Circuit de la Sarthe in the context of 1955 Le Mans disaster

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans; French pronunciation: [vɛ̃t.katʁ‿œʁ dy mɑ̃]) is an endurance sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races – along with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 – that form the Triple Crown of Motorsport, and is also one of the races alongside the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring that make up the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing. Run since 1923, it is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world.

Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track are able to achieve speeds of 366 km/h (227 mph), and reached 407 km/h (253 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight in 1988 – instigating the addition of more chicanes to the track to reduce speed reached. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure. The race is organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It is held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, composed of closed public roads and dedicated sections of a racing track.

The 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 56th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the fifth round of the 1988 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on the 11 and 12 June 1988. At their third attempt, Jaguar arrived with five cars to take on the strong Porsche works team of three cars, in their only race for the Championship season. The other potential rival was Sauber, now formally backed by Mercedes-Benz, but after a major high-speed tyre-blowout in practice, their two-car team was withdrawn.

From the start, it was a close duel between the two works teams. Even though Hans-Joachim Stuck had put in a blazing qualifying lap to lead a 1-2-3 grid for Porsche, it was Jan Lammers in his Jaguar who muscled his way up to the front. A blocked fuel-filter cost Klaus Ludwig two laps in the pole-sitting Porsche. Thereafter the chase was picked up by his teammate Bob Wollek, and he took the lead in the fourth hour. Along with the third works car run by the Andretti family and the Joest Porsche, these four cars continued dicing well into the night, constantly swapping positions.However, this year the usual Porsche reliability was missing: the Andretti car lost three laps repairing their water pump, then Wollek's car retired just before half-distance with engine failure. Jaguar did not have easy sailing either, as Boesel had retired at midnight with a broken gearbox. Meanwhile, hard driving by Stuck, Ludwig and van der Merwe had them back into the race, and the second half would be a duel between them and the Jaguar of Lammers, Dumfries and Wallace. A light shower late in the morning just added to the tension with Stuck, a wet-weather master, getting ever closer.