- Ford GT - easily one of the best looking cars on the GTE grid

Road to Le Mans - It's time

THis Year's race turned out to be absolutely EXHILARATING! But What is it like going as a Fan?

There is all of this hype that it is 'like a giant festival'. 'The action does not stop' 'You will find it very difficult to sleep'. Every word turned out to be true. It is as mad as they say it is to be. Every bit of the experience ends up being completely worth it. Why? There is simply nothing else quite like it. Not just on track but the off track action ends up being an spectacle in itself.

I won't bore you with the smallest of details of the road trip. We made a drive from London to Le Mans using the Eurotunnel. Unfortunately motorways in France are not the most of exciting of places to drive so it wasn't the best drive ever. However, having a good friend with some music along the way made it easier to bear!

We arrived on the Thursday evening just as the final qualifying session had finished. But being able to hear the cars from the campsite was enough to get the adrenaline pumping. 60 cars taking it on track to fight for one of motorsport's prestigious crowns? Who wouldn't be buzzing for that?!

On Friday, there is no track action taking place. It's the drivers' 'rest day' as some may put it. One great thing about the WEC fan experience in comparison to F1 is that fans can freely walk around the pits without having to fork out an extra penny on their standard ticket. As a result, we got the chance to meet motoring icons like Mark Webber and the famous Porsche icon, Magnus Walker. One thing I did not expect however, was to get the chance to go on a track walk. This actually made my day as it's not something you get to experience very often.

Then there was the track parade in the city centre. It was great that they had a varied selection of performances on show. Not only did the drivers get escorted in a mix of modern and classic cars, there were a few bands as well as carnival sets. To finish the parade of, there was a huge motorbike convention as the icing on the cake. Even on a day where there is no racing taking place, there is still plenty going on.

Time to Race

Race Day is upon us. Unfortunately, by this stage we had not been able to do recon on where and what the best photo taking opportunities were. So we played it by ear. I have found recently that sometimes that is the best way to go about it. Given that we also had 24 hours, it provided plenty of time to take some great shots in comparison to an F1 event (which lasts about 1.5 hours). There was a support race going on prior to the main event so, we decided to take residence at first on the first corner on pit exit to take some test shots. Because there was fencing in the way, it didn't make for the best quality of pictures. We then decided to set up camp after the Dunlop Bridge. There was still fencing in place here but it arguably made for much better shots.

Finally, we settled for a number of hours in between the Esses after Dunlop Bridge and Tetre Rouge. This became the ideal view for the first few hours of the race up to the point we descended into dusk. The quality of shots taken here was absolutely incredible. Having a view of cars coming down the hill and then disappearing off into Tetre Rouge was quite a sight.

View of Dunlop Bridge as a multi-class battle is taking place

View of Dunlop Bridge as a multi-class battle is taking place

The sheer speed that the LMP1s take these corners is unreal

The sheer speed that the LMP1s take these corners is unreal

GTE battle between the Corvette and the 488

GTE battle between the Corvette and the 488

Going into the night

Dusk begins descending and the types of pictures become evidently different. The headlights on the cars become more prominent and you can see the crowd slowly filtering out retreating either back to their campsites or to go exploring around the track. We decided to go and do a bit of exploring to see what is on. What we found was great. There was a stage area with a DJ going on until late; there was a Guinness party tent.

Dusk is here

Dusk is here

Despite on this, the race must carry on. I had not tried taking pictures in the night before. This involved a lot of trial and error (not even joking; over 300 pictures that I took in the night were rubbish). In the end, some pictures came our brilliant. We started off in the place we had originally started to take test shots; the first corner. Because the fence was not as evident in the night, the pictures started to come out a lot better. It was awesome to see neon lights on these cars!

NEON!

NEON!

We also attempted to do stints in staying up through the night to see some racing in the dark. We failed miserably. It got too cold and we were far too tired. While we still could however, pictures came out a lot better than expected.

Beechdean FTW!

Beechdean FTW!

Neon glowing on the Ford GT

Neon glowing on the Ford GT

Overtake on the Aston

Overtake on the Aston

This was meant to be glow in the dark...

This was meant to be glow in the dark...

In a single session, we managed to stay awake for 12.5 hours of the race. We retreated for a short rest and then ready to go again in the morning!

battling all the way through the end

Up and ready by 9, we decided to try something a bit different on the final day. We set up just after the Ford Chicanes and before the finish line. What a view this was! Especially when you had two GTE cars going toe to toe all the way to the last lap after 24 hours! We were absolutely shattered by this point (and a bit sunburnt). The crowd was brilliant! (We did not so much appreciate the two guys in front of us who raised a giant Porsche club banner in the end...) As we were so close to the track, we saw how filthy and beaten up these cars were after 24 hours. To see that 4 out of 6 LMP1 cars retired, and that LMP2s almost clinched the win, it made for an amazing year of racing to watch! It was such a shame that the #63 Corvette picked up damage on the last lap. It just tells you how unpredictable this race can be.

Bug graveyard

Bug graveyard

Special mention to Tockwith who did brilliantly for their first ever Le Mans!

Special mention to Tockwith who did brilliantly for their first ever Le Mans!

TIme to go Home

Race over, we went back to the tent to start packing up. The sun had set, fireworks began going off and it was time to rest up before the final drive home. Overall, every second of this trip was worth it. There are definitely lessons to be learnt in terms of logistics but it was not a bad attempt for a first effort. Despite being completely drained by the final day, I am definitely looking forward to going back next year and I would highly recommend everyone else to do so.

Join In

Comments (0)

    0