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Le Mans 2008 - The Tourists' Story - Page 6

Into the Grandstand - and Le Mans 2008 is Under Way!

 

It was good to meet some old buddies again, particularly for Allon, who had missed Le Mans last year due to ill health.  But soon our meeting time ran out and with the start time now fixed for 3 pm instead of the former traditional time of 4 pm, it was time to head off to our grandstand seats as the pre-race preparations were clearly well under way.  So I’m looking forward to seeing you all again in 2009, Ten-Tenthers!

It was of course lunchtime already on the Le Mans Saturday and therefore time to hit the merguez!  So Allon and I bought our sandwich merguez Americaine – a large baguette filled with two gorgeous merguez and French fries – plus something to drink before heading off to our seats in the grandstand.  The only other time I had sat in the Lagache grandstand was in 2002 (although I’m not sure it was called that then) but from 2003 to 2007 I had made the pits grandstand, aka ‘T34’ my pre-race home.  But I’d decided it was time for a change in 2008 and Allon and I bought Lagache seats – if you’re not sure which that is, Lagache is the grandstand to the right of the main ACO stand, as you look across the track to the pits.  The stand had the advantage of having a pretty good view across the track to the Peugeot pits. 

          Is there anything better than this? Sitting in a grandstand at Le Mans, munching on a merguez baguette, waiting for the start of the world's greatest motor race? Allon doesn't think so.........!!         

We soon settled in our seats (mine was Esc 5, Rang J, Place 109) enjoying our lunch and I started snapping away as the cars went through their final preparations in their echelon line.  It was when Allon went off to take another look at the shops that one of the most amusing incidents of the weekend occurred. I was sitting there minding my own business when two people arrived claiming that I (and Allon) were sitting in their seats.  It turned out that we were sitting in the wrong row, having mistaken the French ‘G’ for our row ‘J’!  So we ended up in seats with a slightly better view three rows further up!  Allon was rather surprised when he returned from his shopping trip…..

This was RML's 7th Le Mans start, and the team was hoping for a good result, having won the LPM2 class in both 2005 and 2006     The Saulnier Pescarolo was running a 3.4 litre Judd engine - copared to the 5.5 litre turbocharged Judd in the works P1 cars     The Speedy Sebah team Lola coupe was (in my view) one of the best looking cars at Le Mans - but then, anything with a roof gets my vote!     The Embassy mechanics were all smiles before the start     Joao Barbosa took the start in the Rollcentre Racing Pescarolo #18

We had one or two Dutch fans near us in the grandstand......     I'm pretty sure it's Pedro Lamy to the left (middle) of the picture here. He started the #8 Peugeot - although it was Sarrazin who qualified it on pole     Marc Goossens is ready for the off in the #14 Creation he shared with Johnny Mowlem and Stuart Hall     Warren Hughes started the #45 Embassy WF01 Zytek. Here he chats before the start with co-driver Joey Foster, making his debut at Le Mans     From four wheelers to a single wheel...... You wouldn't get me up there (no head for heights) but I bet the view of the grid was fantastic......

The #33 car was qualified 20th by Andrea Belicchi, 4th in class     Great colours on the #34 Van Merksteijn Porsche of Peter van Merksteijn, Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen, who started the car     And this is where they all wanted to be come 3 pm on Sunday.....     The #21 Epsilon Euskadi was a late entry which the ACO accepted long after the reserves were supposed to have given up hope! But a very welcome one. Driven by the very experienced trio of Jean Marc Gounon, Stefan Johansson and Shinji Nakano     One of my personal favourites - really because I like to see John Nielsen do well! The Team Essex Porsche #31 driven by Nielsen himself, Casper Elgaard and Sascha Maassen

 

Of course, one of the things I had forgotten since I last sat in the stands opposite the pits in 2002 was just how intrusive the debris fencing was.  Still, I took the pictures so they might as well see the light of day!

The #7 Peugeot was driven by Nic Minassian, Marc Gene and Jacques Villeneuve. Minassian qualified it 3rd on the grid     I stand to be corrected here, but I think this is Johnny Mowlem getting himself into the #14 Creation Aim     Again, a case of standing to be corrected, but I'm going for Guy Smith starting the #40 Qiufel ASM Lola     Last minute preparations for the #63 Corvette of Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows     Well, John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans couldn't see the beauty in the design of the #11 Dome S102 of Daisuke Ito, Juji Tachikawa and Tatsuya Kataoka, but I think it looked gorgeous!

Greg Pickett started the #12 Charouz entered Lola, shared with Jan Lammers and Klaus Graf     The Essex Porsche was one of the pit-callers while the pitlane remained open before the start     Another one of those reflections shots, as Casper Elgaard comes into the pits before the formation lap in the #31 Porsche     The Courage-Oreca #5 of Laurent Groppi, Soheil Ayari and Loic Duval     The #20 Epsilon Euskadi was crewed fittingly by the all-Spanish line-up of Angel Burgeuno, Adrian Valles and Miguel Angel de Castro

Time pressed on, particularly now that the pre-race parade has sadly been abandoned (see the 2007 story) and soon the pitlane was opened and the cars were released.  As usual I was following the race on Radio Le Mans and not having managed to meet him this year before the race, I sent commentator Paul Truswell a good luck message for the 24 hours which was about to begin. 

The two Corvettes also made a visit to the pits before the formation lap. The #63 car qualified 1st in class thanks to a 3'47.668 lap by Jan Magnussen     Warren Hughes joins the grid in the #45 Embassy     I defy anyone to say that cars with rooves don't look better than open prototypes.... we've waited far too long to see coupes back at Le Mans....     The Dome team was taking a bit of a risk though, the three drivers were ALL appearing at Le Mans for the first time....     And as for the Astons, the cars looked good already, but the addition of that famous Gulf livery just added the final touch

Hiroki Katoh started the #24 Terramos Courage he shared with Yojiro Terada and Kazuho Takahashi     The #007 Aston Martin DBR9 was crewed by Karl Wendlinger, Anfrea Piccini and Heinz Harald Frentzen, the latter making his second Le Mans start - 16 years after the first!     Many of the cars took the chance to nip in and out of the pits prior to forming up on the grid     The #009 Aston was driven by David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner     The #40 Lola was qualified well down in 26th place by Smith

The Team Jacob Greaves (aka Bruichladdich) Radical #26 was driven by Marc Rostan, Ben Devlin and Gunnar Jeannette     If ever a car deserved it's place on the grid it was the Kruse Schiller Motorsport Lola of Jean de Pourtales (in the car here), Allan Simonsen and Hideki Noda. Noda had a huge accident at the Dunlop Curve during Wednesday qualifying but the team managed to rebuild the car to take the start     Bob Berridge sits waiting for the off in the #19 Chamberlain Synergy Lola which he was sharing with his wife, Amanda Stretton and Gareth Evans     All the cars were now lined up on the grid with just a few minutes to go to the formation lap     I was listening to Radio Le Mans at this time and they did a quick interview with Jan Lammers and John Nielsen, both former winners for Jaguar. It was then that I realised that the interview was taking place just across the track from us!

With the race start now permanently fixed at 3 pm (instead of the old traditional 4 pm), the start soon arrived and the great battle between Audi and Peugeot began.  The view from the grandstand was good enough but as soon as I sat down I was reminded of just how hopeless the debris fencing along that side of the straight is for photography.  I still believe that the view from T34 is as good a view as you can get anywhere as a spectator at Le Mans. 

          And so, Le Mans 2008 is under way. The three Peugeots are together at the end of lap 1, with McNish already 5-6 cars lengths adrift...     While the Charouz Lola Aston still (briefly) leads the third of the Audis as best of LMP1 bis - to borrow a phrase - eh Mr. Truswell? ;-)     The #33 Lola makes an early pit call....     Here is Frank Biela in the #1 Audi he shared with Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner, all winners in both 2006 and 2007     Nothing particularly remarkable about the 'Krohn' Risi entry #83, but make the most of the shot - this car was the first retirement when Krohn himself shunted it after just 12 laps

The #8 Peugeot was the car that was expected to set the pace....     ....driven by Lamy, Wurz and Sarrazin     Greg Pickett brings in the Muscle Milk Lola - a happening not unconnected with the next picture.....     The big screen was showing a shunt for Tommy Erdos in the #25 RML Lola, caused when it was punted into the armco by the Pickett Lola     It was only 2-3 years ago that the Pescarolos were taking the fight to the Audis, albeit unsuccessfully. Now they had no hope of competing with the diesels....

The #7 Peugeot was another car with the same driving crew as last year - Minassian, Gene and Villeneuve     The #23 Autocon Creation was driven by the three Americans, Michael Lewis, Bryan Willman and Chris McMurry     Does this car look seriously good or what?! The #10 Lola Aston Martin of Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge     One advantage of a vantage-point in the stands opposite the pits is a good view of some of the pit stops - here the #11 Dome comes in for fuel     Although the Tokai University #22 Courage sounded like an amateur effort, the driving experience of Toshio Suzuki, Masami Kageyama and Haruki Kurosawa certainly wasn't - 18 Le Mans starts between them including a second place for Suzuki in the legendary Toyota GT-One in 1999

Of the three drivers in the #20 Epsilon Euskadi, only Miguel Angel de Castro had raced at Le Mans before - three DNFs.....     Guy Smith had won the race in 2003 for Bentley and came second for Veloqx in 2004. This was his first Le Mans since then     By this time, of course, all the classes were fully mixed up, with the faster cars regularly lapping the slower GT1s and GT2s     Tommy Erdos finally makes it back to the pits in the badly damaged #25 RML Lola     Aside from the delay in getting the car back,it took the team nearly 29 minutes to repair the car and get it back out

Tommy Erdos being pushed back into the #25 pit so that work can commence on the damaged car     Refuelling stop for the #21 Epsilon Euskadi - their lengthy mechanical dramas were still to come!     In comes the 009 Aston for a routine stop     As does the #64 Corvette of Beretta, Gavin and Papis. This was just the beginning of a mighty battle between Aston Martin and Corvette     I had a pretty good view of the Aston Martin pits!

It was already obvious that the two Porsches - the #34 van Merksteijn example here in the pits - were the class of the LMP2 field     I think most of the Brits have a soft spot for Hugh Chamberlain and his team - here the #19 Lola is refettled, as driver Ms. Stretton looks on anxiously....     The #4 Saulnier Pescarolo was one of only two reserves called into the race, driven by team owner Jacques Nicolet, Richard Hein and Marc Faggionato     Time now for the #63 Corvette to stop, shortly after it's sister car     Likewise for the #7 Aston Martin DBR9

The #78 AF Corse Ferrari of Vilander, Biaggi and Montanari qualified near the back of the grid in 53rd place....     In front of the Ferrari is the ill-fated Imsa Performance Porsche of Narac, Long and Lietz, which went out on 26 laps after a shunt with the #80 Flying Lizards Porsche     In for a stop is the #44 KSM Lola Mazda     The #11 Dome is in for a driver change with Daisuke Ito hopping out as (I believe) Yuji Tachikawa rushes over with his seat to replace him (while one mechanic looks seriously bored in the background.....!)     Pit stops for Peugeots #7 and #9

Greg Pickett makes a speedy exit from the #11 Charouz Lola, making way for team-mate Klaus Graf     Up at the far end of the pit road, in their customary spot, the Pescarolo team work on the #16 car     Stop for the lovely #10 Lola Aston. I think that must be Stefan Mucke in the background, having just got out of the car     The #5 Oreca Courage enters the pits, with Loic Duval at the wheel     Bryan Willman sits in the #23 Creation, having missed his mark on entering the pits

The Creation team were hoping for better this year after failures to finish in both of the last two years     In for another routine stop, the #63 Corvette

While we were still in the stand, there was an accident between the #12 Charouz (Muscle Milk) Lola and the #41 Trading Performance Zytek of Ojjeh, Gosselin and Sharpe.  The Zytek ended up off the track at the Ford Chicane where it was promptly retired.  The Lola lived to fight on - well, for a while, anyway!  Here is the sequence of shots I took of the incident and the aftermath in the pits for the Lola. 

I didn't pick up the start of the accident, unfortunately....     The #12 Lola of Klaus Graf has spun to face the wrong way.....     ....while the #41 Zytek driven by Claude Yves Gosselin is already off onto the grass verge     I think it's the Kruse Schiller #44 Zytek that takes avoiding action....     Followed (again I think) by the #22 Tokai University Courage which also has to dart around the Lola

 

Klaus Graf immediately brings in the #12 Lola - the second major incident for this car in an eventful opening hour and a half...     The #41 Zytek wasn't looking as lucky - it came to a halt in the kitty-litter...     The rear bodywork is off the Lola. They lost just 4mins 23 secs repairing their damage....     But the race was over for the Trading Performance team. The car became the second official retirement of the race at 5.32 pm

Every time a Peugeot entered the pits, it was descended upon by the media.....!

Allon and I remained in the stand until about 4.50 pm at which point we decided it was time to move on.  We walked around behind the grandstands and up past the Dunlop Curve.  We exchanged some banter there with some Danish fans who naturally enough, were supporting ‘TK’, also known as 7-time winner Tom Kristensen.  We made the mistake of pulling their legs about McNish being behind the lead Peugeot when all of a sudden, all three Peugeots stumbled allowing the McNish, Capello and Kristensen Audi into the lead. 

It's at times (and places) like this that I get seriously upset about the sodding debris fencing!!!     The Lola Aston would have to recover from an early shunt in the hands of Jan Charouz     The #59 Team Modena Aston was driven by Jos Menten, Christian Fittipaldi and Terry Borcheller     After the accident involving the Imsa Performance and Flying Lizards Porsches, it was now up to the #77 Felbermayr Porsche of Alex Davidson, Wolf Henzler and Horst Felbermayr to take the fight to the legions of Ferraris....

Although the Saleen #50 of Christophe Bouchut, Patrick Bornhauser and David Smet was able to qualify second in GT1, it couldn't show that kind of pace in the race. It wasn't helped when it lost a wheel right in front of us......!     It took some minutes for the 'crane-thingy' to snatch the car from the gravel whereupon it started a slow Reliant Robinesque (well sort of!) lap back to the pits

We walked on down past the Dunlop Bridge and down the hill past the Esses to Tertre Rouge as Allon was keen to see the new re-profiled corner.  Having missed Le Mans in 2007, this was Allon’s first sight of the revised corner and spectator areas. 

Audi waits to pass Aston and Lola.....     Epsilon Euskadi and Courage     The Corvettes follow the Lamborghini, on the track though, not in reality....     The battle was truly on between Corvette and Aston Martin     The Epsilon Euskadi - the first 'stealth' sportscar!

Pescarolo behind Peugeot - unfortunately for Henri, a long way behind Peugeot.....     Peugeot were now unexpectedly playing catch-up with Audi...     The AF Corse Ferrari #78     There was a great battle in LMP2 between the Essex Porsche and the #34 Van Merksteijn Porsche, pictured here     This was a miserable Le Mans for Spyker; by the time this #94 Speedy Racing car went out after 55 laps, the #85 Snoras example was already a retirement

I think the #7 Peugeot is following the #26 Bruichladdich Radical here     The #45 Embassy has just been passed here by the #8 Peugeot

The debris fencing may be a pain, but you still get a good impression of the speed of the cars from here. Klaus Graf in the #12 Lola     Vanina Ickx really rose to the challenge in the Rollcentre Pescarolo     Frankie Cheng, the first Chinese driver to take part at Le Mans was already looking for a finish, running well up in LMP2     To my mind, all the #11 Dome needed was a good colour scheme!     The #73 Alphand Corvette of Goueslard, Blanchemain and Pasquali

Hopefully we'll see a works Aston effort with these cars next year     I can't work out who's driving the Van Merksteijn Porsche here......     I think this is Wolf Henzler in the Felbermayr Porsche     The RML team lost a lot of time to the accident with the Charouz Lola. Mike Newton presses on here....     The #82 Ferrari of Salo (here), Melo and Bruni was running at the head of the GT2 field throughout the race

The #33 Speedy Sebah Lola     I'm sorry, I just can't tell which of the Pescarolos this is!      The #77 Felbermayr Porsche again     And the Dome rounds off the Saturday afternoon pictures.....

We remained at Tertre Rouge taking photos of the cars until about 6.30, but knowing that we needed to be back to the cars for 7 pm for the trip back for dinner at Le Grand Lucé we soon began the walk back to the garage rouge.