The world’s most prestigious endurance race is again, as drivers will deal with 24 hours of Circuit de la Sarthe for the subsequent spherical of the WEC marketing campaign.
Ferrari arrives as the defending winner having claimed its first Le Mans victory since 1964 at the centenary version of the race, which later received the 2023 Autosport Second of the Yr Award.
So, will the Italian producer repeat that success in 2024? Right here is how and when to watch this yr’s motion.
![](http://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0L1bREg2/s1000/race-winners-alessandro-pier-g-1.jpg)
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
When is the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours?
Date: Saturday 15 June – Sunday 16 June
Begin time: 3pm BST/4pm native time
The 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours begins on Saturday 15 June at 3pm in the United Kingdom and 4pm native time. Nonetheless, the race follows a full week of preparation as the Le Mans extravaganza begins on Friday 7 June with the first of two scrutineering classes, which occur in Place de la République – the metropolis’s important sq..
Town centre procession can also be staged on the similar weekend as scrutineering, the place 1000’s of followers collect to watch the drivers parade their automobiles by way of downtown Le Mans on a 1.3-mile loop. Then throughout the following week are 4 apply classes, qualifying and hyperpole to arrange the important occasion.
Date |
Session |
Session time |
Friday 7 June |
Scrutineering day one |
9am BST/10am native time |
Saturday 8 June |
Scrutineering day two |
9am BST/10am native time |
Saturday 8 June |
Metropolis centre procession |
2:30pm BST/3:30pm native time |
Wednesday 12 June |
Free Follow 1 |
1pm BST/2pm native time |
Wednesday 12 June |
Qualifying |
6pm BST/7pm native time |
Wednesday 12 June |
Free Follow 2 |
9pm BST/10pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Free Follow 3 |
2pm BST/3pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Hyperpole |
7pm BST/8pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Free Follow 4 |
9pm BST/10pm native time |
Saturday 15 June |
Race warm-up |
11am BST/12pm native time |
Saturday 15 June |
Race begin |
3pm BST/4pm native time |
Sunday 16 June |
Race ends |
3pm BST/4pm native time |
How to watch the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours
Eurosport holds the WEC broadcasting rights for the UK, continental Europe and Australia, which means it’s the place to watch this yr’s Le Mans 24 Hours. That does imply a subscription is required although and it may be bought by way of TNT Sports activities, who’re additionally owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
New prospects should purchase a bundle for £20 per 30 days that features all 4 TNT sport channels, Eurosport 1 and 2, in addition to stay streaming platform Discovery+. So, Le Mans can be watched by way of a cellular or pill system, in addition to a console.
Followers may watch the Le Mans 24 Hours by way of a race-specific bundle from WEC TV. For £15.31, it offers followers the probability to livestream each monitor session, view a stay leaderboard and real-time telemetry and relive previous Le Mans races.
Date |
Session |
Channel |
Protection from |
Wednesday 12 June |
Free apply 1 |
Eurosport 2 |
12:45pm BST/1:45pm native time |
Wednesday 12 June |
Qualifying |
Eurosport 2 |
5:45pm BST/6:45pm native time |
Wednesday 12 June |
Free apply 2 |
Eurosport 2 |
8:45pm BST/9:45pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Free apply 3 |
Eurosport 2 |
1:45pm BST/2:45pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Hyperpole |
Eurosport 2 |
6:45pm BST/7:45pm native time |
Thursday 13 June |
Free apply 4 |
Eurosport 2 |
8:45pm BST/9:45pm native time |
Saturday 15 June |
Race warm-up |
Eurosport 1 |
10:45am BST/11:45am native time |
Saturday 15 June |
Le Mans 24 Hours |
Eurosport 1 |
2pm BST/3pm native time |
Non-European viewers can watch the Le Mans 24 Hours by way of their native sports activities broadcasting platform whether or not it’s Max or MotorTrend TV in the United States, SuperSport for these in Sub-Saharan African or WEC TV which is obtainable worldwide.
![](http://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6zQdZ5aY/s1000/8-toyota-gazoo-racing-toyota-g-1.jpg)
Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Photos
The place to watch highlights of the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours
Highlights of the Le Mans 24 Hours might be watched by way of the official WEC or Eurosport platforms together with social media and their respective web sites. They have a tendency to add highlights quickly after every session is finished, whereas the official WEC YouTube channel additionally printed a full race replay three weeks after the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours had completed.
How does the Le Mans 24 Hours work?
Le Mans is WEC’s blue-riband occasion and kinds a part of the illustrious motorsport triple crown, which is awarded to a driver who wins the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans of their profession.
In 2024, the Le Mans grid will likely be cut up into three classes – hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 – the place groups should rotate their automobile between three drivers with no driver being behind the wheel for more than 14 hours in complete.
Though the festivities start the weekend prior to the race, drivers don’t formally take to the 8.467-mile monitor till the Wednesday earlier than with two apply classes and day considered one of qualifying. Qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours is cut up into two components, the place the first session lasts for 12 minutes and entails all automobiles making an attempt to set their finest lap round the circuit.
The eight quickest automobiles from the totally different classes then progress to hyperpole the following day. Hyperpole lasts for half-hour in complete, 10 minutes for every class, and determines the pole place winners plus the remainder of the prime eight beginning positions.
A fourth and remaining apply session follows this earlier than the important occasion which, since 1970, has not used its conventional beginning ritual the place drivers ran to their automobiles to start the race. As a substitute, whereas drivers nonetheless begin out lined up towards the pit wall, a security automobile leads them for a formation lap earlier than a rolling begin commences the 24-hour affair.
How many laps are there in the Le Mans 24 Hours?
There is no such thing as a set quantity of laps at the Le Mans 24 Hours given it’s a race towards the clock, however the winner’s remaining complete has been in the 380s for 4 of the final six editions. That is nonetheless a way off the report although, which stands at 397 laps set in 1971 (Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep in a Porsche 917KH Coupe) and 2010 (Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller in an Audi R15 TDI).
However Ferrari received the 2023 race after finishing simply 342 laps – the lowest since 2001 – due to a collection of stoppages and poor climate.
![](http://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6b7zJk30/s1000/the-ferrari-af-corse-team-cele-1.jpg)
Picture by: Andreas Beil
Who’re favourites for the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours?
Though the #51 Ferrari automobile – pushed by Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi – is the reigning Le Mans winner, 2024 has not been so form as the trio sit ninth in the championship with fourth in Spa-Francorchamps being their finest end result.
They need to have received in Imola although, the season’s second spherical, as #51 was main a Ferrari 1-2 after 4 of six hours however the group was too late in pitting its automobiles for moist tyres.
That dropped Ferrari out of competition and handed victory to the #7 Toyota – pushed by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries – which is considered one of three entrants to have received this yr.
The Porsche Penske of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, and the Workforce Jota Porsche of Callum Ilott and Will Stevens each have one win apiece, as properly. However it’s the former who holds the championship lead, as its run of solely prime two finishes locations the #6 Penske 22 factors above the Jota Porsche, which got here outdoors of the factors in Imola after second in Qatar.
So, one may argue that it’s seemingly a Porsche will win this yr’s Le Mans, which might be the German producer’s first victory there since 2017. However one can not low cost the reigning WEC champions Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, regardless of the Toyota trio mendacity eighth in the 2024 standings with fifth in Imola being their finest end result up to now.
Something can occur throughout the gruelling occasion, so it’s typically laborious to predict who will emerge victorious – particularly when Le Mans was the solely spherical that Toyota didn’t win in 2023.
And it’s one that might utterly change the championship image, as Le Mans provides the most factors – 50 for the winner – of any WEC race.
Elsewhere, a Porsche can also be main the LMGT3 standings the place Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm maintain virtually double the factors tally of these behind.
The Manthey Racing trio have 72 factors which means they’re already 35 forward of Workforce WRT (Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung) and Coronary heart of Racing (Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and (*24*)Alex Riberas) in joint-second.
This comes because of the #92 Porsche scoring a podium in every spherical up to now, together with victory in the Qatar season opener, whereas these in second failed to declare any factors at Spa. So, one other sturdy exhibiting in Le Mans, the season’s halfway-point, may go a good distance in serving to Bachler, Malykhin and Sturm to clinch the LMGT3 title.
It’s the first time that WEC has used a two-class construction, as the long-standing LMP2 was dropped for 2024 due to rising demand in the rejuvenated prime class which noticed the likes of Lamborghini, BMW and Alpine arrive for this yr.
Nonetheless, LMP2 is returning as a one-off for Le Mans the place it has 16 grid slots with all drivers utilizing an Oreca 07-Gibson.