The screening of the official 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans film at TheMerode Club in Brussels on 28 February will be a great opportunity to meet the public, but also a chance to reflect on one of the most important aspects of the famous endurance race: the technological, industrial and economic challenge it represents for the automotive sector and for mobility as a whole. In 2023, the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrates 100 years of history, 100 years of innovation.

Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, will be joined by racing drivers Sarah Bovy, Sébastien Buemi, Yannick Dalmas and Stéphane Richelmi to answer the audience’s questions after the screening.

They will no doubt address topics such as the energy transition and low-carbon transport, which are vital for our planet’s future.

MissionH24, the collaborative programme between the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and GreenGT, designed to promote hydrogen-fuelled racing, will be represented by Stéphane Richelmi. He drives the H24 prototype, which completed a series of races in 2022, and will be joined by other members of the H24Racing team. European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel will talk about her experience on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans last March, when she was introduced to zero-emission hydrogen racing on board the LMPH2G, the first electric hydrogen prototype from MissionH24, alongside Richelmi. That was part of a day showcasing the hydrogen ecosystem developed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, Le Mans city council, La Sarthe department council and the Pays de la Loire regional council.

Just a few days ago, after a zero-emission drive through Paris between Place de la Concorde and the Eiffel Tower in MissionH24’s LMPH2G, the French Junior Minister for Industry Roland Lescure said:

Hydrogen is one of the keys to the energy transition and MissionH24 is a feat of innovation. As is often the case in the realm of the automobile, everything starts at the racetrack. It’s also a great pleasure to see that the names of the programme’s partners marked on the car’s body are those of French or European companies. This pioneering programme and this remarkable vehicle prompt us to think about how our lives will look in the future, as we move forward with a zero-carbon energy transition. This programme combines three aspects of French excellence: innovation, research and automotive engineering.

The screening at TheMerode Club on 28 February comes ahead of an important announcement on the European hydrogen strategy on 1 March in Brussels.