24 Heures Du Mans // June 14-15, 2008

You thought your commute was a long one. Try 24hrs of nonstop, wheel to wheel, fender to fender to fender racing! One of the most prestigious events in all of motorsports, the 24hrs of Le Mans has created legends and broken heroes. Beginning with live coverage at 6pm June 14th on Speed TV, and concluding at 6:30am on June 15th, we at ColdTrackDays have another long night ahead of us. Being held near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France, the 24hr endurance race has been run annually since 1923. The Le Mans Start, as it came to be known, had cars line up along the pit wall, with drivers making a mad dash for their cars in order to jockey for position. This proved a dangerous practice, as many drivers would forgo the safety harnesses in order to take off quickly. Porsche, to help their success at Le Mans, placed the ignition switch on the left of the steering wheel, so that a driver could start the car with their left hand while putting it into gear wit their right. The Le Mans start saw many fatalities associated with improper safety equipment being in place at the start of the race, and was done away with in 1971. It has since been replaced with a rolling “indy styled” start. If your up as late as we are, in a caffeine fueled Le Mans frenzy, be sure and stop in at ColdTrackDays for some late night reading //