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92 unusual facts about Le Mans


1990 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 20-22 July 1990 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans.

1991 Vitesse du Mans motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 6–8 September 1991 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans.

2002 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 17 -19 May 2002 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans, France.

2003 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 23 - 25 May, 2003 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans, France.

2004 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 14 -16 May 2004 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans, France.

2005 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 13-15 May 2005 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans, France.

2006 Formula 3 Euro Series season

2006 saw the Euro Series make its debut at three venues: Brands Hatch in the UK, the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona in Spain, and Le Mans.

2009 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 15–17 May 2009 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.

2010 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 21–23 May 2010 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.

2011 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 13–15 May 2011 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.

2012 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 18–20 May 2012 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.

2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season

The season was marred by the death of Allan Simonsen in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2013 French motorcycle Grand Prix

It took place on the weekend of 17–19 May 2013 at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.

2014 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain

The championship will reduce from 20 rounds in 2013 to 19 rounds, after the inclusion of a single joint race (with the Porsche Carrera Cup France) in support of the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, replacing the races at Oulton Park.

7.65×20mm Longue

The French military were introduced to the cartridge when the US demonstrated the Pedersen device after the end of World War I in Le Mans and again when John Browning exhibited a carbine in the same caliber in 1920.

Adrienne Du Vivier

Married 7 March 1660 in Montreal, Jacques Milot (1632, Crouzille, Le Mans, Maine, France – 15 August 1699, Montreal), by whom she had eleven children, including Catherine Milot, whose youngest son, Joseph, by her second marriage to voyageur Jean Joffrion, settled in Louisiana, and married Jeanne Marie Rabalais, by whom he had issue.

Allard

Available both in street trim and stripped down for racing, the J2 proved successful in competition on both sides of the Atlantic, including a third place overall at Le Mans in 1950 (driven by Sydney Allard himself, who also placed first in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1952 driving an Allard P1 saloon car).

Aston Martin Owners Club

Having been fired with enthusiasm by winning an automobile race at age twenty and by his first meeting with 'Bert' Bertelli shortly after, his success led to the purchase of the team car LM7 and an invitation to drive “under works control’’ at Le Mans in 1933.

Austin-Healey 3000

Austin Healey 3000's have a long competition history, and raced at most major racing circuits around the world, including Sebring (USA), Le Mans (France), and Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst (Australia).

Automobile Club de l'Ouest

It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organising entity behind the annual Le Mans 24 Hours race.

The ACO's history begins with the Automobile Club de la Sarthe, the ancestor of today's ACO, which was founded in the town of Le Mans.

Bizzarrini P538

The first V-8 powered car debuted at Le Mans in 1966, with Swiss drivers Edgar Berney and Andre Wicky, but records indicate that the team retired after three hours with a cooling problem.

Black Adder 6

Its design was derived from such vintage Bentleys as "Old Number 1" and the "Napier-Railton Special." The cars of Bentley's 1920–1930s racing era, when the marque competed in such races as Le Mans and Brooklands, were further inspiration for its Brooklands boat-tail aluminum body.

Bruce McLaren

McLaren cars totally dominated CanAm sports car racing with 56 wins, a considerable number of them with him behind the wheel, between 1967 and 1972 (and five constructors’ championships), and have won three Indianapolis 500 races, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring.

Cinque Hommes Township, Perry County, Missouri

Jean St. Cosme was the son of Michael Buisson, a native of Cosme le Vert in the Diocese of Mans in France, and of Susanne Licheraffe.

Citroën Survolt

The Citroën Survolt made its first appearance on a racetrack at Le Mans on 12 July 2010.

Communion token

Communion tokens were first suggested in 1560 by John Calvin and Pierre Viret in Geneva, and although the city council rejected the practice, the following year their idea was implemented in Nîmes and Le Mans.

Derby H:O Racing Club

The Derby H:O Racing Club (DHORC) is one of the biggest slot car racing clubs in England and is the organiser of the international world-record breaking Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

Dick Hutcherson

Hutcherson and Ronnie Bucknum co-drove the third place #5 GT-40 Mark IIA at Le Mans in June of that year, completing 4682 laps and following two other GT-40s.

Douglas Theatre Company

Three theaters were opened in Lincoln shortly thereafter: the Cinema Twin, in September 1971 (first showing Summer of '42 and Le Mans), Douglas 3, in March 1973 (first showing 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Sting and Serpico) and Plaza 4, in April 1973.

Edward Sorin

He was influenced by circumstances to enroll himself in the Congregation of Holy Cross, a community of priests, brothers, and sisters lately founded at Le Mans by the Blessed Basil Moreau.

ERA R4D

This success led to his joining the BRM team as a works driver, and later successes at Le Mans and elsewhere.

Erispoe

According to the Annales Bertiniani, at Louviers in February 856 Erispoe's daughter (unnamed in the sources) was betrothed to Charles's young son, Louis the Stammerer, who was granted the ducatus Cenomannicus as subking of Neustria with Le Mans as his capital.

Ernest Coxhead

From 1918 to 1919, Coxhead went to LeMans, France, to organize and direct the American Expeditionary Force's University School of Architecture, established by John Galen Howard, for members of the United States armed forces stationed in France.

État 231-011 to 231-060

From 1929, the class was responsible for pulling the expresses between Dieppe and Le Mans and the Manche-Océan, between Dieppe and Bordeaux.

EuroBasket 2001 Women

The tournament was held in three cities in France: Orléans, Le Mans and Gravelines.

Falaise pocket

The U.S. advance was extraordinarily rapid, and by 8 August the city of Le Mans—the former headquarters of the German Seventh Army—was in U.S. hands.

Faouzi Chaouchi

whilst also confirming that he is still in contact with French club Le Mans since the previous transfer window.

Ferrari 250 TR 61 Spyder Fantuzzi

The 250 TR lines of 1960 and 1961 were dominant racers - Olivier Gendebien took Le Mans again those two years, with Paul Frère in 1960 and Phil Hill in 1961.

Florimond III Robertet d'Alluye

In April 1562, he and Robertet de Fresne were sent to Orléans with the Prince of Conde, who after the massacre of Vassy, grabbed Orléans, Blois, Tours, Angers and Le Mans.

François Jaffrennou

He retired to Le Mans and then to Bergerac, where he died on March 23, 1956.

Gardner Douglas

Just 26 MkIII 289 Cobras were made before AC collapsed in 1967 and so the enduring popular image of the marque is the Shelby 427 Cobra which became legend after winning class honours at Le Mans in 1965.

Ginetta Cars

Ginetta Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson’s vision for Ginetta is to provide competitive and affordable motorsport for drivers as young as 14 to be able to progress through the Ginetta championships comprehensive career ladder, before ultimately competing in the Le Mans, GT or Formula 1 arenas.

Grand Prix Legends

The French Grand Prix is raced at Rouen-Les-Essarts in GPL, even though the actual Grand Prix that year was held at the Le Mans Bugatti track.

Henri de la Rochejaquelein

François Séverin Marceau, Jean Baptiste Kléber and François Joseph Westermann gave chase, defeating him once in Le Mans on December 12, and again, more severely, on the 23rd of December in Savenay.

Herbert J. Brees

After a brief stint as Range Officer, Inter-Allied Rifle and Pistol Competition, Belgian Camp, Le Mans, France, Colonel Brees returned to the United States on 6 July 1919.

Hildebert

Hildebert compelled him to leave the neighborhood of Le Mans, but the effects of his preaching remained.

He was probably a pupil of Berengar of Tours, and became master (scholasticus) of the school at Le Mans; in 1091 he was made archdeacon and in 1096 bishop of Le Mans.

Iso Grifo

In 1964 the prototype Grifo A3/C raced at Le Mans (Edgar Berney/Pierre Noblet), running well until brake problems required a two hour pit stop.

Ivry-sur-le-Lac, Quebec

In 1891, Countess Angela Ogier d'Ivry, from Le Mans (France), bought a farm for her son Viscount Raoul Ogier d'Ivry, who chose the name of the new municipality which formed in 1912 by separating from the parishes of Sainte-Agathe and Saint-Faustin.

Jack Barclay Bentley

Jack Barclay’s name is indelibly associated with Bentley, whose powerful grand tourers dominated endurance racing at Brooklands and Le Mans throughout the 1920s.

Jaguar E-Type

The cars were entered in various races but, unlike the C-Type and D-Type racing cars, they did not win at Le Mans or Sebring but were reasonably successful in private hands and in smaller races.

After the company's success at the Le Mans 24 hr through the 1950s, Jaguar's defunct racing department was given the brief to use D-Type style construction to build a road-going sports car, replacing the XK150.

Jean Françaix

Jean René Désiré Françaix (23 May 1912 in Le Mans – 25 September 1997 in Paris) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.

Jean Rondeau

Jean Rondeau (Le Mans, France, 13 May 1946 – Champagné, France, 27 December 1985) was a French race car driver and constructor, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980, in a car bearing his own name, an achievement which remains unique in the history of the race.

Rondeau finished second in the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the American Preston Henn's race team, running with John Paul, Jr. in a Porsche 956B.

Jean Rotrou

He spent much time at Le Mans with his patron, de Belin, who was one of the opponents of Corneille in the quarrel over Le Cid.

Juan Zanelli

In a Bugatti he won the 1929 and 1930 Bugatti GP at Le Mans, finished 8th in Alessandria in 1929 and 2nd in 1930, 2nd at the 1929 Marne GP and 3rd at the 1930 French GP at Pau.

Kenneth Lockwood

He was mobilized in August 1939 and trained at Yeovil before being posted to Le Mans, commanding a company of the 1st/6th Battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment.

Léon Bollée Automobiles

Léon Bollée Automobiles was a French company founded by Léon Bollée in Le Mans to build a first vehicle called "Voiturette".

Liborius of Le Mans

Liborius of Le Mans (c. 348–397) was the second Bishop of Le Mans.

Lotus Eleven

Several class victories at Le Mans and Sebring followed, and the Eleven became Lotus' most successful race car design.

Louis Rossi

Louis Rossi (born 23 June 1989 in Le Mans) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2012 French Grand Prix in the Moto3 class.

Marchy Lee

Upon winning the championship, he received a scholarship to join the La Filière racing school in Le Mans, France to continue his development.

Marco Melandri

Melandri finished on the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Le Mans – at this point he and works rider Dani Pedrosa were the only Honda riders with multiple podiums.

Maria Caterina Brignole

It was discovered that she had managed to cross into France and had travelled all the way to Le Mans to the southwest of Paris where she had taken refuge in a nearby convent.

Maserati Tipo 151

At Le Mans in 1962 the Johnny Simone car was in the Maserati France colours of red body with a tri-stripe whilst the Cunningham team cars had a white body with two blue stripes.

Michael Murchison

His major event credits include the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Open Road Tour, the 2002 World Cup Soccer Qualifier games, Manchester United exhibition games, Crowded House -- Farewell to the World concert, Le Mans, Race of the Century, the Garma Festival, Noosa Film Festival and Rock the Millennium—Sydney New Year's Eve 1999.

MMArena

The arena is located inside what is the Circuit de la Sarthe, home of the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, and adjacent the first right kink on the Mulsanne Straight.

Neal Henry Gillespie

In 1863 he was called to the mother-house of the congregation at Le Mans, France, where he remained until 1866.

Nissan R391

Later in 1999 the R391 would race again, this time at the invitational Fuji 1000km event which was backed by the Le Mans ruling body, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).

At the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nissan planned to enter two R391s along with a third Courage C52 with the older VRH35L motor.

Although Nissan was able to gain automatic entry to the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans with their win at Fuji, Nissan officials decided that the motorsports program was no longer worth the cost, especially with Nissan attempting to restructure itself under new leader Carlos Ghosn.

Nobuaki Katayama

Through the 1990s, Katayama worked in Europe as an executive in Toyota's Motorsports division, where he assisted in World Rally Championship, Sports Car World Championship, and Le Mans racing.

Noel Aubert de Versé

Noel Aubert de Versé (c. 1642/5, Le Mans – 1714) was a French advocate of religious toleration, whose own religious position oscillated between Unitarian Protestantism and an Oratorian-influenced Catholicism.

North American Racing Team

NART raced at only the world's premier races, such as the 24 Hours of Daytona in Florida and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France.

OAK Racing

Le Mans 24 Hours: 2nd and 4th in LMP2, 7th and 9th overall - Pescarolo-Judd

At the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, OAK Racing took the LMP2 class victory with a 1-2 finish (7th and 8th overall).

Paul Scarron

According to this story, Scarron, while residing at Le Mans, once tarred and feathered himself as a carnival freak and was obliged to hide in a swamp to escape the wrath of the townspeople.

Paul Travis

A few months later he was sent to France, to a base outside Le Mans, where he trained as a machine gunner.

Porsche 910

In Le Mans, the new Porsche 907 "long tails" were already entered, finishing 5th in front of a 910 and two 906.

Race Driver: Grid

Real road courses such as Le Mans and Spa Francorchamps are included, while some defunct street circuits such as the Detroit street circuit in Michigan and the Washington D.C. street circuit are also included.

Raider Snowmobiles

Leisure Vehicles, Inc. was founded by Bob Bracey, who had assisted in developing the legendary Ford Mark IV Le Mans race cars a few years earlier, while an engineer at Kar Kraft.

SNCF Class BB 9200

The regular services of the remaining BB 9200 train engines are inter-regional trains between Paris Montparnasse and Le Mans, between Paris Austerlitz and Tours and between Paris Gare de Lyon, Dijon and Lyon.

Sonya Butt

On 28 May 1944, Sonya was parachuted into the department of the Sarthe in the area of Le Mans to work as a Courier, under the codename "Blanche".

Stéphane Proulx

He finished 5th at Le Mans and finished the season 17th in the Championship with 2 points.

The Maids

Genet loosely based his play on the infamous Papin sisters, Lea and Christine, who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, France, in 1933, although the play is not the story of the Papin sisters as such.

Thomas Harrington Ltd

The success of the Alpine programme including an encouraging performance at Le Mans led Commer to entrust Harrington with the PSV conversion of the 1500 van, which included a complete one piece fibreglass roof panel of clerestory outline.

Transport Plan

On 6 March 1944, Charles Portal ordered attacks on the marshalling yards at Trappes, Aulnoye, Le Mans, Amiens, Lougeau, Courtrai and Laon.

TrueScale Miniatures

In early 2008, TrueScale made its entrance into the diecast model car market when it began producing its own line of 1:18 scale replicas, beginning with the 1980 Porsche 935 K3 Le Mans Apple Computer car.

Ulmus 'Australis'

Henry also mentions specimens growing in botanical gardens at Le Mans and Bordeaux, and others growing as far south as Spizza (now Sutomore) in Dalmatia (Montenegro).

Victor Hémery

Involved with racing all his life, Victor Hémery died at Le Mans in 1950 at the age of seventy-three.


2010 24 Hours of Le Mans

Timo Bernhard became the first driver since 2005 to complete the Triple Crown of endurance racing (winning the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring); Marco Werner (ran aboard a Highcroft Racing LMP2 car this year) was the last one to do such feat (won the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona and completed in 2005 with wins in both Sebring and Le Mans).

Charles Bernardy

From 1775 to 1780, the troop put on shows at Amiens, Cambrai, Strasbourg, Colmar, Paris (at the "théâtre des Petits Comédiens du Bois de Boulogne"), Angers, Le Mans, Aix-en-Provence, Toulon, Marseille, Dijon, Passy, Saint-Quentin, Antwerp and Brussels.

Covenham Priory

The manor, which formed the endowment of the priory of Covenham, was granted in 1082 by William the Conqueror to the abbot and convent of Saint Calais, Le Mans, at the request of the Bishop of Durham a former a monk of that abbey.

Ulrich Bez

While at Porsche, he led Vehicle Research and Development and motor sport programmes in Formula One and World Endurance Championship in Indianapolis and Le Mans.