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After getting
back to the cars we made the short journey to Mulsanne Corner. Tony had
woken from his semi-slumber at Arnage feeling a little worse for weather in the
tum department. As those who have made the journey before will know, the
walk from the car park to Mulsanne Corner itself is quite a long one and Tony
was keen to use the facilities once we got there!
As we walked
along the road under the trees we were surprised to spot our French pal Pascal standing watching the race,
near to a small turquoise tent in which his children, Vincent and Amandine were
presumably still asleep. We had a good long chat with Pascal as we walked
towards the corner and the coffee and croissant stall which was just opening.
It was good to see him again; he is such a good friend to the Ten Tenths
members at Le Mans - the English in particular!
After the
coffee and croissants were consumed we said our farewells to Pascal and I took
up station overlooking the corner for yet more photographs, snapping away until
just before 8 am. The sun was now fully up and shining and the intense
cold of the night was at last beginning to ease. This had been my 26th
night at Le Mans and I can say without hesitation that at 4 or 5 am, it was the coldest I
have ever felt at Le Mans, even on the thankfully relatively rare
occasions when it has rained during the night, as far as I can remember it has never been this cold.
As the race
went on it continued to be plagued by incidents and although none were as
extreme as the two Audi shunts, another did claim Magnussen's leading Corvette in GTE
Pro. But the race at the front of the field between the singleton Audi and
the Peugeots remained as enthralling as it had throughout the night.
Sadly for
Tony, his stomach woes were very plainly getting worse. I'd taken my fill
of photos at Mulsanne Corner and when James suggested that if we wanted to take a
quick pit-stop back at the hotel, primarily for Tony's benefit, now would be a
good time, I was quite happy to take a break. We still had that 15 minute
walk back to the car and then the half-hour drive back to the hotel but I felt
much happier breaking off from the race at this point than I had last year when
we had departed Mulsanne Corner at about 5.15.
It was
actually quite comforting to sit in the car resting and warming up again after
so long on my feet. Don't get me wrong, I simply adore the night at Le
Mans and couldn't even begin to imagine missing it, but the surprising cold of
the night just gone had taken it's toll and even that half-hour of relative
comfort was a bit of a life-saver.
Back in the
hotel I had a quick wash to remove a full day's worth of dust and grime and,
most important of all, the teeth clean! I knew it would be the worst thing
I could do to actually lie down on the bed so after a quick change of underwear and
t-shirt, I made my way back out of the hotel to wait for James and ready for the
journey back to the circuit.
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