June 14 & 15, 1924 (2nd edition) – Bentley won the first of its six victories in La Sarthe, with at the wheel John Duff and Frank Clement. The British marque beat the French manufacturer Lorraine Dietrich who would win the two following years, including a one-two-three in 1926.

June 14 & 15, 1952 (20th edition) – For the first time in its history, the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended in a German manufacturer's win, with the Mercedes 300 SL of Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess. Since then, Mercedes and also Porsche, Audi and BMW share more than a third of the victories.

June 14 & 15, 1969 (37th edition) – A legendary edition, marked by Jacky Ickx's victory snatched during the last lap, the debut of the Porsche 917, Steve McQueen's reconnaissance visit for shooting the film "Le Mans" the following year and for the first top 5 finish for French manufacturer Matra thanks to Piers Courage-Jean Pierre Beltoise (4th) and Jean Guichet-Nino Vaccarella (5th).

June 14 & 15, 1975 (43rd edition) – Jacky Ickx's second victory and Derek Bell's first. Ligier slid into second place between two Gulf Mirage prototypes. Porsche placed six cars in the top 10. Fourth, the 908/3 prototype of Reinhold Joest finished ahead of five 911 cars.

June 14 & 15, 1980 (48th edition) – Along with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Le Mans native Jean Rondeau became the first driver-constructor to win the 24 Hours. Noteworthy as well, two known personalities were at the start: the actor Jean-Louis Trintignant (Porsche 935 K3) and Mark Thatcher (Osella) - Margaret's son, during the time that she was Prime Minister of Great Britain. Both were forced to retire.

June 14 & 15, 1997 (65th edition) – Along with the Italian, Michele Alboreto and the Swede, Stefan Johansson - two former Ferrari drivers in Formula 1 (they were teammates in 1985 and 86) - Tom Kristensen participated in his first 24 Hours…and won the race! And it is not over...

June 14 & 15, 2003 (71st edition) – 73 years after its last win in La Sarthe, Bentley returned by claiming the top step on the podium. Tom Kristensen won his fifth victory, along with the Italian, Dindo Capello and the Brit, Guy Smith. Kox-Enge-Davies' Ferrari Maranello allowed Ferrari to find success once again in the GT class.

June 14 & 15, 2008 (76th edition) – Team members since 2006 and winners in 2008, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello and Allan McNish would form one of the greatest driver line-ups in endurance history, up until Capello left to retire after the 2012 24 Hours. One year later, it was McNish's turn to retire. For its first appearance in La Sarthe, the  Porsche RS Spyder prototype finished in the top two spots in the LM P2 class.

Please find these cars in a unique photo gallery on the 24 Hours of Le Mans Facebook page

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 20 2013, QUALIFYING. Already winner of the June 14th and 15th editions in 1997, 2003 and 2008, Tom Kristensen could win his tenth victory in La Sarthe this June 14-15, 2014.