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Sunshine,
more sunshine and the return of GT's!
Those of us who had stuck with Le Mans in
1992 and saw a (relatively) tiny grid but a
surprisingly good race between Peugeot and
Toyota were eagerly looking forward to
1993. Not only would both of those
works teams be returning, but we also had the
re-birth at Le Mans of what the purists might
call "real" cars. Of course,
like all good ideas, the concept of true GT
racers, based on the kind of road going
sports cars that you or I could go out and
buy (if we had the money - I wish!) would,
like most other concepts, end up being
debased in time by the likes of Nissan and
Porsche in particular, but the thought of a
full grid of cars at Le Mans in 1993 really
was a thought to savour.
After
Pierre and I were left as the "Terrible
Twosome" in 1992, I was concerned as to
whether there would be a full Tourists effort
in '93. So concerned, indeed, that to
be on the safe side, I booked up again with
Chequers, or rather, Motor Racing
International, as they were now called.
Of course, inevitably perhaps, Chief Tourist
Ian decided to plan a trip anyway. So
it was that in 1993, the Tourists met at Le
Mans by two different routes, Pierre and I on
the MRI coach, and Ian, wife Carol and Martin
on the road in Ian's BMW.
Pierre
and I had again invested in grandstand seats,
this time in the main ACO stand opposite the
pits (although it has to be said that I was
disappointed to find myself on the bottom
layer of that famous box of
chocolates!). Pierre and I had a good
introduction in the MRI marquee, listening to
the perenially unlucky Perry McCarthy over a
glass of wine. We just about caught the
end of the supporting Venturi race and then
headed off for our first attempt at a
rendezvous with Ian, Carol and Martin.
We
missed them at that stage (I don't think they
had even arrived at the circuit by that time)
and instead took up our seats for the driver
parade and the other pre-race
activities. Being up in the grandstand
certainly gave a different (and for the
photographer, a much better) perspective on
the cars lining up on the grid. I was,
as I had been in '92, very taken with the
striking Toyota TS010's, which looked
absolutely marvellous in their now uniform
red and white livery. They sounded even
better than they looked!
Before
long, the 1993 race was under way and it was
clear that the Peugeots and Toyotas had no
opposition (whatever did happen to that
gorgeous looking Allard J2X which was at one
time going to be driven by Henri Pescarolo
and Jean-Louis Ricci?). There was a
good battle looming in the GT class, with the
three (soon to be just two) Jaguar XJ220C's
fighting it out with the 962 engined Porsche
Turbo S Le Mans. Sadly (or was that
fortunately?), Walter Rohrl tripped up over a
backmarker and was put out of the race.
If anyone wondered what happened to the
car......!
Pierre
and I eventually met up with the other three
at the champagne stall (where else?!) at 6
o'clock. It was hot and sunny, I had a
glass of champagne in my hand and I was at Le
Mans. Bliss - pure and simple!
As
the afternoon turned into evening, with the
Peugeots starting to give the Toyotas another
lesson in reliability, we all squeezed into
Ian's 3 Series convertible and breezed our
way out to Le
Belinois
at Monce en Belin, the restaurant which the
Tourists had first frequented three years
earlier. We had a great meal although
it was spoiled a little for me by a blinding
migraine!
After
that, we parted company with Ian, Carol and
Martin, who headed back for some
shut-eye. In fact, if I remember
rightly, they were staying at Le
Cheval Blanc
in Le Grand Luce for the first time. As
you will see if you read elsewhere on my
site, places such as Le Belinois and
particularly Le Cheval Blanc were to become
regular haunts for the Tourists.
Pierre
and I then wandered the circuit for a while
(Pierre putting up gamely with my stopping
every 50 yards to set my tripod up
again!). We eventually made our way
back to the MRI coach with some thoughts
about having a couple of hours sleep.
After about 10 minutes, I realised I simply
couldn't sleep at Le Mans (too many good
things to miss!), and I headed back to the
ACO grandstand to take some light-trail
shots. As it was virtually empty by
that time (about 1.00 a.m.), I could pick
whatever place I wanted! Pierre joined
me about half an hour later.
By
the early hours, our thoughts had turned once
again to food (no wonder we are the shape we
are, eh Pierre?!). There were, of
course, many stalls selling merguez and
saucisse, frites and all sorts of other
delights (see below), but we decided to take
a meal at the MRI marquee - salmon for Pierre
and steak for Aysedasi!
As
dawn rapidly approached, we made our way down
to the Esses and watched the race from the
hillock at the bottom of the hill down from
the Dunlop Bridge, before returning to the
main spectator area and watching from the
Dunlop Chicane and then the tribunes opposite
the pits.
Ian
and Martin returned to the circuit at about 7
o'clock and Ian kindly took the four of us
out to Arnage and Indianapolis.
Astonishingly, this was the first time I had
been back there since 1986! By this
time, of course, Peugeot had the race all but
sown up, as did the Nielsen/Brabham/Coulthard
Jaguar in the GT class. After a couple
of hours, Ian and Martin disappeared back to
Le Grand Luce (leaving Pierre and I very
happy to wait in the sunshine at
Indianapolis!), to wake Carol from her
slumbers. When they returned we
indulged in a very pleasant lunch of kebabs
and omelettes and frites.
Our
final port of call together was back to the
Village and then back to the ACO stand where
Ian, Carol and Martin were able to borrow our
tickets to get a view of the action from
there. After a few more glasses of
champagne, we parted company, Pierre and I
taking up our seats in the grandstand for the
finish.
Once
the race was over, it was back to our MRI
coach for the trip back to Caen and then the
Sunday night crossing to Portsmouth. We
had a great time at Le Mans in 1993, but it
certainly made me more determined than ever
to ensure that we had a "full"
Tourists outing in 1994!
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