24 Hours Of Le Mans Bets Close At The Top This Year

Whilst the Formula One circus pushes the boundaries of pure open-wheeled speed, in the enclosed wheel racing world there is no event to match The 24 Hours of Le Mans. A classic of endurance with more history and heritage than you could shake a spark plug at, it never fails to produce exciting races and even more spectacular accidents, but who should you back in the top tier of GT racing this weekend at Bet365?

It was back in 1923 that this endurance challenge was first run, an effort to demonstrate different skills from the F1 bag of speed at any cost, focusing instead on efficiency and reliability over the long haul, each drivers in Le Mans bets his car will make it and whilst the original vehicles were worlds way from the prototypes raced today alongside the GT cars the principles of the event have remained the same down the years. Drive for 24 hours around the Circuit de la Sarthe just as fast as you can manage. 


It sounds simple. It isn't. Either so warm the drivers (in hugely confining and unventilated cars) nearly pass out or so wet aquaplaning becomes merely a matter of time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans bets your car isn't made as well as you think it is, and that those marvelous aerodynamics are just a bump away from turning that prototype sports car you've spent millions on into a worthless hunk of carbon fibre shreds up against one of the barriers. If you like to bet on sports in France, this is the most dramatic.

The 24 Hours Of Le Mans Is Here Again

LMP1 24 Hours Of Le Mans

• ByKolles Team No.4 – 200/1
• Toyota Racing No.9 – 7/1
• Porsche Team No.1 – 9/2
• Porsche Team No.2 – 4/1
• Toyota Racing No.7 – 5/2
• Toyota Racing No.8 – 7/4

I should hasten to say it is not merely the fact that they crash, high performance sports cars tend to do that from time to time, but more that at Le Mans they tend to fly whilst doing so. The aerodynamics are so finely balanced that a bit of a jolt, a gust of wind and bingo you're going nose up into a somersault that will almost certainly see your Le Mans race over. A little nudge in F1 might see you make a pit stop, but at Le Mans bets on which side down your car will end up are frequent among the crowd.

Mark Webber famously flipped his Mercedes back in 1999 flying some 300m over the barriers and into the trees beyond, and over the years Le Mans has become known for its aerial antics and dramatic clown car impressions as pinwheeling prototypes leave their component parts strewn over north western France. This means any Le Mans betting you do has to take account of not only French gambling news but also the possibility your chosen drive will end up a short haul flight to oblivion.

Who Are The Best Le Mans Bets This Weekend?

Fortunately the weather is set to be good, the winds quite light, so there's every chance we'll see some decent racing unencumbered by having to slow to a halt due to accidents, and the best Le Mans bets are on the LMP1 class right at the top of the tree, where Bykolles Racing get 200/1 to be able to see off their rivals, placing them well beyond the 7/1 Toyota Racing get with their No.9 car. The No.1 Porsche Team car gets 9/2 however their No.2 car manages to garner 4/1 at sites like Bet365 and is probably a better wager.

The favorites, however, are both Toyota Racing cars, the No.7 car of Conway, Kobayashi & Sarrazin getting 5/2 from sites like Bet365 only just a little behind their No.8 car with Duemi, Davidson and Nakajima at the controls which gets 7/4. Which of them will manage this cornerstone of motorsport's triple crown? It's too close to call, they're both great Le Mans bets, although if you're in France gambling news on Monday will be free of dramatic crash footage, you've probably not being paying much attention to the 24 Hours of Le Mans lately.