Vingt-Quatre Heures Du Mans 1998
"Done it, got the T-shirt and the hangover." Eddie, Andy K and IJ went to the Le Mans 24 hour race. Bloody good fun.
Event goes something like this......(Deep breath)
Go to France, buy beer. Get to Le Mans, set up camp. Watch night qualifying after consuming some beer, grab a bite to eat. Grin insanely every time a Panoz GT1 (BIG Ford V8 engine) passes you. Wonder why the French use those silly bogs where you have to crouch and aim your arse over a hole. Sleep, wake up, sight see. Le Mans has a very nice old quarter where public singing is forbidden. Honest! Drink some more beer. Listen to Radio Le Mans. Watch more qualifying. Eight hours in all. Cheer when Martin Brundle takes pole. Boo when a Kraut in a Merc takes pole off Martin. Listen to Radio Le Mans. Go mooching round the pitlane on the Friday. Drive up and down the Mulsanne straight (normally a public road) at 45mph, then think that the quick guys will be doing 4 or 5 times that speed. Wonder how there can be room for Murray, Martin and Martin's nads in the commentary box. Come to think, is there room for Martin's nads in a Toyota GT1. On raceday, get into the circuit and stake your claim on that square foot of ground that you want to spectate from. Take slightly surreptitious photographs of top totty. Wonder why Eddie needs such a big lens. See fellow Brits wearing T-shirts with pictures of Del Boy on them. With the caption "Bonjour Mangetout". Watch the start, watch Martin monster his way past the Jerry in the Merc right in from of you. Realise that you are getting sunburnt. Couple or four hours spectating then back to the camp and into town to fetch some more beer, listening to Radio Le Mans. Go back in the circuit for more spectating after nightfall. Glowing brake discs, flames from exhausts, all good spectacular stuff. And the ticket for race week was 270F, that's about £30. Which makes it much better value than that F1 type thingy. Fairground. Drink some more beer, eat merguez and frites. Still grinning everytime a Panoz goes past. Go and get head down for some kip back at the camp. Wake up, breakfast and back to the event, Mexican waves in the grandstands. Sun burning IJ's nose - again. Toyota lose the lead with 40 minutes to go. More Mexican waves. All the teams in the pitlane are busy moving anything that isn't bolted down back into the garages. Wonder why? Event finishes. Porsche wins. Track invasion. Anything that isn't bolted down is nicked. Back to the camp where the gravel drag racing begins. Result, Porsche 944 nil - Oil Drum 1. Triumph TR8 2 - Tents adjacent to to gravel track, nil. Radio Le Mans playing serious party music. More beer drinking. CRS arrive. That's the riot police by the way. They leave. Drag racing starts again. Mr Kirk slurs his speech and falls over. All eventually collapse in tent and sleep solidly till the next morning. Break camp and drive home.
Ian J