The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) calls – and the most famous automobile manufacturers in the world answer its call. Since its debut on 26th/27th May 1923, the 24-hour race in Le Mans has been one of the most important racing events in the world. BMW celebrated its biggest success at the “Circuit de la Sarthe” in 1999 when Pierluigi Martini, Yannik Dalmas and Joachim Winkelhock took overall victory in a BMW V12 LMR prototype. In 2010 BMW will once again face the challenge of this endurance classic. Eleven years after its triumph in the LM P1 category, the Schnitzer Motorsport team entered the competitive LM GT2 class with the BMW M3 GT2.

To mark its comeback at the Sarthe, BMW brought a tradition back to life: the BMW Art Car Collection. One of the two BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT2 racing cars featured a design from American artist Jeff Koons. “I always thought it would be an honour to work on a BMW Art Car,” says Koons. “I look forward to participating in a tradition started by such great artists as Calder, Lichtenstein, Stella and Warhol.”

The ACO only accepts 55 entries each year. Despite the relatively small field compared to the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the marathon in Le Mans cannot be beaten when it comes to excitement. The GT2 category alone featured 18 ambitious teams.

Team BMW Motorsport experienced a turbulent return to the Le Mans 24 Hours. Lady luck did not necessarily smile on the two BMW M3 GT2s. Car number 78, with Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen alternating at the wheel, completed 320 laps to finish sixth in the LM GT2 class in front of 240,000 spectators.

The BMW M3 GT2 Art Car, designed by American artist Jeff Koons, turned out to be a true fan favourite over the course of the Le Mans week. Dirk Müller made a good start in car number 79 and was in a promising sixth when he had an accident following a puncture and lost a lot of time in the pits. Andy Priaulx then also struggled with technical problems. He eventually had to retire at the entrance to the Indianapolis curve shortly after 20:00hrs on Saturday. As a result, Dirk Werner is still yet to make his racing debut at the “Circuit de la Sarthe”.

BMW first accepted the challenge of Le Mans in 1937. To date 120 cars powered by BMW engines have started this classic endurance race. The result is 21 top ten places and five podiums. In 1995 a McLaren F1 GTR powered by a BMW V12 engine recorded the first victory. However, 13th June 1999 will always remain a memorable date for BMW Motorsport in relation to Le Mans. This was the day the manufacturer achieved the first ever triumph there with an open-topped sports car. Pierluigi Martini, Yannick Dalmas and Joachim Winkelhock crossed the finish line as champions in their BMW V12 LMR at the end of the 24-hour marathon.

BMW celebrated this victory in a year, in which the race in Le Mans probably featured a more competitive line-up than ever before. In qualifying, the BMW Motorsport drivers had to play second fiddle to rivals Toyota, but the BMW V12 LMR really came into its own over the full distance.

Even back then, the BMW Motorsport technicians had recognised that efficiency is essential in Le Mans. For that reason, the prototype was not only designed for speed, traction, reliability and downforce, but the emphasis was put on economy. Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and Jörg Müller and the eventual winning trio benefited considerably from this approach, particularly in the early phase of the race.

Because the BMW V12 LMR could travel one lap further than the opposition on a full tank of fuel, the two LM P1 racing cars from Munich soon pulled away from the opposition – a lead they maintained right through to the finish. After the closed-topped McLaren F1 GTR sports car had emerged victorious with the BMW V12 engine back in 1995, the further development of this engine contributed to the first overall victory for a BMW works car. By the end of the 24 hours, the winning team of Martini, Dalmas and Winkelhock had notched up 366 laps of the 13.6-kilometre circuit in their BMW V12 LMR. In the BMW garage, there was an overwhelming feeling of delight, but also consolation: the second BMW V12 LMR with Kristensen, Lehto and Müller driving had been forced to retire after an accident with just four hours of the race remaining, having led for 18 hours.

For the first ever Le Mans 24-hour race in 1923, the ACO set up a 17.292-kilometre circuit in the south of the city. It took on a similar form to the track used at the A.C.F Grand Prix two years earlier. Back then, the racing cars had to master a tight hairpin in the city district of Pontlieue, raced along the main street towards Tours, and turned back towards Le Mans in the town of Mulsanne.

The circuit layout has changed very little since that first race all those years back. In 1932 the ACO acquired land in the south-east of the city and added the “Esses” and the now infamous “Tertre Rouge” to bend around the downtown area. This reduced the total length of the circuit by about three kilometres.

A serious accident in 1955, in which 84 people were killed, resulted in further modifications to the circuit in order to put the emphasis on the safety of drivers and spectators. Run-off zones were added and the width of the track reduced. However, the "Circuit de la Sarthe" has retained its high-speed character.