+ PATRICK DEMPSEY

Known worldwide for playing Dr. Derek Shepherd in the medical series "Grey's Anatomy", the 57-year-old American actor is a big fan of motorsport, so much so that he has had his own team, Dempsey Racing, since 2002.

He has participated in what he considers "the greatest motor race in the world" four times (2009, 2013, 2014, 2015), each time rallying to the finish.

His best result came in 2015 at the wheel of a Porsche 911 with a 2nd place in the LM GTE Am category and a 22nd overall.

In 2018, he will even climb on the top step of the podium as team boss with the victory of his Porsche 911 RSR driven by Australian Matt Campbell, German Christian Reid and Frenchman Julien Andlauer.

+ BRAD PITT

Brad Pitt has never competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but he made a remarkable passage in the Sarthe in 2016.

American actor Brad Pitt during the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he started on June 18, 2016 on the Le Mans circuit (France). © JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP/Archives

The American actor gives the start of the legendary endurance race with a short and now mythical sentence, in French: "Drivers, free the engines".

This 2016 edition also had a very Hollywood accent since several stars were present at Le Mans: Patrick Dempsey, Keanu Reeves, Jackie Chan or Jason Statham.

A few hours earlier, Pitt had completed a lap of the circuit aboard a Pescarolo prototype with Austrian driver Alexander Wurz, double winner of the 24 Hours, to the delight of thousands of fans who could follow the scene on the giant screens thanks to an onboard camera.

+ JEAN-LOUIS TRINTIGNANT

His uncle, Maurice Trintignant, participated in no less than fifteen editions of the most famous endurance race in the world, and even won there in 1954.

French film actor Jean-Louis Trintignant during the 48th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) in which he participated at the wheel of a Porsche 935, June 12, 1980 © Gabriel DUVAL / AFP / Archives

Jean-Louis Trintignant joined this family tradition by participating in the event in 1980, but the actor, who died in 2022, will not keep a very good memory.

Competing in a yellow Porsche 935 with Anny-Charlotte Verney and Xavier Lapeyre, he was forced to retire after a very high-speed accident on the mythical Hunaudières straight.

"During those few seconds, I really thought I was going to die," he told Maine Libre in 2012.

+ PAUL NEWMAN

Paul Newman participated in only one edition of the 24 Hours, in 1979, but he almost won at the canonical age of 54!

The American actor Paul Newman before the start of the 47th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) in which he participated on June 9 and 10, 1979. © Jean-Pierre PREVEL, Gabriel DUVAL / AFP/Archives

At the height of his glory, the interpreter of "The Infernal Tower" and "The Scam Scam", finished second overall and winner of his category at the wheel of a Porsche 935.

Newman, who discovered motorsport in 1968 during the filming of the film "Virages" where he played a driver of the Indianapolis 500, did not go unnoticed in the Sarthe: his photo in a red jumpsuit and sunglasses went around the world.

He created his own team in 1978 and teamed up with entrepreneur Carl Haas to found Newman/Haas Racing in 1983, which won many successes, including eight ChampCar titles, including four consecutive titles with Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais between 2004 and 2007.

In 1995, at the age of 70, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTS-1 class at the wheel of a Ford Mustang.

+ STEVE McQUEEN

Steve McQueen had a profound impact on the 1970 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans... without having been able to participate.

American actor Steve McQueen talks with Argentine automobile champion Juan Manuel Fangio during the filming of the film "Le Mans" on October 2, 1970 at the Le Mans circuit in Sarthe (France). © - / AFP/Archives

The actor, famous for his roles in "The Great Escape", "Bullitt" or "Butterfly", had come to France to shoot sequences of a film called "Le Mans" and directed by Lee H. Katzin.

He also hoped to compete in the event at the wheel of a Porsche 917 shared with the British Jackie Stewart, reigning Formula 1 world champion, which his assurances categorically refuse.

A good part of the film was shot in June 1970 during the 38th edition thanks in particular to three cameras embedded in a Porsche 908 taking part in the event. That year, he multiplied the visits to the Sarthe: he took place in the Brabham F2 of the British Derek Bell in July and met in October the five-time Argentine F1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.

© 2023 AFP