Le Mans Review '96.

Le Mans - La route est dûre.

by John Brooks

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Well most of the stragglers have now made their way, like the retreating French army from Moscow, back over the channel. The 64th running of the 24 hours of Le Mans is over and all we are left with is sunburn, credit card bills and memories - all will fade in time (even the VISA horrors) and before my memories do I would like to recall some of them for you.

The race as you all know was handsomely won by the Joest team and their TWR Porsche prototype which ran virtually untroubled to finish one lap up on the works Porsche GT1. There had been so much ballyhoo about these GT s and also the Ferrari and the Riley & Scott from across the Atlantic that the eventual victors did not to seem to be in the frame right up until Thursday at 8.30pm. It was then that Pierluigi Martini wrested pole position from the Belgian Ferrari and suddenly everyone was covering their bets by dropping the Joest cars into their victory predictions. ( By Friday evening these lists had expanded to cover all cars with the exception of the Debora which was fancied by no one, not even themselves or their mums). Two astute observers had tipped Joest prior to this, Gary Watkins in Autosport and Alan Lis in Racecar Engineering. If you want to trace the ancestry of the winner Mazda out of Jaguar and 962 Porsche then the latest RCE issue is essential reading.

As I and others had suspected the GT1 Porsches HAD been sandbagging all along. They were as quick as anything on the circuit as anyone was conscious on Sunday at around 6.00 am would have seen. Hans Stuck posted three fastest laps in a row and these would have stood but for van de Poele getting the hammer down in the 333SP Ferrari before it came to grief with gearbox maladies and a terminal impact with the wall in the hands of Eric Bachelart. The Porsche pace has rewritten the parameters of GT racing. They had better enjoy their success while it lasts because Woking will be back next year with a new car based on the racecar first, roadcar second principle.

The two main disappointments of the weekend were the decline of the McLarens and the failure of the American challenge.

The McLaren teams running on Michelins all suffered from gearbox maladies except the second Gulf car and the drivers felt that this was just a matter of time. Dave Price felt that the extra grip that the French tyres had was a significant factor ( also accounting for their pace relative to his Goodyear shod cars ) and also the driving styles had in some cases contributed to the problems. John Nielsen reckoned that he changed gear some 25 times less than Steve Soper each lap which over the 300 or so laps amounted to a new gearbox or two. Soper along with JJ Lehto and James Weaver were the only Woking representatives to try and carry the fight to the German phalanx up front. The much fancied Harrods Racing F1 GTR was a dog all week. The interaction of set-up and tyres rendered it more unstable than it had been in the wet in 1995. Derek and Andy said that even in a straight line the car was twitching from side to side and Olivier just muttered. To achieve sixth place in spite of all this was some kind of consolation. It was not all bad news for McLaren though as a little bird told me the Bigazzis spare bill for the weekend was in excess of £650,000!!!!!! Perhaps Ron can afford another motorhome.

The fuel restrictions of WSC/IMSA against GTs meant that the Riley & Scott car was never going to achieve the dream of the triple crown of Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans and the gearbox gave out - in common with many others - to end the challenge. The other Ferrari 333SP was the first retirement after Andy Evans suffered the ignominy of stuffing the red machine into the sand at Mulsanne corner on lap 2 and then running out of fuel on the first stint. The Vipers were never going to be on the pace of the McLarens much less the Porsches but 3 out of 4 finished with the Canaska entry of Price Cobb, Mark Dismore and Shawn Hendicks taking a great tenth place. I hope that the 1996 results will not discourage the North Americans from coming back because the race needs them as much as the Japanese to give the true global flavour. One famous name from across the Atlantic that will be there next year is Ford with a GT2 Mustang team run by that old war-horse Roy Baker.

On a personal note the week was not particularly successful, being too incident packed for my liking but I did meet three people (well 2 guys and a very nice bunch of ladies) who have been heroes of mine for ages. Pete Lyons was the top journalist in F1 during the 70s and even now if you mention his name to anyone who was in the business at the time they beam and praise his efforts in a manner few in the fourth estate will ever receive. Since then he has written THE book on CanAm and does bits and pieces for Autoweek amongst others. Well he is every bit as charming as he is talented and meeting him was a real privilege. The other bit of good news is that he is publishing a second volume on the CanAm with all the bits that he could not fit in the first time round, can't wait.

Charm and talent also apply in spades to Paul Frere who I have seen at many events but never had the opportunity (or courage ) to speak to. I was given the job of rounding some press to go the Gulf hospitality suite on Thursday. When I managed to persuade Mr Frere to make the trip he was greeted by the drivers with great respect. Not only is he a great journalist but also he won this event back in 1960 and was a works driver for Ferrari, Jaguar and Aston Martin to name but a few. I should look so good at his age.

The other new acquaintances were the Hawaiian Tropic girls. I was lucky enough to have an assignment shooting them at the Harrods shop - its dirty job but someone's got to do it. Later on I had a kind of dinner with them ( the food had run out but who cared?) and for 40 minutes or so it was like being on a Baywatch set. Conversation with any other males was impossible as the distractions were too great and frankly would you rather admire a swimsuited lovely or listen to some old dinosaur like me, like elections in North Korea 100% voted for the president. I hope that Moody Fayeds eyesight recovers soon from the strain.......

Back on the track a honourable mention in despatches must go to the Parr Motorsport team representing the finest traditions of Kiwis in motorsport, who got both their cars to the finish and looked on the pace the whole week. Certainly their guys were most active in introducing themselves to the local females who had come view the dog and pony show in the square aka scrutineering. Pole for this team then.

The ultimate heroes of the annual masochism festival that is Le Mans are the mechanics. They put up with unbelievable work loads and stress for little reward. Take the EMKA team as an example, Soames Langton having dragged the car through pre qualifying got himself wound up too far on the Wednesday first session and hit the Armco at the Porsche curves very hard. This meant that the boys worked all night and day to get ready for practice on Thursday. Neither Steve O'Rourke nor Guy Holmes had qualified in the light and none of the trio had done so at night and with the Stadler team as first reserve breathing down their necks the job simply had to be done. All was ready in time (well almost) and the lads duly registered their times. 5 laps into the race and the ^$£dd&%£$%^$ engine failed, who said life is fair?

The final thought is that the fastest top speed over the week at Le Mans was not achieved on the Mulsanne Straight or the run to Indianapolis nor even from the bar when it was my turn to buy the drinks but on the A11 autoroute. Allegedly, on Friday evening a team owner was taking his co drivers from one sponsor reception to another and they were running late.... of course the mode of transport was a road going McLaren, just the ticket for three. He was belting along at 140-150 mph but the team star felt that this was not enough and the soup might go cold if they did not get a move on. So he took the wheel and allegedly managed to reach flat in sixth....... some 220 mph or so.......................... it is true they are different from the rest of us.

To those of you who passed some time with me thanks for the company and see next year ...well maybe.

Finally, to the regular old lags see you at the ring next week and remember virtus probata florescit

Copyright © 1996