Petrolhead heaven
There are moments when everything is perfect. Watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans is one. By
They say one should never meet one’s heroes. Whether it be a person, a car or a place, one will be disappointed. The image one has in one’s mind will always be better than the reality.
Take the Dodge Viper GTS as an example. Tucked between the Jaguar XJ220 and a Bentley Continental R on pages 172-175 in the book Dream Cars by Andrew Frankel, lies the car I wanted more than anything else while growing up. In “Viper GTS Blue” paint scheme with white GT stripes — it was perfection in my eyes. At the time it was the only production car to use a V10 engine, eight litres of American muscle. It had a gearbox from a truck, no traction control and no ABS. In other words, it was a 1.5-ton angle-grinder you had to operate wearing flip-flops while juggling a pair of knives. Should I ever get to drive one, I would probably be grievously disappointed. Regardless, it’s still the best car in the world to my younger self.
Coming back to my present self, I find myself staring at one of my heroes. The 13.626km stretch of tarmac that uses portions of public road is as historical as it is notorious. The Circuit de la Sarthe is host to the 24 Hours of Le Mans every year. The iconic race sees over 250 000 people enter the relatively quiet town of Le Mans, about two hours’ drive southwest of Paris. This year is the 86th time man and machine set off at 3pm on Saturday to race for 24 hours straight through to 3pm on Sunday. With almost 85% of the track spent at full throttle, it is torture on both the car and the driver.
For the start of the race I sit high up on the main grandstand, with a 45-degree angle to the Start/Finish line. Thanks to safety requirements, the classic Le Mans start of running across the pit straight, jumping in the car and then setting off has been substituted with a more traditional rolling start. A deafening noise descends as 60 cars all hit the loud pedal at the same time. It’s a cacophony of all the engine noises bouncing off the grandstand to create an echo of mechanical splendour. An ode to the legends that have raced here. It makes the hair all over one’s body stand up!
One can’t help but feel nostalgic just being here. I walk to the Dunlop Bridge to see the cars charge down the hill towards the S before the fast Tertre Rouge corner that leads to the infamous Mulsanne straight. Steve McQueen loved this place. So much so that he made the 1970 film,
It may have been a Hollywood flop, but I will put money down that everyone here loves it. I pass thousands of people as excited as I am to be here. The atmosphere is one of true camaraderie. Different nationalities and languages abound, young and old. Everyone here loves cars and racing. Most people camp at the track. The camp site around the track is an attraction in itself. It is not out of the ordinary to see a Lamborghini Aventador parked next to a tent, or a Porsche GT3RS, or a Ferrari Testarossa and even a Jaguar E-Type!
It’s 9.30pm already and the sun is low on the horizon. Serenity is the only word that comes to mind while watching the two LMP1 cars of Toyota Gazoo Racing (who would go on to win the race 1-2) come through the Porsche Curve at over 250km/h without lifting the throttle a millimeter at turn-in. Multiple Formula 1 World
Champion Fernando Alonso is behind the wheel of the #8 car and passing the slower GTE cars around the outside without missing a beat. He can become the only other driver (apart from Graham Hill) to win motorsport’s Triple Crown — victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500.
There are certain moments in life when everything is perfect. Spectating at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the outside of the Porsche Curve with the sun’s last rays reflecting off the brake discs of the passing cars is one such moment. Hearing Porsche’s “Pink Pig”, the GTE Pro
911 RSR (that sports the livery of the Porsche 917 that raced here in 1971), blast through Tertre Rouge is another. There are so many perfect moments here.
Le Mans was so much more than expected. It blew me away. Then, as if things could not get more surreal, a Dodge Viper GTS-R appears. I think “they” are wrong. One has to meet one’s heroes.
Sixty cars all hit the loud pedal at the same time