Some (little) Tiger content but a good eyewitness account from a Pantera
guy.
David in Durango
No Pantera Content, because my Pantera is currently broken, but there COULD
have been Pantera content had it not been! Therefore I figure I can post
this without breaking the rules!
I just got back from an AMAZING weekend. If you've never been to Le Mans,
then first of all you have to realize that the weekend has very little to do
with an actual car race. Oh sure, there is one of those too, but many
people, particularly if they've already been once or twice, spend relatively
little time actually watching the race. What makes the weekend special is
everything happening around the place, with a great race thrown on top of it
all!
We left Thursday morning, relatively early. The car was packed with such
things as my gas grill, a tent, several coolers, sleeping bags, etc. It's a
straightforward 9 hour drive by highway drone.
It's funny because you'll spend 8 = hours driving with normal cars, then
suddenly "hey look - there's a Ferrari 360". Two minutes later, "Hey, over
there go three Cobras!" And then "Wow, a gaggle of Porsches..." All with
British plates, of course, and you know you are getting close. Both Amaya
and I had butterflies from the anticipation...
We arrived at our campground with little problem, and after circling our
designated zone once or twice, selected a place to set up camp. Up went the
tent, barbecue, and everything else. As it was fairly late, we went into the
town of Arnage for a beer or two, and to eat. Tables had been set up on the
sidewalk, allowing you to eat outside and watch the cars pass. And pass they
did.
Pre-way Bentleys. TVR's by the zillions. Caterham 7's by the
double-zillions. Cobras, both real and replicas. Jaguar 140's, e-types, and
the latest offerings. Ferrari. Lamborghini. The owners just cruising around,
checking the place out, seeing and being seen.
The following day we started out by going shopping - buying ice, food, and
beer. Once that was safely stowed, we slowly drove the race course. The day
before the race, everyone drives along the roads that will later be shut
down, to see the famous landmarks for themselves. And now is when the fun
really begins.
After driving for a little while, most people pull over on the side. And
wait. (and check out all the cool cars parked there). When an "interesting"
car comes along, they are more or less obligated to stop and let traffic
clear in front. They are then more or less obligated to entertain the crowd
by laying as much rubber as their car will permit, and run through a gear or
two. Yes, it is entirely juvenile, but so what?
The Caterham 7's, weighing about 4 ounces, could often do pretty well
despite their 4-cylinder engines. Ferrari owners were often reluctant to
participate, and were roundly booed by the crowd for their lack of
enthusiasm ;-)
A Shelby GT-500 demonstrated that its rumble wasn't just for show, and the
crowd went nuts.
After watching the nuttiness for a while, we headed back to the campground.
Back there, a crowd had gathered on the road that separates the two camping
areas (Maison Blanche and Camping Bleu) and the spectacle was really
exceptional. Motorcyclists were leaving enormous plumes of smoke, to the
delight of the crowd. An Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, circa 1970, somehow
locked his front brakes, and I don't know how he was able to drive away
afterward, as he must have nearly totally melted his rear tires in a good 90
seconds of burn-out! The crowd went WILD!
Along came a modern Bentley. The crowd stopped the car, the owner looked at
the passenger, you could see him shrug his shoulders and say "Ah, what the
hell!" and he nailed it. I'm here to tell you that despite the fact that it
must weigh more than your average ocean liner, that puppy is no slouch in
the engine compartment! It laid a more than respectable strip of rubber,
smoke and all, and earned a standing ovation from the crowd! People
commented that Bentley drivers were much more fun than Ferrari drivers...
I must have spent 4 hours watching this silliness. Along came a Citroen 2CV
which set everyone off in hysterics as he repeatedly tried his hardest to
get his car to do *anything* interesting.
This is a 2-lane road, with one lane for each direction. Along came two red
80's vintage Porsche 911s. The first was revving his engine getting ready to
take off when the second pulled into the second lane, facing the oncoming
traffic. What followed was a Porsche drag race into oncoming traffic that
was amazing! Those Porsches just kept doing laps, driving back and forth
entertaining the crowd and having a blast.
Along came a moped, and the driver leaned over the front tires, unloaded the
rear tires, and left a cloud of smoke and his signature on the road...
They stopped a full sized bus! The driver gave it his all, but there wasn't
even the beginning of a squeal. We appreciated his enthusiasm, however. This
kind of thing would NEVER be allowed anywhere else, and while I readily
admit it is childish, and perhaps outright dangerous, it is highly
entertaining.
After the action died down a little bit, we went to check out the race
track. We went to the pits and watched the mechanics making last minute
modifications. There were some teams who were doing nothing more involved
than polishing the cars, cleaning the windshield, etc. Others had their
engines hooked up to computers and were doing checks. All had some form of
activity. I couldn't help but wonder which of these teams would, within a
matter of hours, be wishing they had some more of this leisure time to
repair something catastrophic, which ones had done their prep work
correctly, and who would have dreams fulfilled and who shattered.
>From the modern cars I went to the area that almost interests me more - the
"Le Mans Legends". Here you can walk up to and touch THE cars that ran in Le
Mans between roughly 1940 and 1970. You can talk to the owners and/or
drivers, and check everything out. Four of the original GT-40's were there
being prepared. Ferrari 250LM. Ferrari 512S. Shelby Cobra. Tiger. Porsche
917. Maserati Birdcage. Aston Martin. Jaguar. Up close and personal. Watch
them bleeding the brakes, checking tire pressures, checking coolant levels.
Not everyday you see such legendary and original cars, all together, with
unlimited access.
We went back to the campsite for some dinner. We watched some more
shenanigans between the campsites, and called it a night around 2am.
We got an early start the next day because we wanted to see the classic
race. I didn't know what time it started, so by 9am we were already in the
grandstands. The current cars were warming up, so we watched them until they
were shooed off for the classic race.
I say I think I prefer the classic cars because the modern cars are *too*
competent. Not to take anything away from the modern drivers, but watching
those older cars out on the track, sliding around the corners, working that
steering wheel back and forth to maintain control was something special. The
modern cars remain nearly perfectly flat while maneuvering through the S's,
as if they were magically stuck to the ground. It seems impossible that a
car can take curves at that speed and not lose traction, but they do it.
The classic cars look more like cars. Depending on the model, the driver is
fighting with the wheel, fighting with the track, and really working it. You
don't have excessive body roll, of course, but you have some. And you get
real, honest-to-goodness 4-wheel power drifts every time through certain
corners.
The sights and sounds were wonderful. The first half of the race was neck
and neck between the Ferrari 512S and the Ligier. They swapped the lead a
half dozen times, and thrilled the crowd by taking a couple of corners
2-wide. Eventually, something broke on the Ferrari and his race was done. A
GT40 tried to go 2-wide through a corner with a Porsche right in front of us
and broke a rim when he spun off the track. The Ligier eventually won, but
there were some fantastic battles going on further down in the running.
After the classic race, we had some downtime before the main event, which
starts at 4pm. We went back to the campsite just as it started to rain, and
hid under the awning of our British neighbors. The people in the campsite
were incredibly friendly - British on one side and French on the other. The
French have been going every year for 21 years, and in their words, they
like going " watch the British! We like to see all the crazy things they
do!" More friendly or hospitable people you will not find anywhere!
The rain soon stopped, and the sun came out, and it would stay out the rest
of the weekend. There were many sunburned people, and with the temp in the
90s the whole weekend, we went through a lot of bottles of water.
We headed back to the grandstands for the departure. The cars came out
around 20 minutes before, and formed up. They took off for a warmup lap, and
as they came around in front of us again, the green flag was dropped and
they were off!
I won't cover the race details all that much... I will say that the Pagani
Zonda broke about an hour into it, the Bentley's circled like Swiss clocks,
there was a classic Ferrari vs. Corvette battle in their class, and an Audi
ran out of gas partway around the track and had to drop out (??!) He tried
to return to the pits using just his starter motor and battery power, but
eventually gave up.
After watching from our grandstand seats for a while, we wandered along to
watch from various points, take pictures, and check out the various
memorabilia for sale.
We headed back into Arnage for dinner, and once again ate in an outdoor cafe
watching the parade of cars go by. I saw my first Zonda in person (not
counting the race car), and it both looks and sounds absolutely amazing. I
saw a few Ultima cars - I would love to have one of those if I had a bigger
garage and a bigger wallet!
After dinner we headed for the Arnage corner, to watch the cars come
hurtling at us. All four brake discs glowing with enthusiasm (they were
glowing an angry red, not just a little tiny pink...), then back on
full-throttle as they ran through the gears... We were there for probably 2
hours watching.
We headed back to the campsite to try to sleep. The next day we got up,
washed up (well, sort of, 4 days with no showers ;-p ) and headed to look at
the cars. We watched on the giant screen, then wandered along the track
looking for interesting vantage points. I saw a fellow walking along with a
DeTomaso tattoo on his upper arm and thought "I only know of one person with
a tattoo of the DeTomaso logo on his tricep..."
Sure enough, that arm was connected to John Woods, whose car was featured in
POCA a couple of years back. He and Tom Kodak from PCNC (?) were sitting
there watching the action. We chatted for a while, then headed back to the
grandstand, as the end was approaching.
Back in our seats, we watched the last 2 hours. Bentley took 1st and 2nd
handily, as their run had been near flawless. The commentators were
complimenting the teams on their pitwork, and how little time the cars had
spent in the pits during the 24 hours. Audi took 3 and 4.
After watching the mayhem after the finish, we headed back to our campsite.
We had previously loaded everything into the car, so all we had to do was
say goodbye to our newfound British and French friends and head out around
5pm.
We headed out into the mother of all traffic jams, but since 99% of those
cars were headed toward England and we were headed toward Spain, we quickly
lost them. Traffic enforcement was light, and we arrived home slightly ahead
of schedule. 1720 kilometers, but worth every minute of it.
Amaya has already decided that she's going back next year, with or without
me!!!! Words can't begin to describe the spectacle. The sounds of perhaps
the world's largest collection of amazing cars, all being driven around is
unforgettable. I didn't see a single car being trailered to the event. As
Mike Drew can testify, the pre-war Bentley guys don't even put the tops up
in the rain! Those cars are to be driven!
Because of my work situation, I have no idea where I'll be next year. But
I've been given instructions to reserve spots for 2004 already! If I can't
go for whatever reason, they will be easy to sell. I'm reluctant to start a
campaign to try to encourage people to come if in the end I have to cancel,
but if you want to experience something unique, something you cannot see
anywhere else, and something that you will never forget, you owe it to
yourself to visit Le Mans once. Work permitting, we'll be there next year
and we can camp together, cruise around in our Panteras, and take in the
looks of envy by the Lamborghini and Ferrari guys :-) Contact me to find out
how to reserve, and do it quickly. They tend to sell out 7-8 months before
the race, so you need to start to think about it.
I will say that if felt very nice last night to take a hot shower, and that
bed has never been more comfortable than after spending 4 nights sleeping in
a tent!
Photos will eventually be up, probably sometime this week.
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