The unforgiving piece of road has claimed the lives of many competitors through crashes, amongst them Jo Bonnier and Jo Gartner, whilst in 1999 no less than three Mercedes (piloted by Mark Webber, Peter Dumbreck and… Mark Webber again) took off and flipped over of their own accord on the Mulsanne.
If it’s wet, then it’s even more tricky, as former WEC champion Anthony Davidson explains:
“Aquaplaning at high speed is tough, but it’s manageable,” he said. “It’s the lack of visibility that’s the biggest problem because of the speed differentials between the different classes. The spray is horrendous, to be honest.”
4. First Chicane
The first chicane, currently dubbed ‘Daytona Chicane’, was added along with its partner in 1990 when the FIA outlawed any straight longer than 1.2miles (2km).
The chicanes are roughly equidistant down the Mulsanne, but before you reach them, it’s likely most any competitor in an LMP2 or Hypercar will have to negotiate traffic in the form of GT cars.
Drivers have to keep an eye out for the 100m board to get their braking point right from 201mph (325km/h), and can afford to be greedy with the kerbs on both entry and exit, allowing them to get on the throttle early.
5. Second Chicane and kink
The second chicane is more open than the first, allowing the driver to turn into it in third gear, before shifting down to second in the middle phase.
The following kink can be taken flat in the dry – for those who dare, trying to get the best run they can down to the Mulsanne Corner.
6. Mulsanne
The Mulsanne corner and proceeding straight have been untouched since its inauguration in 1923. However, reprofiling has made the nature of the turn in rather different than what it once was.
“It’s much less bumpy than it used to be,” Le Mans class podium-finisher Alex Brundle told Motor Sport in 2022. “You can go straight over the inside kerb and roll the car through. Drive all the way along the exit kerb in qualifying; in the race, be more gentle.”
Stretching out for 1.3 miles, the following straight features three kinks, only the final of which is taken flat.
It’s a common misconception that the final jink is part of Indianapolis, but that is in fact just a single corner.
7. Indianapolis
Hypercars again hit over 200mph as they take right hander coming into Indianapolis, before coming right down to second gear and just 75mph (125km/h) before gunning down to Arnage.
The kerbs on the inside of Indianapolis are pretty sizeable. You want to miss them to avoid being spat into the barriers!
8. Arnage
No33 Alfa Romeo T33 of Claude Bourgoignie and Gustave Gosselin blasts into Arnage in 1969
Getty Images
Traffic can often dictate your pace in the short shoot down to Arnage. Hypercars dip down to 70mph as they first bear left to the kerb on the outside, before darting towards the apex on the inside, with the focus on getting good traction with the blast towards the Porsche Curves.
9. Porsche curves and into Karting
The long and winding Porsche Curves are one of the most recognisable parts of the La Sarthe circuit. Cars bounce as they enter the complex, and cars can often be sucked into the close barriers from kerbs.
Marbles build up off-line, another peril which builds up for drivers throughout the race.
10. Ford Chicane
“The trick is to get the car into the first part of the chicane by going right over the first left-hand kerb because there’s a nasty lip on the front of the right-hand kerb which can damage the car,” Brundle told Motor Sport.
“In the second part take a lot of kerb on the left, lean the car hard against the final kerb, bundle the car through and head for the start/finish line. In the race, you’ll take a step back from all those kerbs to give the suspension a chance.”
From there it’s back onto the start/finish straight – to do it all again.