Aysedasi's Le Mans

On our arrival back in the garage, I headed back to the M.R.I. coach to prepare for what I knew would be a long night-time stint behind the camera.  As you will know by now, for many years now I no longer even think of sleeping during the night at Le Mans - that time is simply too precious - but I am aware of how quickly the weather can change.  It was likely to get much cooler and many were predicting more than a few drops of rain during the night.  So it was on with a jumper to keep me warm and time to collect my tripod!

Peter was with me all the way.  He had made the decision fairly early on that he was determined to stick with me and go without sleep as well.  In 1992 and 1993, when we had made our previous trips as the Terrible Twosome, Peter had attempted to get a little bit of sleep in the coach.  On one of those occasions, I had done likewise, but gave it up as a bad job after half an hour or so.  I realised that this year I might have to limit my walking a little, however, I knew that I still had the night on top of “my building” to look forward to, which, in itself, would inevitably curtail the night-time wandering considerably, from the point of view of time, if nothing else.

Before heading off to set up the camera and tripod, as we were by now feeling pretty hungry, we decided that the best bet was to head for the M.R.I. marquee, to see what culinary delights they had on offer.  In fact, the grub was pretty good.  Peter indulged in salmon while I enjoyed a steak (yes, a real steak!) and frites, plus a beer each.  It was good to sit down to rest our feet, particularly in the knowledge that there was still plenty of walking to do, between now and the morning!

But what of the race, I hear you ask?  By midnight, when we finished our meal and we ready to move off again, the race lead was very much the property of the two works Porsches, both of which were two laps ahead of the leading Nielsen Nissan.  The Toyota challenge had crumbled away, afflicted as so many times before by fragile gearboxes.  The Brundle car, which had set off at such a pace at 2.00 p.m. was now well down the order, whereas the Boutsen, Lees and Kelleners car, the only Toyota left which had any chance of challenging the Porsches, was down in 7th place, 4 laps in arrears.  Peter and I were very disappointed.  It looked as though the Porsches only had to keep going to be assured of victory.  Was the race effectively over, with 14 hours still to go?  We would have to wait and see.

Of the 48 cars which had started the race, 38 were still running, albeit that there were several walking wounded, for whom the term “running” was a bit of an exaggeration...  We had lost some important cars, both Mercedes and both BMWs were out, and they had been joined by the Porsche LMP198 which won the race in both 1996 and 1997.  The sister car was still running well, however, in 5th place.  It was already obvious however, that this year’s race was going to be won by a GT, not a prototype.

Having eaten, at 00.20 am Peter and I headed back towards the Village.  I knew exactly where I was going!  Yes, at 00.45 am I was back up on the roof to enjoy the best view I've ever had at Le Mans.  I set my tripod up for the familiar light-trail shots and also took some flash pictures of the cars coming out of the pits.  (Again, my flash-gun was to let me down here, it simply isn't powerful enough to illuminate the cars properly at that distance).

At 2.00 a.m., we both tired of standing up on the roof (although I could never tire of the view!), and decided it was time for another injection of caffeine.  So it was back to the restaurant in the Welcome Area.  There we were enjoying our coffee, and wondering whether we would have another or just press on to another vantage point when the rain came to make up our minds for us.  Sitting outside the restaurant but under cover, we naturally decided to stay put and keep dry until such time as the rain stopped.  Both of us were now listening intently to Radio Le Mans, to find out how the cars were coping with the sudden downpour.  In actual fact, although the rain was significant it wasn’t all that heavy, but enough to make life difficult for drivers out on the circuit on slick tyres.

The rain lasted for about 45 minutes, sometimes almost stopping before coming down quite hard again.  After it had stopped for about 10 minutes, Peter and I decided we would risk a move (and it was a risk, bearing in mind that outside the Welcome Area there was very little cover, if the heavens opened again).  Still, we couldn’t sit there drinking coffee all night, could we?!