Motorsport: Kiwis a good chance in iconic Le Mans

Brendon Hartley is one of four Kiwis hopeful of making the Le Mans podium next weekend. Photo / Supplied

It is one of the most famous names in motorsport - the Le Mans 24-hour race - but there's a good reason the oldest sportscar endurance race is often known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.

The rural roads around the northern French city will roar again next weekend as they have since 1923 and the Circuit de la Sarthe has a rich history of drama, excitement, elation and disappointment.

Many a reputation has been built on the 13.6km track, and more than a few dashed.

During the making of the film Le Mans, actor Steve McQueen, a decent racer in his own right, talked about the place and event.

"A lot of people go through life doing things badly," he said. "Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting."

Unlike most motor racing categories around the world, four categories compete together at the same time.

This makes for interesting racing when highly-technical LMP1 cars (Le Mans Prototype) tackle their smaller sibling, the LMP2, and GT cars (based on road-going saloons).

Two things make the race challenging for drivers - racing at night and dealing with the differences in car speeds.

The LMP1 cars can fly down the 6km Mulsanne Straight at upwards of 335km/h, while others will be travelling at a 'mere' 280km/h.

It's not the outright speed that's so much the problem, it's the closing speeds as the cars accelerate out of the corners. An LMP1 car, for example, will be nearing top speed after around 300m but a GTE car takes considerably longer.

Despite the fantastic legacy New Zealand has in motorsport, there have been only two winners of the iconic race, and in the same car.

Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren stood atop the podium in 1966, having taken the chequered flag in a seven-litre Ford GT40 MKII after holding off fellow Kiwi Denny Hulme and American Ken Miles in another GT40.

It's possible New Zealand could enjoy a second victory at Le Mans this year.

Four Kiwis are racing this time - Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber in LMP1 with Porsche Team, Mitch Evans in LMP2 with Jota Sport and Richie Stanaway in LMGTE Pro with Aston Martin Racing.

Hartley came close last year, when he, Mark Webber and Timo Bernard were leading the race with two-and-a-half hours remaining before they were struck by mechanical problems.

Evans and Stanaway arrive in Le Mans in good form, having won their respective categories at the recent World Endurance Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps.

"I didn't think there would be four Kiwis racing at the same time and all with a chance of a good result," Amon said. "It's great to see. It's possible you might see more than one Kiwi on the podium [in different categories] at the end of the race.

"It's an amazing event and it's got so much history and so many stories. It's like the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix with so much tradition and atmosphere. In terms of Le Mans, qualifying isn't that important, although you want to be somewhere near the front so you don't get caught up in a mess on the first lap in the middle of the field.

"One thing you can say about Le Mans is that you can't bet on anything. Things have changed a bit since I was racing there but getting to the end on the lead lap is the hard thing to do - so many things can go wrong."