Le Mans 2022 - Ayse's Story
Page 25 - Ayse's Postscript
As I write this it is mid-February 2023, over eight months since I returned from the 2022 Le Mans trip. The story this year was difficult to put together for a number of reasons, the primary one being both a lack of decent notes combined with a fading memory about the 'whens' and the 'wheres' which left some of the pages a little thin on the detail that I normally include. As far as the race was concerned, I think we have to accept that it was pretty dull. Although we might have hoped that the Glickenhaus cars would somehow mount a challenge to the Toyotas, the latter proved to be pretty much bullet-proof and there were few surprises anywhere in the finishing order. We did pretty well on the weather front, as although it was never blisteringly hot, we suffered very little 'non sun', apart from on that first day at scrutineering, so no real complaints there. All in all, on a very basic level, I was just relieved to have made it back to Le Mans again after the huge disappointments of 2020 and 2021.
The other main reason for difficulty in writing a conclusion to the story are certain events during the trip and more particularly what I would call the 'aftermath' once we had all got home and had time to think about it. The 'events' during the trip I am deliberately glossing over as they concerned one member of the team specifically and I agreed at the time that they would not feature in my story, although that has made the writing of this postscript (as well as parts of the story itself) quite a lot more difficult as a result.
Against this backdrop then, a few days after I got home when I was beginning to think about starting the story, I did what I always do in that I emailed all of my companions to thank them for their company on the trip and to thank James F in particular for all of his as ever splendid organisation of hotel, tickets etc. As I did so, I recognised that there had been difficulties and naturally enough I hoped that things would return to a more normal position for Le Mans 2023 for Team DoT. It was shortly after sending these emails that a process of 'feedback' began which eventually encompassed the views of what were described as the team 'elders', i.e. James F, Tony, Allon and myself. It was immediately clear that there were considerably different views between us about how enjoyable the trip had been. James F expressed in no uncertain terms reasons why his trip had not been at all enjoyable. Some of those reasons I understood and accepted, others I had more difficulty with. I actually had more of a problem with the reasons that weren't expressed (that I had assumed would be) which I would have completely appreciated. Sadly Tony had also found the trip less enjoyable than usual and some of the reasons were based around the 'events' that I've already (not) mentioned. All of this must be tortuously meaningless to anyone who wasn't there, so any casual readers will just have to pardon my indulgence. Suffice to say that the feedback wasn't just disappointing to me personally but much of it actually went to the very heart of how and why I 'do' Le Mans each year and coming completely out of the blue as it did was quite a shock to me and I have to say it was also disappointing for both my James and Lauren with whom I of course shared it. I haven't sought to discuss this any further with James F (although I accept that the invitation was there) but even eight months on it still very much sticks in my craw and casts a shadow over the 2022 Le Mans trip.
The practical upshot of all this is that Team DoT is sadly no more. I will lead a different team into battle in 2023, comprising myself, James, Lauren and Allon. I have now made arrangements for hotel and ticketing for the four of us (as that was another issue that arose out of the feedback, albeit shrouded in total mystery - to me, at least). Tony has made the decision not to return to Le Mans in 2023, which I am personally disappointed about as we all very much enjoy his company. James F I know will be back and I'm sure we will meet up and maybe chat about the unsatisfactory aspects of Le Mans 2022, both during and after the event. So I'll put the hatchet in my boot with my luggage ready for a burial....
So that's about it. I will resist the urge to say more as this is probably not the ideal place to do it, but vague as my comments are, I can at least record my feelings for posterity here even if few people other than me understand what I'm talking about! I can however accurately sum things up though by saying that I plan to be back at Le Mans in 2023, almost certainly doing the same things at the same times in the same places as I always do and I expect to thoroughly enjoy doing so - as I always do. Le Mans, for me, will never be stale.
And finally, as has recently become my habit, the end of story 'Highlights' video.....
Ayse
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