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We
went again in 2010. Three car loads are booked onto various
ferries with three camping passes ready for Maison Blanche. Two cars arrived on Wednesday to start
setting up camp on our three pitches with Wally, Nobby, Tubbs and Peter
arriving first. Not unusually the camp site numbering was
awry with us ending up with a third pitch diagonally opposite the other two.
In the end the third pitch was only used for the 'sick' tent - the tent that
smelt so foul even the neighbours complained. Having pitched we spent
Wednesday evening watching free practice and qualifying. On Thursday we went
exploring and managed to infiltrate both the Group C paddock and the pit
lane, the latter allowing some excellent photo opportunities when the pit
lane was almost empty. Whilst out and about the first of three big rain
storms over the weekend arrived so we went into the pits grandstand to watch
Group C practice and see a pink bucket flying down the start/finish straight
and qualify second. The evening saw more Le Mans qualifying with even the
Jaguar completing a few laps (yawn!).
On Friday, the third car with our final three race watchers (Crisis, Foot
and Gavin) arrived having travelled over night. Foot started immediately
trying to catch up with his contribution to the beer wall. A wander outside
the camp site saw some Mad Friday antics although the Gendarmes were getting
heavy handed in their attempt to keep the traffic flowing. Another pit lane
visit to view the remainder of the pits we missed on Thursday (when we had
to leave because qualifying was starting) showed the disadvantages of a
Friday visit with a packed pit lane. Mad Friday did continue within the camp
site including the new craze for launching lanterns. Friday also saw us
watching (a dire) England World Cup performance within the camp site.
The race started dry on Saturday with us viewing from the start/finish straight. We were joined by old-time Le Mans TeamTritech members Mark and Will who were camping on Houx along with their Uncle and Nephew. The race was looking like another easy victory for the 908 which was considerably quicker than the revised Audi R15 plus. The start also marked the beginning of another first as Crisis began his, ultimately successful, attempt to remain up for the entire 24 hours. During the night we split into groups visiting all parts of the circuit including Arnage and Mulsanne corners and got another (now annual) mention on Radio Le Mans. The race remained dry (despite the weather forecasts) and we watched the finish near the finish line, again being joined by Mark along with his Uncle and Nephew. Will had injured his shoulder and was avoiding the crowds. At the finish we cheered an Audi 1-2-3 as none of the Peugeots finished, three having stopped with the same engine failure. The big surprise was LMP2 which, for a class traditionally with a few cars limping to the end, had the most finishers and a win for the British entered HPD (Acura).
Click here for pictures from the 2010 trip.
Only 51 weeks to go until 2011. Hopefully this time no one will sleep through their alarm calls on the ferry or miss their ferry on the way home!
Last updated on the 19th June 2010.