Le Mans 100 A Century at the World's Greatest Endurance Race

by Smale, Glen; Kristensen, Tom

• ISBN13: 9780760376171
• ISBN10: 0760376174
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2023-07-18
• Publisher: Motorbooks

Summary

Marvel at 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the official illustrated history packed with photography, narrative, and race results.

Held on the Circuit de la Sarthe comprising closed public roads and dedicated racecourse, Le Mans features cars and two-driver teams that can cover more than 3,000 miles during the race. Le Mans 100 is a thorough year-by-year history showcasing all aspects of the grueling contest, including:
 

• A slew of legendary marques and models, including Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Corvette, Cobra, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, BMW, McLaren, and more
• A who’s-who of motorsport legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Ken Miles, Jackie Ickx, Derek Bell, and Tom Kristensen (among dozens others)
• All the classes that ran in each year’s event, including the top LMP1 and LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype) categories and GT (grand tourer) 
• A list of each year’s top three overall finishers

In addition, author and award-winning Le Mans historian Glen Smale details touchstone events such as the late-1960s battles between Ford and Ferrari popularized in the film Ford vs Ferrari, and the 1955 tragedy that claimed the lives of more than 80 spectators.

The oldest active endurance race is intended to showcase mechanical reliability as much as driver skill and fortitude. This beautifully designed and extensively illustrated book celebrates those attributes, chronicling the exploits of both factory-sponsored cars and privateer entries, from the early open-cockpit racers right through to today’s hybrid era.

Compiled by a meticulous author with a passion for motorsport, Le Mans 100 is the ultimate chronicle of a marquee race.

Author Biography

Glen Smale is a lifelong motorsport enthusiast who has has covered the Le Mans 24 Hour race numerous times and authored 14 books on sports cars and motor racing, including Porsche at Le Mans: 70 Years. His 2012 book, Porsche at Le Mans: 60 Years of Porsche Participation in the World’s Greatest Motor Race, was shortlisted in the British Sports Book Awards. He lives in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Born in 1967 in Hobro, Denmark, Tom Kristensen is the most successful racer of sports cars there has ever been, with record tallies of victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours (nine) and the Sebring 12 Hours (six). He wrote this book in collaboration with Lars Krone.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
1 The 1920s First Steps
2 The 1930s Building a Solid Foundation
3 1949 & 1950s New Beginnings
4 The 1960s Let the Good Times Roll
5 The 1970s Forced Induction
6 The 1980s Zuffenhausen Rules
7 The 1990s Going Where . . . ?
8 The 2000s Diesel Power Rules
9 The 2010s & Early 2020s Winds of Change
List of Abbreviations
Bibliography
About the Author
Index