Le Mans 2006
The Tourists' Story
And They're Off!
The later 5 pm start seemed to take an age to come around by which time I'd exhausted my ham and emmental baguettes and most of the water I'd brought into the stand with me. Boy was it hot! But our patience was inevitably rewarded.....
The very early demise (into the barriers after just 3 laps) of the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin brought out the Audi pace cars although the recovery of the badly damaged car didn't hold the race up for very long.
For me, the first few laps of the race brought disappointment. After showing so much promise in testing and giving us all real hope at last of something other than an Audi winning yet again (especially with a 'whispering' diesel....), it was clear from the way that the Audis cruised serenely (and very quietly) away in the lead that the Pescarolos were going to flatter to deceive once more. Surely this was their best chance - would they ever get another as good as this? The only hope was that - just once - the Audis would break.... (Sorry to all the Audi fans, but domination by one marque like this just isn't healthy - now if only they had sold some true customer cars like Porsche in the 80's......!!).
The clock ticked on even quicker than usual of course with the later start and it was soon time for me to leave my seat in the (very hot!) grandstand to move down into the Village to find the Tourists - and something to drink! The fact that the 'something' turned out to be a glass of champagne made it even better!
It was soon time to quit the circuit for the time being and to head off to Le Grand Lucée for our evening meal and the Hotel Restaurant Le Cheval Blanc. Unusually, I decided to leave the camera alone for once - so we ate in peace!
Next - my 21st night at Le Mans!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
