It’s 4:18 AM Sunday morning and finally time to bed down for the night. Any hope of a quiet, restful sleep was dashed many hours ago since my pillow is maybe 500 meters from the still-live track.

Lying in bed, I can hear the cars being driven in anger, now more than 13 hours into this, my first-ever Le Mans experience. The distinct voices of most of the cars are still identifiable even now, back at the makeshift hotel.

That one that just went by is an Aston Martin; it’s V8 belting out a ferocious tenor pitch. The Ferraris are sopranos, screaming and hiccupping through a rapid-fire downshift before each corner. That most glorious one I just heard is the Corvette C7.R, its tune a classy baritone mixed with a good ol’ American twang.

I can also hear the guests on either side of my “room”, snoring. While I do appreciate Audi providing me a place in their “Mulsanne” Racing Hotel, it’s little more than a large warehouse space with temporary wall structures constructed of the flimsy materials used for low-cost office cubicle separation. Still, I’m eternally grateful for the tiny space – maybe 8’ x 6’ in size – to escape, if not the sounds, at least the constant visual stimulus of the great 24-hour race experience.

Plus, the surprisingly comfortable and very clean Racing Hotel is an infinitely better option than the alternative choices selected by thousands of other, much heartier attendees this weekend. Hundreds of tents are pitched in parking lots and fields surrounding the Circuit de la Sarthe. Meanwhile luckier fans stay in RVs, but the most ardent visitors are simply catching forty winks inside their cars, in old livestock stables or by simply lying on the ground wherever they grow weariest.

These most dedicated of souls here at Le Mans don’t hesitate to endure some minor discomfort for the privilege of simply being part of what is arguably the most important motor racing event of the year. Indeed, these fans – seemingly the majority of the greater than 250,000 attendees this year – consider braving the elements as part of the occasion. Surely most would agree anyway that their sacrifices are minor compared to the physical exhaustion and intense mental pressure the racing teams face for much more than just the 24 hours of the race itself.

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Plus, it doesn’t hurt that many of the fans are too inebriated by these wee hours to care much about mild discomfort.

By about the forth or fifth hour of the race, it began to properly sink in just how long 24 hours will feel doing one highly-focused thing like racing (or in my case, watching) Le Mans. Think about a normal full-day cycle, balancing sleep, eating, a full day at the office, an evening at home doing household chores and some leisure time watching TV all before going back to sleep for a full night’s rest.

Now imagine running a marathon combined while delivering your most intense work presentation, and while someone hurls boulders at you, and you’d probably begin to approach what Le Mans is like for the drivers and their crews. Exhilarating, exhausting, and potentially excruciating all at once.

But hours ago, before the race begins, one needs to get to the track. Despite an excellent rail system in France that speedily and efficiently cruises right into the town of Le Mans, it appears most fans choose to drive themselves. And really, who could blame them since the event is essentially Mecca for automotive enthusiasts.

No matter which way your automotive interests lean, there is assuredly something to drool over here. Ferraris and Porsches? Pfff, please, they’re as common as croissants in a pasterie. Try a pair of racing-prepped Mercedes 300 SL Gullwings. Or any number of vintage Aston Martins. Like the really obscure? How about not one, but two Marcos Mantas – a car I had previously only read about. Old American classic machines; fat, cigar-smoking guys driving new Rolls-Royces that cost more than my house; and race cars that somehow managed to get licensed for road use are all here, and they’re all splendid.

For those who love things powered by engines even half as passionately as I do, walking around the parking lots at Le Mans makes it worth the time and money to get there, never mind the racing. This does have the highly negative side effect of near-gridlocked traffic for hours leading up to, and following the race. (And those lines are only half as fearsome as the queues to the washroom facilities – go easy on the beer and coffee if you know what’s good for you).

But it is of course the racing that draws the owners of all this magnificent machinery here. And unlike some other high-level contemporary racing series that only turns left or features one, or if spectators are lucky, two passing maneuvers per race, endurance racing is ridiculously exciting.

How could it not be? After all, with a field of nearly 60 entries on the grid covering four different classes (and speed capabilities), mixing legendary professional drivers with some amateurs possessing more money than driving skill, things are bound to be lively. Passing happens on the straights, the turns and if it weren’t for rules, in the pits too, I’m sure, as GTE-class drivers scramble to outdo one another, and stay out of the path of the insanely fast LM P1 and LM P2-class machines.

It’s great to see mildly modified versions of real cars that you or I could theoretically purchase and park in our garages (should we win a lottery or have a successful IPO). Aside from the flamboyant livery, that Ferrari 458 Italia isn’t far removed from the ones spotted in the tonier neighbourhoods in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. If I were to buy a new Corvette, I think I’d order it in yellow just so I could look like the heroes who claimed a 10th GTE-class win at this year’s Le Mans.

When was the last time you saw a rear-wheel drive, V8-powered Toyota Camry, or a be-winged, open-wheeled Mercedes at your local coffee roaster place? Never? Exactly. Endurance racing rocks!

Sure the top tier Prototype cars, backed by the manufacturers are outlandish, but is there any better way for a car maker to flex its engineering and creative prowess (not to mention deep pockets) than to field one of these 1,000 horsepower beasts? What’s more, the technology experimented with here at Le Mans will make its way to street cars. Just look at this group:

Striving for its 14th win in 16 years, Audi updated their incredibly fast – and notably reliable – R18 with all-wheel drive and hybrid V6 diesel power.

Porsche’s entry is an all-new 919 Hybrid featuring a tiny V4 engine and electric motors driving energy to all four wheels.

Toyota’s efforts last year at Le Mans saw them post an impressively brisk pace (albeit for too few laps to win), and have returned with their V8 hybrid.

Meanwhile, after a 16-year hiatus, Nissan returns to Sarthe with a V6 hybrid powering the front wheels!

The stands, and frankly, almost any good viewing spot throughout Saturday afternoon are mobbed with people. Some are loud, some are intoxicated and some have questionable hygiene habits, and all of them want the same photo spots I do. So rather than spend hours frustratingly polluting my senses, I walked around the still-busy grounds to take in the rest of this giant spectacle.

Branded race team clothing, discarded parts from old racecars, and all sorts of food are up for grabs by vendors eager to collect Euros from you. Heck, you can buy a Rolex there, if you want – and I’m sure some of the dignitaries and VIPs being whisked around the grounds in black Audi A8s do so after flying in to the adjacent airport in a private jet.

Audi and Porsche both dominate the landscape from a branding perspective, with signage – and facilities – distributed liberally around the property. Where at other race venues I’ve attended, the big players might have an impressive tent to wine and dine guests, Audi played host in no fewer than four spaces that are more than a few levels of luxury beyond some mere tent! Multi-levels with entertainment, food, drink, and a constant stream of live updates and in-car telemetry from the race keep these places lively and interesting.

Into the evening, makeshift nightclubs play music with thumping beats that can’t compete with the sounds of the racecars still doing their laps. Long after the sun has finally set, the crowds thin out considerably. Some of the smaller vendors button up shop for a few hours, and the walkways and stands no longer cause you to forego personal space for forward mobility.

And this whole time – now ten hours – the crews in the paddock and on pit lane, and the drivers going wheel-to-wheel, have not relented in their furious quest to gather more laps. There’s a fresh excitement to it at this late hour – like I am among a special group who hid when the gates were locked up for the evening, and now a more private event is on. And the cars continue to scream past, again and again, with signature LED lighting giving away the faces of some of the machines seconds before their markings can be seen as they zip by.

It truly is an awesome sight and a fearsome thought to imagine driving at 300 km/h or more down the darkest parts of the track. For hours I walk around, stopping periodically to see if I’ve finally found the perfect vantage point to snap some award-winning photo, before moving on to the next. Walking through the paddock, it’s possible to peer into the cave-like garages containing some crews working furiously on repairs, while others fight off sleep waiting for their driver to return and give them something to do. Sill other garages are closed up tight, their team’s Le Mans dream being shelved for another year due to some unforeseen mishap earlier in the race.

Just then, in the pits, I see one of the Ferraris ignite before being quickly extinguished by an alarmed crew, but not before creating a literal (and massive) smokescreen. This is why it’s so late and yet I’m not in my bed – every time you think it might slow down or get boring, something new happens.

The whole experience is exhilarating, but it’s also exhausting. One of my colleagues ran his pedometer and clocked over 35 kilometers of steps during the race. Comfortable shoes are a necessity, but cannot fight the fatigue forever that the body feels increasingly with every passing hour. Eventually a nap is needed.

Waking up, even a few hours later, my first thought is to find out what I’ve missed. On my phone, I catch replays of events that transpired while I slumbered including a Porsche that has grabbed a decisive lead and won’t relinquish it. One of the Audis jettisoned its front-end bodywork at speed and a few other teams have retired from the race due to mechanical issues or crashes.

Curse my laziness – how could I miss these happenings? I hurry back to the track.

By Sunday at noon, I’m brutally tired, and still the race goes on as frantic as it was 21 hours ago, albeit with fewer combatants. Surprisingly attrition has been less than I had expected so far with a large field still circling lap after lap. There’s still three hours of intense racing ahead – as much as an entire normal major motorsports event.

The sounds of the cars approaching and roaring past has not yet lost any appeal even approaching the finale of this great event. Throughout the duration of the race, the battle for the top spot in each the GTE and LM1 categories never let up. Audi unfortunately suffered a few mishaps, the biggest of which seemed resultant of connections with other cars, that put yet another overall victory out of reach. Still, Audi did claim one victory-of-sorts when Andre Lotterer posted a best lap time of 3:17.475, setting a new in-race track record.

Porsche’s awesome new 919 Hybrid ran fast, consistent and impressively problem-free throughout this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – enough to earn the two top spots on the podium. Toyota, meanwhile, had a disappointing race with times well off the pace of the two German juggernauts. And of Nissan’s three factory-team cars, only one finished, and many laps back of the contenders in its class.

Like the other quarter million revelers at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans spectacle, I am entertained, exhilarated and exhausted. It remains a legendary event of motorsport with a growing history rife with triumphant victors and some tragic losses. It also remains one of the greatest automotive events that must be on every enthusiast’s bucket list. I could not be happier to have been there.

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