The Le Mans Classic usually runs only once every two years. But with the centenary edition of the 24-hour race held this year, it’s okay to make an exception, isn’t it? You bet it is.
If we’re being totally honest, the very first 24-hour race at Le Mans wasn’t all that spectacular. Two Chenard-Walckers and a Bignan 11CV Desmo Sport took the lead shortly after the start – and crossed the finish line in the same order. In that respect, the 2023 Le Mans Classic was a bit more exciting. After all, how often do you get to see a Porsche 917 – the same car that in 1970 gave Porsche its first overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – or a Ferrari 250 LM and an Alpine A442 all in the same place? Along with around eighty pre-war Bentleys? Throw in a 1950 Cadillac Monster and a 1968 gas turbine-powered Howmet, and it’s fair to say that it was an extraordinarily crazy event this year. Not to mention an extraordinarily successful one, attended by 235,000 spectators, along with 900 drivers and more than 800 race cars spanning the years from 1923 to 2010. Given the biennial rhythm of the event, the Le Mans Classic shouldn’t have taken place this year at all. In view of the centenary of the 24-hour race, however, the organizers decided to cut themselves some slack. Instead, the next Le Mans Classic will be held two years from now. No need to overdo it, after all.
Text by Wiebke Brauer
Photos by Matthias Mederer & ramp.pictures
ramp #62 Wild Things
Just heading along, the journey itself a wonderfully blank page that presents itself to us with a cheerful unpredictability, as an inspired playing field for trial and error, for curiosity and spontaneity, unexpected surprises and flights of fancy. Wild and untamed. Just like life itself. Find out more
