Ayse's 'Occasional Blog'
Thursday 22nd June 2023
Done and Dusted
So there we have it. I've already been home for ten days after a thoroughly fantastic 36th trip to Le Mans. What an event it was and what a great time we all had! A terrific race with a result that remained in doubt even at the final Ferrari pitstop. And what a sensational result for Ferrari....
I'll be starting my 'story' of the event in the next day or two, recording all aspects of the trip in the way I've been doing now for many years. Good journeys, incredible weather (so hot!), the tantalising rain during the first third of the race and doing the whole thing with wonderful company from my James, Lauren and Allon. The heat and the crowd made it more difficult to do some of the things that we would normally have done but we still managed to have a terrific time. All in all, despite all of the bad organisation by the ACO over ticketing and the changes to camping and parking, I learned things that will be logged away in the memory banks ready for next year.
I can think back to Le Mans trips in the past that will always rank in my top 3-4 events of the 36 - the first trip of course as a Le Mans 'newbie' in 1986, the sight of Jaguar winning in 1988 (and 1990), the great places the Tourists visited, particularly in the late 90's and early 00's and my first 'long' trip to Le Mans with James F covering scrutineering and all of the practice and qualifying in 2010. Then in the later years, my first trips with family members in 2016 and 2018 which added such a lot to my enjoyment of the events. 2023 ranks right up there with the best of them - perhaps even the best of all. It was really good to finally bury the negativity which followed the end of last year's trip, so much so that it felt like a completely new chapter - one which Team Crouton will hopefully add to in 2024.
If you were there, you'll know how good it was and this will be one of those Le Mans events and races that will long stick in the memory.
Ayse
