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Musée des 24 Heures du Mans

24 Hours of Le MansAuto racing museums and halls of fameAuto racing stubsFrench museum stubsMuseums established in 1961
Musée automobile de la Sarthe 2014
Musée automobile de la Sarthe 2014

The Museum of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: Musee des 24 Heures du Mans) is a motorsport museum located at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. It was founded in 1961 as the Automobile Museum de la Sarthe. In 1991, it was taken over by the organizers of the 24 hours road race and moved to a purpose built museum complex under the direction of Francis Piquera, the Executive Manager. In 2009, the museum was extensively renovated. Its permanent exhibition includes over 100 historic cars, many collectibles, dozens of films and archive photographs. The museum tour is organized around six major sequences that showcase the important figures of the 24 Hour race and origins of the Le Mans automotive industry, tracing the evolution of the car in the twentieth century.With their legendary models of the greatest endurance race in the world, 350m² of temporary exhibitions complete the thematic exhibition. A visit of the famous circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race is possible.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Musée des 24 Heures du Mans (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Musée des 24 Heures du Mans
D 139, Le Mans

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N 47.956944444444 ° E 0.20861111111111 °
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Musée automobile de la Sarthe

D 139
72100 Le Mans
Pays de la Loire, France
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Musée automobile de la Sarthe 2014
Musée automobile de la Sarthe 2014
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24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500—that form the Triple Crown of Motorsport, and is also one of the races alongside the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring that make up the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing. Run since 1923, it is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world.Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track are able to achieve speeds of 366 km/h (227 mph), and reached 407 km/h (253 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight in 1988 – instigating the addition of more chicanes to the track to reduce speed reached. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure. The race is organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It is held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, composed of closed public roads and dedicated sections of a racing track. The 24 Hours of Le Mans was frequently part of the World Sportscar Championship from 1953 until that series' final season in 1992. In 2011, it was a part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Since 2012, the race has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In the World Endurance Championship's super-season of May 2018 to June 2019, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was both the second and the last round of the season.

1955 Le Mans disaster
1955 Le Mans disaster

The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring around 120 more. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, prompting Switzerland to institute a nation-wide ban on motorsports altogether that lasted until 2022. The crash started when Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorn pulled to the right side of the track in front of Austin-Healey driver Lance Macklin and started braking for his pit stop. Macklin swerved out from behind the slowing Jaguar into the path of Levegh, who was passing on the left in his much faster Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Levegh rear-ended Macklin at high speed, overriding Macklin's car and launching his own car through the air. Levegh's car skipped over a protective earthen berm at 200 km/h (125 mph) and made at least two impacts within the spectator area, the last of which caused the car to disintegrate, throwing him onto the track where he was instantly killed. Large pieces of debris, including the Mercedes' engine block, radiator, front suspension, and bonnet (hood), were sent flying into the packed spectator area in front of the grandstand. The rear of Levegh's car landed on the berm and exploded into flames. There was much debate over blame for the disaster. The official inquiry held none of the drivers specifically responsible and criticised the layout of the 30-year-old track, which had not been designed for cars as fast as those involved in the crash.