Aysedasi's Le Mans

Le Mans 2009 - The Tourists' Story - Page 6

Off and Running

It was great to be back in T34 for Le Mans again after my brief dalliance with Lagache in 2008.  I know that many people seem to think that this grandstand doesn't afford a great view firstly because it's so steeply raked (you wouldn't want to trip over on the top step, for sure!) and secondly because there is no view as such of the pits below.  But for me, it's the perfect place to watch the start of the race (and plenty after the start too!) and it's also really the only obvious place to which access is afforded to the ordinary spectator where you have an uninterrupted view with no debris fencing getting in the way.

I mentioned earlier that my camera had been playing up and I was disappointed to find that the problems of Friday night returned, as unpredictable as they had been before. It was strange that I had no problems at all with my short zoom lens, but no matter what I did with the longer lens, the problem kept coming back over and over again and it was really cramping my style. I pressed on with both still and video from my position in the front row of the grandstand.

I had a good view of course when the cars began to make their pitstops although I was unable to see the stupid shunt between the number 7 and the number 17 Peugeots. It was clear even from the opening hour that the Audis couldn't live with the Peugeots and when Premat put the number 3 car into the tyre wall at Indianapolis after just a few laps, I somehow knew, even within minutes of the start of the race, that at last, Audi's long Le Mans reign was probably coming to an end.

It wasn't quite as hot in the stand as it had sometimes been, but I started to sip my water a little more frequently as the sun began its gentle climb up the rows - the grandstand was already only half full with just a couple of hours gone.  It never fails to amaze me how quickly spectators drift away from the grandstands - this one in particular.

By this time, one car had already made a thoroughly ignoble departure from the race (and I choose the description very carefully) .  As described by John Hindhaugh on Radio Le Mans, the 'woeful' Lamborghini Murcielago of the JLOC team was retired after a single lap.  It was clear and obvious that the team never had any intention of running the car any further.  In my opinion, this was a scandalous act by a team that hadn't had the decency to withdraw the entry weeks earlier and let a far more deserving entry in.  If it were up to me, I wouldn't let this team anywhere near Le Mans ever again....  But of course it isn't.... (see 2010 race entry). 

I finally left T34 at about 5:30 after watching a solid two and a half hours racing. You rarely have too much of a good thing, but by now my food and drink supplies had been exhausted and I knew I only had a limited amount of time before I had to start thinking about the rendezvous with the other Tourists and I was keen to get down to Tertre Rouge (if possible) or at least the area around the Dunlop Bridge (if not).