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Le Mans 1995 - The Tourists' Story

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So what was going on in the race at this time, you might well ask?  Well, at the 10-hour mark, the West McLaren was still leading with the Harrods McLaren in 2nd.  The Wollek, Andretti and Helary Courage, which had looked to be Mario and Bob's best bet for that elusive Le Mans victory was in 6th, a mighty comeback after dropping to 25th in the 5th hour, after Mario dumped the car backwards into the wall at the Porsche Curves, which cost 25 minutes in the pits.  Ominously for the rest of the field, however, there was a third McLaren in the top three, the sombre black version of Dalmas, Lehto and Sekiya.  This was running very well, particularly whenever Lehto got behind the wheel, making up time for three earlier spins (one for each driver).

Having walked down to Tertre Rouge and back again, I spent some time at the Dunlop Curve, before wandering along the tribunes opposite the pits, to watch a few pit stops.  Fortunately for me, the rain had started to ease a little.

A shot of cars coming under the Dunlop Bridge. As you can see from the pentagonal shaped flare, it was still raining! (I think it's quite a good effect!)                The 51 Harrods McLaren was running very well and would take the lead of the race when the 49 car was abandoned. Note the tail lights of the car, looking rather like laser-beams!                Standing over on the tribunes, I was able to get a little bit of shelter near the back of the grandstands, where I took this shot.

After quite a while in front of the pits, I decided to walk as far as I could towards the Porsche Curves, as I hadn't been down in that direction for some years.  Regulars will know there are fences and barriers which stop you from getting too close to the Curves however, this year, the fencing had been trampled down and I was able to get into the field beyond - a strictly prohibited area, where there was already a handful of spectators literally leaning on the armco.  I didn't venture that far, my thoughts going back to the 1987 race when one of the Cougars actually leapt the barriers and burnt out in that very field!  Unfortunately, I got pretty wet on that jaunt, the grass was about shin high and my trainers and the bottoms of my jeans were soaked by the time I walked back to the tribunes!

I set up camp again on the tribunes for some more shots of the cars as dawn rapidly approached.

I think I'm right in saying this is Eric Helary in the 13 Courage. By 6 am (roughly when this shot was taken), the Courage was in a solid 3rd, chasing down the 51 and 59 McLarens                Quite a nice contrast here between the bulky 78 Veroux Porsche and the 24 Gulf McLaren. The McLaren was driven by Bellm, Blundell and Sandro Sala and was lying in 5th place

 

My favourite Harrods McLaren was still running well in the lead, Andy Wallace able to hold off the charging J.J. Lehto before gear selection problems signalled the end of Derek Bell's chances of a record-equalling 6th win                The 73 Callaway Corvette of Bertaggia, Unser and Jelinski was running pretty well too, running 10th overall and leading the GT2 class before being overhauled by the Kunimitzu Honda NSX

By now, thankfully, the rain had virtually stopped, as had my legs!  As I'd walked quite a few miles around the circuit during the night, I guess that wasn't surprising!  I was due to meet with the rest of the Tourists as they returned to the circuit from Le Grand Luce on the hour (either 7, 8 or 9!) at the Grand Marnier crepe stall.  That reference gives me the chance to post these two pictures:-

Without a doubt, the Grand Marnier crepe stall is one of the essential places to visit during a Le Mans week-end (several times, in fact!)                And yes, if you're going to indulge in a crepe or two (like my good friend Pierre!), then what could be better to wash it down with?!

So, not feeling like walking much more (the night - the best part of the race - now over), I decided to camp at the GM crepe stall.  At about 8.20, Ian, Martin, Peter and Jim returned to the circuit for a crepe breakfast!  

After heading back to Le Grand Luce for a change of clothes we set off for Mulsanne Corner to catch some of the remaining action there.  Whilst on the journey we heard of the dramas which were afflicting the leading Harrods McLaren and realised it was now only a matter of time before the 59 McLaren assumed the lead.  Derek Bell and co were suffering severe clutch and gearbox maladies and lost time which they could never make up.  

Although everyone raved about Lehto's performance in the 59 McLaren, you have to remember that this was the 3rd win in 4 years for Yannick Dalmas, and the first win at Le Mans for a Japanese driver, Masanori Sekiya                Always a favourite at Le Mans, 1995 was never going to bring glory for Hans Stuck in the Kremer K8 Porsche which he shared with Thierry Boutsen and Christophe Bouchut. 6th place was probably a fair reward for their efforts in a car which was not only aged, but filthy as well (like all the others!)

We took lunch consisting (as it should) of beer and frites at Mulsanne before returning, as usual to the garage rouge to watch the end of the race from the tribunes, having fortified ourselves for the last couple of hours with a few more glasses of champagne!

The race was won of course by the 59 McLaren, a fantastic Le Mans debut for what I still consider to be one of my favourite Le Mans cars.  Wollek, Andretti and Helary brought the 13 Courage home in 2nd place, on the same lap as the winning McLaren.  Lots of "what if's" there - a win for Andretti and Wollek in particular would have gone down very well with most of the spectators at Le Mans.  The Harrods McLaren made it home in 3rd place, just one lap in arrears.

There were 20 finishers and another 3 cars running but not classified.  McLarens filled 4 of the first 5 places and the car I love to hate, the Debora, made it home, last of the classified finishers in 20th place, 76 laps down.

On the Sunday evening we stayed at the Hotel La Marine at Port en Bessin (great soupe de poisson!) and we took lunch at the Cafe du Port at St. Vaast-la-Hougue on Monday, having earlier popped into Bayeux for a peak at the famous tapestry.  After lunch it was time to journey on to Cherbourg for the ferry back to Poole.

The 1995 Tourists sit down to enjoy their lunch at St. Vaast-la-Hougue on Monday. (Yes, that's me at the end of the table, about to tuck into some sardines!)                Just hanging around in Bayeux. L to R:- Martin, Mark, Peter, Alan, Terry and Jamie - with camera-shy Ian rushing out of shot as always!

The 1995 Le Mans weekend was, I suppose, a case of ups and downs.  Great accommodation and food throughout and a few new places to visit.  The race was good, very close between the two leading McLarens and the chasing Courage (even if the end result wasn't quite what I had hoped for - it was certainly a great deal better than in '94!).  The weather had been a pain, and true to form, we were blessed with brilliant sunshine all day on the Monday!  Sod's law, I guess!