This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – the grand finale of the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship Super Season – will be outstanding! And to wave the start of the landmark 87th annual Le Mans race, the starter will fittingly be a very prominent figure – Her Serene Highness, Princess Charlene of Monaco. A former Olympic swimmer, the Princess is actively involved in the Monaco Grand Prix, taking an avid interest not only in sporting performance, but equally in the personal and technological challenges, core values shared with the ACO.

By bringing Monaco to Le Mans, the 2019 starter strengthens the ties between two monuments of motorsport, two places whose names evoke the human endeavour and technological prowess of racing.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest : “We are delighted and very proud to announce that H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco has accepted to be the starter of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. As an accomplished sportswoman, she is the perfect advocate for the promotion of women in motorsport and in society as a whole. The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has always encouraged women to be involved in all aspects of motor racing. We are not merely following rules or applying quotas, we are showing women that there is a place for them in motorsport. We’re not just talking about hopes and ambitions, we’re talking about taking part here and now, building, doing, living their lives as they wish.”

H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco will officiate as starter of the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year’s race boasts a 62-strong entry list that includes Kessel Racing’s all-female driver line-up –Rahel Frey, Manuela Gostner and Michelle Gatting – in the LMGTE Am class.