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Le Mans 2002 - The Tourists' Story

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Le Hotel Restaurant Le Cheval Blanc at Le Grand Lucé has itself become almost a fixture in the Tourists' Le Mans weekend.  In one form or another, the Tourists have been going to Le Cheval Blanc since 1993 and this year, as in 2001, we stayed there on both the Friday and Saturday nights.  

I guess this is one of the few times in the Le Mans weekend when the wishes of the rest of the Tourists begin  to conflict with my own.  Like most people, I'm very partial to a good meal and a few glasses of wine, but this is Le Mans you know, and after 2 or 3 hours I find myself itching to get back to the circuit, particularly as by this time it was dark, and the night is, for me, the most memorable part of the whole race.

The evening gets under way and Stoffer and the others make friends with the partying French ladies......  For me, the Tourists' rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was without doubt one of the highlights of the evening - and what's more, I have it all on video for future blackmail purposes.  Here, from left to right,  John, Alan, Martin, Richard and Peter give it some welly......

As it happened, I faced even greater competition than usual in dragging some of the Tourists back to the circuit after the meal, as we had shared the restaurant with a party of French ladies enjoying a hen party!  There was a clear spirit of friendly rivalry going on here, evidenced only too well by the singing on either side!  Needless to say, a substantial amount of wine was consumed that night!

Eventually, I did manage to persuade a small and vaguely inebriated band of Tourists to head back to the circuit.  We did so via the restaurants on the Mulsanne but found (to my disappointment) that the already limited vantage points there had been barricaded off.  Undaunted, we headed into the fields beyond the Hunaudieres Restaurant and found a rather nice gap in the hedge from which to watch.  I found it (as I always do!), quite spell-binding.  No hope of photography, of course, but I did run the video for a couple of minutes and although there is little to actually see, the soundtrack is pretty inspiring, I can tell you!

As far as I'm aware, a routine pit stop for the sole Bentley this year.    From my position in the grandstand, I was able to take a few light  trail shots - although (as I've said so many times before), for the amateur photographer at Le Mans, the debris fencing makes this sort of thing pretty difficult!  Can someone get me a Press pass???!!!

Before long, it was back to the circuit at, I would guess now from memory, about 1.30 a.m.  The others kindly dropped me off at the outside of the circuit at Tertre Rouge, before heading back to  Le Grand Lucé for a few hours of sleep.  

I was very fortunate in that I had my grandstand ticket, courtesy of my French pal Fab and I spent a hour or so up at the top of the grandstand, taking both pictures (with tripod) and video.  In fact, by this time I was feeling a little less than 100% as I'd come to France with a bit of a cold and here, in the middle of the night, my sinuses were really giving me some trouble - I was certainly grateful for the opportunity to sit down!

Inevitably, however, no matter how I may feel, the urge to go wandering in the night always overtakes me and I did my usual trip down to the Esses.  I was quite keen to see the cars through the new section of track after the Dunlop Bridge and before the Esses.  Opinion?  No, for what it's worth I'm not in favour of it.  And frankly, changing the great circuit for the sake of entry to the corner on the Bugatti circuit for bikes - you've gotta be kidding.  Sadly, the ACO wasn't........

Here's a series of shots that I took just as dawn was beginning to break with a fast film in the camera.....  First up is the Bentley.      Followed by the No. 3 Audi.

Bearing in mind the time, I believe this must be the 29 Del Bello Reynard.  The similarly liveried ROC car was retired before the half-way point.  Again some supposition here - A Corvette, of course, and I think it's probably the 64 car.

Of course, race-wise, the 2002 Le Mans was effectively over already.  By the halfway point at 4 a.m. the No. 1 Audi was two laps clear of the No. 2 sister car with the third works car about a minute further in arrears.  First non-Audi was the Bentley, a hugely disappointing 5 laps down.  One of the MGs was still going strong in LMP 675 (13 laps down), while the GTS class was led by the impressive Prodrive Ferrari (2 laps up on the nearest Corvette).  The GT battle was down to less than a lap between the Freisinger and Racers Group Porsches.

Still pretty early (and I was still using that fast grainy film), here is the No. 6 Cadillac, being driven here by  Wayne Taylor, making his 13th start at Le Mans - his 3rd consecutive start in a Cadillac.  The 68 RML Saleen was crewed by Gavin Pickering, Miguel Ramos and Pedro Chaves.  It was running about 6th in class at this time.

Julian Bailey is driving the MG he shared with Blundell and McGarrity.  Sadly, this car joined it's sister car in retirement after completing  219 laps.  The No. 8 Bentley.  The picture which became a logo.......   Compare it  with the open cars - one of the reasons why I like cars with rooves!!

Well, dawn came and went, and I carried on walking, watching and snapping from around the circuit, although, having had no sleep of course, I was no longer particularly inclined to walk for miles!

It wasn't long before Robert returned to the circuit to find me and to take me back to Le Grand Lucé for my usual Sunday morning breakfast!