Le Mans 2009: The greatest race of all

Officially the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours began Saturday, at 3pm. Unofficially, it started Monday last, in the Place des Jacobins, an imposing square which sits in the shadow of a cathedral, on the site of an old Gallo-Roman arena.

Last Monday, an annual transformation took hold. The square is the venue for pre-race scrutineering – a series of administrative checks to ensure cars conform to the rules and drivers are correctly licensed.

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At other races, such things take place behind closed doors at the track, but at Le Mans it's part of the show – an opportunity for the public to get within touching distance of the stars and cars that will illuminate the Circuit des 24 Heures.

When the race starts, to thunderous roars from the grandstands and frantic cheering from the campsites that swell the infield, 260,000 spectators will be enjoying themselves. The largest contingent is nearly always British: approximately 90,000 Brits go, which is as many as watch the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Le Mans is unique. It's an exhilarating, exhausting marathon of adrenalin and madness. Witness the faces of wide-eyed children trying to take in the cocktail of sight and sound as they stand trackside at midnight, or Philippe Alliot, three times a podium finisher, riding around the spectator areas on a rusty bicycle during the early hours soaking up the atmosphere.

The competing cars – split into two prototype classes (Audi and Peugeot have strong form with their diesel racers) and two GT classes (Aston Martin and Corvette have traditionally sweated it out together in GT1) – thunder through the night, while fans either keep going with the aid of vast quantities of beer, or rush out of the circuit to nearby hotels, or bed down under the stars in tents, to catch a couple of hours' sleep.

When they wake at dawn, to the smell of bacon frying on camping stoves, the race is right there, all around them; they have merely to rub the sleep from their eyes, stretch and stand to catch a glimpse of stars such as Sebastien Bourdais or Allan McNish racing flat out as if their lives depend on it.

And so it continues, until 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

The race began in 1923 as an endurance test. Drivers would travel through France in the same car they would race, and afterwards patch it up and drive it home. Now, it's a 24-hour sprint to the finish.

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