LeBron James is heavily involved in foreign motorsports.
In 2022, he attended the inaugural Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and watched World Champion Max Verstappen cruise to his third win of the season.
And now it will be Guest of honor The 100th round of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.
Le Mans is one of the most prestigious races in motorsports. It is an endurance race, which means that the winner is not the car that crosses the finish line first; Instead, it is the car that travels the most distance once 24 hours have elapsed. Teams and drivers must find solutions for consistency, comfort and technical excellence to prevent their cars – and their focus – from breaking loose throughout the day.
But endurance racing isn’t about going all the way to the end. Cars at Le Mans will continue to reach speeds in excess of 200mph as they are pushed through a 2.6-mile loop that occurs partially on public roads. This is the beauty of endurance racing. You get all the speed and danger of traditional motorsports with the added challenge of long-range performance.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the crown jewel of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), a global motorsports competition focused on long-distance driving. James’ appearance at Le Mans is a huge boost for the WEC Cup and should bring plenty of interest to the competition.
Many of the drivers, including Brendan Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi, are familiar former F1 stars, and many current F1 drivers hail the WEC as their favorite racing series. Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have expressed their interest in joining the WEC once their F1 careers are over.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans will start with James on Saturday afternoon. It will run straight through the night and finish at midday Sunday, and the winner will likely cover more than 3,000 miles of racing between them.