In a class of their own

Emanuele Pirro's iconic LMP1 – the Infineon Audi R8 #1 – in the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Every summer, 200,000 fans flock to Northern France for the legendary test of endurance that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The sight and sound of powerful sports cars racing through the night is one of motor racing’s most exhilarating spectacles.

The cars competing in this gruelling race underwent a dramatic change in 1992, when the governing body of motorsport in France, the Automobile Club de L’Ouest, decided to introduce a new class of faster cars. The resulting “Le Mans Prototype” category describes a broad range of racing automobiles. The best known, and the fastest, are the LMP1 machines, most famously the Audis and Porsches that have dominated the race over the past 25 years. Powered by complex hybrid power units, the most recent examples, while not quite as fast as open-wheel Formula 1 cars, remain the world's fastest closed-wheel racers.

These days few F1 drivers choose to tackle the endurance discipline of a 24-hour race (the only driver to have completed the “Triple Crown” – the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans – is Graham Hill). But former Grand Prix racer Emanuele Pirro proved that there’s life after Formula 1 by winning Le Mans five times and appearing on the podium a record nine times in a row. Still keen to race after his F1 career, Pirro took his maiden win at Le Mans in 2000, the first of three driving the all-conquering Audi R8. In 2006, he took his fourth victory in the team’s R10 TDi, the race's first ever win for a diesel car.

“Racing LMP cars for Audi was a wonderful time,” he recalls. “Endurance racing is a real team sport, with three drivers sharing the car. And getting the first win for a diesel car was such a fantastic feeling. I loved those cars because I’ve always been passionate about new technologies and Audi was at the forefront.”

This article was taken from the Spring 2019 edition of the Goodwood Magazine.