Back from France...and only 51 weeks until the next time! For me, it felt like a slightly 'strange' Le Mans this year - in several ways. The weather throughout made you think it was September or October, rather than June - I've never had to wear four layers of clothing...although the cooler weather did make it easier to sleep in the tent at night. The changing conditions certainly played a part during the race too. Our campsite (Houx Annexe) didn't seem quite as busy as in previous years - again, not necessarily a bad thing.
The race itself was close-fought throughout, whether it was Toyota chasing Audi, or Porsche against Aston Martin and Ferrari. All four class battles were running to the end - no-one could really afford to back-off and cruise to the finish.
Unfortunately, Danish racer Allan Simonsen would succumb to injury after crashing heavily at Tertre Rouge, early in the race. It was a painful reminder that the sport I love can have the most serious consequences when things go wrong.
Meanwhile...
The pitlane walkabout on Friday was given a twist this year - to celebrate the 90th running of the 24h a display of 'Cars of the Decades' was assembled on the track running up to the Dunlop chicane. So, we had to go and have a look...
D-type Jaguar
Ford GT40
Porsche 917
Porsche 962
Mazda 787B
Audi R10 TDI
Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro
Looking back down the hill from the Dunlop chicane:
Despite feeling that our campsite, at least, wasn't as busy as in previous years, the crowds at the circuit on Friday and through the weekend were as large as ever. I'll be interested to see the official figures - the pitlane was very busy when we were there before noon, and there seemed to be almost as many people again enjoying the cars parked out on the track. Good to see you again, Cinqster!
During the pitwalk the number 41 'Caterham' was pushed out of the garage for some pit-stop practice. Okay - it's technically a Zytek-Nissan, but as I'm a Seven driver, I'm biased...
We managed to get hold of a couple of paddock passes from a friend on Saturday evening (Thanks again, Jean-Luc!), so were able to wander through the back of the pitlane during the race:
I had to get proof that I was there:
Finally, remember that 1/8 'Jaegermeister' Kremer 935 I posted last year? I found more:
Notice the yellow version in the background, too. Or you could buy an equally impressive 1/8 version of the Audi R18, or the early 70's Matra...lovely stuff! The price on the 935's was 2880 Euros, if you're interested! As usual, plenty of stalls and stands selling books, models, clothing, etc...so a few more small racing Porsches were added to my collection.
So, I'm now catching up with what's been happening in the outside world for the last few days, and looking forward to getting back into action with the 935-78.
Thanks for posting that shot, Ashman - I only found those myself in the last few weeks! Hmm, that 956 was using the same style of BBS rims too...
All the best,
SB