The weekend of June 13-15 is shaping up to be a busy one. NASCAR will be in Mexico City, while Formula 1 is in Montreal and IndyCar in the St. Louis area. Meanwhile, it’s shaping up to be the biggest weekend of the year in sports car racing.
Le Mans TV Schedule
FIA World Endurance Championship Free Practice No. 3: 8:45 a.m. ET Thursday on Max
FIA World Endurance Championship Hyperpole: 2 p.m. ET Thursday on Max
FIA World Endurance Championship Free Practice No. 4: 5 p.m. ET Thursday on Max
FIA World Endurance Championship Warmup: 6 a.m. ET Saturday on Max
FIA World Endurance Championship 24 Hours of Le Mans: 10 a.m. ET Saturday on Motor Trend/Max
This weekend is the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the biggest sports car race in the world. The event has run previously as an invite-only race. Now, it’s the marquee event for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The first day of on-track activity is already complete. Teams had their first practice session Wednesday morning. Qualifying was Wednesday afternoon and the first night practice session was Wednesday evening.
Free Practice No. 3 is next up. It is scheduled for three hours and will start at 8:45 a.m. E. Coverage of the session will start at 8:30 a.m. ET on Max.
The full starting lineup will be determined from the results of Wednesday’s qualifying session and the two-phase Hyperpole session. Hyperpole No. 1 will see the top 15 Hypercars from Wednesday run in one 20-minute session while the top 12 LMP2 and top 12 LMGT3 teams will run in another 20-minute session. The top 10 Hypercars and top-eight LMP2 and LMGT3 cars will advance to Hyperpole No. 2. Those who don’t advance will line up in the positions from Hyperpole No. 1.
The remaining cars will enter Hyperpole No. 2, a 15-minute session. The fastest car in the Hypercar session will win the overall pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Coverage of Hyperpole is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m. ET Thursday on Max. The session will begin at 2 p.m. ET.
After Hyperpole, there is one more night practice session for drivers to get their mandatory time in the dark prior to the race. That session is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Thursday and will stream live on Max.
Race day on Saturday will start with a short warmup session, designed solely to check that everything is good to go for the race. Coverage of the 15-minute session will begin at 5:45 a.m. ET on Max with the green flag at 6 a.m. ET.
Coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be substantial. There will be 26 hours straight of live coverage starting at 9 a.m. ET Saturday on both Motor Trend and Max. Max’s coverage will be commercial-free.
The green flag is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET. Coverage is scheduled to run to 11 a.m. ET Sunday on Motor Trend. If there is anything beyond that point, it would be exclusive to Max.
What’s the Weather Looking Like?
The weather at Le Mans historically can be all over the place. It can be cool and rainy, temperate, or hot and humid. For this year, it’s going to be a mix.
Thursday’s forecast is for cloudy skies with a 50% chance of thunderstorms, especially early in the day. The sun will come out in the afternoon. The forecast high is 84°. Hyperpole is scheduled for 8 p.m. local time, so it will be a little cooler than that. Keep in mind that Le Mans is at a more northerly latitude than any location in the Lower 48, so there is more daylight there (sunset is roughly 10 p.m.).
Friday is an off-day for WEC teams, but will see support races for Mustang Challenge and Porsche Sprint Challenge. They’ll have to contend with warm and humid conditions with a chance of thunderstorms with a high around 87°.
Saturday is the start of the race. The drivers and thousands of fans that will be in attendance could have to contend with some showers in the morning. By race time (a 4 p.m. local start), it should be dry and warm with a high temperature around 77°.
Overnight should be dry, but cool with low temperatures around 55°. Sunday will be similar to Saturday afternoon with a high around 77°.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.