Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans)
Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans) at a glance
- Location
- Le Mans, Sarthe
- Type
- road course & oval
- Length
- 13.626 km (8.467 mi)
- Turns
- 38
- Direction
- clockwise
- Surface
- asphalt (a mix of dedicated racetrack and closed public roads)
- Opened
- 1923
- Owner
- Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) / Ville du Mans
- Capacity
- 262,000
- Phone
- +33 2 43 40 24 24
- Website
- 24h-lemans.com/en
Track map and layout
The full Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans is a hybrid of permanent racetrack and closed public roads through the Sarthe countryside, run clockwise over 13.626 km (8.467 mi) and 38 corners in its current configuration. Cars leave the pit straight, cross the Dunlop bridge and drop through the Dunlop Curve and Esses, then pick up the public D338 road at Tertre Rouge onto the Mulsanne Straight, once 6 km of flat-out running before two chicanes were added in 1990. The lap continues through Mulsanne Corner, Indianapolis and Arnage, sweeps back through the fast Porsche Curves, and rejoins the permanent Bugatti Circuit infrastructure for the Ford Chicanes before the finish line. Roughly a third of the lap uses the dedicated Bugatti Circuit, a shorter 4.185 km permanent track used on its own for club racing, MotoGP and Le Mans Classic support events.
Named corners and sections
- Tertre Rouge. A fast, banked right-hander where the track leaves the permanent circuit and joins the public D338 road onto the Mulsanne Straight; a key overtaking and slipstreaming point.
- Mulsanne Corner. A tight right-angle right-hander that ends the long Mulsanne Straight; historically a major braking zone and a common site of late-race incidents.
- Indianapolis. A fast, blind, downhill left-right combination taken at high speed shortly after Mulsanne Corner.
- Arnage. A slow, tight right-hander named after the neighbouring village; one of the slowest points on the lap and a classic passing zone.
- Porsche Curves. A fast, undulating sequence of esses named for Porsche's dominance there in period; rewards commitment and precision.
- Ford Chicanes. A pair of chicanes just before the finish line, added to slow cars before the pit straight; the last real overtaking chance of the lap.
Configurations
| Layout | Length | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit des 24 Heures (full circuit) | 13.62 km | used only for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Heures Motos; combines permanent track with closed public roads |
| Bugatti Circuit | 4.18 km | permanent 4.185 km track used year-round for club racing, track days, French motorcycle GP and Le Mans Classic support races |
Events and race weekends
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, run every June on the full circuit, is the centrepiece of the World Endurance Championship and the oldest active sports car endurance race in the world, first held in 1923. The 24 Heures Motos, a 24-hour motorcycle endurance race, uses the same full circuit layout in April. On the shorter permanent Bugatti Circuit, the French motorcycle Grand Prix has been part of the MotoGP calendar for decades, and the Le Mans Classic fills the full circuit with historic racing and a huge trackside camping village.
| Event | Series | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | FIA World Endurance Championship | June | run on the full 13.626 km circuit since 1923 (with wartime and early gaps) |
| 24 Heures Motos | FIM Endurance World Championship | April | 24-hour motorcycle race on the full circuit, run since 1978 |
| French motorcycle Grand Prix | MotoGP | May | run on the permanent Bugatti Circuit |
| 24 Heures Camions | European Truck Racing Championship | September | 24-hour truck race on the full circuit |
| Le Mans Classic | Historic racing | June/July | Historic meeting on the full circuit; now annual - the Le Mans Classic Legend (newer cars) ran in 2026 and the traditional edition returns 1-4 July 2027 |
Getting there and parking
Le Mans sits about 210 km southwest of Paris. The TGV from Paris Montparnasse takes as little as 55 minutes to Gare du Mans, from where tram line T1 runs directly to the circuit's east entrance, making rail the easiest way in for the 24 Hours weekend when roads are gridlocked. Paris Charles de Gaulle is the main international gateway, with a direct TGV link to Le Mans in around 90 minutes; Nantes and Rennes airports are each roughly two hours away by train or road.
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) · about 150 min drive
- Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) · about 110 min drive
Parking
Large paid car parks surround the circuit for race weekends; on-site parking sells out and organisers recommend arriving early on the 24 Hours weekend given the traffic on approach roads.
Book TGV seats to Le Mans well in advance for the 24 Hours weekend, then use tram line T1 from Gare du Mans straight to the circuit's east entrance rather than driving in.
Hotels and camping near Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans)
Trackside camping is the traditional way to attend the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with official campsites around the circuit ranging from basic pitches to serviced areas, and the best spots selling out months ahead. Visitors who prefer a bed base themselves in the city of Le Mans itself, a short tram ride from the circuit, or in surrounding towns such as Arnage and Mulsanne; hotel rates across the region rise sharply and rooms become scarce for 24 Hours week.
Where to look
Le Mans city centre offers the widest hotel choice with tram access to the circuit; smaller options exist in Arnage, Mulsanne and surrounding Sarthe villages, all of which fill up and raise prices well ahead of the 24 Hours and Le Mans Classic weekends.
Camping
The ACO operates extensive official campsites around the circuit, open from the Friday before race week; areas vary from quiet family camping to the notoriously lively Bleu Sud and Houx zones. Many fans treat the campsite itself as part of the event.
RV
Dedicated caravan and motorhome areas are available within the official campsite zones, bookable through the 24h-lemans.com ticketing site alongside race tickets.
Track days, driving experiences and lap records
The permanent Bugatti Circuit hosts open-pit-lane track days for cars and bikes throughout the year, run by both the ACO's own Club ACO programme and third-party organisers. Format is typically open-pitlane, meaning drivers can join and leave the circuit at will rather than running in fixed sighting-lap groups, with up to around thirty cars on track at once. The full 24-hour circuit itself is never opened for public track days; the Bugatti Circuit is the only part of Le Mans the public can drive.
Who runs days here
Typical cost: Club ACO Bugatti Circuit track days from around €390 per driver; third-party open-pitlane days typically €250-€400
Lap records
| Category | Time | Driver | Car | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Mans Prototype (full circuit, race lap) | 3:17.297 | Mike Conway | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | 2019 |
| Pole position (full circuit) | 3:14.791 | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | 2017 |
Spectator guide
Grandstands and general-access banking line the pit straight, Dunlop Curve and Ford Chicanes near the start-finish area, while huge public viewing areas along the Mulsanne Straight, Mulsanne Corner and Arnage let fans camp trackside and watch the cars pass through the night. Big screens and radio commentary around the circuit help fans on the public roadside sections follow the wider 24-hour race.
Seating
Grandstands are concentrated near the pits, start-finish straight, Dunlop bridge and the Ford Chicanes; general admission covers vast areas along the public-road sections including the Mulsanne Straight.
Best places to watch
The Dunlop Curve and Esses give a dramatic view of cars cresting the bridge, while Tertre Rouge and the public-road sections let fans get close to the action for free with a general admission ticket.
Weather
- June (24 Hours): typically mild, highs around 20-23°C by day with cool nights; rain is a real possibility across the 24 hours
History of Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans)
Birthplace of endurance racing
The Circuit de la Sarthe was created in 1923 by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest to host a new kind of motor race: a 24-hour test of speed and reliability run overnight on closed public roads south of Le Mans, mixed with dedicated racing sections. The inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans that May set the template the event still follows a century later, and the race ran almost every year from 1923, pausing only for the Second World War and a handful of other interruptions.
The Mulsanne era and the 1955 disaster
Through the 1950s to 1980s the circuit's defining feature was the Mulsanne Straight, nearly six kilometres of flat-out running that let cars exceed 400 km/h by the late 1980s. The race's darkest moment came in 1955, when a crash involving a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR killed driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators, the deadliest accident in motorsport history, prompting major safety reforms across the sport. Two chicanes were added to the Mulsanne Straight in 1990 after a series of dangerously fast speed trap readings, permanently changing the character of the lap.
A permanent circuit and a modern icon
The Bugatti Circuit, a shorter permanent track sharing roughly a third of its layout with the full circuit, opened in 1965 and now hosts the French motorcycle Grand Prix, club racing and public track days year-round, giving Le Mans a life beyond its single annual showcase. The full circuit has been progressively reshaped for safety, most recently in 2018, while retaining its identity as a hybrid of purpose-built track and public road. Today the 24 Hours of Le Mans anchors the FIA World Endurance Championship, draws crowds regularly exceeding 250,000 across race week, and remains the race every major manufacturer and driver wants to win, alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix as part of motorsport's unofficial Triple Crown.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Le Mans circuit?+
The full Circuit des 24 Heures used for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is 13.626 km (8.467 miles) with 38 corners; the separate permanent Bugatti Circuit used for other events is 4.185 km (2.600 miles).
Can the public drive the Le Mans circuit?+
Only the permanent Bugatti Circuit is open to the public for track days, run by Club ACO and third-party organisers; the full 24-hour circuit, which uses closed public roads, is never available for public track days.
What is the lap record at Le Mans?+
The race lap record on the current full-circuit layout is 3:17.297, set by Mike Conway in a Toyota TS050 Hybrid in 2019; the outright pole lap of 3:14.791 was set by Kamui Kobayashi in 2017.
Is camping available at the 24 Hours of Le Mans?+
Yes. The ACO runs extensive official campsites around the circuit that are central to the event's culture, and popular pitches sell out months in advance of race week.
How do you get to Le Mans without a car?+
The TGV from Paris Montparnasse reaches Gare du Mans in about 55 minutes, and tram line T1 runs directly from the station to the circuit's east entrance.
Does Le Mans host MotoGP?+
Yes, the French motorcycle Grand Prix is held on the permanent Bugatti Circuit, separate from the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race which uses the full circuit.
Other tracks nearby
- Circuit des Tonnes (Moto Club Brou) · 71 km · motocross
- Circuit de la Chambre au Loup (Moto Club Iffendic) · 171 km · motocross
- Paris Street Circuit · 185 km · historic circuit (defunct)
- Circuit du Val de Vienne · 196 km · road course
- Circuit de La Châtre - Maurice Tissandier · 200 km · road course
- Circuit du Puy de Poursay · 231 km · motocross
Facts checked against 6 sources including the official circuit website. Last reviewed 2026-09-10.