This weekend is one of the biggest races of the year: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some lucky folks will actually be at Circuit de la Sarthe, while most of us will have to live with watching it from afar. If you’re in this position, here are all the tools you’ll need to follow the action lap by lap.
Television/Streaming (U.S.)
Arguably the most immersive way to see every turn and hear every tire squeal, SPEED Channel in the United States will be carrying coverage throughout the race through a combination of standard TV broadcast and internet streaming. Here’s the breakdown of the coverage schedule:
Sat. 8:30-11:30am ET: SPEED Channel
Sat. 11:30am-3:30pm ET: SPEED.com
Sat. 3:30-8pm ET: SPEED Channel
Sat. 8-11pm ET: SPEED.com
Sat. 11pm-Sun. 9:30am ET: SPEED Channel
Between cable and Internet streaming you’ll be able to see the entire race, which is refreshing since endurance race coverage is often spotty at best. However, if you like getting perspectives from a variety of sources (I happen to be that kind of person) then there are a number of those.
Streaming (Global)
Luckily, there are other sources. Fast Lane Daily will be live streaming for the full 24 hours, starting at 8am ET. Details are available at their Le Mans page, or just watch the video below.
httpv://youtu.be/CCEITH7Szdg
If you want to see the race from the perspective of the drivers, a few of the teams are streaming from cameras inside the cockpits of their cars. Audi is streaming on their Audi Le Mans 24 page. For our French-speaking fans, Peugeot is covering it in French from their streaming page.
Wheelspin LIVE
While we aren’t doing our own coverage, we’ll be offering a variety of sources through our live page. In addition to streams you’ll be able to choose, the Wheelspin chat room will be available. Be sure to head on over to live.wheelspin.tv.
Radio
Radio Le Mans will be providing full 24 hour coverage on their audio stream. You can listen through your computer, mobile device or set top box from the TuneIn stream. If you happen to be at the race, you’ll be able to listen to RLM coverage on 91.2 MHz.
Twitter
While not the same experiences for the senses as audio or video, Twitter is a fantastic way to follow and discuss races like Le Mans. A number of accounts will be live tweeting the race, and discussion will be grouped into a couple of hashtags. Here are the ones we’ll be watching:
@BimmerMechanic (Tim Vincent from RoundelTable)
@SpeedSportLife
#LeMans
#LM24
#FLD
There very well may be other doing this that we’re unaware of, so let us know if you’ve got a favorite to follow. In order to follow the hashtags in a chat-like experience, we recommend using TweetChat.
Spotter Guide
Watching the race is exciting in itself, but to make it even better you’ll want to know who’s who. Grab a spotter guide to know all the cars, who their drivers are, what teams they’re with, etc. It will make your race experience a lot better.
Enjoy the race!
If there are any other resources we missed and should be included, leave a comment below or contact us.