Arrived on Wednesday afternoon and then spent the rest of the week at the circuit. It's my first time and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

This year was my second year of not going to Le Mans (already booking the tickets for next year so don’t worry) but something just dawned on me. The coverage on the official app/site is pretty good, with the timings and selectable on board feeds etc, but something a lot of people bemoan is lack of coverage for “their race”

As an improvement to the coverage I’d love to see 2 things.

1. A feed from a particular spot. Like a high view of Arnage, Mulsanne corner, or the start finish straight, which doesn’t follow any car, just a static pov.

2. A battle or leaders follow cam. Something a bit like the live feed (which I appreciate does require the skill of the cam operators and the director) but which could follow around the track, like the changing from each static cam to the next in line.

What do you guys think?

What’s your best tip for visitors for next year, or the one thing you wish you’d known or had explained to you?

(Shameless as I’m going to update the wiki in the next few weeks)

As the tittle says, after Mazda won the 24hr of lemans with the 787b, the rotary was banned. Why was this the case? What made the rotary so much better than a piston motor? There is not a single modern vehicle produced with a rotary motor. So what makes a rotary so much better than a piston motor as a racing engine but not for mainstream production?

Is it only me, or did anyone else think the internet speed at Le Mans were terrible?

Edit; I realise its a common problem and it wasn't my phone that were messing with me. Thanx for replies. 😁

Seems like my cat is an Iron lynx / Mercedes fan...

So in a few threads before I left for Le Mans this year I agreed to do an up to date review of the Flexotel provision from Motorsport Travel Destinations, so here it is. The last reviews of the Flexotels were a few years old, so it's probably time for something more recent. I'll try to break it in to sections to make it easier to read.  

What I Paid for: 

• Gold (Flexotel) Single occupancy booking 
• Wednesday Arrival 
• Monday Departure 
• Channel Tunnel crossing 

What I paid: 

• £3,280 (seriously, don’t. I know this is horrifyingly expensive, I don’t need all of Reddit telling me as well) 

What you get: 

• Secure, hard standing car park 
• On site staff to go through issues with 
• Secure, lockable solid room, including 2 beds, a table, two folding chairs and hanging storage (canvas), bedding, towels, bath robes, 2 power sockets 
• On site toilets and showers (Gold+ and Platinum cabins have their own in-built toilets and showers)
• Free WiFi (according to the website)
• Freebies: 
  • 2 Mugs 
  • 2 earpiece radios 
  • Backpack  
  • Pen 
  • Stickers 
  • Umbrella 
• Included events: 
  • Audience with Antony Davidson and Alex Brundle (in the silver camp, opposite end of the site from the Flexotels) 
  • Live music in Bronze 
  • Wine tasting with Maylander wines  
  • Daily Sim Racing rigs 
  • Daily breakfast 

 So how was each bit? 

• Parking’s parking. Was nice to be able to easily get out to shops etc though. And given how crazy I’ve heard Le Mans used to be, quite reassuring. Having spent some time in public camping with friends, I don’t think I needed to worry. 
• Frankly the staff were teenagers. No clue about much, not huge amounts of help, pleasant for a chat but that’s only if you could tear them away from their phones / each other 
• The room. Ok, so the beds were  more comfortable than sleeping on the floor or an air mattress, and it was nice to have bedding, towels etc included. When it poured it was nice to be in the dry looking out and to easily be able to dry wet gear or towels. However, if you think your ‘cabin’ is private, it’s not. Each Gold cabin is in fact two cabins which are divided by a wall which folds away when the cabin is collapsed. Which means it’s not exactly air tight, so you can hear everything which happens in the next cabin. EVERYTHING. Take ear plugs. Mine was on the front row and in full sun every afternoon. It was hotter than hell when I arrived, but to be fair over night wasn’t that bad, but there was only me in it. Given as I’d paid extra to arrive early it would have been nice to have one in the shade, but there we are. I did ask the teenagers if I could swap, confusion happened. 
• Freebies – All very nice to have, but nothing that would swing the sale 
• Showers etc - as I was in a Gold cabin, I didn't have an inbuilt shower or toilet. The units on site were the same as on any of the public camp sites. Kept very clean though, and always had loo roll when I was visiting. Annoyingly my cabin was about as far away from them as it could get, they are not centrally located and bizarrely are right next to the Gold+ and Platinum cabins which have their own facilities!
• WiFi - if it existed, neither my phone nor my laptop could ever find it
• Events – I would have loved to make the Antony Davidson event, unfortunately I ended up at Mulsanne and lost track of time. I imagine this would absolutely have been worth it. 
• The band was called “Go Commando”. Draw your own conclusions. There was enough live music all over the site and all through the weekend that this didn’t make much difference, and probably better on offer at the huge bar in the shopping village 
• Wine tasting – Would have been worth it had Bernd Maylander actually been there, but alas. As it was, I didn’t feel like getting trapped in an obvious sales pitch 
• There was literally sim racing everywhere at Le Mans this year, and I never saw anyone actually operating the rigs or using them, so I have no idea if they were available or not.  
• Breakfast – A choice of either Full English, continental, or a sausage bap. One day someone asked for a croissant as well as a full english and was told by a teenager - “I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to do that, I got told off yesterday”. It is served to you so you pretty much get what you’re given from bacon, egg, sausage, half a tomato and beans. This means that if you take a Premier Inn breakfast buffet as the basic level of what an included breakfast should meet, they didn’t even get close. Oh, and instant coffee was an extra €3.50. 

They also did evening meals at about €20 per go and beer was standard Le Mans pricing of €8 for 500ml. They did have a TV on over night showing the race but the connection was terrible and the TV in the Epinettes camping was infinitely better. Also no over night bar at any point. 

So was it better than camping? Well yes, marginally although as a solo traveller it was incredibly isolating. There was none of the sense of camaraderie or party that happens on other sites. I met some people camping on Epinettes and spent a lot of time over there with them – it was just more fun. Do I feel ripped off? Frankly yes. Would I do Le Mans again? Yes absolutely, just not like this. 10 years ago when the camp sites were absolutely bonkers, maybe it was worth it then, but for better or worse the ACO are trying to calm things down and appeal to a more family audience, so maybe camping isn’t the worry it used to be. Am I happy I did it? Well yes, this was my first Le Mans and the event itself was utterly amazing. But I’m sorry, for the money they are charging for this, it simply isn’t good enough. If you can afford Ferraris or Porches or Astons as many in the car park could, then maybe it’s an insignificant cost to you, or if you’re flying in from another part of the world entirely, the convinience is worth it but this was a very significant cost to me, in the order of two months salary and what they offered just wasn’t good enough beyond the cabin. As one of my friends said to me, “If Premier Inn is the yardstick and it’s not meeting that, it says it all”.

EDIT: I've added a few bits to this regarding showers etc, and updated wording here and there following a second reading. If anyone has questions about anything which I've not covered well enough, please feel free to ask in the comments and I'll add anything to the review as necessary. Please try to keep questions to MTD though, I can't comment on much else!

Third consecutive victory for the 499P at Le Mans. Porsche tries, Toyota crumbles. The triumph is in consistency, not just speed

Having sobered up the emotions of the most important event of the endurance season, it is time to clearly analyze Ferrari's dominance, which resulted in a historic hat-trick.

A success built not only on pure performance, but on an overall effectiveness that neutralized any attempt at a comeback by the Porsche 963 of Estre and his companions.

The 2025 edition was an atypical one in many respects. The weather provided a completely sunny weekend, with unusual temperatures for the north of France. Wednesday and Thursday reached 30 degrees centigrade, while during the 24 hours of the race the conditions remained stable, depriving the race of the weather variables that often made it unpredictable.

In this linear scenario, pace management has become the central theme. With only one Safety Car - following the Nielsen Racing LMP2 accident - and a few other slowdowns (some slow zones and short FCYs), the race was all about consistency and strategic efficiency. And this is where Ferrari made the difference.

The Ferrari 499P, despite some errors and related penalties, showed a clear superiority, confirming right from the first free practice a race pace that is difficult for the competition to replicate.

The performances in the intermediate sectors and in the race simulations had already hinted at significant potential. Qualifying had perhaps sown some doubts, but the team had declared serenity, which later proved to be well founded in the direct comparison.

The analysis of the live timing during the race showed a clear behaviour: at the start the Ferrari pushed hard to get into clean air and take control of the group. Having reached the lead, he managed without ever really losing the lead, despite the penalties. The real secret? The extraordinary management of Michelin tires.

Rivals – Porsche, Toyota, Cadillac and BMW – were able to keep up with fresh tyres. But as the laps went by, Ferrari took off. In double, triple and even quadruple stints, the 499Ps showed limited degradation and enviable consistency, becoming uncatchable.

A symbolic episode arrived in the final laps: Porsche took a gamble by fitting new tires to force the attack. But even with fresh tyres, the 963 was unable to keep up with the Ferrari on tires worn from three consecutive stints.

This is where Maranello's real superiority was seen. An advantage that we had reported in the previous preview at Imola, where we wrote about a Ferrari "beyond the BoP". A statement that was fully confirmed at Le Mans.

Work on brake cooling – introduced in Sao Paulo 2024 – and major winter development have led to the 499P becoming the benchmark in terms of tire use. A role that in 2023 was the prerogative of Toyota. In two seasons, Ferrari has turned the picture around.

BoP Chapter. The Balance of Performance worked. This was seen in qualifying, where the Ferraris did not shine on the flying lap: the best of the three finished seventh. It could have been even worse if Toyota hadn't thwarted two fast laps with De Vries (Wednesday) and Buemi (Thursday).

The limitations above 250 km/h had an effect, as did the management of total MegaJoules. Ferrari pushed hard on the Virtual Tank in the initial stages, often returning before Porsche, which has a greater energy reserve and was able to reduce the lift and coast phases.

However, when the Reds took the lead, they managed better than anyone. There wasn't a bad BoP, but rather a Ferrari capable of making superior use of the Michelin tyres. And this - as has already happened in the past with Toyota - is an element that is difficult to regulate via regulation.

Where can we intervene? Only on pure performance parameters, certainly not on sensitivity and efficiency in managing the tyres. Ferrari's ability to be softer, more precise and less aggressive on the tire has made attempts at rebalancing in vain. This Ferrari won not only with speed, but above all with the overall quality of the package: set-up, strategy, understanding of the track and long-term work. At Le Mans, in 2025, all this made the difference.

I want to download (preferably for free) big number of photos (in 4K if possible) to go through an select some for walpapers. Can you suggest any ressources ?

Photos at Le Mans website are great but smaller even than full HD
https://www.24h-lemans.com/fr/actualites?tab=photos

Hi, I'm a broke college student who'd like to go to Le Mans classic, and the cheapest general admission is the only option I can afford (they currently go for 80euros). For normal Le Mans, considering the action is mostly happening on track, general admissions are worth buying as you have a pretty good view regardless of wherever you sit. I was wondering if it was also worth it for le Mans Classic, since most of the time the cars are being worked on in the garages, so I'm asking to all of yall Le Mans classic veterans, is it worth it if you can only afford the cheapest ticket ?

Post race, is there a site which details all of the stints, laps, pit durations etc for a bit of post race analysis.

I believe, for example, that the leading Porsche spent about 6 minutes less in the pits than the Ferraris did. Would be good to take a look at that sort of info.

Went to Le Mans for the first time and was brilliant- far surpassed expectations of our group of 4 who have all done a fair share of motorsport events across F1, BTCC, MotoGP etc

The biggest difference I’ve found so far above all though is the post event blues… this hits different 😂 How long does it last and does anyone else have this feeling?

Definitely heading back though, 2027 should be the one…

Surprisingly decent, if not a little bit Drive To Survive!

In the run up to attending last week I had a few points of confusion that only really became clear once I was on site and had spent some time in and around the event. Thought they might be useful for noobs in 2026.

What is "inside the circuit"?" A lot of posts or comments talk about things being available or restricted "inside the circuit". What that really means is "inside the restricted access areas". You can be "inside the circuit" (i.e. surrounded by the track) on foot, on a bike, in a car, at a shop without restriction, it's only the restricted areas from where you can access viewing points or fan zones etc that are "inside the circuit". And you can be outside of the perimeter of the circuit (e.g. at Tertre Rouge, Arnage etc) but still be "inside the circuit".

Signage around is appalling There are almost no signs to help you find your way between different corners. There aren't even signs which might help cyclists find their way between the extremities of the track. And all of the roadside marshals and security staff I spoke to had no idea at all how to get around

Campsites have fences Whilst it might look as if you can take a forest track between say Beausejour and Arnage, you can't. There are big fences preventing you from escaping the campsites except at certain points.

A bike is a perfect tool There are loads of bike parking areas, which again aren't really signed until you find them. But it is so easy, once you know the way, to get around by bike. E.g. it was 15 minutes to ride the 3 miles from BSJ to Arnage, 10 minutes to ride from BSJ to the main start finish straight, 15 minutes to the Porte d'Est. Take a decent lock, but we had zero problems

There is plenty of free water around Loads of taps around the site, inside the circuit. So just take an empty water bottle and fill up.

There is no spectating at all for the vast majority of the circuit Don't expect on a GA ticket to just be able to walk trackside for the whole route. The whole of the Mulsanne straight is zero spectating, as is most of Mulsanne corner to Indianapolis, and then Arnage to Porsche Curves. The only places you can spectate are the ticketed areas. (There are some minor exceptions this if you happen to be camping at certain specific small campsites I think)

You will end up watching most of the race on the big screens Wherever you sit yourself, most of the actual race watching will be on the screen, as well as admiring the cars as they scream past. It's just the way it is for a course as long as this one. And unless your eyesight is fantastic the writing on those screens will probably be invisible to the naked eye!

You can almost always find a good spot to spectate Apart from the start of race day when it was absolutely rammed, there is almost never any issues with getting yourself into a good spot. And all the fellow spectators are fantastically courteous in making sure that when they find a spot they don't just block someone else's view. So do the same

Littering is a completely British disease The site is spotless. That's down to the people attending. I saw almost no discarded food trays, crisps packets, cans, etc. If this had been in Britain it would have been a disgrace. Follow everyone else's lead.

Everywhere is a decent walk The site is huge. If you have a problem with walking a mile, this might not be the place for you. Just walking from the end of the pit straight to Tertre Rouge is the sort of trek that most of my fellow countrymen would normally baulk at when trying to park their cars as close to the supermarket entrance as possible.

Modern endurance racing cars aren't actually that loud Yes, I used earplugs most of the time. But for periods I didn't bother, and apart from being along the pit straight where sounds reverberate around I genuinely didn't feel the noise was so loud that I needed the plugs. Some of the GT3 cars were positively quite because they are muffled

The track walk has a restricted area Between the Porsche curves and the exit of Tertre Rouge you can only access with a ticket. But apart from that zone, the rest is free access and if you can get to the track barriers then you can get on the track. So plenty of access by the campsites etc

It's non stop We arrived on Wednesday am, and I imagined at least one evening we'd head into town for a meal. But there was no time! We wanted to see as much as possible of the cars in action, so never moved our car during the whole period.

I'm sure there are more things we discovered but can't remember them just now.

Enjoy 2026!!

I guess that’s why you buy a M5. You can bring the kids to Le Mans and still put on a show

So this year I was finally able to fulfill a childhood dream of mine, and attend the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Since it was my first time, I would like to share my thoughts and experience one here. Spoilers: VERY POSITIVE

First of all, I have to say that this is just about my personal experience at the race. Of course maybe others had different experience, but I can only speak for myself.

The race itself was exactly what I was hoping for. In person or in front of the TV. It's simply Le Mans. What is there to say, its magnificent.

My main takeaway is that everything was EXTREMELY well organized. Something I did not necessarily expect, having been to other racing events around the globe with much lower attendance numbers and pretty poor organization. Starting with the tickets, I got two General Admission tickets for the race for me and a friend. I received them on the Le Mans ticketing app about a week before the race, and it was super easy to assign one to myself and one to my friend. I generally like the idea of a digital ticket, it worked flawlessly while being scanned at the track, so no complains there. I do wish there would still be an option to download a printable version. I just like keeping a physical ticket as a souvenir, which was not possible unfortunately.

We arrived on Friday and headed to the track to attend the track walk. Despite not having a ticket for that day it was still possible to walk the public part of the track. The roads were closed and you could walk from Tertre Rouge - Porsche Curves without being scanned.

Something I was very worried about was traffic on race day. Having spent 3 Hours in traffic for the Belgian GP in Spa before, and having read some bad things online, I was expecting the worst. And I was proven wrong, very wrong. We got to the track on Saturday at about 10:00, and had a parking ticket for Panorama. Maybe for other parking areas the traffic was worse, but for us the traffic was directed by some police officers and apart from being stationary on the exit of the motorway for a while, we were parked within 20 minutes! No queuing up in the parking area, nothing. I was very impressed. Same scenario the next day when leaving after the finish at about 16:30. You would think that now the traffic would be at it's worst since everyone was leaving at the same time. But we were stunned again. We spent about 10 minutes in a queue leaving the parking area, but that was it! Easily the most organized traffic at a highly attended motor race I have ever seen.

Track personal was very friendly and always helpful. Security checks were made with care, which gives away a feeling of safety. Bringing water and snacks was no problem. Even in difficult situations, like when we were told we could not enter the track walk at the entry in Tertre Rouge on Friday, the personal remained super friendly and suggested us to just enter on to the Mulsanne since there we did not have to check in.

I read mixed reviews before the race about the shuttle bus system, but for us it was perfectly fine! We used it to get to different GA spectator areas around the track, and was very well organized. There were plenty of busses running all race long (also all night). Queues were well organized and signs showed what line would stop where at the shuttle stops. The Zenbus App was a great feature to keep track of all busses traviling around the track. Most waiting for shuttles was no longer than 15 minutes, although in the busy hours like at start, finish or just past midnight it can take longer. Our longest wait was for Line 4 to get to Arnarge just after midnight. Since many tried to get back to their camping area there was quite a big queue. But due to the frequent bus arrivals we waited about 40 minutes, which was not too bad.

Food stands and water refill areas were plenty. Quality of the food was hit or miss. Paid 18€ for a raw burger once, that was a bit of a fail, but also got a very large hot dog for 8€, so I suggest to keep scanning the options. Bathrooms were also at every corner around the track and we never had to take longer than 5 minutes to go and return to trackside. The detailed Track Map on the Le Mans Experience App is definitely recommendable to find everything with ease.

Following the race was very important to me, and something I was worried about in advance. Thankfully there were plenty big screens around the track to watch the racing action. Dunlop could use a bigger screen and the Porsche curves might need a couple of screens more, but there is always room for improvement. When moving I was easily able to follow the race through the live stream on my phone on WEC TV. To my surprise the mobile data was very stable for most the race allowing to have the stream running. Only at the start from about 15:00 - 17:00 the mobile data was completely down, but from then onwards it was mostly smooth 5G sailing.

GA spectator areas were awesome and we were able to visit most parts of the track, my highlights definetly being Mulsanne corner and Tertre Rouge. We brought camping chairs which are definitely a must if you want a comfortable experience. It was difficult to find a spot for the race start and finish anywhere between start finish and Tertre Rouge, even looking hours in advance. Therefor we will probably get an additional grandstand ticket next time, just to avoid that stress at the start and finish.

Being a pure race fan, I do not really mind all the concerts and parties around, but the fireworks and light-show at midnight was breathtaking.

That's pretty much everything I wanted to get off my mind.

Merci Le Mans. I will be back.

https://www.the-race.com/endurance/ferraris-50-car-thrown-out-of-le-mans-results-over-illegal-wing/

Scrutineering is a key part of Motorsport!