The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a race of extremes. It’s a test of endurance, a showcase of technology, and it’s also all about speed. To understand the first of those, you’ll have to wait until the 85th running of the race, which takes place this weekend. But you can definitely get a sense of the last two with the 360-degree video seen above.
Porsche released the video today, which features driver Marc Lieb taking a full-speed lap around the famous 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe in the company’s 919 Hybrid prototype car. Lieb knows his way around Le Mans — he won the race for Porsche last year, and helped bring home podium finishes in the two years before that. Here, the hybrid engine whines its way to well over 200 miles per hour on the longest straights as Lieb puts down a lap that’s only a few seconds off the race pace.
What’s amazing is how calm Lieb looks while a blur of trees and houses whip by his Porsche’s bubble cockpit. But when you’re responsible for driving multi-hour stints in a 24-hour race — often at night and sometimes in the rain — you’ve got to keep cool, regardless of how fast you’re going.