Facing Soaring Fuel Costs, LeMans to Bring Back Historic LeMans Start for Opening 12 Hours

Officials confirm drivers will simply run for the whole first half of the race, dramatically reducing the need for fuel.

LE MANS—Facing soaring global fuel costs, no chance of the Strait of Hormuz actually being open, and what teams described as “a growing reluctance to keep paying for all of it,” race organizers have announced that this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will feature a historic return to the LeMans start, but for the opening 12 hours, all 12 hours.

The decision, unveiled during a press conference that repeatedly used the phrase “forward-thinking,” is being positioned as a bold cost-saving measure that officials insist will have “minimal impact” on the race, aside from the fact that no cars will actually be driven for half of it.

“We were forced to go back to our roots,” said ACO President Pierre Fillon, gesturing toward a diagram that showed drivers sprinting across the Circuit de la Sarthe. “The LeMans start is one of the most iconic moments in motorsport history. We simply asked ourselves, ‘What if we kept doing that instead of canceling the race?’ From a fuel standpoint, we’re geniuses solving a global crisis.”