Supercars battle it out at famous Le Mans circuit

By Russell Williamson

THIS afternoon at 4 p.m. in France (9 p.m. Jakarta time), 53 cars, each worth well over US$1 million, will take to the tarmac to do battle at the famous Le Mans circuit.

For 24 hours, the team drivers will propel their cars around the 13.6-kilometer circuit at an average speed of more than 200kmh.

With top speeds down the straight reaching in excess of 300kmh, Le Mans is a test of the highest order for both man and machine.

The Le Mans 24-hour is one of the longest endurance races in the world, with the cars clocking up more than 2,000km in the nonstop race.

This year will see a field of supercars sporting famous names like Porsche, BMW and Lotus take to the circuit for the 65th time since the race was first instigated in 1925.

Although the race has largely been unchanged since that first contest -- aside from a shortening of the circuit and changing the format of the start (drivers originally had to run to their cars whereas it is now a flying start) -- the cars are worlds apart.

Today's machines can well outpace the 92kmh average speed of those first cars, with most of the big names today boasting engines with power outputs of more than 400kW, or 600hp in the old money.

For this year's event, Porsche remains the favorite with its two factory 911 GT1 cars recording the fastest qualifying times earlier this week, clocking just 3 minutes 45 seconds for a lap.

Porsche has been the most successful marque at Le Mans with 14 overall wins -- the first in 1970 -- ahead of Ferrari with nine and Jaguar with seven.

Last year, a Porsche prototype took outright victory and the factory will be hoping to repeat that this year, although in endurance races there can never be any guarantees.

Porsche's head of motor sport, Herbert Ampferer, said there was always an element of luck needed at Le Mans.

"An overall victory cannot be programmed at Le Mans," Ampferer said.

"The best pilots, optimum equipment and a hundred percent preparation alone do not suffice to win.

"You also have to strike it lucky," he said.

Porsche's 911 GT1 is only very loosely based on the 911 road car, sharing some front end and chassis components.

The twin turbocharged 3.2-liter flat six "boxer" engine sits amidships to ensure a balanced delivery of its 440kW of power and 650Nm of torque.

Drive is through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels, while straight line and cornering stability is provided by double wishbone suspensions front and rear.

With so much power to get the car going, it also needs good stopping power, which comes from antilock 380mm carbon brake discs at both ends.

To keep the car light, the bodywork is all plastic carbon fiber and kevlar.

Although Porsche may be the favorite, it will be a tough race, with plenty of competition coming from the BMW factory team's two McLaren BMWs.

BMW first took part in Le Mans in 1937, the 14th race, but it wasn't until 1995 that the German marque managed an outright win.

The cars entering this year's race draw power from a 6.0-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine that produces a maximum power of 450kW at 6500rpm and peak torque of 711Nm at 5000rpm.

Drive to rear wheels is via a sequential six-speed gearbox and like the Porsche, suspension is double wishbones at both ends.

Whether BMW has what it needs to take the checkered flag when it comes down on the finishing line at 4 p.m. tomorrow, remains to be seen.

But what ever team takes the flag, will have well and truly earned it in what Ampferer describes as "one of the biggest and most important sports events of all."