Le Mans 2022 – the legendary 24-hour sports car race – returns to the Circuit de la Sarthe this weekend with the drivers now through the night and looking towards today's 3pm BST finish. Hollywood star Michael Fassbender is making his debut in a Porsche 911, while ex-F1 stars Robert Kubica and Esteban Gutierrez are battling it out in the top-tier Hypercar class. French viewers can watch every lap free. Make sure you know how to watch a Le Mans live stream from wherever you are.
Date: 11th - 12th June 2022
Start time: 3pm BST / 10am ET / 12am AEST
Location: Circuit de la Sarthe, France
FREE stream: L'Equipe (France)
Watch Le Mans from anywhere with ExpressVPN (opens in new tab)
US stream: Motortrend | Sling (opens in new tab)
UK stream: Eurosport
AUS stream: Stan Sport
Practice and qualifying began on Wednesday 8th June, with the majority of the grid set by Wednesday evening. Then there was Thursday's 30-minute Hyperpole session, from 8pm BST, which set the top places in all four classes. The 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans proper then started at 3pm BST on Saturday with the finish, as you'd guess, at 3pm today.
The list of entrants for the 2022 Le Mans includes former F1 stars Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Buemi, Giancarlo Fisichella and Brendon Hartley. Actor Michael Fassbender, famous for blockbusters such as X-Men, will also make his long-awaited debut at the legendary endurance classic.
So far, it's the Toyota Gazoo team bossing it in the hypercar class with the Glickenhaus cars on their tail. Over in the LM GTE AM division, Fassbender's Porsche is still going strong, if about two-thirds of the way down in the results. He might not be putting in quite the same level of laps as his other drivers but the A-lister is certainly holding up his end of the bargain.
"It’s exciting and scary," Fassbender told the official Le Mans website. "It’s the history and the respect for the place that gets you, I just hope that I perform well, after this four-year journey. I feel like another four years would have been good! Anyway, it’s almost surreal to be here."
Ready to watch 60+ cars scream down the world-famous Mulsanne Straight at up to 330km/h? French fans can watch Le Mans free and live on France TV. Make sure you know how to watch a 2022 Le Mans live stream from wherever you are in the world.
Le Mans 2022 free live stream
In France, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be televised by L'Equipe. Free-to-air live coverage from Le Mans begins at 8.50am BST on Saturday 11th June and runs until 7.30pm, returning from 10.45pm until 1.30am. On Sunday 12th June, the race will be back on air from 4.30am until the chequered flag.
Outside France? French fans travelling abroad can use a VPN (opens in new tab) to access the free Le Mans live stream when outside their home country. Details next....
Watch Le Mans 2022 live stream free from abroad using a VPN
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant Le Mans 2022 rights holders, you won't be able to access them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are lots of VPN providers but some are more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN (opens in new tab) which offers a 100 per cent risk-free money back guarantee. If you're not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
(opens in new tab)How to use a VPN to watch Le Mans 2022
Using a VPN to watch France TV from wherever you are is simple:
1. Install the VPN of your choice. ExpressVPN (opens in new tab) is the one we recommend.
2. Open up the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For Le Mans 2022 you, should choose 'France' for L'Equipe.
3. Then head over to L'Equipe on your browser or device and enjoy the free 2022 Le Mans live stream. Magnifique!
UK: Le Mans live stream 2022
In the UK, Eurosport is the place to find live coverage of Le Mans 2022.
Cordcutters can watch Eurosport through Discovery+ for just £6.99 a month. Sign up through Amazon Prime for a free 7-day trial. No contract, cancel anytime.
Don't forget: French viewers travelling abroad can use a VPN (opens in new tab) watch the race free on L'Equipe.
Quest TV will be airing the race live between 2pm and 5pm on Saturday, plus highlights of the final laps on Sunday.
USA: Le Mans 2022 live stream
MotorTrend TV is the only place to watch Le Mans 2022 in the USA. Cordcutters can stream the action live on Motortrend+ for $4.99 a month, or access Motortrend TV via Sling TV's Orange package.
Don't forget: French viewers who find themselves in the US can use a VPN (opens in new tab) watch the race free on L'Equipe.
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Australia: Le Mans 2022 live stream
The Channel 9 network will offer live coverage and highlights of Le Mans 2022 in Australia.
Don't have cable? Cordcutters can watch live coverage on Stan Sport. You'll need Stan (30-day free trial; AU$10 a month) and the Stan Sport add-on (30-day free trial; AU$10 a month).
Don't forget: French viewers travelling abroad in Australia can use a VPN (opens in new tab) watch the race free on L'Equipe. Scroll up for details.
Le Mans 2022 full schedule
All times in BST
Wednesday 8th June 2022
1pm-4pm – Free practice 1
6pm-7pm – Qualifying session
9pm-11pm – Free practice 2
Thursday, June 9
2pm-5pm – Free practice 3
7pm-7.30pm – Hyperpole
9pm-11pm – Free practice 4
Saturday, June 11
9.30am-9.45am – Warm up
3pm – Race start
Sunday, June 12
3pm – Finish
24 hours of Le Mans: history, stats and facts
Between 1925 and 1969, drivers sprinted to their parked cars to start the race. That all changed in 1969, when F1 driver Jacky Ickx, who considered this type of start to be dangerous, walked to his car in protest. From 1971, a rolling start was introduced with the green flag given after the cars take a warm-up lap.
Le Mans has always had a reputation as one of the more dangerous races on the World Endurance calendar. The 1955 Le Mans disaster at the Circuit de la Sarthe saw large pieces of debris fly into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh.
Of course, safety is a bigger priority these days. In 1999, Scottish driver Peter Dumbreck walked away from an epic crash that saw his Mercedes CLR flip through the air and land in the woods, just ahead of Indianapolis corner. (You can watch the heart-in-mouth moment on YouTube (opens in new tab)).
You know that race winners celebrate with a bottle of champagne, but did you know that the tradition was invented at Le Mans by US racer Dan Gurney? After beating Ferrari in 1967, Ford driver Gurney grabbed a bottle of champers and let rip. "Henry Ford joined us on the podium," said Gurney later. "We were exhilarated, because we had just beaten Ferrari. It was a great moment, so I just sprayed it all around."
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