Once again I’ll apologise now for such a long
post, but I’d like to set the scene on another special trip with Atomic, so please bear with me.
If you have followed the travels of ‘Atomic’ you’ll know by now that two things have remained constant.
The first is fate, just when you least expect it, a new card is dealt and shows something is clearly meant to be.
The second is that the impossible can, and possibly will, happen!
Moving back in time to 1981, my brother was asked to work on the pit crew of a small British team, Ibec Racing
as they took on the Le Mans 24 Hours in France.
His tales of the phenomenon that surrounds and is a part of the race had me sitting on the edge of my seat
and desperate to make the pilgrimage myself.
With me heading off into the world of music with Genesis, it was put onto the back burner until the summer
of 2003 when the two of us returned as mere spectators, but I too was absorbed into the atmosphere and
we then attended the race for 12 straight years.
1988 was perhaps the ultimate with Jaguar making a return to the top spot of the podium with their stunning
XJR-9, just beating the Porsche 962C of Derek Bell by a mere 2 minutes 30.
After 12 years, work and our own kart racing European championship events took our focus away from Le Mans
and it would be 10 years before we would return to support the British TVR team.
Fate played a part of my 2004 Le Mans, with my tent just requiring one last peg to hold it firm, my mobile went
and with the words “George Michael and the band need to be in New York on Saturday to do Oprah’s show Monday”
I knew my Le Mans could well be over.
The only hotel in Le Mans with an internet connection that would allow me to work, was marking rooms up by
four times the normal price, but it had to be done and I booked in for the next four nights.
As I walked into reception, I was greeted by the words “How y’all doin?” from a man in a Corvette Racing Team
shirt. He was interested in my V8 TVR having seen me drive in and it transpired he was part of the Corvette race
team who were staying at the hotel.
In between my work, over the next few days we had many good conversations and laughs with the
Corvette team and we found ourselves routing for the team as TVR were in GT and Corvette were in GTS.
I got George Michael on the plane with less than 2 hours to the start of the race, so was thankfully at the circuit
for the start and over the next 24 hours, the rumble of the Vettes pulled me back to where I had been in 1999,
wanting to buy a C5 and within six months of the Gavin, Beretta, Magnussen GTS victory, I was on course
to Vette ownership.
The Driving Adventures tour schedule has clashed with Le Mans for the past three years, so I have not been
able to return, but with just three weeks to go to the 2008 race, a planned route recce was postponed and
the window opened for me to attend in Atomic and just two days later, the UK’s Classic Corvette Club hotel had
a cancellation and we snapped it up. Fate.
With my work schedule still hectic, we didn’t leave the office until 1am and we headed for Dover seaport for a 7am
crossing to Boulogne on the north west coast of France arriving 9am local time without sleep.
It is well known that the Le Mans weekend is a cash cow for the Police as many English sadly see the opportunity to hit top speeds on their respective cars, safe in the knowledge that if caught, they would retain their license, car and stay free from prison and leave with a simple fine, albeit it around $1000
The net result is police speed traps and check points on almost every seaport route to the circuit, so it was no surprise to us that we hit a check point just 30 minutes into France, but with documents in order and no radar records showing us over the limit, we were soon on our way.
A rather more enjoyable side to the journey to Le Mans is always the spontaneous convoys that develop. Our first, which lasted for over an hour, contained a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Porsche Cayman S, a Ferrari 612 and a wonderful classic Jaguar D type.
Due to the police checks set to increase as we closed in on he circuit, we opted for small back roads, not to flout the law, but simply to avoid being caught up in the delays.
We still faced having to run the ‘Mad Friday’ crowds who sadly block roads with the intent of getting every car to do a burn out that frequently results in damage to either the car or the people lining the roads. The “penalty” for a failure to comply used to be a dousing in water that has sadly escalated to the cars being either pelted with eggs or pints of beer being poured into the car.
All this makes some wonder what the appeal of Le Mans actually is, but these negatives are small and don’t last and soon we entered the European Corvette Club’s ‘Corvette Camp’.
With the ACO honouring Corvette by naming a section of the circuit the ‘Corvette Curves’, the Corvette Camp over looks this section of the track from on top of a mobile hospitality unit, a fabulous view and a perfect area to base yourself for the weekend.
A large marquee was in the final stages of preparations when we arrived and were greeted by the very helpful European Corvette Club’s helpers who had our welcome pack.
It wasn’t long before we met up with some fellow Classic Corvette Club UK members and although tired from the lack of sleep, we joined them all for a meal at Arnage Town.
In full carnival mode, we had ring side seats with a street side table to see and hear the cars parading up and down as they donated burn outs, cooling blasts from super soakers and a visual spectacle more akin to a Blue Man Group show.
As the evening headed towards midnight, we opted to find the hotel that was about 40 minutes away from the circuit, deep in the French countryside, with not a car to be heard beyond the dozen Corvettes invading the sleepy village.
Race day dawned sunny and warm and after 5 hours sleep, I was up and washing Atomic at 6am and at the circuit by 8.30.
The cars were out for a warm up soon after and the tension really started to build as the crowds poured in.
A ‘Group C’ race of sports cars from the 1980’s Le Mans races followed and for me it was a wonderful trip down memory lane seeing all the stunning cars and to hear the evocative noises such as that of the Mazda’s rotary engine as it screamed it’s way down the Mulsanne straight. Once again the XJR-9 took the win twenty years on.
With a few hours until the main race, I rejoined many of the other Corvette owners, many of whom had been crowded around the marquee awaiting news of a special event, a Corvette parade lap of the track!
I’d put my name down, but as it is a lottery and having never won anything, I felt I stood little chance so had not paid too much attention to names as they drawn until it was pointed out that in fact my name had been selected, 7th out of 50 and I was due to take a VIP around the circuit!
I was astounded, but the elation turned to frustration soon after as chaotic scenes followed due to poor organisation, but suffice to say, some of those selected never got onto the track.
A French chap was all but pushed into the car almost without me stopping and we shook hands as I drove into the first corner as I scrapped in as the 2nd last car out onto the track with others having already been out there for several minutes.
The reality of where I was suddenly kicked in as I picked up speed through the ‘new’ Corvette Curves and headed towards the Ford Chicane and by the time I came out onto the main straight with my foot to floor, the adrenaline kicked in and I found myself in front of packed grandstands full of waving flags, air horns and smoke flares.
In a split second I thought, this is it, I’m on the world famous Le Mans race track and I’m at the back of the field, that has to change!
The two cars ahead of me were already into the Dunlop Chicane and as I closed in, the first of the two cars got out of shape sending the car behind diving to it’s side under heavy breaking, so I shot to the left of them both and came out under the Dunlop Bridge ahead of them both.
What a rush - this was racing rather than a parade lap!
As we’d all been split up and with some cars over half way around the lap, I felt totally unrestricted and kept my foot in, coming sideways out of Esses and thundered down to Tertre Rouge and there I was, on the Mulsanne straight with no speed restriction!
I passed a few cars and as I came into the first chicane, the was quite a log jam of Corvette’s so I back right off and slotted in as we all followed the racing line in and out, but with cars diving back to the right and passing, I put the power down again and as we came into the second chicane, it was a free for all just like a racing lap.
Exiting, we headed back out onto the final section of the Mulsanne where a group of us were clearly in the same zone heading towards Mulsanne Corner where heavy breaking was needed before turning right and another long drag down towards Indianapolis through the kink and then the sharp right and left through Arnage.
My passenger was grinning like crazy and gave the thumbs up as we exited passing yet more Corvettes.
Heading down back towards the Porsche Curves the front pace car was in sight and I decided it was time to back off and moments later we were greeted by the flag waving marshals signalling the end of the lap.
To my amazement, I’d gone from 48th – 5th!
My passenger shook my hand firmly saying “Cest Magnifique” as he left the car perhaps never to be seen by me again, but we’d shared something special – lifetime memories for us both.
Sadly due to the admin issues before, it appears very few photos are currently available and the film I had attempted to record with my phone lodged against the screen, failed to record as did several other video cameras that people used.
I may have located some film footage, so I will update on that over the next week or so, but these distant images show us returning to the Corvette Camp while the last great image shows me going through the Corvette Curves just after entering the track.
I didn’t want to return to the Camp spouting how stunning it had been with so many disappointed owners who had missed out, so I simply parked up and sat in the car taking stock of what I had just experienced. A lifetime dream had come true in Atomic – fate had again dealt us a wonderful card.
As this report is already
so long, I’ll not detail the race other than to say it was a classic with the wrong result in GT1, although the 009 Aston ran the perfect race and deserved to win.
A highlight for me was standing alone between 3 and 5am on top of the Corvette Camp’s viewing platform from where these night shots wee taken.
The CCCUK club left for a meal in a sleepy town south west of the circuit after helping to pack up the Corvette Camp, a wonderful facility run by Gerard and his team. Sure there were problems which others experienced, but, I personally have no complaints beyond the admin problems.
We made many new Corvette friends, not only from the UK, but from France, Germany and Sweden and if any of you are here, it was a real pleasure.
Finally, a personal plea. If anyone has any Parade lap photos or film, please do let me know as I and many others are looking for visual mementos.
