Le Mans 2013 - Ayse's Story
Page 15 - Saturday
The Longest Night Begins
We arrived at Tertre Rouge still in the dwindling daylight and according to the timestamp on my photos, I started snapping there just after 9 pm.
The weather was pretty dull and cold though. I could remember many years when I was still in just a t-shirt until after dark, but this year, it was chilly and the intermittent rain showers made jumpers and coats essential.
It was while we were at Tertre Rouge that the race became that little bit more interesting. The #3 Audi had suffered a puncture after contact with another car putting it out of the top three and the 'reigning champions' car, Audi #1 had a lengthy stop after alternator failure which suddenly put the two Toyotas 2nd and 3rd. It was ironic really, as during qualifying we had remarked to each other that we might not see the position lights lit up on a Toyota the whole race, bearing in mind how much quicker the Audis appeared to be.
It was while we were watching at Tertre Rouge that we were joined by our French pal Pascal. After about an hour and a half we decided to push on from Tertre Rouge. We were beginning to feel peckish, having not eaten since we arrived in T17 at 2 pm, so we left the corner and as we had done several times in the past, we walked down to what used to be the hump at the bottom of the Esses and then up by the side of the Bugatti circuit to the ACO Espace Club, where we were able to rest our already weary legs and dine on pizza and refreshing hot coffee.
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