Le Mans, Garage 56, the extraordinary laboratory of the future

To understand the spirit of that special pit box bearing the number 56, you have to remember that Le Mans has never been just a race: from its very birth in 1923, it was conceived as a vast technological laboratory for the automobile and its progress. To uphold this principle, in 2010 the ACO — Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the race's long-standing organizer — chose to cement this tradition by creating a slot on the starting grid, entirely free from convention, reserved for a car belonging to no existing category, yet carrying sufficient technological, engineering, or human value to deserve a place in the 24 Hours.

The first concrete expression of that philosophy arrived in 2012 with the DeltaWing, which looked almost unreal the moment it took to the track: an extremely narrow front track, a razor-sharp nose, and an arrow-like silhouette. The car weighs just 475 kg dry and is powered by a direct-injection Nissan turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine of 1,600 cc producing 300 horsepower, built to prove that lightness and efficiency are the true ingredients of success. Proudly in the race for six of the 24 hours, the little DeltaWing cannot hold on over the distance, but to this day it is remembered for its extreme shape.