Le Mans 2018 - Ayse's Story
Page 14 - A Busy Time at the Red Hillock
Saturday 16th June
James and I caught up with Toby down at Tertre Rouge and I took my first photo there very shortly after at 7.15. Just before we got down to Tertre Rouge, I had a rather alarming text from James F, which read: 'Question, do you have any jump leads in your car by any chance?' It turned out that Ramona had gone back to the car to have a rest and had the air conditioning on which had completely drained the battery. I don't generally carry jump leads these days although I well remember the times when no-one drove any distance anywhere without having some in the boot! There wasn't much I could do as we were a good 35-40 minutes walk away, although I did offer to put out a message on FB to see if anyone parked in Parking Blanc had any jump leads. Fortunately though, James did message me half an hour or so later to say he had managed to get it started. James decided to abort their intended trip down to join us at Tertre Rouge and the plan was to meet up with them in the vicinity of the pitlane a little later.
It was quite unusual for a Le Mans trip not to have taken the walk down to Tertre Rouge during practice and for this to be my first visit there. the viewing area at Tertre Rouge has become highly sought after by photographers as it is one of the few areas left on the circuit where it is possible to get good shots of the cars without debris fencing in the way. Unsurprisingly therefore, it was pretty jammed by the time we got there. Nevertheless we managed to find a reasonable spot for some photographs and despite having to dodge various heads and the public address speaker poles, I did manage to get a few good shots.
As you can see from the fact that Toby and James have jackets done up, it wasn't particularly warm, but before leaving the grandstand for the walk down to Tertre Rouge I had nipped back to the car to put on a jumper (and pick up a few snacks I'd brought with me). I've learned over quite a few years now that out in the open on the circuit as the evening wears on it can get pretty chilly down at Tertre Rouge and although the threat of rain had receded, I was determined to stay warm tonight!
As the videos show, we had a reasonably lengthy safety car period when Dominik Kraihamer crashed heavily in the Porsche Curves in the Bykolles Enso.
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