24 Hours 100 Years of Le Mans

by Richard Williams

Award-winning writer Richard Williams tells the remarkable story of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the world's most iconic motorsports events, which celebrates its centenary in 2023. 

The event was created by a group of Frenchmen in 1923 and remains uniquely compelling to spectators, to the major motor manufacturers who continue to see it as an opportunity for priceless publicity, as well as to drivers hoping to add their names to its distinguished roll of honour. Between the wars, those manufacturers included Bugatti, Bentley and Alfa Romeo. Subsequently, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota have all been serial winners, guaranteeing the continuation of ferocious inter-marque rivalry. 

Over the decades the race acquired a rich folklore, including stories of leaking petrol tanks being sealed with chewing gum, one competitor making his last pit-stop for a fill-up and a glass of champagne, or the woman who drove her MG through the night wearing a fur coat. Competitors have included princes, debutantes, drug smugglers and a Nazi spy. Leading Hollywood film-makers lured to the romance of the race include Steve McQueen, who conceived and starred in Le Mans in 1971, and James Mangold, who made Le Mans ’66 in 2019. But in 1955 it had also been the scene of the greatest tragedy ever to befall motor racing, when 82 people were killed by a competing car, an accident that for a while threatened the sport’s entire future. 

From the Bentley Boys of the 1920s, through record-breaking multiple winners Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen to modern stars such as Allan McNish, 24 Hours celebrates the skill, courage and technical brilliance of the men and women who gave the race its worldwide renown.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Historical, Sports, History

496 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Richard Williams is the chief sports writer for the Guardian and the bestselling author of The Death of Ayrton Senna and Enzo Ferrari: A Life. He is a lifelong fan of Nottingham Forest.

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished reading "24 Hours 100 Years of Le Mans" by Richard Williams. This book was published in 2023 and is just under 500 pages (447 pages of narrative) along with numerous B&W and colour photographs, with two appendixes providing details on the various race circuits and changes over the years along with the overall winners from 1923 to 2022.

For a novice to this historical racing event this book offers an engaging and reasonably detailed account of this amazing race and the people involved. The author provides a complete overview of the events leading to the formation of this race and its history from its early days to the current period, ending in 2022.

I knew very little of the Le Mans 24 Hours race other than bits and pieces I picked up over the years covering Steve McQueen and of course the movie "Ford v Ferrari". If you are looking for just one good book to give you a decent, interesting and fun read about this race then this is the book for you.

Some of the interesting titbits I picked up while reading this book was that during the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race there was one very interesting driver/contestant:

"Quartered at the Hotel du Cygne in Yvre-l Eveque were the all-female crew of a Ferrari 166 MM: Yvonne Simon, the car's French owner, and her co-driver, Betty Haig. A grand-niece of the commander of the British Expeditionary Force in the Great War, Haig had won a 2,000-mile rally run alongside the 1936 Olympic Games and was a regular competitor at British race meetings."

Some interesting cars and drivers appeared for the 1953 Le Mans 24-hour race:

"Two Pegasos arrived from Barcelona to make their debut, the sound of their engines disturbing those attending Sunday mass as they set off from the Hotel Cotin in Le Grand-Luce on a two-hour test drive. Wilfredo Ricart, Alfa Romeo's chief designer in the late 1930s, had set up the company in 1946. Their first vehicles were trucks, but in 1951 they launched the Z-102, a two-seater with a supercharged 2,8-litre V8 engine that could propel it past 150mph, making it the world's fastest production car. Among their drivers was Prince Paul von Metternich, the great-grandson of a former Chancellor of the Austrian Empire."

The author also provided a chapter on the devastating accident that occurred during the 1955 Le Mans which killed 83 spectators and the French driver Pierre Levegh, and injured around 120 more. Another interesting bit of information was how drivers from the Thames Ditton factory used an area on the M1 in England to test drive their high-speed cars for preparation for the Le Mans. One AC Cobra did four test runs reaching a speed of around 180mph. When the story got out the UK government introduced a four-month trial of a 70mph limit for UK roads. This temporary measure was extended several times until, in 1978, it became permanent.

For me this book was a joy to read, and I am sure for a motor sports enthusiast or just a person who enjoys reading something different and interesting this would be the perfect book.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of 100 years of endurance racing at Le Mans, Richard Williams’ 24 Hours neatly captures all of the drama of this celebrated event, told through detailed race summaries beginning in 1923. The ongoing evolution of the cars, circuit, rules and technologies are all noted, as are many fascinating stories about the competing teams and drivers who famously or infamously made their mark. Extensive but not overly exhaustive, Williams writes with clarity and perception, describing triumph and tragedy in context with issues taking place beyond the track, honouring the spectacle while acknowledging the risk of high speed automobile racing.

[Joe Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A proper motorsport fan’s pleasure, a full great detailed and emotional journey through the race from its beginning to the present. Mega stories of the unique and iconic drivers and cars that made the race, along with the challenging periods the race has faced. A book that utterly celebrates the magic of the 24 Hours but also doesn’t hide from its blemishes.

[Stuart Ayers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an authoritative account of all the Le Mans 24 hour races since its inception in 1923. A must for officianados but probably repetitive and formulaic for the casual petrol head. I enjoyed it, in particular for then sections where I was familiar with the race or with the drivers, team owners and other participants.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to confess at the outset here that I am not really one for motor racing; it strikes me as intensely repetitive (watching an improbably fast car driven at high speed around the same circuit time and time again does little for me – although I get the appeal of being there, as with almost any sports event, there’s something about the place, the crowd, the noise, the experience – but not enough to attend). That said I grew up in a motor racing community, in my youth regularly attended events at my local circuit, and with some friends at one stage entered an old banger in a demolition derby one year – so even in my ‘don’t care’ state I see the appeal, and have some empathy for followers.

Yet, even without that there are some events in almost any sport that just stand out; that have a cachet beyond the sport or event itself, and the Le Mans 24 Hour race is one of those. Part of it is, I suspect, the endurance aspect; part is that much of the race is on public roads; part of it is that the cars are, while specialist, not the absurd technological indulgences that we see in things such as F-1; and part of it I also suspect is the cross-over character of competitors including professional race drivers, celebrities, and others all working is a team. For all its wealth and grandeur there is the hint of the democratic about the race.

Richard Williams brings the eye of a slightly sceptical fan, of the insider who has managed to maintain a degree of distance or at least dis-belief to his centenary history of the event. He also brings the pen and tone and turn of phrase of an experienced quality journalist. As a result, he combines insider knowledge with a degree of critical insight, a good journalist’s skill in story-telling, a long standing commentator’s access to the powers that be and other figures, and an ability to discuss both the people and technology of the event in a way that keeps those of us who don’t care for the vehicle engaged.

In addition to the action on the track, Williams is also good at the behind the scenes shenanigans and the wrangling between forces and figures in French motor sport, as part of what he sees as the particular French skill at turning a sport into a mass spectacle. It is the spectacle that he does best. It’s not that we can smell the petrol, but it is close…. And it all left me wondering about the place of motor sport in a post-carbon world, although it is, he implies, very much a work in progress. All in all, then, for this ‘no-longer-cares-a-jot-for-motor-sport’ reader 24 Hours was an enjoyable diversion well spent.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are into auto racing, and Le Mans in particular, this is an excellent book. It is full of really interesting characters and stories, especially in the early years.

[Mark Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book capturing the essentials. have shot the Bahrain 6hs but would love to see the 24hrs sometime.