‘This is horrendous, why am I doing it?' – How it really feels to compete in a 24-hour race

Telegraph

5 hours ago

This weekend marks the end of a brutal 24-hour triple-header in which the Spa 24 Hours was contested through the hills of the Ardennes Forest.
Only a handful of drivers competed in all three races, a freakish hat-trick of endurance events, coming straight off the back of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
Daniel Juncadella, the current European Le Mans Series championship leader, is one of those drivers who will return to European Le Mans Series duty at Imola next week, making it four races in as many weekends. The Spaniard will team up with Jamie Chadwick, the British female driver, for IDEC Sport in what is the first full endurance campaign of her career.
'This is incredibly special,' Chadwick tells Telegraph Sport of her first experience of Le Mans. The 27-year-old has been to the Circuit de la Sarthe once before, but never as a driver until this year's event.
She does so having won both ELMS rounds this season alongside Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert, becoming the first female driver to win in the series at Barcelona, then doing so again at Le Castellet.
For Chadwick, Le Mans was a baptism of fire, but she was in safe hands. With Juncadella driving for another team, IDEC drafted in three-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer, the vastly experienced German who will lead the Genesis Magma Racing Hypercar operation next season when they make their top-class debut.
Over the course of 11 brutally long and draining days, Chadwick learnt what it took to be a Le Mans driver, and Telegraph Sport was at the heart of the operation to witness it first hand.
Thursday, June 5: And they're off... to a campsite!
Chadwick makes the long drive down to Le Mans a full nine days before the race is due to begin, staying at a motorhome in one of the many campsites around the circuit. Some drivers will stay in trucks directly behind the pits while others have more luxurious accommodation within huge hospitality units built for the race. Chadwick is getting the full experience as she pitches up in one of the fields behind the paddock.
'When I first saw the schedule, I thought I couldn't quite work out why I needed to be there on Thursday and why everything was so spread out,' says Chadwick. 'And then when you arrive, you realise why it's so spread out, because you actually have so much on.'
Friday, June 6: Walking the walk
Chadwick's first experience of the track is not quite what you would expect. The team head out together to walk the circuit, all 8.4 miles of it — although they do cheat with shuttles run along the 3.7-mile Mulsanne Straight between each chicane.
The majority of the circuit covers public roads that are difficult to access outside of sessions, so Chadwick gets a second look later in the week by bike.
Saturday, June 7: Scrutineering
The first big event on the Le Mans schedule is scrutineering, where cars are thoroughly checked over by organiser Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) to check that they comply with technical regulations. Rather than stage scrutineering in the paddock, the ACO takes Le Mans to the heart of the nearby town at Place de la Republique – an event that takes two days to complete. It allows fans to get up close to the cars and Chadwick's No 18 IDEC Sport LMP2 Oreca is the third-last car to take the stand.
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'The official scrutineering is a big part of the week and a very cool part of it when you get to first start seeing the fans and how the weekend's potentially going to feel as a whole,' says Chadwick.
'The cars are in town for a good three or four hours. And then in between all of this, when you're at the track, you're doing driver-change practice, different meetings with the engineers. There's also time that you spend where, worst-case scenario, something goes wrong on track, you actually have to potentially be responsible for trying to fix it, say, if you have an engine issue or something like that. We hope for the best that it's not going to happen. But in case it does, you have to be prepped for where the toolbox is in the car and what to do.'
Sunday. June 8: 'It feels incredible': Action finally under way
Three days after arriving, Chadwick finally gets to experience Le Mans. The Sunday test session gives drivers six hours of track action to get to grips with the car and circuit.
'I can't quite describe the feeling but you go on to the Mulsanne Straight for the first time and something within you just feels like 'wow, this is incredibly special'. A track that you always want to feel and drive, and then you quite quickly transition into how can I go quicker and improve?
'It was a really cool feeling. It's a track that you have to build up to as it's not easy. Once you get to learn it and know it, you feel more comfortable. Our team boss, Nicolas Minassian, kept saying don't let the fact it's Le Mans take away from the fact you're just going out and driving a race on a race track, which is very good advice, but at the same time, it is Le Mans and it has this feeling. You go through the first sector, you get on to the Mulsanne for the first time. And there's definitely something unique about that.'
Monday, June 9: Promotional work keeps teams busy
With no further track action until Wednesday scheduled, Chadwick would be forgiven for expecting a few days to take stock and prepare for the busy part of the week. That is not the case. The team embark on several media and commercial commitments that come with racing at Le Mans. As one of the French-based teams, IDEC are busier than most, regardless of competing in the LMP2 category, and the planned move to Hypercar for Genesis Magma Racing means a larger-than-normal amount of promotional work to undertake.
Tuesday, June 10: Escape to the chateau
Tuesday is the quietest day of the week but it is also the most important given the drivers' briefing takes place for all 186 drivers. Crucial information is given to the field that will determine how the race will be regulated and how they can avoid the pitfalls of time and drive-through penalties. Evidently some are not listening as closely as others, given the litany of penalties dished out during the 24 Hours.
The evening brings a team-bonding barbecue with Chadwick, Lotterer and Jaubert joining the IDEC team staff and mechanics at a nearby chateau, where they are staying, for a courtyard meal in glorious sunshine.
Wednesday, June 11: Qualifying quandary
The first free practice gets under way on Wednesday afternoon, giving teams just one opportunity to fine-tune set-ups ahead of three qualifying sessions. IDEC manage an impressive 40 laps across the three-hour session as Jaubert puts the No 18 car in sixth, just in front of the sister No 28 car.
Next up is qualifying, and it's bad news for IDEC as they fail to make it into the top 12 – who make it through to Thursday's Hyperpole sessions – meaning they will start the race from 14th.
Second practice follows, giving Chadwick her first experience at night and something unusual catches her attention: the smell of barbecues. Having not yet driven Le Mans with fans camping, she describes a 'sensory overload' after coming through the Porsche Curves for the first time, fearing something may be burning inside the car.
'It was unbelievable. I've never had such a strong, overwhelming experience, all my senses were all over the place,' she explains. 'You know, it's dark, you're tired, you're just trying to visualise everything as much as you can, and then you get this really strong smell of barbecues.
'And it's like sensory overload in some ways. But it did make me laugh, because André was a wealth of information for the whole week and gave loads of advice. But things like taking the Porsche Curves flat out, he was very nonchalant about that – 'You just do it, you just take it flat'. There was not loads of information with that. But then when it came to the barbecues and the smell, that was one of the most detailed things he was specific about!
'That's the fastest section of the track, so your eyes are on stalks anyway, and then you just get this overwhelming smell of someone cooking sausages on the barbecue, which is hilarious.'
Second practice confirms the team are struggling for outright pace. Chadwick sets the team's best time but it is only enough for 16th of the 17 LMP2 runners.
Thursday, June 12: Driving in the dark
Thursday again features two practice sessions and although the first finishes in similar fashion to Wednesday's night's free practice, the evening session brings good news as Chadwick puts the No 18 into the top 10 during the night. Her quicker pace in the dark is something that becomes more prominent as the week progresses.
'We were looking at the run plan, and the schedule, and they said, 'Do you want to do more at night, or do you want to do more in the day?' Basically, where did I feel most comfortable doing the most laps?
'Complete darkness in the middle of the night almost felt more comfortable to me than some of the variables that you get, for example, at sunset or sunrise, when you've got the sun in your eyes. And there's a lot of bugs in the air at the weekend for some reason. So visibility was tough and actually it made different parts of the race trickier than what you would expect to be the hardest part, which is complete darkness.'
Friday, June 13: Parade day
With no running scheduled on Friday, drivers can try and rest ahead of the gruelling weekend ahead. But there's the small matter of the drivers' parade to attend in town, a four-hour event during which teams parade through Le Mans on streets lined by thousands of fans – and this year it occurs in intense heat as temperatures reach 32 Celsius.
'Friday is kind of the day you would want to have off, but ends up being the parade day, which takes up a good chunk of the day,' says Chadwick. 'It's an incredible experience but it's a long part of the day. It really brings it all to life and it's a huge part of the weekend.'
Chadwick doesn't get back to the track until nearly 8pm, where she completes more media interviews in the Genesis Magma Racing suite before heading for dinner, and unveils her new helmet that has been designed by one young member of the Exxon Mobil 1 Teen Engineering and Tech Centre.
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It's also a busy day for the team, as Genesis unveil plans for their Hypercar debut in 2026 that will be led by former F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul and ex-tour-car specialist Giovanni Tarquini.
Saturday, June 14: Race day
Racing begins at midday with warm-up, but with only 15 minutes on the clock, the team turn to experienced hand Lotterer to check everything is as planned. Second place on the timesheets confirms the car is in good shape, as attention turns towards the start of the race and the near-three-hour build-up to the flag.
Chadwick drives the car to the grid at exactly 1.10pm local time, two hours and 50 minutes before the race begins. She will not be the first in the car though – the honour of taking the start goes to Lotterer – so the main task is to keep energy expenditure and emotions in balance to avoid burning out early. That's easier said than done, however, when honorary starter Roger Federer, the 20-time tennis grand-slam champion, stops by the No 18 car to say hello on the grid.
Lotterer makes steady progress on his triple stint – staying in the car on the same tyres for three pit cycles – before handing over to Chadwick inside the top 10. Chadwick jumps into the car at 5:46pm, although she has been on standby in the pits since 4:46pm in case Lotterer needs to change early.
As the sun sets, Chadwick finds a groove and maintains a strong pace to remain in the hunt for the top 10, so much so that the team ask her whether she wants to stay in the car longer than planned.
'My engineer kept asking me, 'Are you good to do a quadruple?'. They asked that for two reasons: one is are the tyres good at that point? I don't think anyone had done a quadruple in the race yet. And then: two, physically, do you feel OK? And I felt fine physically, and with the tyres, it felt fine as well. So I was like, yeah, all good to go.
'It's one of those things that once you're in the car, it's almost easier because you're already warmed up, you're dialled in. It's a little bit tricky as I hadn't actually fuelled quite enough to be in the car for three hours, but you kind of deal with it, and you get on with it. It's almost harder if you're getting in and out the car constantly for single and double stints, because you have less time to rest. You finally switch off, and then you've got to get back in the car again. So I actually quite liked doing the quadruple stint.'
Sunday, June 15: Double disaster
Chadwick hands the car over to Jaubert for his first taste of Le Mans at 8.40pm and heads for dinner to unwind before retreating to her motorhome for a rest.
'My boyfriend, who has done 24-hour races before, said to me – because I was packing my bag on the morning of the race, and I was packing my pyjamas, my sleep mask, my pillow, I was getting everything ready to be nice and comfortable – he said, 'don't get too comfortable because when you get woken up you are going to not want to get out of bed. If you feel super comfortable, it's going to be horrible, just be a bit uncomfortable for 24 hours'.
'So the first stint of sleep I got, I didn't get too comfortable. I stayed in team kit and I slept, woke up, and I was absolutely fine. And then the second stint, I was like, 'right, OK, I'm going to get comfortable here. I'm going to have a proper night's sleep'. It was the hardest wake-up I've ever had. I did not want to get up. I was like, 'Oh, this is horrendous. Why am I doing this?'
'I had a good five minutes of being like, this is awful. And then you get on with it.'
Chadwick also wakes up in the middle of an almighty fireworks display outside the paddock. 'It didn't actually wake me up, believe it or not, but I was walking to the car, so I had just woken up, basically. And then that's another sensory overload. That was enough to wake me up properly!' She's back in the garage at half past midnight, on standby once more, before taking over from Lotterer at 1:33am.
Le Mans knows how to do fireworks… pic.twitter.com/NL715O2o16
— Jack de Menezes (@JackdeMenezes) June 14, 2025
The night had been kind to IDEC, not only does Lotterer pit from third position, but they do so right behind the sister No 28 in second place, with a potential double-podium on the cards.
Neither car has had the outright pace to challenge the LMP2 frontrunners, the No 43 Inter Europol Competition and No 199 AO by TF Sport entries, but they are one of very few cars to have reached the halfway point without a single penalty or issue, proving consistency is key when it comes to endurance racing.
Chadwick hands the car over to Jaubert at 3:39am and heads to bed. Although Jaubert is in for a quadruple stint, it will not be long until she's back in the car as Lotterer will only double stint in the early hours, or so we think…
Jaubert can only triple-stint before handing over to Lotterer. But as Chadwick wakes up and orders a coffee in the IDEC hospitality suite, disaster strikes. The right-rear wheel comes off at 4:39am after 206 laps, breaking the driveshaft in the process and ending any hope of getting the car back to the pits. Lotterer was at the wheel on his out-lap when the failure occurred on the Mulsanne Straight, a frightening section of the track for such a drama to happen. Cruelly, the same fate then strikes the sister No 28 car at 11:30am, nearly 20 hours and 308 laps into the race when the right-rear wheel also comes off on Job van Uitert's out-lap. From double-podium to double-retirement in the space of seven hours.
💔Another blow for @IDECSportRacing — this time it's the #28 with Van Uitert at the wheel, losing the right rear wheel. Any hope of a podium in LMP2 category is now gone. #LeMans24 #WEC #ELMS pic.twitter.com/k9LQxJc97V
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 15, 2025
Back in the garage there are tears, and lots of them. Mechanics console each other as emotions and exhaustion get the better of them. Chadwick was watching the nightmare unfold on television.
'I was exhausted, because the adrenaline had come off, and at that point, you've really just had an hour of sleep,' says Chadwick, shortly before the demise of the No 28 car. 'So actually, I would have probably slept more throughout that day had we stayed in the race, because you focus on in the car, out the car, in the car, out the car – and when you're out the car, you're sleeping.'
The dream, for this year at least, dies with the double DNF, and by midday Chadwick is on the road and heading for home, four hours before the race is due to finish. But she fully intends on being back.
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'It could have been a lot worse. Fortunately, no big issues with it in the grand scheme of things. But obviously, in terms of the result, not great,' admits Chadwick. 'There's always next year, at least. So hopefully better fortunes to come.'