Le Mans at 100: the story of the world’s greatest motor race

As the gruelling 24-hour race reaches its centenary, Mick O'Hare looks at how it grew from humble beginnings into an annual highlight for fans around the globe

Cars line up on the front straight at the 1985 race (Getty)

Rain and wind, hail and mud. And the bits of the track that weren’t turned into a bog resembled a skating rink. It seemed like pre-race predictions that no car would finish the course might come true. But of 33 starters, a full 30 made it to the chequered flag.

The weekend of 10-11 June marks the 100th anniversary of the world’s most gruelling motor race. By the time the winning car crosses the line it will have covered more than 5,000km. Back at that sodden first race in 1923 the leading car completed fewer than 2,300, but it had set in motion the most punishing, most venerable and perhaps most revered motor race on the planet – Les Vingt-Quatres Heures du Mans – the Le Mans 24-Hour Race.

The great constructors who enter Le Mans – Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac and Porsche among them – have one intent: to sell cars. Despite the fame and fortune that will be accorded to the winning team of three drivers come Sunday, for the manufacturers’ success or otherwise will not be judged by what happens on the track, but by how much sales of their vehicles increase over the next 12 months.