It sounds like the kind of fevered dream of an eight-year-old boy made into reality - driving a full-blown Le Mans race car, and one that has a very strong chance of winning this year's iteration of the classic endurance race, along the public highways. You might think it would be legally impossible but Audi's fearsome R18 e-tron quattro will travel from the centre of the city of Le Mans to the race track on Tuesday (March 25), under its own power and jostling with Gallic types in battered Renaults and the like.
Presumably, even the mad French drivers won't bother cutting up the LMP1-class R18, which will be piloted by nine-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen from the Place des Jacobins along a 15-kilometre route to the welcome centre at the track. Kristensen is one of six drivers competing in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship for Audi Sport Team Joest and the group will be signing autographs for an hour from 12.30pm in the Le Mans city square before the Dane begins his landmark drive.
"The new regulations that are centred on the efficiency of the sports prototypes mark the beginning of a new era for the Le Mans 24 Hours and endurance racing this year," says Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport.
"That's why we came up with a special plan for the presentation of the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro featuring its final graphics plus information on the technology. We're pleased that the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the city of Le Mans have supported our idea from the outset and are making this drive in public traffic possible."
Anything else?
If you think this is a first in terms of Le Mans, think again. Allow Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO, to explain: "We think it's great that Audi selected Le Mans as the venue for the presentation of the new R18 e-tron quattro - not only for the media but also for the spectators who will be the first to see the new Le Mans sports car on the Place des Jacobins and on its drive to the race track.
"At the same time, Audi is bringing back memories of an all-but forgotten tradition of our race from the days when the drivers would travel to Le Mans in their own race cars."
You can watch a live broadcast of the drive on audimedia.tv from 1.15pm CET (12.15pm GMT) on Tuesday, March 25.