Shooting The 24 hours of Le Mans - A photographer perspective

Le Mans is not just a 24 hours race, it's an entire experience that lasts for an entire week. There isn't anything like it. It's raw, brutal, exhausting and beautiful at the same time. To survive, you must give your very best and accept making compromises. Embark with what is to me the best motorsport shooting experience of the year.

Tuesday June 9th

The very first thing you want to do when arriving at any racetrack is making sure you will be able to work under the best conditions. It means securing a spot and a locker in the Media Centre, as well as a parking sticker, to get as close as possible to the racetrack. Le Mans is no different, except it's by far the most attended event of the WEC calendar for the fans, as well as for the medias. Consequently, you must be quick, because there's a very high demand. You have to deal with various challenges and especially the lack of room. We're more than a thousand covering the race so obviously, the media centre isn't big enough to welcome everyone at the same time. Thankfully, all the people involved are ready to help each other. Use a reserved but unoccupied spot and gently move away to another one if the owner is coming back.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Tuesdays, without any track action, are always just fine to take the pulse of the environment. The fact there's no car on-track doesn't mean there's nothing to experience. Fans are already gathering and activities are running in the pitlane. However, the atmosphere is still relaxed. The Belgian Team DKR was offering waffles in front of the LMP2 garage. Cooking in the middle of the pitlane isn't something you would expect on a racetrack, but it's Le Mans and its intact charm.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Wednesday June 10th

For the first time of the week, the cars hit the track. For the first sessions, you want to get a decent shot from each car, in order to have stuff to work with. Later during the day, the first qualifying session takes place, where the slowest cars are already kicked out of contention for pole position.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Wednesday also sees the first night action of the week with a 2 hours session. It's one of my favourite time to shoot because the opportunities of shooting motorsport at night are few. With low visibility, guessing which car is approaching becomes a funny game. You can differentiate some because of their headlights and obviously thanks to their unique sound. The roaring Cadillac V8 and the Valkyrie's V12 are easy to spot on for example. Interestingly, I saw some cars bottoming when they were approaching the chicane, especially the Mercedes. It creates a very cool effect.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Thursday June 11th

It's Hyperpole day! But before that, another 3 hours session takes place. As the week goes on, I like to find different angles and get creative, which is sometimes difficult when you know tracks by heart. Thankfully, Le Mans is a huge one (13.626 km), which is helpful to get shots that look different. Moreover, the environment of the circuit is quite diverse. I found it quite challenging and enjoyable to spend time in the forest between Mulsanne and Indianapolis. There, I got shots from the cars behind the trees, going above 300km/h.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Further up the straight and all around the racetrack, you encounter fans staying in campings, really close to the action but also marshalls, in a very unique and pleasant atmosphere.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Additionally to the environment, I love to vary shutter speeds and go down to around 1/3s, in order to get interesting looking shots. For that, you need to block the light, especially on a hard sunny day. You have two solutions, cranking down the aperture or using a ND filter. I personally prefer the second option, because I want the sharpest image possible (it generally declines at very low apertures) but also simply because closing down is sometimes not enough to compensate.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

On such a huge racetrack, you want to use the media shuttles that circulate on the inside line of the circuit, to spare much needed energy. They drive you almost anywhere you want. Unfortunately, the bridges and tunnels to cross the track are quite few. So you can't just go to a corner, shoot the inside and then go for the outside, you need to make smart choices. If you want to shoot from the outside line, you need to either walk, use public buses or take your own car.

Besides shooting locations and shift logistics, red zones are another limitation. Therefore, you can't shoot from anywhere. The amount of red zones is increasing every year, to assure the safety of photographers but resulting in less shooting opportunities. For instance, in 2026, the forest esses were forbidden to photographers, due to cars hitting the barriers on the outside. As a result we need to step back and find other angles, away from the guardrail.

Photo By FIA

Photo By FIA

Friday June 12th

If you think Friday rhymes with rest day, you're wrong! The great parade gathers more than 150 000 fans in the streets of Le Mans. The atmosphere is hard to describe. Being in the middle of thousands of fans, cheering for the drivers passing by is something unique. For more than 3 hours, the entire city vibrates to the sounds of the music and the yells of the enormous crowd.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

I really love how inventive fans can be to collect team goodies, and catch the attention of the drivers. Regardless how much I cherish those moments, I end up being very exhausted after an afternoon spent exposed to the sun and the craziness of the crowd. Therefore, I need to get some rest, because tomorrow will be even more exhausting.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Saturday June 13th

It's race day! The tension is slowly building up as the race start approaches. The mass of spectators packs along the track and especially in the pit straight, as they want to make sure they won't miss anything from the ceremony and the race start. At 12, the first roar is heard for the traditional warm-up. Later, the cars line-up in the pit straight and the ceremony begins. The protocol is very punctilious. Unlike for the other WEC races, most medias are not allowed to shoot on the grid. Only a few are selected and allowed to approach the cars. Moreover, the timing is respected down to the second; the winning trophy arrives, the french flag is brought by helicopter and the patrouille de France flies over the grandstands. The start is close!

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

At 3.45PM, the cars leave their slots for the formation lap. Suddenly, the atmosphere becomes weirdly calm. The tension rises. 4.00PM, a pack of 62 cars rushes through turn one, where hundreds of photographers are massed. I don't want to miss the shot, so I apply my "safe" mode: Manual focus, closed down aperture, high shutter and higher ISO to compensate for the lack of light. There we go for 24 hours.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

For the first few laps, I like to stay close to a screen to follow the action on track. As the race goes on, I like to step back from the credential point of view and explore what public areas have to offer. There's plenty of time to do so! Hard to believe right? Back to where it all began. Interestingly, some of my favorite shots are taken out of the "pass only" areas. When you go further away from the track, you can include objects in the foreground such as spectators or threes. I love the outside of tertre rouge to play with slow shutter speeds and panning through the trees' holes.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Another important moment is the sunset. The question lives rent free: "Where am I going to shoot it from?". Last year, I went to a famous spot between Mulsanne and Indianapolis and got some very nice shadows. This time, I wanted something different. When choosing a location, you become a bit of an (very amateur) astrophysician, playing with the track map and calculating how the sun will hit the circuit. I finally decided to go for the inside of the "Esses de la Forêt" and have the sun hitting inside the lens, creating interesting looking flares. Hate it or love it.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Then comes the darkness. As mentioned before, I love to shoot the glowing brakes (they can go up to a thousand celsius degrees). I'm particularly proud of the nice photos I have taken right after turn 1.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

I would have loved to immerse deeper in the forest because feeling alone in the dark only with roaring cars around is amazing. However, I couldn't lose too much time. I didn't want to miss the midnight show with drones and fireworks. Unfortunately, it was rather spoiled by a safety car intervention at that time, which made the shooting experience frustrating. Nevertheless, the sky animations looked beautiful.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Around 1AM, it's time to get some well deserved sleep in the car. Some brave photographers make it through the night without sleeping, others wake up around 4AM to get the sunrise. I wasn't part of them. With less commitment prior during the week, perhaps I could have given more during the race. It's always a matter of compromises.

Sunday June 14th

In the morning, I like to go back to the media centre, catch-up on what I have missed during the night and have a chat with fellow photographers/journalists. Some of them are sleeping under the tables. Tiredness is hitting hard there.

But the race isn't over yet, and one big event remains: the arrival. It's also a moment when fans come back to fill the grandstand again. As everyone else, the fans are tired. Despite the noise, some of them are sleeping. As I did last year, I decided to stay on the outside line of the track, to be able to shoot the checkered flag, as well as the podium (from a longer distance though). Again, the finish was tight. Luckily, a big screen was installed nearby so I was able to watch the end of the race.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Photo By Maxime Lantz

After the celebrations, I go back to the media centre to send some photos of the winner and the podium ceremony. The event is coming to an end. I pack all my stuff and it's already time to quit. Before I leave for good, I make a detour to the parc ferme. The cars are there. They have suffered. The 24 hour ride left many scars on them. But they're looking even better that way, because such beasts are meant to battle. Next year, they will be back and fight again to claim the biggest race in motorsport.

Full Gallery of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans