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A
number of first for 2011. The largest visit for a few years with nine of us,
including four virgins, spread across three cars. No mean feat when one of
the cars was a Caterham.
This left five of us squeezed into a 5 Series with all available footwells
filled with gear. It also meant that Wally did not drive to the circuit for
the first time ever! We all travelled on the same ferry on Wednesday morning, using
the new high speed ferry to Le Havre which meant we arrived at the Maison
Blanche campsite at Le Mans before afternoon qualifying. On the ferry over
(and back) we were joined by Mark Rosten along with his brother Will and
another virgin Jerry. They were again heading for Houx campsite. Our camping
pitch was in its best position yet being but a stones throw from the
track. Wednesday saw us watching practice and qualifying in and around the
campsite after a quick trip to the hypermarket for some beer. The first
thing of note was the total lack on engine noise from the Audi's. All you
could hear was tyre and wind noise.
Thursday started with a personal first as we took a trip around museum.
This was followed by a walk through the village before attempting to enter
the pits only to find qualifying was due to start for the Le Mans Legends.
Most of us watched the night qualifying session from the Ford Chicane
grandstand before heading to the (relative) warmth of the tent. This year
was the coldest Le Mans in recent memory and it was certainly very cold each
night, although the weather did remain mainly dry until after the end of the race.
The larger number of people in the party this year allowed us to split
into smaller groups. During Friday at various times we did the pit walk
(including seeing the PBR officially sponsored Lotus Evora - we had PBR
initials on it in support of Macmillan Cancer Support),
visited the village, enjoyed a bit of mad Friday just outside Maison Blanche
and even a trip to the edge of the airfield. The Astra VXR and Caterham
appeared during mad Friday but general consensus was that they put on a very
poor show. The evening was spent working
on the beer wall before some of us departed to visit other people camping
around Le Mans. Friday night was again exceptionally cold, especially when
walking back from Houx campsite at 1am.
Race day dawned bright and cool. The crew, in their new T-Shirts,
moved into position on the
start straight to join in the fun whilst Wally headed for his grandstand
seat (another first) obtained at a bargain price by Mark Rosten. The opinion on having a
grandstand seat was that it was much more civilised but being at the end of
the pit lane did leave you away from the heart of the build up. A worthy experiment but
to be good value you really need a seat opposite the middle of the pits. The
race started at a frenetic pace when it became clear that the Audi R18 was a
bit quicker than the Peugeot 908 but could not go as far on fuel. As the
action started to hot up Alan McNish had a massive accident in Audi number 3
to bring the safety car out for an hour whilst the barrier was repaired. The
race restarted in the same frenetic manner and ran flat out for a few hours into the
early night. During the evening, Nobby ensured our Radio Le Mans mention
at the almost civilised time of 10pm. Then, another massive Audi accident,
this time for Mike Rockenfeller in Audi number 1 brought the safety car back
out for 2 hours. We walked down to the start of the Porsche curves to watch
some action mis-estimating how long the safety car would be out. In the end
we gave up as the fog and cold moved in and returned to camp. As we prepared
for some rest the racing restarted at 1am. The second Audi accident left
Audi number 2 out in front being chased by three works Peugeots and last
years grandfathered Oreca Peugeot. The cold overnight temperatures suited
the Peugeots with their softer tyres. In the early hours of Sunday morning
Maison Blanche was the place to be spectating from with four separate
accidents involving first the Rebellion Lola (which was carried on the
recovery lorry right past our tents), Ferrari 58 which appeared heading
backwards out of the Porsche Curves, Porsche 88 which crashed immediately
after the safety car went back in and finally Corvette 74 being involved in
an accident with a slower GTE Am car. Bob H and little Nob were up and about
to see all the action. These incidents made for a lot more safety car
periods which included having the leading Audi and two Peugeots on the same
lap behind the same safety car. When the race did get going again the Audi
was able to hold off the Peugeots despite some aggressive driving by the
Peugeots when being overtaken and despite the light rain which accounted for
the Pescarola and Oreca Peugeot. The Audi just had enough in hand to allow a
tyre change at the last stop and went on to win by a mere 13 seconds from
the first of the Peugeots but always in the knowledge that it could go
quicker if it needed to. This closeness of the race included, unusually, running the last lap at
full racing speed and doing a full warm down lap. LMP2 proved a lot more
durable than expected with a win for the British Greaves Motorsport Zytek
Nissan. In GTE Pro the Corvette came out on top from the Ferrari 458 and
much vaunted, quick but slightly brittle BMW M3. Another Corvette won GTE Am
with the Robertson Ford taking a credible third place in GTE Am.
Sunday night was lost to rain and we decided to pack most of the camp when the rain stopped around 9pm allowing an early leisurely drive back to Le Havre for the ferry back on Monday afternoon. We did have time on Sunday night to launch a few lanterns and for Arsey to try and set the campsite on fire.
Click here for pictures from the 2011 trip.
Last updated on the 19th June 2011.