We had been determined to stay at Arnage in order to
see the dawn - and we did so, but when James suggested that we move on to
Mulsanne, Tony and I were definitely ready to try and get some circulation back
into our legs. We went back to the cars and rejoined the two 'sleeping
beauties' before heading off to Mulsanne corner, with the heater on full blast
this time instead of the air-conditioning! I'm not entirely sure now what
time we arrived at Mulsanne but I guess it must have been some time after 6 am, as
dawn was just before 6. Having warmed up a little only to go out into the
cold again, it was quite a tough walk from the car park to the corner which we
broke at the first clearing where the cars are already pretty much up to speed
as they head on down towards Indianapolis.
Videos 52-55
Having taken some quite decent video footage from
here last year, as I did at Arnage on Thursday evening, I hoisted my video
camera up on my monopod in order to try and catch the cars over the fencing.
I was quite pleased with the results when I watched them back but wished I had taken more. We walked on down to the banked viewing
area before deciding it was time for our standard Sunday morning coffee and
croissants breakfast. We didn't bump into Pascal at this time as we
normally do. He told me later that with Vincent and Amandine still asleep in the car he had decided
not to make the trip out to Mulsanne at the usual time but instead he went out
to Arnage at around 6.30, by which time we had already left.
The Sunday morning 'feeling' is a familiar one
although these days it's rather different. As a 'Tourist', aside from a
couple of years (92 and 98) when Peter and I went on our own, my Le Mans nights
were entirely solitary. In the earlier years I walked a fair distance,
often from Tertre Rouge all the way around to the Porsche Curves. As time
wore on into the 2000's and I started getting a grandstand ticket, often
courtesy of my old Ten Tenths pal Fabrice Chaplin ('Fab'), I gradually spent
more and more time sitting in T34 taking night shots of the cars from there and
also from my all-time favourite spot atop the old 'Welcome' building. But
it was always a case of finally taking a rest, waiting for Ian to come and find
me to take me back to Le Grand Lucé for breakfast, followed by what always
seemed a very long wait before I could get back to the circuit to catch up with
what was going on in the race.
Since 2010 of course, things have changed
dramatically. Race nights are no longer spent alone as thankfully, I have
both James and Tony for company to share my fascination with the wondrous thing
that is the 24 Hours at night. But, even such ardent enthusiasts as we
three are now accept the fact that a break on Sunday morning is quite important
if we are to survive the final quarter of the race, particularly after a night
like this one!
Having had our breakfast and despite the fact that
the sun was just beginning to make it's presence felt again and having been
warmed up a little by a reviving hot drink, my energy was totally drained and
when James suggested that now was the time to make the move back to the hotel
for a short break and a freshen-up, Tony and I were significantly relieved.
