WEC Starting procedures
Although the Le Mans 24 Hours hasn’t used a traditional ‘Le Mans start’ since the 1969 race, its spirit lives on by the starting procedure adopted by the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015.
Instead of the cars simply forming up on the grid before a race, instead they are positioned one behind the other on the side of the start/finish straight closest to the pits, at a slight angle known as “ear of corn” or in “echelon” style. At the start, the cars accelerate away one by one, beginning a formation lap and bunching up before the race begins in earnest.
This echoes how cars used to be positioned before the start of the race at Le Mans. Back then, the starting drivers would have to begin on the opposite side of the track, and when the flag dropped, sprint across to their cars, strap themselves in, start their engines and drive away.
Due to safety concerns, this practice was abolished in 1970, when drivers began the race already strapped into their cars. The following year, the now-traditional rolling start format was adopted, eliminating the need for the cars to be lined up adjacent to the pits. But the tradition lives on thanks to the WEC.
