Customer Reviews

24 Hours of Le Mans 2004 (Endurance Is Le Mans)

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I own several of these Le Mans annuals by Christian Moity. Let me just say that they are REQUIRED for any fan of endurance racing. Most of the editions are in English but be careful.....some are in French and ONLY available in French (1982 is a prime example). The earlier editions from the late 1970's through early 1980's feature mostly black and white photos but there's NO SHORTAGE of them: Every page is full of detailed pictures from that year's 24 hour race. The 2004 race saw Audi triumph for the 4th time in 5 years, but the teams were all privateer entries after the withdrawl of Bentley and Audi Sport UK Team Joest. In the end, it was an all-Audi podium with the Audi Sport Japan Team GOH #5 crossing the finish line first. The LMP2 field was a small one that year, but top honors went to the little Intersport Racing Lola B2K-40/Judd V8 simply because it outlasted the competition. GTS was a tough battle too: 2 factory Corvettes against 5 Ferrari Maranellos! In the end, the yellow triumphed over the red by giving the Corvettes another 1-2 victory. The newer editions from the mid-1990's forward are in full color and the photos are FANTASTIC! Each book gives you an in depth look at the men/women and machines that take part in the gruelling race. The books usually start off with a historical section devoted to some sort of significant achievement at Le Mans. For example, Cadillac returned to La Sarthe in 2000 for the first time in decades so the historical section was devoted to Cadillacs at Le Mans. The same has been done for Corvette, Bentley, Aston Martin, etc. If there are no particular marques making a historic return to the race, then the section usually talks about what happened decades ago. For instance, if you have a 2002 annual you'll be able to see all the things that happened in years ending in 2. The books show you the complete entry list for the year (One car per page) as well as the drivers, sponsers, etc. Detailed statistics are provided regarding practice times, qualifying, the race itself (Hour by Hour), and finally the race results. The books are so well detailed they even give you the hour by hour pit stops of each individual car along with mountains of additional information. These books are well worth the price of owning them but be warned.....the older they get, the harder they will be to find and they will be EXSPENSIVE! (Yes, these books do appreciate in value) I have a rare English version of the 1979 race that has never been opened.....try finding one of those! The easiest edition to find right now is the 2003 annual (Won by Bentley). Anything older than 1999, however, is practically impossible. Try to buy them the same year they come out; that way you can be reasonably sure about finding a copy.

I love the 24 Hours of LeMans, and this is my first 'Official LeMans' book purchase. Whomever was the copy editor should be fired: too many weird/incomplete/runon sentences (some just make no sense at all), too many misspellings and lots of imcomplete information (example: drivers 'city' is not shown properly for some drivers).