Aysedasi's Le Mans

Le Mans 2011 - Ayse's Story - Page 9 - Friday

A Day of Rest - Yeah Right!

Part 2 - That RLM View....

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.