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Le Mans 2000 - The Tourists' Story

Page 2

 

So, before I get on and describe dinner (!), a last round up of shots from the Dunlop Chicane and at the Esses.

The Johansson Matthews Racing Reynard 2KQ of Johansson, Matthews and Smith. Guy Smith is at the wheel here.   Tom Kristensen is driving the 8 Audi R8 he was sharing with Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela.

  A three-car train down at the Esses as the Pescarolo Courage leads one of the WRs and the 56 Chamberlain-run Team Goh Viper.  

The Carsport Holland Viper 57 was driven by Mike Hezemans, David Hart and John Hugenholtz.      Sebastien Bourdais is at the wheel of the Pescarolo Courage here. Sebastien is the son of 5-times Le Mans competitor, Patrick Bourdais.

So often at Le Mans (well, in the even years, anyway!), the race "clashes" with either the World Cup or the European Football Championships.  I use the term "clashes" advisedly, because as far as I'm concerned, there is no clash, as the race will always take precedence over the football.  Now that's not to mean that I don't enjoy football or follow England, my national team, it just means that when I'm at Le Mans, there are more important things than football!

As it happens, the European Championships were on during Le Mans 2000 and, most importantly, on the Saturday evening it was the England v. Germany match.  Our host at Le Cheval Blanc had thought of this and had kindly set up a TV for us so we could watch the match while we had our dinner.  So that was good - as was the result!

Back at Le Cheval Blanc, the Tourists will England to victory against Germany!     We were joined for dinner by two other Le Mans visitors, the two fellows in the blue and black shirts at the far end of the table. Recognise yourself? Does anyone else recognise them? It would be rather nice to know who they were!

Once dinner was over, thoughts began to turn back to the race.  Unfortunately, Le Grand Lucé is right on the edge of the range of Radio Le Mans and nothing can be picked up in the hotel, although out in the car park you can get some reception.  Naturally enough, having spent several hours eating and watching the footie, I was very anxious to return to the circuit.

I guess we got back there at around midnight and it wasn't long before I was saying my goodbyes to the rest of the Tourists and looking forward to my solitary night at the races.

And so to the night. Boy do I love the night at Le Mans!     And no prizes for guessing my vantage point when taking these shots.......!

As I had spent so little time up on "the" building last year, I was determined to make up for it this year.  It really is a great place to watch from as even though the pictures you take end up looking much the same as those you've taken before, it's strangely quiet - for the middle of a motor race, that is!  Almost peaceful and relaxing.

In the race, the Audis were still very much in command, the only issue being which of the three cars would win, after some swapping of places due to punctures and other minor problems.  The last possibility of a Panoz challenge ended when Brabham had to pit for a gearbox change.

At a guess, possibly a pit stop for one of the Corvettes - or a very near neighbour!    It's that 56 Team Goh Viper again - hopefully having a routine stop.

I eventually dragged myself away from the building and went back through the Village and over to the Tribunes on the outside of the circuit to record a few pit stops.

I spent quite a long time on the Tribunes in front of the pits, wandering back and forth there until dawn broke.  I then decided to walk back again to the Esses, to catch some of the early morning action from there. 

An absolutely beautiful morning at the Esses. Here, the Dick Barbour GT Porsche of Muller, Luhr and Wollek comes into view. Victory in the GT class would be taken away after the race due to a fuel tank infringement.       This is Butch Leitzinger in the No. 1 Cadillac LMP which he was sharing with Franck Lagorce and Andy Wallace.

In many ways I hate it when it finally gets light on Sunday morning as it means that the wonderful Le Mans night is over for another year.  But I often have to pinch myself as a reminder that there are still 9-10 hours of the race to go, and, like everyone else I guess, I tell myself that "anything could still happen......"!

After wandering down to Tertre Rouge I knew that I had to begin to make tracks to get back up to the Village where I was due to meet up with Ian for the trip back to Le Grand Lucé for breakfast.  I still managed to sneak another trip up to the top of the "Welcome" building to watch for half an hour or so as the cars drove through the glorious early morning sunshine - absolutely perfect!

Ian, Robert and Martin duly arrived to give me a lift back and, as always, I enjoyed a quick wash and brush up plus the obligatory change of socks (!) before indulging in Le Cheval Blanc's almost "legendary" quince jelly!

Time for a team picture at Le Grand Lucé!

It never fails to amaze me to find that when I get back for breakfast at, say, 9.30, some of the Tourists, even those who didn't return to the circuit the night before, are still asleep!  Come on guys - remember what we're here for - it's only once a year, after all!!

We were all keen to get on the road again and after posing with Madame for the obligatory team photograph in the car park of Le Cheval Blanc, it was back into the cars for a trip out to Indianapolis and Arnage.

For anyone who has never been there, this is an essential part of the Le Mans trip, although it does get very busy at the start and end of the race and the car parks are often very full!

But it's a very good spot for lunch - try the omelettes there - they're very good!

This shot of Michele Alboreto in the 7 Audi was the one which I ultimately used for my t-shirts for the 2001 race. In a sense out of respect for the Italian, who was killed while testing for the race.

The race of course drew on to it's inevitable finish, pretty well everyone having given up hope of excitement at the top of the leaderboard, although the GT class provided a suitably bizarre finish when the Fukuyama and Babini Porsches clashed within a sniff of the finish line.

And the final shot of the 2000 story is inevitably one of the "Audi train".

So, another excellent Le Mans after which we dashed to Le Havre for the journey back, Martin, Pierre and I somehow contriving to miss our rendezvous with Chris, Terry, Alan and Clive in the turquoise jeep.  We had all left Ian and Robert to head back to Nice.  

So, a great Le Mans (if not a great race) - and weather to die for!