Aysedasi's Le Mans

The time had now ticked on to 5.15 pm and the race was over 3 hours old.  We had already lost from the race, quite sensationally, both of the Mercedes (one of which, the lead Schneider car, was parked under the building I had been watching the race from, and yes, I did manage to get a shot of it!) and both of the BMW’s as well, although I always felt that they rather flattered to deceive.  The race was now very clearly set as a battle between Toyota and Porsche, with Porsche having the upper hand, gearbox problems already afflicting the lead Toyota, much to our disappointment.  

So, with a tinge of regret, I agreed with Peter that it was time to move down from the roof and we decided to grab a cup of coffee in the A.C.O. restaurant in the Welcome Area.  I still had the headache I had arrived at the circuit with four hours earlier, but it was at last beginning to ease.  After coffee, we moved down to the fencing at the front of the Welcome Area, to watch the cars as they headed around the Dunlop Curve.  I took some more scenic shots here, including a couple of the Goodyear balloon and of Peter, who was determined to keep up to date with the race via Radio Le Mans!

We enjoyed an excellent cup of coffee and then decided to indulge in one of our favourite Le Mans week-end activities (certainly one of Peter’s favourites, anyway), a Grand Marnier crepe!  We were surprised to find that the Grand Marnier crepe stall had changed - for the first time since I came to Le Mans back in 1986.  The familiar large stall in the Village had gone, replaced by a smaller wooden stall, in which those working seemed to be extremely hot and cramped.  Nevertheless, the most important thing was that the crepes tasted as good as ever!

Having filled those small holes, Peter and I then headed off to the Dunlop Chicane, for another photographic session.  Despite the ever-present debris fencing, the chicane remains one of the best places to take shots of the cars at Le Mans, as it is possible to get up very close to the fencing and thereby lose the worst effects of it by use of very limited depth of field.  So I was able to get some pretty good shots of the cars as they came through the chicane in the by now very bright and welcome sunshine.