LE MANS START

THE FIRST RUNNING OF THE FRENCH CLASSIC WASN'T EVEN A RACE. UNTIL THE FLAG DROPPED.

THEY SAY IT ALWAYS RAINS at Le Mans. At least, that’s what 100 years of soggy racing shoes would suggest. But 100 years ago, at the first running of the world’s marquee endurance race, there was no such expectation.

Firstly, it did not rain. Well, not right away. Instead, hail rattled like Maxim fire against the fragile bodies and veneer-thin windscreens gathered in rural France. Under those angry skies, on the 26th of May at 4:00 p.m., the flag fell on the very first daylong torture test on the roads near Le Mans, France.