
in 1985		 J.Ickx
Porsche 962		 3:14.80 (251.815 km/h)
in 1985		 H.Stuck
Porsche 962
Circuit N°8 – 13.528 km
1986 1986 4,972.73 km
Porsche 962 C		 207.197 km/h (129 mph) 3:23.3 (239.551 km/h)
in 1986		 K.Ludwig
Porsche 956		 3:15.99 (243.486 km/h)
in 1986		 J.Mass
Porsche 962 C
Circuit N°9 – 13.535 km
1987–1989 1988 5,332.79 km
Jaguar XJR9		 221.665 km/h (138 mph) 3:21.27 (242.093 km/h)
in 1989		 A.Ferté
Jaguar XJR9		 3:15.04 (249.826 km/h)
in 1989		 J.L.Schlesser
Sauber Mercedes C9
Circuit N°10 – 13.600 km
1990–1996 1993 5,100.00 km
Peugeot 905		 213.358 km/h (133 mph) 3:27.47 (235.986 km/h)
in 1993		 E.Irvine
Toyota TS010		 3:21.209 (243.329 km/h)
in 1992		 Ph.Alliot
Peugeot 905
Circuit N°11 – 13.605 km
1997–2001 2000 5,007.98 km
Audi R8		 208.666 km/h (130 mph) 3:35.032 (227.771 km/h)
in 1999		 U.Katayama
Toyota GT-One		 3:29.930 (233.306 km/h)
in 1999		 M.Brundle
Toyota GT-One
Circuit N°12 – 13.650 km
2002–2005 2004 5,169.97 km
Audi R8		 215.415 km/h (134 mph) 3:33.483 (230.182 km/h)
in 2002		 T.Kristensen
Audi R8		 3:29.905 (234.106 km/h)
in 2002		 R.Capello
Audi R8
Circuit N°13 – 13.650 km
2006 2006 5,187.00 km
Audi R10 TDI		 215.409 km/h (134 mph) 3:31.211 (232.658 km/h)
in 2006		 T.Kristensen
Audi R10 TDI		 3:30.466 (233,482)
in 2006		 R.Capello
Audi R10 TDI
Circuit N°14 – 13.629 km
2007-2015 2010 5,410.71 km
Audi R15 TDI plus		 225.228 km/h (140 mph) 3:17.475 (248.459 km/h)
in 2015		 A.Lotterer
Audi R18 e-tron quattro		 3:16.887 (249.201 km/h)
in 2015		 N. Jani
Porsche 919 Hybrid

Bugatti Circuit

Bugatti Circuit is a permanent race track located within Circuit des 24 Heures, named after Ettore Bugatti. The circuit uses a part of the larger circuit and a separate, purpose-built section. The sections of track on the Bugatti Circuit that are on the Circuit des 24 Heures include the Ford Chicane at the end of the lap, the pit complex, and the straight where the Dunlop Tyres bridge is located. At this point in the overlapping section of the tracks there is a left right sweep that was added for motorcycle safety in 2002. Vehicles turning to the left continue onto the Circuit des 24 Heures, toward Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne, vehicles turning to the right at La Chapelle will continue the Bugatti Circuit. The infield section features Garage Vert, a back straight, the 'S' du Garage Bleu, and Raccordement, which joins back at the Ford chacane.

The track was home base for Pescarolo Sport, founded by famous French driver Henri Pescarolo. The circuit also hosts the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race, and a round of the MotoGP Championship. The circuit also holds French motor club races and in the past has hosted rounds of the International Formula 3000 Championship and DTM (German Touring Car series).

As well as motor racing it is the venue for the 24 rollers, a 24h race on inline skates or quads.

The Bugatti Circuit was used for the 1967 French Grand Prix, and is the current host of the French motorcycle Grand Prix. It also forms the final round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, and was part of the World Series by Renault and 1988 Superbike World Championship seasons.

Speed record

In 1988, Team WM Peugeot knew they had no chance of winning the 24-hour endurance race, but they also knew that their Welter Racing designed car had very good aerodynamics. Thus they nicknamed their 1988 entry "Project 400" (aiming to be the first car to achieve a speed of 400 km/h on the famous straight), although the official team entry was named WM Secateva. Roger Dorchy, Claude Haldi and Jean-Daniel Raulet would be the three drivers that year.

Three hours into the race the team decided to go for it. The plan worked: with Roger Dorchy behind the wheel the WM P87 achieved the speed of 405 km/h (253.125 mph).[8]

The Peugeot retired shortly after that (on lap 59) with an overheating engine. By then it had outlasted two other Group C1 entrants.

References

  1. ↑ Official rules for 2016 3.1.2 24 HEURES DU MANS ... La course se déroule les samedi 18 et dimanche 19 juin 2016 sur le circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. Longueur du circuit : 13,629 km
  2. ↑ "ACO Homepage 24 Heures". ACO. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  3. ↑ "24 Hours of Le Mans - ACO - Automobile Club de l'Ouest". 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Fuller 2010.
  5. ↑ Leffingwell, Randy (2005). Porsche 911: Perfection by Design. Motorbooks. p. 155.
  6. ↑ Speedhunters staff 2008.
  7. ↑ RC staff 2015.
  8. ↑ "Mulsanne's Corner: Maximum Speeds at Le Mans, 1961-1989". mulsannescorner.com. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
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