July 31, 2006 - If the list of European cultural icons that the average North American doesn't get includes soccer, melted brie, David Hasselhoff, Euro Disney and diesel-powered cars, then it must also include France's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Held 74 times since 1923, the 24-hour sports car race is a heroic test of efficiency and reliability of not only the machine but also the driver.

It's easy to associate heroes with the annual endurance race held in June. Especially if, like myself, your only exposure to the 24 Hours is the 1971 movie Le Mans. Starring the late Steve McQueen -- real-life car guy and actor -- the film is nearly documentary-like in its attempt to evoke a realistic portrait of a simpler era in racing history. For years, Le Mans has symbolized the glamour of racing. And, as Michael Cotton wrote in Blue & Orange: The History of Gulf in Motorsport, most folks still think McQueen actually won the race in his Gulf Porsche 917.

With the iconic film as my only point of reference, attending last weekend's race quickly catapulted me forward in time. After 35 years, would Le Mans the race be as romantic as Le Mans the movie?

Like the movie, where you have to wait 38 minutes for the first bit of dialogue until McQueen's character -- Michael Delaney -- mentions to his co-driver at his first pit stop to "watch out for the red Lola," patience is a virtue when attending Le Mans the race.

First, it's a couple of hours west by high-speed train from Paris to the outskirts of the small town of Le Mans. Unlike the 24-hour race held in Daytona, Fla., people here actually watch the 24 Hours. Using public roads, the first Le Mans circuit was 3.61 kilometres longer than this 13th version, now 13.65 km. Because of its size, it takes a while to work your way through the Woodstock atmosphere created by the more than 220,000 fans who attend from around the world.

If you arrive to watch the qualifying on Thursday, it's still two days until the race has its traditional start at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Then you wait for the winner -- 24 hours later.

While the 1970 race (when the movie was filmed) didn't require drivers to run to their cars, jump in and race away (that tradition ended a year earlier), it was still a standing start, unlike today's rolling start. Other concessions beyond the obvious modern safety improvements are that more drivers are allowed per team. In the movie, McQueen was shown starting the race in the #20 Gulf Porsche 917K -- which, in the real race, was driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. This year's winning #8 Audi R10 was shared by three drivers --Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. And where Audi had more than 100 support team members at this year's race, plop in a DVD version of Le Mans and you can count the number of pit workers ready to serve McQueen on both of your hands.

The 1970 Porsche 917K and the 2006 Audi R10 share a V12 engine configuration placed mid-way in the chassis and put power to the rear wheels -- and that's about it. Having said that, the 917K was seen as a radical aerodynamic exercise, with open rear bodywork that looked as if the Porsche engineers had a go at with hedge trimmers after a particularly hard day.

The R10, which this year replaced the five-time Le Mans-winning R8, is radical in the sense that it is the first and only diesel-engine race car to win the historic event. The 650-horsepower V12 TDI Power diesel is the most powerful of its kind in the world, and "the greatest challenge we have ever had to face in its long history," explained Ulrich Baretzky, head of engine technology at Audi Sport.

Conventionally, race fans equate noise with speed. But experiencing the Audis pace the field at this year's race was surreal to say the least. Compared with the gas-engined race cars, the R10s swooshed by before you knew it, dismissing the prejudices of diesels being noisy and slow in the process.

Back to the question: Is the 2006 Le Mans race as romantic as Le Mans the movie from 35 years ago? Well, yes and no. Dominating diesels may not be that romantic to traditional race fans who might argue that the singular pursuit of victory has been replaced by corporate marketing goals. Porsche in the 1970s, like many other auto manufacturers, didn't build race cars to necessarily help sell road versions. But, 35 years on, racing is big business. As every second Audi sold today is delivered with a TDI engine, if -- as a road car-buying customer -- you relate to its R10, that's OK. According to Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport, racing has cleared the way for new technologies such as quattro all-wheel drive (which stemmed from Audi's rally program in the 1980s) and allows Audi to offer the R8 production sports car that goes on sale next year.

In anticipation of next years 24 Hours of Le Mans, McQueen's statement that "Racing is life! Anything that happens before and after is just waiting" is more appropriate than ever.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, www.straight-six.com

When initially released, the 1970 car-cult film classic, Le Mans, was anything but. Actor Steve McQueen’s fanatical film making approach of the real racing world involved mimicking then actual racer Jo Siffert’s complete driving attire, right down to the Monaco chronograph watch TAG Heuer introduced a year earlier. The original Monaco's big, squared-off case with blue dial was radically different, and like the film at the time, people just didn’t get it. With LeMans becoming a legendary film—albeit, decades after its initial release—TAG Heuer reissued the Monaco in 1998 and is currently available in original Blue Dial, new Black Dial and the radical chronograph/digital V4. Wearing the new Monaco Blue Dial while making the pilgrimage to this year’s Les 24 heures du monde, it was easy to forgive the watch’s lack of alarm clock, 75-lap memory, calculator or heart rate monitor. Like LeMans, the Monaco may be old school, but it’s also still the epitome of cool.

- JL

© National Post 2006. This article originally appeared in The National Post's Driving.