What makes Le Mans so special compared to other famous races?
First of all, the exclusivity. You can only be on the Le Mans circuit once a year. There is only one race - the 24 Hours of Le Mans. You can only win, lose, or finish — or get the experience — once a year. It’s also the fastest endurance race in the world. And I think these two things make it, for me — I’m biased — the best race in the world, in terms of the focus, the commitment, the teamwork, and also the camaraderie.

What is your most intense Le Mans memory?
A stressful one was in 2001. I was more or less sleeping when I was asked to wake up earlier because I had to get in the car as we switched from wet tyres to intermediates. So already stressed, not properly warmed up, getting into the car on a damp circuit with only a few dry spots — the next 20–25 minutes were like hell. I could have crashed many times. Then, afterwards, it became okay. In the next stint I was flying — I was the only one with temperature in the intermediates. So it goes from one extreme to the other in terms of performance: struggling, wrong tyres too early, then getting through it, not crashing, getting temperature into the tyres, and then flying and gaining more than I initially lost. That’s a positive memory!

How has Le Mans changed compared to your racing days?

I think it’s fantastic what Ferrari is doing now. When you look back, there hasn’t been another brand winning for a period — Porsche, then Toyota, and now Ferrari the last years. Today’s hypercars are safer, stronger, and more controlled. In my time with LMP1, the cars were faster and the regulations more open, we were always flirting with the limits aerodynamically. Today the cars are heavier but safer, and the competition is closer. There are many brands again, which is good. Le Mans itself hasn’t changed — it’s still once a year, very exclusive. But the circuit is much safer today, which is very good. And there is more track time now — 30 years ago you only had a few hours of practice and qualifying, which added to that exclusivity.

Which historic Le Mans car would you still like to drive?
I’ve driven a lot — GT40, Bentleys, very early Le Mans cars, Ferraris. But I haven’t driven the Porsche 956 or 962 yet, and that would be nice. Also, the Jaguar Group C cars. From my own time, I love the Audi R8 — five wins with that car. But the most elegant car of all is the Bentley Speed 8. It’s beautiful.

How difficult is traffic at Le Mans?
With 62 cars, you pass between 7 and 14 cars per lap, so you are negotiating traffic all the time. If you don’t like passing, Le Mans is not for you. If you want to pass every car at every opportunity, Le Mans is also not for you. You need to manage it — fuel, tyres, brakes — and cut through traffic without too much adrenaline. Anger can become danger. Sometimes it’s better to wait. If you see two or three GT cars fighting, you wait and then pass cleanly. It’s a mental game, and it’s key to being a good endurance driver.

Why are so many manufacturers joining Le Mans now?
It’s a golden era of sports car racing. With the cooperation between IMSA and WEC, manufacturers can use one car across championships. That attracts a lot of brands, even with smaller budgets. And when you walk around Le Mans, you see the investment — facilities, fan experience, visibility. It’s a huge global platform. The competition is very close, and everyone wants to win.

Is night or day driving harder?
Night is certainly more difficult. The speeds are very high, visibility is lower, and it requires more focus and more physical effort. If you add rain and the wrong tyres, it becomes extremely challenging. But daytime can also be tough with high temperatures and tyre degradation. When passing offline, you pick up rubber, which can affect grip and make the car unstable. So there are different challenges, but overall, night driving is tougher.

HOW TO WATCH

The iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans begins on Saturday 13 June at 16:00 CEST, with build-up from 15:00 CEST. Every moment of the 24-hour race will be shown live on Eurosport, TNT Sports and HBO Max for fans across Europe. Laura Winter and Rachel Stringer will be joined by experts Tom Kristensen, Oli Webb and two-time Le Mans podium finisher Alex Brundle.

In addition to coverage across Europe, the full TNT Sports broadcast will also air in the US on HBO Max and truTV, with truTV taking the European-produced coverage for the first time.

The race forms part of WBD’s Summer of Sport, delivering more than 4,000 hours of live action on its channels and platforms across TNT Sports, Eurosport and HBO Max to fans across Europe.