I very nearly went to Le Mans this year. Three years ago after attending 20 consecutive 24 hour races, I promised myself I’d not go back until something other than a diesel could win. Not being able to see cars at night was one thing, not even being able to hear them was something else. But this year I really wanted to see (and hear) the Toyotas, watch Brundle & Son and support Marino Franchitti and the DeltaWing crew. In the end I only stayed away because I was already committed to the Le Mans Classic three weeks later.
Still I’m convinced I made the right choice. The Classic is not without its issues: the officialdom is heavy handed and often bone-headed and the prices charged for alleged trackside refreshments leave an even worse taste in your mouth than the refreshments themselves. But just to see a Porsche 917 or 936, a Ferrari 512S or LM howl up the pit straight and arc away towards the Dunlop Bridge offers more pure theatre than the fastest of today’s diesel prototypes. Multiply that by six grids of approximately 70 cars taken from 1923 to 1979, that by the number of heroes taking part (Derek Bell, Brian Redman, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and so on) and that by the number of fabulous viewing points around this 8.4 mile circuit and the result is one of the most intensely enjoyable motor racing experiences there is.
It also serves to remind why most people fell in love with racing to begin with. I think for most of us it started with an image of a beautiful car, or the sound of an engine, or the personality of one or more drivers. I really don’t think any of us were, nor ever will be inspired by how little fuel a racing car can use in a 24 hour period, or how clever are its energy recovery systems. Yet this is what’s driving the future development of Le Mans cars.
The argument that this is motor racing putting its most environmentally responsible foot forwards is nonsense. The only way for any form of motorsport to be environmentally responsible is to cease to exist. Nor do I buy the line about developing hybrid technologies for road cars: the capacitors used by Toyota cannot hold a charge long enough to benefit anything likely to be of use to you or me, while the most likely road-going application of the Williams flywheel in the Audi is not in cars at all, but huge and heavy buses.
But back to the Classic. Another of its many charms are those who choose to go to it. The sizeable contingent who to travel to the regular Le Mans for a weekend of drinking, vomiting and zero spectating are notably absent. In their place come knowledgeable, passionate lovers of racing and racers. And they come in tens of thousands from the channel ports and all over Europe in surely the largest and most eclectic assortment of classic cars to assemble in one place. You could probably quite happily pass the entire weekend in the car parks.
All of which leaves me with a problem. The next Le Mans Classic will be in 2014, the same year the Porsche factory team returns to Le Mans, and an occasion I will clearly be unable to miss. I fear the only answer will be to do both.
I like historics as support races for motorsports events. I’ve seen the wonderful CER a couple of times with its huge and exiting grids and I’ve experienced Group C cars live at this year’s Le Mans 24 hours, unfortunately in the rain and mostly behind the safety car.
Still I’m not at all interested in visiting a purely historic racing event like the Le Mans Classic. The reason is simple: it isn’t sport and at least for me that’s important. Watching rich guys (and some heroes of old) showing off their classic cars (some more, some less careful to keep them intact) is nice; but for me it can never substitute the excitement of finding out who built the fastest car to a set of rules and who can drive it the quickest, i.e. and actual “race”!
As for “green racing”, I agree with you that racing never actually can be green itself. But it can a) get less environmentally harmful, b) show that new technologies also can be an improvement in performance and “be cool”, c) I still tend to believe that a company like Audi can learn stuff from motorsports that might help production cars. Of course they don’t take a system and put it in a road car. But still, knowledge is being accumulated within the company that might help improve “the breed”. And even if it doesn’t than at least we can go back to b) and show that a hybrid car can actually be fast and cool and not just boring and slow.
“…people fell in love with racing…” That’s right. At the root of it all are very simple emotions.
Love makes us gullible. We believe both counter-rotating spins: “Racing makes us smarter; gives the world better cars” vs. “Racing is bad for the planet; it must stop for the world to be better”. Poppycock! Both of them.
One mustn’t let another tell them what racing represents. If racing is a symbol of something, whatever it is, don’t hold it too highly. Just enjoy it.
I believe the 1967 Le Mans featured the greatest entry list ever, wonderful variety in machines and despite the Ford leading almost the entire way, it still has a special place in my pantheon of racing. It is, along with the opening Monaco scenes in the movie Grand Prix, the reason why I fell in love with motor racing. Pity the young race fan today that has to deal with all this ‘green’ nonsense. Nice article Andrew….
“…why most people fell in love with racing to begin with…an image of a beautiful car, or the sound of an engine, or the personality of one or more drivers.”
Mr. Frankel, you nailed it. I plan to see there in 2014!
The Le Mans Classic is a great event for sure. I `ve been there this year. Although the weather was a bit on the rainy side it was very enjoyable and good for some dramatic fotos.
But as always my expectations were not really fullfilled. Maybe the Festival of Speed one week before the Le Mans Classic lightened the grid a bit this year. Unfortunally I managed to have completly missed every single one of the 22 announced 250 GTOs . Where were they?
Thankfully the PORSCHE museum brought some real gems to Le Mans. It was great to see 917s, 908s and 935s battling with the GT40s, 512s, Lolas etc. on the wet tarmac!
Big thanks to the clubs and visitors who came with great cars and gave a lot of atmosphere to the event. Great, watch hear and smell all those rarely seen cars passing to the parking lots.
My tips for the next Le Mans Classic in 2014 are:
- Be prepared to walk a lot.
- Try to get a privileged access! Maybe by joining the ACO for a year. As a normal visitor you`re kept a bit away from the drivers and some other areas of interest.
- The grandstands are not really worth to buy a ticket for. All I would buy for the next Le Mans Classic would be an “EINCEINTE GÉNÉRALE” which gives access to the public zones inside the circuit (e.g. club areas, Le Mans Village, the places in front of the grandstands and along the track at the fences) . And the other ticket I would recommend is a paddock access which is sold in limited numbers (!) so it is best to book it in advance early before they are sold out.
Regards
I went to this event, my first time to Le Mans, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my 24 hour experience. The track is great, far beyond what I expected, and as noted, there are many fine viewing spots. The crowd was enthusiastic and keen to take in as much as they could, and with so many cars from so many eras on hand there was lots to take in. The variety of sights and sounds was a perfect antidote for the sound alike, look alike world of most other racing classes these days, notably F1. Hearing the V12s, flat 12s, V8s, V6s, flat 6s et al was a real treat, even the fantastic little turbine Howmet that I had completely forgotten about. And although the drivers for the most part are not professionals and seldom were on the limit, the periodic rain kept things greasy enough to keep it interesting – lots of slipping and sliding around to spice things up. I am really pleased that I made the effort to take this in and get a taste of what the real 24 hour events are like – a real endurance test for teams, drivers and spectators alike. And the parade of motor racing eras was a real demonstration of changing approaches on how to make cars go fast with the available technologies of the time. What a great event!
Watched the appalling ‘coverage’ on MotorsTV – 3 two hour sessions of Alain de Cadanet talking to drivers, and two ‘witless bints’ who just seemed to be there to look good, and knew nothing of cars, drivers, the event…what a shambles…we occasionally saw some cars on the track, but no races were shown – just a complete waste of time.
The only saving grace was the fact that de Cadanet is knowledgable, and had taken part in Le Mans previously.
By the way, disagree entirely with Stefan – he has obviously never been to a VSCC, or HSCC, meeting – where old and very valuable cars are driven as they are meant to be, and ‘raced’ – e.g. Mark Walker, Mac Hulbert, any one else you care to mention. Also, any race at the Silverstone Classic – they race, and are not there just to see how little fuel they can use – interesting, but it’s not racing is it?
Andrew, while it was raining at the Le Mans Classic, we came under your tent near the 904 to stay dry. We had a little chat about the event and the cars attending the races. As you are saying, it is the greatest classic event of its kind and we already looking forward to 2014. Hoping to see you back racing there. I’m surely looking forward to your article on the le mans classic in the next issue of motorsport.
2014 – doing both is the ONLY solution!!!! I have, in both 2010 and now 2012, and the assault on the ears at 3AM from a screaming Matra or the sight of a 917 accelerating out of Arnage cornerin the haze is enough to make the trip worth while. But then you add the other 400+ cars, drivers passionate enough to be pushing their expensive steeds to their max (even the slowest ones!), and you’re left with a supreme event, not available anywhere else. I know I’ll be back in 2014!!!!!
The Porsche 917… I fell in love with that car all those years ago and I’m still in love. Sigh.
Porsche 917 and 908/3′s down the corkscrew at Laguna Seca is certainly up there as a great spectacle but LM and the Mulsane straight, even with the two blibs to slow them down is something else! The 917 has to be up there as THE best ever car to grace the track. The 956/962 of course has a superb record of long distance events but for raw power and grace the 917 takes the prize. In Gulf powder blue it is the iconic car that is instantly recognised.
Went to my first Le Mans Classic this year, enjoyed it immensely but sad that it was without many features of the 24 Heures such as large public screens and radio commentary. There was plenty of exciting driving at the front and throughout the field even if they were many gentlemen drivers (plenty of spins at Ford Chicane). And the beer was very expensive, though the recycling policy was brilliant and there was no litter anywhere.
I love the old but I equally love the innovation of the new eco machines. Personally the hush of an Audi hybrid is one of the most threatening and exciting “sounds”, to me just as emotional as a Corvette or Aston…
I went to the Classic as my first ever Le Mans race. As this was a holiday with my girlfriend in Paris I only had Friday to spend, but it was a teaser for 2014. Enjoyed it very much, but will also probably buy a paddock pass next time around. Just wonderful to see so many racers from all eras of Le Mans. Too many favourites to mention actually. Due to the limited amount of time available I didn’t get to explore the track itself, but that’s for next time, right. Most of the races were watched from either side of the Ford chicanes. Even so I still did a few miles around the complex within the day.
Next I’m off to Spa for the F1 race in Sep. Will spend the Friday walking around the old track to sample what was once one of the wildest rides around…
Finally I went to Le Mans Classic and it was the right decision! For who likes historic cars it is a appointment not to be missed. The cars and the place are so full of history that you feel in a dream. The wheather was very challenging for all the car groups and to them goes my full appreciation.
I’m very happy to have been present at Monaco Historique and Le Mans Classic.