The 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the motorsport’s most famous events, takes place on June 16-17 and British Eurosport will have extensive live action covering every twist and turn that takes place on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Known as the toughest and most challenging endurance race in the world, British Eurosport will be showing all 24 hours of the event live via all of its channels, with regular updates and behind-the-scenes features from the Eurosport on-site team.
The 80th edition of the race will be run as usual on the 8.4-mile circuit in front of 250,000 passionate motorsport fans, with the majority of them making the trip over from the UK.
Drivers will spend up to 85% of the time on full throttle during the 24-hour race, meaning immense stress on the engines and the car’s components, as well as pushing the skill and concentration of the drivers and team personnel to the limit.
Whilst they reach speeds in excess of 220mph in complete darkness during the night, it also means tremendous wear on the brakes and the suspension, as the cars must slow from over 200mph to around 65mph for the end of the daunting Mulsanne straight.
Toyota will go up against last year’s winners Audi who launch a twin assault on the LMP1 category with its R18 ultra and R18 E-tron Quattro hybrid models.
Britain’s two-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish and team mates Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen will be behind the wheel of one new hybrid, while last year’s Le Mans winners Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer will drive the second car.
McNish suffered an horrific accident in last year’s race after making contact with another car and crashed heavily into the barriers just after the Dunlop bridge. Thankfully he was able to walk away with no major injury.
This year sees the return of the Japanese manufacturer Toyota for the first time since 1999.
They haved called upon Formula 1 stars, past and present, including Britain’s Anthony Davidson, Red Bull reserve driver Sebastien Buemi, and former F1 drivers Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima as they enter two of its TS030 Hybrid models to contest the prestigious LMP1 category.
Sky Sports F1 commentator and 1990 Le Mans winner Martin Brundle will return to the event for the first time since 2001.
He will link up with his son Alex and Spanish dirver Lucas Ordonez in a Greaves Motorsport-run Nissan LMP2 car for the race at the La Sarthe track, with the aim of getting to the finish as best in class.
British Eurosport is the only place to follow every lap of the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours races. Details below:
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British Eurosport will have exclusive round-the-clock coverage of motorsport’s most prestigious endurance race.
Live coverage from La Sarthe begins with the practice and qualifying sessions on Wednesday June 13 and Thursday June 14.
Once underway, the race (starting at 2pm BST) will be shown exclusively live across British Eurosport and British Eurosport 2 on Saturday June 16 and Sunday June 17, with high definition coverage on Eurosport HD and online streaming of the entire race via Eurosport Player.
British Eurosport will also be broadcasting Le Mans 24 Minutes, a magazine programme which will feature the insights of 1991 Le Mans winner Johnny Herbert.
He will provide analysis and comments as the race progresses from Eurosport’s on-site studio, and the show will bring viewers all the latest race updates, interviews and news from the world famous endurance race.
Carlton Kirby leads the race commentary team for British Eurosport, and will be joined by motorsport journalists Mark Cole, Jeremy Shaw and Neville Hay, along with former driver Chris Parsons.
Endurance drivers Stuart Hall and Liz Halliday, who have both contested Le Mans 24 Hours, will also be alongside them.
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Davidson’s crash. It would have been the central fin that caused the toyota to flip into the air when the toyota and ferrari came together. The sidewways movement exposed the fin to air presure turning the body and turning the underside into the air causing a wing effect.