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The year 2000 and
we finally topped the 1995 target of three people the annual TeamTritech
raid to Le Mans. This year we gained (in no order) Phil "Snip"Upton,
Roddy "Kitchen sink" Brown, William "I Can't Find"
Rosten and last but no means least the official Le Mans proper car driver
(more later) James "Crash" Tabor.
We went, for the first time, to watch Thursday's practice. As we had arrived earlier than usual we managed to camp under the shade of a tree and on the longer grass, which wasn't next to the gravel tracks. A major bonus in avoiding the dust clouds from the hardcore tracks. As a useful introduction to TeamTritech Le Mans traditions the Team Leader's brother, Robert, had found 1995 Le Mans cassette with classic tracks from the MacLads and Kevin the Gerbil to initiate the newcomers. Joyous tunes! Friday provided opportunities for Graham; James would have to wait until Saturday and England's Euro 2000 victory, to demonstrate their driving skills in the team Audi.
The Team Joest Audi team with a 1-2-3 easily won the race. This turned out to be the second time Mark and the Team Leader had witnessed this feat (Peugeot in 1993) and it was also the second time that TeamTritech Le Mans had driven down in a car of the winning manufacturer. I wonder how many others can claim the same?
Where to now? Well 2001 is looming and you too could be there at the greatest race on earth! The likely date is the weekend before Midsummer. Aston Martin, Lister, TVR, Marcos and Porsche are looking like they are gearing up new works teams and the victorious Team Joest Audis, the oh so loud Panoz, silver Cadillac Northstars and no doubt Courage are looking likely to return. It could be a really great year.
Improvements to the Le Mans trip are being made every year we started with a nighttime arrival on Friday night and the bear necessities. With this year including watching Thursday's practice and putting up the tents in the daytime. We now have an electric cool box for beer, cheese, butter, and a beer or two. James even brought two four-poster beds, well maybe luxury camp beds!
That's it for now and we will update the site as next year's race draws closer. Images of 2000.
Oh! I nearly forgot I was going to explain why James is the Team's Official Proper Le Mans car driver. James owns a Jaguar XJ40 but this was not pressed into service as a Tritech Le Mans car due to the fact that James was worried that it would not make it back under it own power. Hence Tritech's Citroen Xantia was pressed into service complete with roof box, not the glamorous option then. As Le Mans attracts a great deal of British enthusiasts with their British sports cars and kitcars, not the most reliable of cars. To provide some amusement we grade the type of car that you go to Le Mans with. Is it an ex-Le Mans racing car? top of the pile. Has the manufacture entered this year's race? a point for that. You can also score points for mode of transport being notoriously unreliable, old Triumphs, Jaguars, Kit cars, etc.
It was therefore stated that a proper Le Mans car (in our context of going to La Sarthe) is one that isn't likely to complete the trip without breaking down! It was this criteria that the Citroen managed to fulfil perfectly. The clutch cable broke 200kms from the port on the way home on Monday. Suddenly stranded in the middle of France wasn't quite what James had in mind to get the ferry on time! After Mark and James had fiddled around to make sure nothing had broken and not popped off, Mark proposed to James that the car could be driven without the clutch. With a bit of gear crunching James drove the car to the port, gaining confidence all the while. As we drew nearer the port we were puzzling over how the car would be packed on to the boat. I guess that the guy putting us into position on the boat never will know how close him came to getting squashed that day! As the best way of stopping the car was to switch it off, not an exact science! Hence James title! Will he be back for more next year...
Last updated on the 3rd May 2002.