An important characteristic of great events is the build-up, the growing sense of anticipation for what is to come. Here at Le Mans, that begins Sunday.

They call it “scrutineering” and for fans and teams alike the technical inspection and public presentation of the cars is one of the great traditions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Each team has a specific time slot to present its cars at the Place de la Republique in downtown Le Mans. The process begins as each car is carefully rolled out onto the hydraulic lift gate of its respective trailer and ends with the full team’s cars, drivers, and crews assembled for their official photo.

Sunday afternoon Scrutineering highlights the defending champion Audi team with four cars, two R18 Ultra lightweight turbo-diesels prototypes, and two Audi e-tron Quattro diesel-flywheel hybrids.

Monday will feature their chief rivals from Toyota with a dramatic pair of blue Toyota TS 030 gasoline/ultra-capacitor hybrids, the defending GT champion Corvette Racing, the ALMS stalwart Flying Lizard Porsche team, and the highly anticipated Nissan DeltaWing.

The intensity slowly builds throughout the week with the pace increasing through Wednesday and Thursday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

The driver’s parade on Friday presents a brief respite for the teams. Saturday morning’s track arrival, warm up, pre-race checks and festivities will soon follow and, with good fortune, end with podiums, press conferences, and packing up late Sunday.

The success of one year’s work is determined in 24 Hours.