The world's most prestigious endurance race. One hundred cars, two classes, day and night, on a circuit stitched together from public roads in the French countryside.
The basics — everything you need to get started.
The race runs from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon — continuously, without stopping. Teams share driving across multiple drivers, working in shifts through the night. The car that covers the most distance in 24 hours wins.
The Circuit de la Sarthe is partly made up of closed public roads. Racing cars hit over 300 km/h on stretches of tarmac that farmers drive on the rest of the year. It's unlike any permanent racing circuit.
Le Mans draws up to 300,000 fans over the race weekend — one of the largest sporting attendances on earth. It's been held almost every year since 1923. Winning here is the ultimate achievement in motorsport.
Multiple categories race simultaneously — a faster car overtaking a slower one mid-corner is completely normal and part of the show.
The top class. Hybrid-electric prototypes built to a shared specification used at both Le Mans and IMSA events in North America. Full factory programs from Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, and Peugeot. These are the fastest, most technologically advanced endurance racing cars ever built.
Production-derived GT3 supercars race against each other in their own category. Each entry must include at least one Bronze-rated amateur driver. Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, McLaren, Ford, and Lamborghini all compete. The racing is fierce and the gaps are tiny.
If you've been following IMSA's 12 Hours of Sebring, the Hypercar class will look familiar. The same LMDh cars — Porsche 963, Cadillac V-Series.R, BMW M Hybrid V8 — race in both series. Le Mans is where those cars were ultimately designed to compete. The LMGT3 cars are equivalent to IMSA's GTD class.
The storylines that will define this year's race.
Ferrari returned to Le Mans overall victory in 2023 for the first time since 1965 and won again in 2024 with the 499P. A third consecutive win would cement one of the most dominant stretches in the race's modern era. Toyota, Porsche, and Cadillac will all be gunning to end the streak.
Toyota finally won Le Mans in 2018 after years of heartbreak — most famously failing on the final lap in 2016. They won again in 2019. A 2026 Toyota victory would be a statement that the GR010 Hybrid is still the benchmark despite fierce new competition.
With eight or more manufacturers in the Hypercar class, the 2026 grid is the most competitive the top class has been since the Audi-Peugeot battles of the 2000s. Any manufacturer could win — which makes race strategy and reliability as important as raw pace.
The LMGT3 class is only in its third season at Le Mans, replacing the long-running GTE categories. With more teams finding their feet and Balance of Performance improving, the GT3 battles through the night promise some of the most intense wheel-to-wheel racing of the weekend.
The hours between midnight and 6am are where Le Mans legends are made and broken. Fatigue sets in, safety car periods bunch the field, and the mechanical stress of non-stop running begins to show. Teams that survive the night intact almost always feature in the final battle.
Many IMSA regulars make the trip to Le Mans each year, competing for factory teams with full Le Mans programs. If you've been following Sebring, you'll recognize names and cars on the grid — the Porsche 963, Cadillac V-Series.R, and BMW M Hybrid V8 all race at both events.
The Le Mans race week spans several days — all times local (CEST, Central European Summer Time = UTC+2).
Start here — these pages will get you up to speed quickly.
Hypercar vs LMGT3 — what each class is, who's racing in it, and why there are two completely different types of car on the same track at the same time.
13.6 km of tarmac through French farmland and forest. Learn the key corners, what makes this circuit unlike any other, and why the Mulsanne Straight became famous.
From 1923 to today — the disasters, the dynasties, the legendary drivers, and the moments that made Le Mans the most famous race in the world.
If you've never watched endurance racing before, here's what you need to know.
Each car is shared between two or three drivers who take turns at the wheel. A driver typically completes a stint of 60–90 minutes before pitting to hand over to a teammate, refuel, and change tires. Managing driver fatigue is as important as car setup.
Teams make 30 or more pit stops over 24 hours — for fuel, tires, driver changes, and repairs. A well-timed stop under a safety car period can gain multiple positions. A mechanical problem in the pits can cost 10 minutes. Pit lane execution is a race within the race.
When there's an incident on track, a safety car bunches the entire field. Teams that haven't pitted yet can rush in without losing ground — suddenly the leader is behind a car it had lapped hours earlier. Safety car timing is the single biggest luck factor in endurance racing.
Hypercars and LMGT3 cars share the track at the same time. A Hypercar lapping at over 230 mph will come up behind an LMGT3 car doing 170 mph in the same corner. The LMGT3 driver must give way without losing pace. Blue flags signal to move over — watching drivers manage traffic is an art form.