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So, after a very successful Ten Tenths meeting,
people started drifting away about 1.40 pm to head to their favourite spots to
watch the start of the race. For many, this meant a seat in one of the Le
Mans grandstands, the majority of which are situated on either side of the
start/finish straight although there are many fans of the Dunlop and Maison
Blanche grandstands (the latter of which now seems to be called 'Raccordement').
There are plenty of others who sweat that you don't need a grandstand seat to
enjoy Le Mans, and I accept that they're right. I spent many years at Le
Mans without going anywhere near a grandstand, however in recent years,
certainly the last ten, I've found a grandstand essential, both for the view it
affords and the opportunity to take a rest from time to time - particularly if
you're intending to stay up for the whole race!
So we said our farewells and made our way back
underneath the circuit and headed down to find our seats in T17 Durand, which
were the same ones as we have last year - in the front row. If I'm honest,
not ideal for photography - I'd prefer to be higher up with more chance of
shooting over the fencing but they have the terrific advantage of masses of room
for your feet and bags (really important when the stand is full at the start and
finish of the race), and very easy access in and out, as well as the cafe
inside. We sat down in our seats with the de rigeur baguettes for lunch at
almost spot on 2 pm, ready to watch the last of the pre-race 'festivities'.
The teams gathered in full beneath us, the first
time I recall seeing that done in such a structured way, enabling us to see the
drivers from the cars at the sharp end (as our seats directly overlooked the
Audi pits and the front 2-3 rows of the grid. We also saw Henri Pescarolo
as he received a tremendous ovation from the crowd prior to taking up the
honoured seat in the pace car for the start of the race.
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