This year, the square that is associated with the centre of the town in the hearts of all the Le Mans citizens will host scrutineering and admin.checks for the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours. The scrutineering will take place this year on the Place de la République. Because of the major works on the Place des Jacobins with the construction of the Espace Culturel des Jacobins and the installation of the second tramway line, the famous scrutineering zone will not be available.
The ACO is, of course, delighted that scrutineering will again take place in the town centre. Beyond the sporting importance of this technical operation, it also provides free entertainment that the spectators love – starting with the Le Mans citizens who flock to the square in large numbers to see the cars and drivers entered for the famous endurance race.
This agreement was reached at a late date because of several technical problems that the town planning engineers had to solve starting with the cramped nature of the square, the loads imposed on the central flagstones, the problems linked to the security of spectators near the tramway stop, the circulation of vehicles and the public, etc.
As in 2010-11, scrutineering will kick off the Le Mans 24-Hours week starting on Sunday 10th and Monday 11th June (14h30 to 19h00 and 10h00 and 18h00 respectively).
Some history
The place for scrutineering the cars before the event has moved around quite a lot since the first Le Mans 24 Hours in 1923. For the pre-war events scrutineering started in rue du Porc-Epic, which then became rue Victor Bonhommet at the corner of Place de la République some 40m from the former ACO headquarters It then moved to the Halle aux Toiles (a reminder of the Sarthe’s rich past in linen and hemp making) on the square of the same name (now Place d’Alger) in the town centre.
In 1949, scrutineering took place in the caserne Cavignac (boulevard Paixhans), and after being held in the old tramway station rue Paul Courboulay between 1951 and 1953, it was held on the Quinconce des Jacobins behind the municipal theatre from 1954 to 1960.
In 1961, it took place at the circuit on the left-hand side of the track before the grandstands, and then on the right-hand side after the construction of the Ford chicane. In 1976 it returned to the Quinconce des Jacobins. In 2010-2011 it took place on the Place des Jacobins from which it was again ousted because of the tramway works. The wheel has turned the full circle as it is back on Place de la République, the emblematic square of the centre of Le Mans, where scrutineering for the 80th event will take place.
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Practical information The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours80th event16-17 June 2012 3rd round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship
ProgrammeSunday 3rd June: 2012 Le Mans Test Day, 09h00 – 13h00, 14h00 – 18h00. Sunday 10th June: Scrutineering and admin. checks (14h30 – 19h00)Monday 11th June: Scrutineering and admin. checks (10h00 – 18h00).Wednesday 13th June: Free practice 16h00 - 20h00, qualifying 22h00 - midnight. Thursday 14th June: qualifying 19h00 - 21h00 and 22h00 - midnight. Saturday 16th June: Start of the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours at 15h00.
TicketsLe Mans 24 HoursGeneral enclosure ticket: 69 eurosFree for young people born after 17th June 1996 accompanied by an adult.
Test dayGeneral enclosure ticket: 15 eurosFree for young people born after 17th June 1996 accompanied by an adult.
