Circuit des 24 Heures
| Circuit de la Sarthe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Le Mans, Pays de la Loire, France |
| Coordinates | 47°56′15.7″N 0°13′32.2″E / 47.937694°N 0.225611°ECoordinates: 47°56′15.7″N 0°13′32.2″E / 47.937694°N 0.225611°E |
| Owner |
Automobile Club de l'Ouest Ville du Mans |
| Operator | Automobile Club de l'Ouest |
| Opened | 1923 |
| Major events |
ACO / FIA WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans MotoGP French Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans Moto |
| Circuit de la Sarthe | |
| Surface | Tarmac |
| Length | 13.629 km (8.469 mi) |
| Turns | 38 |
| Lap record | 3:17.475 (André Lotterer, Audi Sport Team Joest, 2015, LMP1) |
| Bugatti Circuit | |
| Surface | Tarmac |
| Length | 4.273 km (2.655 mi) |
| Turns | 14 |
| Lap record | 1:32.879 (Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 2015) |
| Website | www |
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Maine, France, is a semi-permanent race course chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. Comprising private, race-specific sections of track in addition to public roads which remain accessible most of the year, its present configuration is 13.629 kilometres (8.469 mi) long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world. Capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. The Musée des 24 Heures du Mans is a motorsport museum located at the main entrance of the venue.
Up to 85% of the lap time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine and drivetrain components. However, the times spent reaching maximum speed also mean tremendous wear on the brakes and suspension as cars must slow from over 200 mph (320 km/h) to around 65 mph (100 km/h) for the sharp corner at the village of Mulsanne.
The track, which was a triangle from Le Mans down south to Mulsanne, northwest to Arnage, and back north to Le Mans, has undergone many modifications over the years, with CIRCUIT N° 15 being in use since 2014. Even with the modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is still known for being very fast, with prototype cars achieving average speeds in excess of 230 km/h (140 mph).
In the 1920s, the cars drove from the present pits on Rue de Laigné straight into the city, and after a sharp right-hand corner near the river Sarthe Pontlieue bridge (a hairpin permanently removed from the circuit in 1929), before exiting the city again on the rather straight section now named Avenue Georges Durand after the race's founder. Then 17.261 kilometres (10.725 mi) long and unpaved, a bypass within the city shortened the track in 1929, but only in 1932 the city was bypassed when the section from the pits via the Dunlop Bridge and the Esses to Tertre Rouge was added. This classic configuration was 8.369 miles (13.469 km) long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy. Its frighteningly narrow pit straight was narrowed off to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider just for the pits. The pit straight was about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide (the pit straight was widened in 1956) and the race track and pits were not separated for another 15 years. The pit area was modified at a cost of 300 million francs, the signalling area was even moved to the exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track was resurfaced.
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Wikipedia