Scrutineering for the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours has been taking place on yesterday & today at the Place de la République in the centre of Le Mans town. All the teams, cars and drivers will go through administrative checks and scrutineering to receive the authorisation to compete in Le Mans 2013. 

Scrutineering (originally “a weigh-in” in French) takes place over the two days, where the ten or so scrutineers will do much more now than just weigh the cars. It is a long job combining patience and rigour to check that all those entered comply with each of the Le Mans technical regulations.

The operations are spread over three stations. At the first station the car is weighed on a horizontal platform equipped with lasers to measure its main dimensions (width, length, overhangs, wheelbase, wing height, shark’s fin, dimensions of the holes cut in the wings). This platform is also mounted on a scale and weighs the cars.

When the car moves on to the next station it is placed on a hoist so that the scrutineers can check its underside (dimensions of the front and rear diffusers, dimension and shape of the plank which guarantees a minimum ground clearance etc).

At the last station the bodywork is partially removed to inspect the safety equipment (extinguishers, belts, circuit breakers, hybrid system, etc ) the fuel tank and the engine oil fumes venting tank. The positions of the stickers are also checked and the timekeepers ensure that the transponder and the lights indicating the car’s position in its category are working. Finally, the data acquisition system in each car is scrupulously verified.

In total, scrutineering lasts around 50 minutes for each car. In the meantime, the drivers in their driving suits go through administrative checks in which their licences, driver suits, helmets and all their equipment, which must comply with the FIA standards, are verified. They are also weighed so that the figure can be deducted from the weight of the car during the checks carried out in qualifying. They then take part in various communications exercises (individual photos, photos of the teams with the cars, interviews with the press) and the eagerly-awaited autograph session with the general public.

For a full timetable of Le Mans 2013 events visit our Race Schedule page.

Photos: Dailysportscar.com