24h Le Mans
Le Mans, Ignite your Senses | Tailored to the spectator experience, the 24 Hours of Le Mans consistently provokes intense emotions-turned-memories throughout race week and the main event. The sounds of the race are part of its unique make-up. The roar of an engine is music to the ears of many a motorsport fan, and one of the many reasons spectators attend races.
Long after you return home after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, your ears ring with its special sounds. The unmistakeable voice of track commentator Bruno Vandestick is part of the landscape, but it is regularly drowned out by a concerto of engines. Listen out for the Hypercars. Top class machines produce virtuoso performances. Lend an ear when the Cadillac V-Series.R sets off. The first notes are pianissimo electric, but before the American prototype has even exited the pit lane, the distinctive growl of the 5.5-litre V8 fills the air. That sound makes the car a favourite with the crowd. In comparison, the Ferrari’s twin turbo V6 is brutal yet muted. You can hear the turbo blowing but the hybrid system is discrete. Peugeot’s 9X8 has a similar set-up, with a hybrid system, but the two cars sound completely different. And the vibrant BMW 4-litre twin turbo V8 is different again. The German make’s prototype has a distinctly modern sound: smaller capacity coupled with bleeding edge turbo technology.
Listen carefully when these engines are just ticking over, and watch out for the sound that hails an acceleration. Thanks to their turbo power, all these cars have plenty of torque. The sort that gets a prototype to 300 kph in a few seconds. A roar goes by and rapidly fades away into the distance. To return again barely more than three minutes later. You’ll pick it up, hear it approach, get louder, and louder. Suddenly, it comes thundering through the trees or along the pit straight. In a flurry of gear changes and braking before the Mulsanne Corner, almost inaudible at the apex, and then a crescendo of raging power obeying its driver’s commands.
Sometimes cars get pushed to breaking point. Hoarse. Voiceless. The engine worn out. The same one that was singing at the top of its voice not so long ago, beating out a rhythm, lap after lap. In an instant it hiccups, then spouts garbled nonsense when the electronics get confused and it skips a few beats.
Here comes a pack of GT3s. The orchestra to the Hypercar soloists. They can certainly strike a chord! These engines develop 550 hp. Ample power to approach the 300 kph mark on the Mulsanne Straight. Which is easier to pick out, the metallic Porsche flat-6 or the V8 of the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Corvette? No matter. As long as they do their job and play their tune! The Ferrari 296 GT3 stands apart due to its smaller cylinder capacity. In any case, when the prancing horses and their friends are on the run, you certainly hear them coming. When they ramp it up, the quick, clear-cut gear changes set them apart. A road car is no match.
