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With the Audi
visit over, I paused at the back of the pits grandstand for a chat with some of
the other Tenthers and then said my farewells (until tomorrow). James
reappeared about 2.30. We'd planned to try and meet up with Paul Truswell
after the visit and when I phoned him I discovered that he was literally only a few
hundred yards away finishing his lunch at Smoking Dog! We set off and
found him there and had a brief chat about what we'd all seen in qualifying,
whilst at the same time sowing the seed that we'd really quite like another
visit up to the Radio Le Mans studio like last year! Paul was happy to
oblige and we walked from the paddock over to the ACO building in the back of
the main grandstand and caught the lift up to the radio and TV broadcast area.
In essence,
the visit to the studio was a mirror image of last year's, although no less
interesting for that. James and I were intrigued to discover that Paul's
traditional spot in RLM's perspex 'box' had now been swapped with John
Hindhaugh's (and Jim Roller's), giving Paul quite a bit less space but on the
other hand a really good view of the cars as they approached along the
start/finish straight.
One thing
that was obvious (this year as last), is the very cramped surroundings the RLM
boys and girls have to work in - when you think of the regular supply of guests
they have in there as well. It's a fantastic setting and a brilliant view
of course, but to think that Paul in particular spends the whole of the race in
this one spot, plus a fair bit of time before and after the race, you have to
have determination and a fair degree of physical and mental fortitude for that
job! And don't we all appreciate it? Oh yes!
We enjoyed
another marvellous guided tour of the facilities from Paul, during which he
explained the way in which he would be charting the race this year, working
primarily on-screen instead of using his now famous exercise book approach. We
also discussed the relative performance of the Audis and Peugeots, including
what appeared to be one lap longer stints by the Peugeots. The initial
(but highly tentative) conclusion was that the Audis might be able to run
slightly faster, but would the Peugeots be able to counteract that by running
longer stints throughout the race?
We finished
another marvellous visit to RLM outside on the roof of the grandstand, where the
view was as sensational as ever - even with nothing happening on track! The public
pits walkabout was of course still continuing and the noise from down below was
extraordinary - it seemed so much louder from up there!
Eventually we had to leave
Paul to get on with his work although we did end up spending another 15 minutes
or so continuing our chat with him downstairs outside the ACO building before we
said goodbye and 'good luck' for the race.
We headed
back to the cars, now realising just how much the time had run away from us and not
having anything yet all day, we were absolutely famished. On the way back
to the hotel we stopped for petrol and even though it was fast approaching 6 pm
and our plan was to eat within the next two hours, we just had to grab a
sandwich to deal with the immediate hunger pangs!
By the time
we got back we managed an hour or so of rest before it was time to meet up again
with the others - Tony, Tim, Julie and Andrew to go out for dinner. I
assumed we would be Courtepaille-bound again, but Julie and Andrew had taken a
shine to the Hippo Grill, about 5 minutes up the road, which we reached after an
entertaining detour by James to take in the sights and sounds of the local industrial
estate......!
Not
surprisingly, the menu was not dissimilar to Courtepaille - these 'grill'
establishments seem very popular in France - and let's face it, anything has to
be better than the cardboard fare from KFC, Burger King and McDonalds that we
seem to have to put up with in the UK! The Hippo Grill actually
had one very considerable advantage over Courtepaille - there was foie gras on
the menu as a starter - so that was James and I sorted! I had some kind of
speciality burger for main, which was fine. The meal really took quite a long
time for just two courses and I was beginning to feel pretty tired and with the
longest day of the year now only a few hours away, I was keen to bet back to my
bed for a good night's sleep.
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