On January 1, 1919, Henry Ford stepped down as the head of the Ford Motor Company and left its future in the hands of his only son, Edsel. On June 15, 1969, Jacky Ickx - celebrating his 72nd birthday today - gave a fourth and final overall victory to Ford (with Jackie Oliver) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the private team John Wyer Automotive Engineering.

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Legendes

24 Heures du Mans

Historique

Alpine Endurance Team has lifted the lid on the livery that will adorn the A424 for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025). The French outfit has released the first official picture of its 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship hypercar entry.

Alpine has drawn precious lessons from the A424&rsquo;s d&eacute;but season in the premier league of endurance racing. After a learning curve that produced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/alpine-endurance-team-firmly-focused-on-2025-59122">a series of very promising showings</a>, culminating in a podium at the 6 Hours of Fuji, the team wrapped up the season in fourth place.

The 2025 version of the A424 will feature a new livery that illustrates Alpine&rsquo;s racing heritage and its commitment to returning to the pinnacle of the sport. Meanwhile, the team is stepping up its preparations for the forthcoming season in which it hopes to build on the experience acquired last term to rival with the best outfits on the Hypercar grid.

On 5 February, Alpine is due to reveal the line-ups that will defend the team&rsquo;s colours in 2025. We already know that Charles Milesi, Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Mick Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki will be involved. This announcement will firm up the team&rsquo;s ambitions before the WEC season gets underway with the Qatar 1812 km.

Alpine unveils A424 Hypercar livery for 2025

With 135 days to go before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it’s time to announce the billing for the midweek live music acts. Two big names in France will be performing at the concert venue during the Free practice, qualifying and Hyperpole sessions on the Wednesday and Thursday before the race.

The Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest is honoured to announce the first headline acts of the week. The weekend billing remains under wraps for the moment!&nbsp; 
 
Wednesday 11 June from 20:00: Eddy de Pretto + support band 
 
Eddy de Preto began his career in 2017 with a hard-hitting EP entitled Kid in which he explored differences, the shackles of tradition, and virility, setting himself up as an outlier as he did so. Yet his preoccupations echoed a strong undercurrent within society. The response was unequivocal. The infatuation was immediate.&nbsp;

A year later, de Pretto&rsquo;s album Cure acknowledged the change afoot within his generation, his heightened awareness and his firm stand. He shot to stardom. The album went triple platinum, selling 300,000 copies sold and attracting four nominations for French music awards. He barely left the stage in the next two years, filling venues all over France and ending with ten performances at the Elys&eacute;e Montmartre in Paris &ndash; a far cry from his first gigs alone on stage with his iPhone.&nbsp;

His second album &Agrave; tous les b&acirc;tards (2021) is a generous offering. The autobiographical songs are extremely personal yet mirrored in each of us. There lies the essence of Eddy de Pretto&rsquo;s popularity: he speaks to so many people. He followed up the album release with six gigs at Le Bataclan before embarking on another tour of France.&nbsp;

Thursday 12 June 2025, from 20:00: support band, followed by Pascal&nbsp;Obispo (22:00) 
 
It&rsquo;s not every day you celebrate your 30th anniversary as a singer. 
 
Following on from a sell-out tour including several festivals, Pascal Obispo presents Correspondances. The intimate new show blends his best-known and much-loved work with a host of surprises. 
 
Head for the concert venue straight after the new-format Hyperpole session.&nbsp;In the LMGT3 and LMP2 classes, the 24 cars qualified for Hyperpole take to the track for a 20-minute battle (H1). Then the top eight in each class go through to H2 (15 minutes), which determines the starting grid.&nbsp;The Hypercars follow a similar format. The 15 prototypes qualified the day before will compete in H1 to determine the 10 competitors who will take part in H2. Then comes an epic 15-minute showdown to determine who will start the race in the best position on Saturday.&nbsp;

Don&rsquo;t miss the practice and qualifying sessions!

Tickets for the race itself sold out in a matter of hours, but you can still attend the practice and qualifying sessions, including the Hyperpole &ndash; and the concerts. Admission from &euro;23 for students. Green Tickets (&euro;62) are available for Wednesday and Thursday for those who choose low-carbon transport to reach the circuit (<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/info/ticketing">Terms and Conditions</a>).

&nbsp;

24 Hours of Le Mans: Eddy de Pretto and Pascal Obispo head the midweek concert line-up!

Manthey Racing has unveiled the liveries of the #85 (Iron Dames) and #92 (Manthey 1st Phorm) Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3s, set to compete in the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025) and the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Back in November, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/fia-wec-iron-dames-team-up-with-manthey-for-2025-59153">Iron Dames team announced their entry in the FIA WEC LMGT3 class with a Porsche 911 GT3 R</a>,&nbsp;joining forces with Manthey Racing.&nbsp;The team has now unveiled its bold new livery, featuring a vibrant pink tone with black and white accents.&nbsp;The car will be driven by&nbsp;Michelle Gatting,&nbsp;Rahel Frey, and&nbsp;Celia Martin.&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t forget that when the team claimed victory in the LMGTE Am category at the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain, it was at the wheel of a Porsche.

Meanwhile, the Manthey 1st Phorm #92 Porsche enters the season as the current holders of the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 teams. Last year, the German squad dominated the field, winning four out of the eight races.&nbsp;For 2025, the car will be entrusted to&nbsp;Ryan Hardwick,&nbsp;Riccardo Pera, and&nbsp;Richard Lietz.&nbsp;

Both cars will face stiff competition from Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, McLaren, and Mercedes. The season kicks off on 28 February&nbsp;with the 1812&nbsp;km of Qatar,&nbsp;following the Prologue (two days of pre-season testing) at the same circuit.

While you wait for the track action to begin, feast your eyes on the newly revealed Porsche Manthey Racing and Iron Dames liveries in the photo gallery below.

Check out the liveries for the Manthey Racing and Iron Dames Porsches

After a first win in 2024, the Porsche Penske Motorsport #7 Porsche 963 took victory at the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona. The German hypercar’s record now includes two 24-hour race wins.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche&nbsp;963, driven by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor, triumphed at the Rolex&nbsp;24 at Daytona, the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This win marks the German manufacturer&rsquo;s 20th victory at the Florida classic and a second 24-hour race win for the Hypercar since its racing d&eacute;but in 2023.

Porsche Penske Motorsport demonstrated remarkable mastery throughout the 63rd running of the Rolex&nbsp;24 at Daytona. Late in the evening, both Porsche&nbsp;963s took the lead and maintained their position at the front of the pack until the final hours of the race, culminating in a decisive sprint to victory against the #60 Acura fielded by Acura Meyer Shank Racing.&nbsp; The #6 Porsche&nbsp;963, driven by Jaminet/Campbell/Estre, finished third.

<h2>Nick Tandy cements his place in endurance racing history</h2>

&nbsp;This was Felipe Nasr&rsquo;s second consecutive victory at the Rolex&nbsp;24 at Daytona. Meanwhile, Nick Tandy became the first driver to win all four major 24-hour races: Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps, N&uuml;rburgring and Daytona. &ldquo;Eleven years ago was the last time I was on the top step of the Daytona podium &ndash; back then in the GT class with a red and white Porsche. Three years of hard work have brought us here. We all did it together. At some point years ago, someone told me that nobody had ever managed to achieve overall victory in the four biggest 24-hour races. Since that day, this goal has been in the back of my mind. Now it has been realised. It feels great to be the first person to achieve something like this.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&ldquo;Winning the 24 Hours of Daytona twice in a row is a monumental achievement,&rdquo; points out Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. &ldquo;The tension was huge. We did not always have the fastest car, but we were consistent and made the fewest mistakes.&nbsp; This victory is a perfect start to the new season!&rdquo;

<h2>The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the next challenge for Porsche</h2>

At the 63rd Rolex&nbsp;24 at Daytona, Porsche was up against Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Lamborghini. The #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 could have been a contender for victory, but a mistake by Dries Vanthoor wiped out its chances. Nevertheless, the car finished fourth, ahead of the Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing #10 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The United Autosports USA&nbsp;#22&nbsp;Oreca&nbsp;07-Gibson, steered by Daniel Goldburg, Paul Di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and James Allen triumphed in the LMP2 class. In GTD Pro, the Ford Multimatic Motorsports #65 Ford Mustang&nbsp;GT3 took the win, while the AWA #13 Corvette&nbsp;Z06 GT3.R secured first place on the podium in GTD.

With 138 days to go to the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025), this performance puts&nbsp;Porsche firmly on the list of favourites. However, the Stuttgart-based brand will face fierce competition from the Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot and Toyota hypercars. Let&rsquo;s not forget the Porsche&nbsp;963&rsquo;s achievement in the Hyperpole session last year. However, as the race unfolded, it became clear that the assignment was going to be tougher than expected. Porsche was held back by some questionable strategic choices, especially where tyres were concerned, combined with a lower top speed than Ferrari and Toyota. Since then, Porsche has clearly stated its main goal for 2025: securing a 20th victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We also know that significant modifications have been made to <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/will-porsche-s-new-suspension-provide-springboard-for-20th-le-mans-win-59211" target="_blank">the 963&rsquo;s suspension</a>.

The 1812&nbsp;km of Qatar race, the first round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) scheduled for February 28, will be an opportunity to see how the German Hypercar has evolved over the winter.

The Porsche 963 adds a second 24-hour race to its list of achievements

24 Heures du Mans 1969

The&nbsp;37th edition of the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans will forever stand out in history because&nbsp;Jacky Ickx, in order to protest the Le Mans type start, walked to his car&nbsp;and took off dead last. At the time, the drivers would run to their cars and often start&nbsp;without taking the time to buckle their safety harness in order to save precious seconds. The&nbsp;future six-time winner at the 24 Hours deemed this practice&nbsp;dangerous and took his time before taking the start. His&nbsp;act sounded the death knell of the Le Mans type start for good.

Photo (Copyright - Archives/ACO): The #6&nbsp;Ford GT40 driven by&nbsp;Jacky Ickx and&nbsp;Jackie Oliver at the 1969&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.

24H LE MANS

Today's Photo Story - Jacky Ickx wins at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ford

Related News

Alpine unveils A424 Hypercar livery for 2025

24 Hours of Le Mans: Eddy de Pretto and Pascal Obispo head the midweek concert line-up!

Check out the liveries for the Manthey Racing and Iron Dames Porsches

The Porsche 963 adds a second 24-hour race to its list of achievements

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners