2024 LeMans tomorrow

[42Bfast]

The 92nd running of the 24 hours of LeMans starts at 9:00 am EDT Saturday!

Ford will have three Mustang GT3’s running in the GT class. The dark side will be represented by two Corvettes. The rest of the 23 car GT class is made up of Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, etc. The remainder of the roughly 60 car field will be Hypercars and LMP2 cars

TV coverage is on Motor Trend, and possibly other channels depending on where you live.

I’m not a big fan of “Professional” sports so this is my “Superbowl”. Twenty four hours of glorious internal combustion of various configurations all deployed in anger, rain or shine, day and night, for 3,000 miles, what could be better?

It’s like 12 Grand Prix races back-to-back!!!

[J R Jones]

Bfast, I agree.
Ernest Hemingway Quote: "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."

Staring grid, bottom to top:
https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-starting-grid-now-set-for-the-2024-24-hours-of-le-mans-58801

Confirmed Mustang drivers include Ryan Hardwick, Ben Baker, and Zacharie Robichon in the number 77 car; Giorgio Roda, Dennis Olsen, and Mikkel O. Pedersen in the no. 88 car, and Christopher Mies, John Hartshorne, and Ben Tuck in the no. 44 car.

Cadillac P2! Roger/Porsche seem like favorites to me.

jim

[john42]

I don't know much about the current LeMans but I would have thought Ford would be there with the Ford GT? Isn't that their racecar?!?

[J R Jones]

I don't know much about the current LeMans but I would have thought Ford would be there with the Ford GT? Isn't that their racecar?!?

john,
2016: The Ford GT won the GTE Pro Class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand, and Dirk Muller. The car featured a carbon-fiber body, direct fuel injection V-6 engine, and a look that recalled the original GT40.
That car, eight years old and not a hybrid, would not be compliant or competitive. Moreover while the 04-06 Ford GT auctions ~$500,000, the newer versions routinely bring $1,000,000 for owners, not Ford.
Those are halo cars not a profit center.

The (GT class) Mustang race car promotes a high volume production car. Methinks this about confronting competitors althought the Corvettes are not the factory team:
British team TF Sport will field two cars in the LMGT3 class, with Corvette factory drivers Juncadella and Eastwood competing in both the IMSA and WEC ranks. Eastwood will be paired with Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy in the No. 81 car, with Juncadella piloting the No. 82 with Hiroshi Koizumi and Sebastien Baud. America's sports car??
jim

[J R Jones]

Ferrari won overall, second year in a row followed by Toyota, Ferrari, Penski/Porsche, Toyota, Penski/Porsche, and Cadillac seventh.
In LMGT3 class it was Porsche 911, BMW M4 and the two Proton Mustangs. The top LMGT3 Corvette was 11th. Lamborghinis, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lexus in between.
jim

[F500guy]

Quite lengthy FCY, that amounted to seems about 4-5 hours between the 2 longest ones. That was a bit of a downer.