Le Mans with Elan

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Julian Balme describes what it was like to race the RH Specialist Division sponsored Shapecraft-bodied Lotus Elan at Classic Le Mans.

The Bizzarrini wwas struggling to keep up with the Elan through the chicane before the Dunlop Bridge, and fell even further behind on the new downhill section to the old Esses. But once clear of Tertre Rouge and onto the Mulsanne Straight the V8-powered projectile eased past the diminutive Lotus.

Under braking for the chicanes the rear of the Italian racer grew larger, and by the straight’s end it still hadn’t disappeared from view. The reason for this wasn’t evident until well past the 200-metre board on the approach to the 90deg right at Mulsanne Corner, which is where the brakes were applied for the first time. The car pitched right then left. I was passengering an oil slick-induced tank-slapper at just over 7000rpm in top — a conservative 125mph. At this point I’d like to say that I had the presence of mind to flick the car into a spin to scrub speed off rather than use the brakes — I’d be lying, it just looked that way as I entered the comer backwards and eventually found some Tarmac that wasn’t coated in hot GM oil.

In the blink of an eye a number of things flash through your mind. The Shapecraft-bodied Lotus Elan was by far the smallest car in the grid of 61, so the initial thought was, ‘Is this going to hurt?’ The second was, ‘If this is going to hurt me, what’s it going to do to a car which has been so beautifully rebuilt by its new owner Malcolm Ricketts? How am I going to explain that one?” Then there’s the thought of braking the news to co-driver, Don Hands, that he won’t be needing his race gear for the rest of the weekend, and of confessing to team sponsor, Alan Mitchell from RH specialist car insurers, that his logo adorning the side of our car was now perched on top of the tyre wall on the outside of one of endurance racing’s most famous corners.

Er… back to the race. As an E-type slithered into view, I managed to fire up the twin-cam motor again and set off in its pursuit, past the stricken Bizza parked a quarter-mile down the road and onto Indianapolis. By Arnage my confidence had returned in both myself and the track, and I quickened up the pace on the run to the Porsche Curves — to be greeted by a sign notifying me that the safety car was out. It was time to give the car back! Don took over, and when he returned it was dark. We had survived the first leg of three, 28th on scratch and sixth on Index of Performance.

The second outing was at 04.00. Still pitch black, and with patches of fog sat on parts of the circuit. The unpredictability of the surface filled me with dread, and by the time I took over I was only prepared to drive to survive, adding nearly half a minute to my best lap time. Although terrifying, the night race did provide some memorable images, in particular the Ford GT4Os belching flames on the overrun and the mist of unburnt fuel left in their wake. The main thing, though, was ensuring that we would start the final leg at just gone 12.30 on Sunday.

For the first time Don and I could treat the 45-minute race as a sprint, and our lap times subsequently tumbled. Hustling a French film star in his Ferrari 275GTB to the point where he waved me by — at least I think that’s what he was gesturing — raised a smile, along with almost pushing a GT40 through the Chicane named after its manufacturer.

The final result? Twenty-third on scratch — it should have been 19th, but I’d stupidly picked up a penalty for what we suspect was speeding in the pitlane — and fourth in the Index of Performance. Julian Balme