This week end, my wife and I were lucky enough to have a VIP invitation from Audi to the 75th edition of Le Mans 24 hours. That was my first time ever at Le Mans and that was most enjoyable and truly thrilling. The atmosphere is fantastic, it's really 24 hours of race and great fun all around with an international public : "Radio Le Mans" (the way they pronounce it is really cute) broadcasts non stop in English during the week-end.
The soundtrack of the race is really addictive, I'm already missing the sound of the cars speeding by at 300 kph (esp the Audi and Peugeot which really sounded like a rocket when passing by) !
Approaching the racetrack by car, I had never seen as many nice cars in the same time : Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris and Aston Martins, all those marques racing here at Le Mans 24. As for the Astons, plenty of DB9, Vanquish and the new V8 Vantage, most of them coming from the UK though.
Below picture of the Aston Martin Racing clubhouse, right next to the impressive "Audi Racing Arena" where I spent most of the week-end.
Honor to my host, Audi made it for the 7th time in a row at le Mans, in a race characterized by changing conditions and several safety car periods safety ! But with the strong returning presence of Peugeot this year, which placed one of its 2 cars in 2nd position, Audi's 2007 victory is even more rewarding than the previous ones, all the more than Audi won hands down with 5 laps ahead of the Peugeot.
The winning Audi n°1 was the only Audi R10 remaining on the racetrack, the 2 others broke down. If the Audi was 5 laps ahead, a mechanical problem on car n°1 would have been a disaster from the car maker.
Peugeot (picture below) must be disapointed, but a 2nd position for its comeback is honorable given the formidable competition from Audi.
In the GT1 category, Aston Martin won with the DBR9 n°009, which also grabbed an excellent 5th position overall. For most of the race DBR9 was in a fierce battle against sister n°007. After 3 tries since 2005, Aston Martin ends the hegemony of Corvette (in the GT1 category) and I'm happy for them ! It's for the British marque the first triumph at Le Mans since 1959...
What's more, Aston Martin placed 3 cars in the top 4 in the GT1 category and all of its 6 racing cars ended the race well ! What a reliability for those cars closely derived from the DB9. Much better than Audi which lost 2 of its 3 car during the race.
Both David Richards, Aston Martin's chairman and Ulrich Bez, the CEO, were absolutely delighted about this historic victory, almost 50 years after the last one.
"To see Aston Martin winning at Le Mans again, nearly 50 years after our last famous victory, is a truly magnificent achievement for everybody associated with Aston Martin across the world". David Richards
Below a picture of the 2 winning cars, with the Audi overtaking the Aston sometimes after the start.
For the F1 enthousiast that I am, the presence of 4 different categories racing in Le Mans is something quite puzzling : LM P1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2. The pinnacle is the LM P1 category (Le Mans Prototype 1) which develops around 650 horse-power for 925kg minimum. GT1 are production-based car which develop 600 horse-power for at least 1125kg (GT2 are less powerful, 500 hp for the same weight). The difference in performance is stunning with LM P1 racing 20 seconds faster per lap than GT1 ! Consequently, even if there's only one winner overall, there are clearly several different races within the race !
I must give a very warm thank you to Audi which invited me. The week end was truly exceptional, perfect and very professional organization, and great entertaining events : among others a helicopter flight over the track and an impressive night session in the R8 with a professional driver. Audi had several spots from where we could watch the race : Racing Arena (picture below), Racing Club, Racing Garden, Lounges, etc. All had plenty of good food and drink throughout, with no limit on champagne. I took great advantage of it on the saturday, but was cautious the next day as we had some driving back !
Despite the quarter-million spectators and all the beer which was flowing around (but also Champagne, Lanson had a booth), no incident at all. Police, though discreet, almost invisible inside the circuit, must have been very efficient.
From the "Racing Club" we had a stunning look over the pit lane and the paddocks : below are 2 great pictures, one I shot during drivers' change in the winning Aston Martin n°9 and, as a thank you to Audi, another one of the winning car n°1 coming into the pit for tire change and refuelling.
The Audi "lounges" were just atop the pit and the paddock, which gave a close gorgeous view as well (below).
The ephemere "Audi Racing Hotel" provided us a few hours of deserved sleep : built inside a warehouse, it was basic comfort (extremely thin removable walls, one could even hear the other guests whispering in the nearby rooms !), but very clean, with an army of personnel cleaning the restrooms and showers all the time !
Only minor issue, no electrical plug in the rooms and almost anywhere. My weak Treo 680 battery drained rapidly and as from saturday afternoon I had no more access to calls and emails. Not too bad after all !
Again, Audi did a fantastic job, having one of its cars winning again, and entertaining their numerous guests the most enjoyable, pleasurable and professional way.
Look forward to coming back next year !
wow!
wish I could be there too...
week end in Philadelphia for me, learned a lot more about American history.
Posted by: sebastien(ny) | June 18, 2007 at 04:34 AM
Aux Oscars du meilleur blogué, celui-ci devrait le faire. Quand je pense que tu fais la promo du diesel ...
Posted by: Tillerman | June 19, 2007 at 03:00 PM
Oh! How lucky you are to have tickets on that kind of event. Congratulations! I wish someday I can also have the privelege to join that kind of events. I really love the cars of Aston Martin, makes me imagine (and hope) I can have one or even drive one. Hope my wishes come true.
Posted by: Marcia Lewis | July 10, 2007 at 09:18 AM
Hi,the event was held very nicely.You are very lucky to had tickets for that mega event.
Posted by: V8 driving experience | November 25, 2008 at 10:48 AM