24 Hours of Le Mans Resources

Whilst some of theRACINGLINE.net staff are setting off to Le Mans today, some of us are left slumming at home. Fortunately, we live in the age of the internet and the amount of resources that are available to us at home now is almost overwhelming. If you’re not lucky enough to be there then don’t worry, we’ll go through everything you need to enjoy the race.

Streaming Details

Before we begin – if you’re in the United States, then skip to the last paragraphs of this section. Most of the information here does not apply to the United States.

The easiest way of watching the event is via the official FIA WEC website. For approximately £10, the entire race will be streamed live and be made available on both the website and the app. Although the FIA WEC website may not be the best, the streaming system is relatively modern – this means it works on most devices. Load the site on any device that has a browser and the stream should work – so for those with games consoles, it’s a very easy way of getting the stream on your TV.

The second way of viewing is via the Eurosport Player. The subscription is £10 a month and must be cancelled after the race to avoid further charges. However, Eurosport offers coverage of all the sessions during the build up and the full race. It often jumps between Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, but it’s all there.

If you find yourself needing to take a break from the screen but still keep up with the race, Radio Le Mans will, of course, broadcast every session (and more) for free on their website.

The final way of watching the race is possibly the most fiddly, but also, in this writers opinion, the best way. Eurosport player provides a ‘natural sounds’ option which has no commercial breaks and no commentators. Meanwhile, Radio Le Mans provides a Studio Vision camera (usually provided on Nick Damans RC Racing YouTube Channel). This studio vision camera has a race timer in the corner, allowing you to sync the race video to the RLM commentary to the nearest second.

A little fiddly, but it provides uninterrupted coverage of the whole event, with Radio Le Mans commentary. What else do you need? Live timing? We’ll get to that.

For the Americans among us, life is a little harder. Due to one of those “nobody wins” deals, the FIA races, including Le Mans, will be shown on Velocity. Being a Brit, I’m unfamiliar with American cable packages – so you’ll have to find out what that means for you. I wish it was easier…

Live Timing

Like many series, the official FIA WEC site has its own Live Timing system. Also like many series, the official Live Timing system isn’t really that good. It’s functional, but the use of space isn’t the best and it prioritises pictures of cars over data.

theRACINGLINE.net uses a Live Timing system provided by James Muscat. The system provides a lot more data than other systems, including split times, driver stint lengths and much more. If you can measure it, it’s in this system. There’s so much data that depending on your monitor size and resolution, you may have to scroll horizontally to get it all. Don’t say we’re not kind to you.

If you fancy an additional level of obsessiveness that is generally only reserved for sportscar fans, the tRL Live Timing system allows you to delay the Live Timing so it matches up with the video you’re watching. So now you can sync the Eurosport natural sounds, the RLM commentary, and the tRL TV Live Timing system all together.

Spotter Guide & Entry List

The FIA WEC now provides it’s own in-house spotter guide. The quality of the visuals is fantastic, and it does provide most of the information you need – numbers, drivers, tyres etc.

If you’re a no-fuss kind of guy and you just want it in text format, the entry list is available here. Whilst it does miss out the team and driver twitter handles, it does add in the FIA driver rankings, which can be quite useful.

Session Results

Yes, you’ll be able to find each session results on the FIA WEC site, but like the Live Timing, it isn’t always the best layout. If you want the best information and in a nice compact format, just go straight to the source – Alkamel Systems provides the timing and as many PDFs as you could possibly want. Adobe would be proud.

Predictions

And now for a bit of fun – some of the staff have given predictions for podiums in all 4 classes. So we’ll find out if we know as much as we think we do. Leave your predictions in the comments for a bit of fun!