A love letter to 24-hour racing

It’s simply the best form of motorsport on the planet.

Taken at Virage du Arnage in 2016. From left-right: Ford GT, Larbré Competition Corvette, Michael Shank Racing Ligier.

If you know me at all, you will know that motorsport and racing is something I am extremely passionate about. Over the years I have got more and more into alternative forms of racing, other than F1, which I have watched with my father (hi Dad!) since I was small. While I’ve watched a lot; bike racing, rally, IndyCar and Formula E to name a few, and still watch these regularly, the one I have really fallen in love with is endurance and sportscars, and in particular 24 hour racing.

There is something incredibly special about endurance racing. It pushes mind and body much, much more than other motorsports, and, for me, is a lot more trying to watch. You have to focus to know what’s going on. Whereas with F1, I can generally dip in and out and keep track of what’s happening, with an endurance race I have to fully concentrate and pay attention to understand the story of the race.

I’ve been watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend, and it just reaffirmed my love for this form of racing. As I’ve had other commitments, such as work and university, I’ve not been able to watch a top-flight 24 hour sportscar race on TV for quite a while, as I go to Le Mans each year (which definitely tops watching it on TV, but it does mean you miss out on an awful lot) and was not able to watch Spa 24 Hours. But watching the Rolex 24 has just made me realise how much I love this. I’m definitely going to try and get into the premier IMSA series this year, seeing as how WEC might be a little sparse, with a lack of LMP1 and GTE-AM entrants, and LMP2 in its first year of the new rules will naturally see less teams willing to take the plunge.

Talking of Le Mans, that is the king of endurance racing. Having been twice, and going again for the third consecutive time in 2017, it is my favourite time of year; as the famous Radio Le Mans adverts go, “If it’s got wheels and they keep score,” and “If your year runs from June to, well, June…”. There is something incredibly special about walking the roads between Porsche Curves and the main circuit complex at 3am, carrying a folding chair, Radio Le Mans in your ears, and race cars going at full pelt, all through the night. There’s simply nothing else like it.

Whoever came up with the crazy, ridiculous idea of a race lasting all day and all night was a complete, utter, crazy genius. It was probably someone French, for the reasons listed in the above paragraph. There’s another race this coming weekend, the Bathurst 12 Hours, which I aim to watch all of. Racing up and down a mountain in, at least for the first hour or so, pitch blackness is another one of those crazy ideas that makes for some of the best racing on the planet.

As Nismo’s slogan used to say: eat, sleep, race, repeat. Even more so in a 24 hour race.