24hr Le Mans – 100 ans
Onto the next Anniversary, this time 100th Anniversary of the 24 hour Le Mans race. For those unfamiliar with the race, Le Mans 24 hr is the toughest endurance race in the motorsport calendar, where one car with 3 drivers who take stints in driving, races for 24 hours at speeds of up to 200 mph. There are only brief pit stops for driver changes, fuel, tyres or damage repair. It is brutal on man and machine with the crews of mechanics and engineers working in a high pressure environment for over 40 hours with little or no sleep. Le Mans is considered to be one of the most prestigious races in the world, and along with the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 form the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Graham Hill is the only driver to achieve the Triple Crown.
Build Up
We arrived at our designated pitch at one of the huge campsites that surround the track. With over 300,000 motorsport fans from across Europe descending on track, the campsites are huge. We had 3 pitches as we were being joined by 4 friends, Clive and his son, Josh and Nik and his son James. We arrived early afternoon on Thursday and set up camp, putting up a 4-man tent for the boys, whilst we had the comfort of our motorhome. By the time we were all together, our camp was looking grand!
Charlie cooked his speciality; paella and as dusk began to fall we headed into the circuit, to watch the Hyperpole, where the fastest 8 cars from each class (HyperCar, LMP2/Pro-Am and GTE AM from Wednesday’ qualifying session, get another opportunity to improve on their time. There was also a night practice session for all cars from 10 pm to 11 pm. In all 62 cars were due to be lined up on the grid for Saturday’s 4 pm start.
Apart from on track action, there is lots to see and do. Huge village areas with shops, bars, restaurants, food outlets, displays by all the cars manufacturers in the race, classic car displays and fan zones with live music, more bars, outdoor cinema showing motorsport films, everything from ‘Cars’ to Le Mans ‘66 – Ford vs Ferrari’. There are huge screens everywhere so you can watch the racing, not just trackside. We stopped off at the fan zone, to catch the last bit of Razorlight’s concert and a few drinks. Finally headed to bed sometime around 2.30 am.
Friday morning started with Clive in charge of a massive fry up for the boys and a leisurely morning at camp, chatting and drinking. We then cycled 20 mins into Arnage, that’s taking your life into your hands! The roads are packed with every type of classic and super cars. We had a great lunch and stocked up at the supermarket before cycling back to camp in scorchio weather!
No track action in the afternoon as the drivers are taking part in the parade in Le Mans town, whilst back in the garages, the crews are working hard on final car prep. In the late afternoon there is the opportunity to walk up pit lane and see the cars up close, we aimed to get up there for 6 pm, as the programme said the pit walk was open til 7.30 pm.
This was our opportunity to catch up with our son, who is Control Systems Engineer for Algarve Pro Racing, who were racing in the LMP2 class. It was Oliver’s birthday, the previous Sunday but he had already been at Le Mans for several days, so I had a stack of family birthday cards to give him.
Unfortunately, as we got to the pit entry we were told they had closed the entry at 5 pm rather than 7.30 pm in the programme, however whilst the security guard was dealing with someone else, we slipped in behind him and confidently marched through, unfortunately the security guard caught one of our party, so he didn’t manage to get in. Oliver gave us a quick tour of their pit garage and we then were free to wander up and down pit lane and see all the other entrants.
We were not only supporting APR, but also JOTA, who are based just a couple of miles from our offices in Bells Yew Green. Oliver worked for JOTA whilst at Uni, and was lucky enough to be part of the team when they won their class in 2014. JOTA has had 10 podiums in the last 9 years at Le Mans. This year JOTA also had an entry in the Hypercar class in conjunction with Hertz in a Porsche 963 – Hybrid
Back at camp for a late BBQ and to watch the spectacular firework and drone display. It was a relatively early night as there would be little sleep on Saturday night. The campsites are not known for their silence at night, people have sound systems, cars are paraded on the roads and round the campsite but thanks to the lovely James, who came equipped with Nytol, an over the counter sleep aid, I didn’t hear a thing!
Race Day
It was a leisurely morning as it was going to be a long night. With the race beginning at 4pm, we went into the circuit at 2pm, armed with camping chairs and smuggled beer! There was little chance of getting a place trackside as anyone under 6ft + would not have seen anything, but behind a grandstand, just by the famous Dunlop Bridge, we found an excellent spot to set up, at the top of bank with a direct view of a giant screen, easy reach of toilets, bars and food, with the circuit 50 steps away so the tall people could see the track, but with 62 cars on track at the same time, less than 100 metres away, you don’t feel as if you are missing a thing.
Before the main event, there was a parade of classic Le Mans cars from the past 100 years, which drove right past our vantage point on their exit from the circuit and although our view was slightly hindered, Charlie on his way back from the toilet (where else 😂), was front row and got some great videos.
This year’s celebrity starter was LeBron James, American basketball star, but before the race could start, the cars are on the grid whilst the media does grid walks. The French flag, used to start the race is delivered by a soldier abseiling from a helicopter onto the grid, flypasts by French Navy Rafale fighters and Patrouille de France display team trailing red, white and blue.
Racing got underway and the first few hours had thrills and spills, with a torrential downpour on one part of the 8-mile circuit, leaving the cars spinning across the track, hitting each other and the Armco. Lots of incidents early on, which meant a lot of safety car laps. Just before sunset we headed back to camp for another fab meal cooked by Clive then headed back to the circuit. Mika was playing the main stage, so most of the group headed to the fan zone whilst we headed to Tertre Rouges and back up through the Essses to watch some of the night racing.
We then started heading back to the main Village area to meet up with the others and catch a full viewing of that night’s firework and drone display.
We then headed to the track side opposite the pits, where we watched the racing until about 1.30 am and then headed to Le Mans iconic Big Wheel for a ride at 2.30 am, hence the slightly bleary expressions.
That evening we got to bed around 4.30 am to the noise of the race lulling us to sleep. We were up and about for breakfast and then watched the race on live stream on my iPad in our camp and headed into the circuit for the final 2 hours and race finish at 4pm on the Sunday. During the night APR had no major incidents and were in the running for P1 in the LMP2 Pro Am class but JOTA had had a few problems and were down the running with both their cars, one in the Hypercar class and the other in the LMP2 class. In the top category it looked like Toyota would take overall first place as Ferrari had a problem with a engine restart at their pit stop, but less than 2 hours before the chequered flag, when driver Hirakawa locked up going into Arnage, hitting the wall meaning Ferrari took the flag, Toyota recovered to come 2nd with Cadillac Racing coming in 3rd.
In LMP 2, Inter Europol took 1st, Team WRT 2nd and Duqueine 3rd and to our utter delight Algarve Pro Racing came 1st in the LMP2 Pro Am class and 20th overall, so a great result for Oliver’s team.
So after it was all over, we cycled into Arnage for dinner and cycled back to camp before the sun set at 10 pm. Sitting roadside we watched the Classic and super cars show off through the town, although typically in this photo, it’s a white van man!
So, that was Le Mans that was, same time, next year! I’ll leave you with a picture of the overall 2023 Centenary year winning Ferrari.
RoundandAbout 