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Le Mans 2002 - The Tourists' Story

Page 3

 
 

Before we left for Le Grand Luce, I snapped my last shot of the Morgan , which finally gave up its (in my opinion) very plucky fight after 181 laps.  The Japanese Audi, despite having Le Mans specialist Yannick Dalmas on board, was never in the same league as the works cars. (Its actually Hiroki Kato driving in this shot). By 9 a.m. on Sunday it was running 9th, a full 16 laps down.

I guess I've probably said this many times before (and probably already in these pages too), but there's quite a wrench in one sense to leave the circuit on the Sunday morning - the night is done and dusted and (very often, certainly in recent years) there's not a lot going on at the sharp end of the field as far as battling for the lead is concerned.  But, leaving the circuit still means missing the racing!

On the other hand, by 9 or 10 a.m. on Sunday, I'm generally feeling knackered, and if I've been operating at less than 100% health-wise, I really start to feel the effects by then.  So its actually good to get back to the hotel, to have a spot of breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee, preceded by a quick wash and brush-up to get rid of some of the grime of the previous few hours.

Members of the team pose with Madame at Le Hotel Restaurant Le Cheval Blanc at Le Grand Lucé.

And here is the 2002 team (excepting me, of course). Top row, left to right - Mike, Peter, John, Jeff, Richard, Alan, David and Chris. Bottom row - Nick, Howard, Martin, Robert and Ian.

Once breakfasted and refreshed, you won't be surprised to hear I was as keen as ever to get back to the circuit.  Not that this was influenced at all by anything exciting going on there that I'd been made aware of.  But when you (normally) only get the chance to go to Le Mans once a year, I believe you should make the most of it!

In fact, it was time for a trip out to Indianapolis and Arnage and I had been trying to make arrangements to meet up again with Fab, who apparently had a gift for me.  As it happens, he finally presented me with it in the car park at Arnage  - six bottles of his local Muscadet - very welcome indeed.  Sharing a passion for the 24 Heures du Mans really does enable you to meet some very nice people.......

Fab and I pose for a picture at Arnage. (And I really must do something about my weight pretty soon.......!)

By this time there was, as always, a good crowd at Arnage and Indianapolis, but, somehow, even though it's still one of my favourite vantage-points, the enclosure has lost some of its magic following the run-off revisions made a year ago and the fact that its now almost impossible to get a decent photograph there unless you happen to be 10 feet tall.  

After lunching at Arnage it was back to the bus for the final trip back to the circuit.  We parked in the Tertre Rouge "overflow" car park and walked into the circuit from that entrance. 

Although (as you will have gathered), I wasn't a great fan of the changes to the circuit from under the Dunlop Bridge, I was still quite keen to get to the inside of the circuit on what used to be the hillock at the bottom of the hill below the Dunlop Bridge.

Unfortunately, the fencing is as obtrusive there now as everywhere else, so my shots were fairly limited, although I did manage to find a small gap for reasonable pictures just as the cars straighten up again for the run down to Tertre Rouge.

Emanuele Pirro at the wheel of the leading Audi at about 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. I guess this must have been a pretty familiar sensation for him......        Johnny Herbert takes the No. 2 Audi through the Esses at the same time. By now, the order between the two leading cars was settled, and the second-placed car was a lap down.

By this time the Tourists had split up again.  The weather was very fine and I was getting pretty hot standing out there with no shade at all.  

This is the 14 ORECA Dallara, being piloted by Franck Montagny. The car would run on to 6th at the finish, just behind the sister 15 car and 16 laps down on the winner.  The singleton Bentley finished 4th, the "best of the rest" after the three Audis, but a disappointing 13 laps down on the victor and 10 laps behind the 3rd placed Audi.

After another visit to Tertre Rouge the race meandered as usual to a less than spectacular finish.  Those who join me on the forum know that I'm not the greatest of Audi fans.  The cars, the drivers and the team are magnificent, of course and I can't take anything away from what they've achieved in three straight years at Le Mans, but, at the same time, Le Mans now desperately needs some competition.  The last thing that I want to see is yet another Audi victory in 2003.  

After the race it was back to the bus and off to Le Gue du Holme at Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme, where we would be staying the night, as in 2001.  (You can read more about this excellent hotel/restaurant in my 2001 story - here).   

The largest ever collection of Le Mans Tourists (well, in my experience, anyway), savours another exellent meal at Le Gue du Holme.

It was a nice way to finish the Le Mans weekend, lapping up the sun and then meandering down the coast on Monday for a spot of lunch before heading for Cherbourg  and the Fast Cat (or whatever it's called) back to England.

The Tourists pose for a team photo outside the hotel. (For anyone who may be vaguely interested - that's me - the shortarse baldy - on the far left!).

We took lunch at a pleasant restaurant along the coast somewhere (the location lost to the mists of time). John and Peter were determined to do some serious damage to the fruits de mer......

So that was basically it for Le Mans 2002.  My 17th visit to La Sarthe.  A very good trip, all in all.  A little bit cramped travelling in our "bus", but the weather was very good (unlike 2001!) and we not only had a good race (if a very predictable result), but a hugely entertaining weekend.

Roll on 2003.

(That's a bit of a cheat statement really - I was so behind writing up the 2002 story that there is now only about 6-7 weeks to go to Le Mans 2003!!)