The most celebrated of all endurance motor races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has long been loved by motorsport aficionados for the combination of consummate skill, great daring, canny tactics and incredible resolve demanded of its competitors.
Surely the toughest of all race drivers, these days they cover more than 5,000km during the long hours of racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe in northwestern France, often hitting top speeds along the way in excess of 350km/h.
It has produced unique timepieces to commemorate the epic race’s sister event, the Le Mans Classic, run over the same course but using vintage cars. Since 2020, Richard Mille has also operated its own team in the Fia World Endurance Championship, which the 24 Hours of Le Mans is part of.
This year marks the centenary of the storied event, making it the oldest endurance race still being run, and it now has a book of suitable opulence and sophistication to celebrate the occasion. Titled 24 Hours of Le Mans: 1923-2023, it represents a rare chance to peer under the bonnet of the race at all the drama and excitement that surrounds it.
Over the past century, events at Le Mans have been captured by numerous photographers and the book features the best of their work, presented as an album of mostly unpublished photos: candid depictions of cars, drivers, engineers, mechanics and members of the public that make the race the spectacle it is.
Arranged chronologically, moving from black and white to colour, the book runs to more than 400 pages, split into five sections covering what the authors have identified as the race’s main eras: “1923-1929, the age of the pioneers”; “1930-1967, reconstruction and globalisation”; “1968-1981, in search of the right solution”; “1982-1999, the 21st century in sight”; and “2000-2022, a modern race”.
Those authors, Jean-Marc Teissedre and Thibaut Villemant, are both regular contributors to French autosport magazine Auto Hebdo, as well as authors of the official 24 Hours of Le Mans yearbook. Together, they bring the magic of the world’s favourite endurance race to life.
