CAR editor Steve Smith wraps up his visit to Le Mans … with a flag.
Le Mans has been something of a personal journey. Not just the distance covered between south and north to get here, but it’s been a journey back to my youth and one that very neatly ties together my relationship with both this great race and CAR magazine.
One my clearest memories as a young CAR reader was seeing a black and white image of the Rothmans-sponsored Jacky Ickx/Derek Bell Porsche 956 triumphantly taking the chequered flag at the 1981 edition of Le Mans. The new closed-cockpit race car captivated me … finally here was something as cool as the previous-era Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 S cars I had read so much about. I wouldn’t say that from this moment on I wanted to be a motoring journalist and attend a running of Le Mans, but it certainly planted a small seed.
Now, in 2017, I’m not only a member of the team that puts this great magazine and website together, but I’m sitting in that main grandstand, watching the latest incarnation of Porsche’s endurance race car, the 919 Hybrid, take that very same chequered flag. For me, it is not a moment without its poignancy.
With the race now over, I’m writing this from the back of an airport shuttle in the heavy traffic heading back to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. It’s a five-hour drive, giving me plenty of time to reflect on the final hours of the 85th running of the world’s greatest automotive endurance race.
By now you no doubt know the results and the drama that played out through the night and during the following day. If you don’t, here’s a précis of the LMP1 category… Again the Toyota’s dropped out of the lead, as did the no. 1 Porsche that had a 13-lap lead with around four hours to go. That left a squadron of LMP2 cars headed by the Jackie Chan Racing Oreca (yes, that Jackie Chan) in with a chance of claiming an unlikely victory.
Unfortunately for them though, there was still one 919 Hybrid in the race. Early on, hybrid drivetrain issues had seen it spend 56 minutes in the pits – an event that would normally put the no. 2 Porsche right out of contention in a race where, despite the distance, it can be decided by seconds rather than minutes.
Clawing its way back from 65th place, the Bernhard/Hartley/Bamber 919 would take the lead with an hour and seven minutes to go and eventually take the flag 28 seconds ahead of the Jarvis/Laurent/Tung driven Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca entry.
I was in sitting at the Porsche Experience Centre overlooking the Ford Chicane when the news of 919 no. 1’s demise broke. There was an audible groan among the Porsche staff and fans sitting in the air-conditioned luxury of this ultra-modern facility with a spectacular view of the track through sheets of floor-to-ceiling glass.
It’s a privilege to witness parts of the race from here – it offers respite from the 30+ degree heat outside that the estimated 260 000 spectators must endure. Not that they seem to mind much. There’s a continuous stream of motorsport fans walking to and from all parts of the circuit – the shirtless, burned-red Brits with a plastic cup of lager in one hand and an Aston Martin flag in the other, a fair amount of red-white-and-blue-ovalled Yanks hoping for another Ford GT victory in GTE Pro, and of course, the French who need to keep reminding themselves that it’s worth putting up with these uncultured idiots for the 250-million Euros that motorsport pours into the region’s coffers each year.
It is after the race has finished and the trophies handed out on the podium above pit row that I get to witness a side of endurance racing I had not realised. With the crowd having slowly ebbed out of the circuit, either back to the numerous campsites in and around the Sarthe circuit, or to join the long, snaking traffic jam, I join the celebrations at the Porsche hospitality area.
Wearing their “HAT TRICK” emblazoned t-shirts, people are popping champagne corks and clinking pilsners to celebrate Porsche’s 19th win at Le Man and its third on the trot. On a table sits the trophy. Tall, brassy and heavy. It is Porsche’s to keep having completed the triple.
Suddenly a ripple of applause starts and builds from the front of the marquee. Making his way to the front is Tashio Sato, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s team principal and a few of his colleagues. They’re here to congratulate Porsche team principal Fritz Enzinger and his crew on their victory and to share a beer or two.
The respect and camaraderie between the two men is palpable. They shake hands, clasp each other warmly and drink their beers straight from the bottle. There is a mutual recognition of the skill, effort, and modicum of luck it takes to compete at Le Mans. It’s a bittersweet moment for all here, even for the most diehard of Porsche supporters and team members. In the satisfaction of victory there remains real sympathy for the rivals who have come so close in recent years.
Despite what must be huge disappointment, Sato’s offered congratulations are sincere and heartfelt. They are accepted with grace and humility and returned.
I bet you won’t see that in Formula One.
My own Le Mans journey is complete when I see two men at a nearby table, sitting apart from the celebratory throng upfront. It’s Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. Plucking a flag from one of the table arrangements, I rustle up a pen. Sitting now in this airport shuttle, I have the perfect Le Mans memento tucked safely in my hand luggage.
