86 Stats in 86 Days Until 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans – Day 10, Length of Circuit (March 31, 2018)

The 86th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans is 77 days away! This is the 10th day of the 86 Stats in 86 Days Until the 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Each day from now until the Friday before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we’ll post a list of stats related to the race. Some are well-known statistics, while others are a little more in-depth.

Here is a look at the lengths of the circuit since the first race in 1923. The original layout for the 24-hour race was 17.262 kilometers, with the current layout at 13.629 kilometers. There have been 13 different course lengths in the 85-race history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

24 Hours of Le Mans, Length of Circuit (in chronological order)

- 17.262 kilometers: 6 races (1923-1928)

- 16.340 kilometers: 3 races (1929-1931)

- 13.492 kilometers: 14 races (1932-1955; no races in 1936 and from 1940-1948)

- 13.461 kilometers: 12 races (1956-1967)

- 13.469 kilometers: 4 races (1968-1971)

- 13.640 kilometers: 7 races (1972-1978)

- 13.626 kilometers: 7 races (1979-1985)

- 13.528 kilometers: 1 race (1986)

- 13.535 kilometers: 3 races (1987-1989)

- 13.600 kilometers: 7 races (1990-1996)

- 13.605 kilometers: 5 races (1997-2001)

- 13.650 kilometers: 5 races (2002-2006)

- 13.629 kilometers: 11 races (2007-2017)

Notes of Interest

- The 13.492-kilometer course utilized between 1932 and 1955 was used in a record 14 races. It was one of three course lengths used in at least 11 races or more (13.461-kilometer course between 1956-1967, 12 times; and current 13.629-kilometer layout from 2007 until present). The 1955 race was the last to use the 13.492-kilometer layout, following the tragedy in that race.

- The 13.528-kilometer course, the eighth different layout, was used only once, in the 1986 race. The winners were Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Al Holbert.

- Since the 50th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1982 (35 races), a total of seven different layouts have been used. In the first 50 years, a total of seven layouts were used.

- Tom Kristensen (nine wins) and Jacky Ickx (six wins), the two drivers with the most victories in the race, have each won on three different layouts. Kristensen has won on the 13.605-, 13.650- and 13.629-kilometer layouts, while Ickx has won on lengths of 13.469, 13.460 and 13.626 kilometers. Derek Bell, tied for third all-time in victories (five), has won on a total of four different lengths: 13.640, 13.626, 13.528 and 13.535 kilometers.

- Porsche’s 19 victories have come on seven of the 13 courses.

- A driver from the United Kingdom has won at least once on all 13 of the course lengths.