24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – THE LE MANS EXCEPTION ⎮The 24 Hours of Le Mans is known for attracting drivers from all areas of motorsport, but also royalty, aristocrats, record-seeking adventurers and champions from other sports who take on the legendary race, often with great success.
For these competitors, the 24 Hours of Le Mans amounted to a prestigious addition to already outstanding track records. They were indeed considered living legends in their respective sports and disciplines before ever participating in the iconic race.
The link between downhill skiing and auto racing is relatively obvious, the common denominators being trajectory and speed. A three-time champion at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy took his rookie start in the 24 Hours one year later at the wheel of an official Alpine A210 shared with future endurance racing star Bob Wollek, himself a former member of the French ski team. This sole participation ended due to suspension troubles four hours from the chequered flag.
Luc Alphand, only three years old when Killy became an Olympic champion, is one of the most successful competitors in the history of French skiing, earning three gold medals at the 1997 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Four years later, he took the start in the 24 Hours driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RS fielded by his own team, Luc Alphand Aventures, based in the 24 Hours Technoparc. From 2001 to 2008, he finished all eight runnings he entered, with only one retirement in 2009 and as best result a seventh place overall finish in 2006 at the wheel of a Corvette shared with Patrice Goueslard and Jérôme Policand.
Among Alphand's teammates figured former moto racer Christian Lavieille, triple winner of the Bol d'Or and two-time moto endurance world champion who became an expert in four-wheel rally raid. Together, they finished 24th at the 2002 24 Hours (with Olivier Thévenin), then 16th in 2004 (with Philippe Alméras).
The only world champion in both moto racing and Formula 1, the Brit John Surtees paved the way for countless successors at the 24 Hours.
In the mid-1970s, Johnny Cecotto was known as a moto racing prodigy, crowned 350 cm3 world champion at just 19 years old (1975) then 750 cm3 world champion at 22 (1978). His auto racing career, primarily representing BMW, included runner-up in the 1982 Formula 2 championship, numerous wins in touring cars and three participations in the 24 Hours.
Cecotto's rookie start in 1981 ended with a 16th place finish at the wheel of a BMW M1 shared with French drivers Bernard Darniche and Philippe Alliot. In 1997, he made it into the top 10 overall (eighth) driving a McLaren F1 GTR entered by Team Bigazzi, a long-time partner of BMW (who specially designed a V12 engine for the McLaren F1). That year, he had as teammates three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet and Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan. In 1998, Cecotto was forced to retire along with Pierluigi Martini and Joachim Winkelhock (winners the following year) with a BMW V12 LM prototype.
In 1998, another moto racing giant took the start in the 24 Hours: 500 cm3 (predecessor to the current Moto GP) world champion in 1987, Wayne Gardner switched to cars with some success in Australian touring (two podiums in the Bathurst 1000 and in Japanese GT. His only participation in the 24 Hours ended in a retirement at the wheel of a Riley & Scott shared with French driver Philippe Gache and Belgian moto racer Didier de Radiguès who would go on to compete at Le Mans four times without ever reaching the chequered flag.
Will Valentino Rossi become the next moto world champion to take the start in the 24 Hours? Only time will tell, but the Italian has certainly let his interest in the race be known.
World Cup winner in 1998 then European champion in 2000, the most famous bald head in French football hoped to make his dream of doing the 24 Hours a reality. In 2012, Fabien Barthez took part in Test Day at the wheel of a Formula Le Mans prototype (predecessor to the current LMP3s). Two years later, he took the start with a Ferrari 458 Italia entered by Team Sofrev-ASP in the LMGTE Am class. Along with Anthony Pons and Soheil Ayari, Barthez finished 29th.
In 2016, the Panis Barthez Competition team participated in LMP2 for the first time, joining the French football team's ex-goalie with former F1 driver Olivier Panis. That year, Barthez finished 12th overall in a Ligier shared with Paul-Loup Chatin and Timothé Buret. After a retirement in 2017, he left the team. Panis Racing went on to earn two LMP2 podiums in 2020 and 2021 and runner-up in the 2022 European Le Mans Series.
While the popularity of competitive cycling in France is widely known thanks to the Tour de France, six years ago the 24 Hours welcomed a living cycling legend from across the Channel. With six Olympic gold medals (a record for an athlete from the U.K., all disciplines considered) and 11 world track cycling titles to his credit, Scottish racer Sir Chris Hoy retired in 2013...and immediately took on another challenge, the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Nissan.
The LMP3 title-winner in the 2015 European Le Mans Series, the same year Hoy took part in his first Test Day for the 24 Hours, as had Fabien Barthez three years earlier. In 2016, he took his first start in the race in LMP2 representing Algarve Pro Racing along with Andrea Pizzitola and Michael Munemann. Hoy was not alone in taking on such a daunting challenge, his teammates were also rookies, but flawless consistency earned them 17th place overall (12th in LMP2).
Another moto champion, already mentioned previously, could become one of the main attractions at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Valentino Rossi has just signed with BMW, one of the (many) manufacturers expected in the Hypercar class in the coming years…
PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: the Ligier of Fabien Barthez in 2016; Luc Alphand finished all eight runnings of the 24 Hours in which he participated; the McLaren F1 GTR driven by Johnny Cecotto in 1996; Wayne Gardner at the wheel of the Riley & Scott prototype fielded by French team Solution F; Fabien Barthez (with helmet, at left) getting ready to hit the track for his rookie 24 Hours in 2014; like Fabien Barthez, Sir Chris Hoy drove a Ligier JS P2-Nissan in LMP2 in 2016.
