Le Mans 24hr Race Posters

A few of weeks ago I was invited to attend the Le Mans 24hr race in France. Although I like to watch F1 every now and again as well as the occasional old school Top Gear special on Dave, I wouldn’t call myself a petrol head by any means but this opportunity was too good to miss. Despite the soul destroying drive from Norwich to the South of England for the channel tunnel crossing followed by the 5 hour drive from Calais to Le Mans the following day, I made it comfortably on time for the start of the race on Saturday afternoon. 

After watching the start of the race and quite a few laps from the grandstand I decided to have a wonder around the race track that was open to the public to find the paddocks, as I had a pass for them. Within the paddocks you could see where the equipment was being readied for any pits stops along with the motor teams staff analysing the race computers. As I came out of the paddocks I could see an array of posters that had been placed around the area and fastened to the fence. These 24 posters were made by 24 different artists who had made their own artwork to represent the Le Mans 24hr race. 

When I got back to England I checked out the website www.24illustrateurs.com on the poster which showcases all of the posters. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyway to buy any of the prints, which was disappointing as it would of a been the perfect moment from a great trip. Below are all the posters that were displayed, which is your favourite?

(L-R)

Row 1: Charlotte Ager, Thomas Baas, Mai Lai Bernard, Fanny Dreyer

Row 2: Charles Dutertre, Jeremy Fischer, Tom Haugomat, Thibaud Herem

Row 3: Laura Junger, Marion Kadi, Kakao Kuno, Julia Lamoureux

Row 4: Anne Laval, Didier Levy, Clarisse Lochman, Gerad Lo Monaco

Row 5: Christphe Merlin, Margaux Othats, Gianpaolo Pagni, Natacha Paschal

Row 6: Hubert Poirot-Bourdain, Beya Rebai, Benoit Tardif, Julia Woignier

My favourite poster is by Christophe Merlin. It reminds me on the night time racing that took place when i pitched up a seat on a hill next to one of the corners of the track in the neighbouring campsite. Its a surreal sight to see a set of lights going 100mph emerging out of the darkness followed by the highly tuned roar of a million pound car. Amazing experience.

Christophe Merlin