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In 2001 the Audis did it again but TeamTritech didn't. We were reduced to a barbecue and watching the race live on Eurosport. Admittedly we did have a combined total of 75" of television especially organised for the event. The itinerary looked good and again we had six members watching the outcome to the race. It was instantly realised that television is not the real thing and all those present vowed to do it properly next year!
2003
saw us return again, this team with eight of us in two cars. This was to
be the last trip for the Audi A4 and may be why the Audis failed this year
but another VAG group marquee led the way with a one-two for the Bentley
boys. One of the Audis failed to make it to the first fuel stop as Frank
Biela forgot to come into the pits and promptly ran out of fuel. This
year's eight pink bucketers include two more
newbies in the form of Peter and Chris Kerswell. The trip followed the
format of the previous year with us camping once again in Maison Blanche
(although we still had to panic to get tickets in time) and soaking up the
French sunshine. Improvements on last year included the booking of a cabin
on the return ferry allowing us all to get cleaned up before returning
home and, courtesy of Graham and his Sky+, an eight hour video of the race
supplied to all who attended.
In 2004 Audi were back on form. Team Leader took the MG ZT-T along but the MGs were no longer racing as an official team and MG/Rover was about to go to the wall. Peter and Chris back for a second year filled the car along with Graham.
In 2005 we had another mass gathering with Graham, Peter, Chris, Roddy, Aaron along with his brothers Nathan and Jordan and newbies James Cann and Mark Holloway. The weather was very hot so much so that the challenge to cross the road in bare feat proved virtually impossible. Peter came down in his VX220 complete with custom made storage case which proved very useful as a larder once unpacked. Graham, in usual high spirits, managed to turn off the water and electric to half of Maison Blanche. This year we watched the end of the race from the Porsche Curves rather than enduring the heat of the grandstands to once again cheer the Audis to victory.
2006 was another non year. Reduced to watching the race on Motors TV along with non-stop Radio Le Mans the team made the best of not being there. Graham, James, Zack and Mark enjoyed a barbeque on the Saturday night and consumed a few warm beers for effect. We were represented in France by Peter Kerswell and his cousin Gavin. This was the first year of the all new Audi R10 TDi. It was given some challenge by the Pescarolos and the Audi suffered from some reliability issues but Audi still finished first and third.
In 2007 Graham, Roddy and Aaron returned along with Peter Kerswell how brought along newbies in the form of his brother and nephew. An Audi diesel won again after its two sister cars had both crashed. The all new Peugeot diesel was fast in qualifying but had no race pace despite having a significant advantage over the petrol engined cars. Atleast Audi now have a challenge from a major manufacturer. Click here for a brief pictorial story.
In 2008 TeamTritech made its 14th pilgrimage and we had a couple of firsts: James made the first ever TeamTritech run to Le Mans on a motorbike and Nobby made his first ever appearance at Le Mans. Both of their drinking skills assisted the beer wall admirably. In the end six of us made the trip in two cars and one motorbike to camp at Maison Blanche and of course taking the pink bucket beer cooler with us accompanied by our theme tune the Pink Bucket Reggae Song sung by the Kevin the Gerbil and Roland Rat. Our team this year was relatively in-experienced. Excluding Graham's 12 previous visits the rest mustered just 10 visits and included one virgin.
The car was loaded on Tuesday night then adorned with a GD badge, the first seen for over ten years. The badge, car and advance party of Graham, Mark H and Mark S arrived on Wednesday morning to an almost deserted campsite. Our combined pitch size of 70 square metres looked very small but we pitched out tents and awaited the arrival of Peter and Chris Kerswell. With further juggling we just about fitted although we did take a small amount of next doors camp. We did however find space for the larder (thanks Rishi!) and found room for James's bike in front of the ZT-T. This meant that that car stayed on camp and never strayed into Mad Friday, a blessing in disguse. We spent Mad Friday instead having a meal on the main Arnage drag. The replica ghostbuster car was excellent.
As for the racing we went to Arnage for Wednesday qualifying, watched the start from the grandstand and the finish up at the Dunlop Curves. Quite a jog from there to get to the post race trophy presentations but we made it. In the end another win for Audi with the R10 TDi if somewhat unexpected because the Peugeots were definitely quicker in the dry. It was the rain that did it for them when they had no real pace. Also going well was the Aston Martin beating the much better funded Corvettes and, of course, Ris(h)i Competizione with their Ferrari F430 which led home four other Ferraris in GT2 with Porsches no where to be seen, although the Porsche RS Spyders did finish first and second in LMP2 and did finish ahead of the GT1 cars, something which an LMP2 car has not done before.
Rather strangely the atmosphere was best this year on Sunday night, perhaps Mad Friday is going to be replaced by Sloshed Sunday. We nearly had a disaster when, having previously had a crate of beer stolen, we nearly ran out completely. Luckily the neighbours had some spare and we replenished out stocks for a few Euros. Problem was we had to repeat the purchase later in the evening, a move James will never forget (or should that be remember). Click here for pictures from the trip.
Unfortunately 2009 is set to be a repeat of 2001 without any representatives at Le Mans. A combination of a recession and falling Sterling. Instead we were reduced to a combined 84" of television, Eurosport and Radio Le Mans coverage (on which we got a mention) and a barbecue on Saturday night. Earlier race go-ers arrived Friday night and the party kept running until the end of the race on Sunday afternoon. Congratulations to Peugeot on winning at their third attempt with a 1-2 whilst the new Audi R15 was third and the Lola Aston Martin in fourth. Click here for a few pictures of the party.
Last updated on the 6th July 2010.
