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Having done this event for the first time 2 years ago and knowing full well that this was going to be the jewel in 2008‛s racing crown it was not without apprehension or high hopes that we arrived at La Sarthe for the 2008 Le Mans Classic.
Last time round we were a late entry, pushed through after the closing date by Bentley Motors who were a primary sponsor; we were there not knowing what to expect, unprepared and mainly there just for the experience & bragging rights of racing on this hallowed circuit. This time it was different, we had been mentally preparing since 2006, we had rebuilt the cars over the winter, knew roughly what to expect from the officious French scrutineers and after being first Bentley home last in 2006 we wanted the best result we could get.
Things however had not gotten off to a good start by the time we left the workshop as despite putting in HTP‛s for all the cars at the same time one set hadn‛t arrived. Still the entry had been accepted, we were in the programme and so we went, nervous that one car may not even make it past those infamous French scrutineers.
Once we had arrived and made camp it was time to take the cars to the paddock. Don‛t be fooled by the banality of this task, my memory told me that this was a chaotic and difficult task, and for once my memory was correct. The guards at every check point were difficult, the people milling around the middle of the roads uncaring and obtuse. We eventually made it to our paddock and were faced with the tactical scrutineering decision; do we go now when it is empty and they have time to linger? Or wait till morning when they will be under pressure? The MG that we had brought with us was an Ex-Le Mans car in it‛s own right, it was the first MG to ever complete the 24 hour race, it came 6th overall and won its class in 1933; it‛s HTP‛s had arrived in time and it flew through the scrutineering process without a hitch. Our 3/4½, despite the forms being sent off in the same envelope had no HTP‛s but did have VSCC buff forms & FIVA papers. After much deliberation with the scrutineer the case would have to go to the French equivalent of the clerk of the course and we would find out in the morning. A long, tense and nervous night followed.
Morning came but the answer hadn‛t, our scrutineer reassured us with a smile and told us that it would be aright, maybe a 1 minute penalty. That may not sound like much but it is a lot of time to make up and could put a serious dent in our aspirations. After our drivers’ briefing we were to find out the true horror of the situation. It wasn‛t a 1 minute penalty, it was a 3 minute penalty; and not overall, oh no, 3 minutes for each round making a 9 minute penalty over the course of the race. This dashed any hopes of finishing near the top and with some of the Bentley competition we had seen we were unlikely to be able to repeat our 1st Bentley home claim of 2 years ago. Still, they could have prevented us from taking part at all and so we were relieved that we would at least get to compete. As a side note, around two thirds of the pre-war grid had turned up without the correct paperwork so it would have been a small grid if they had denied us all our fun.
For this event there are two practice sessions, one during the day and one at night. Having raced here two years ago and after sharing the day practice I was confident that I knew the circuit well and so let Stu take the whole of the night session. A moment of youthful confidence that would result in hilarity for some......
Adam and Rach went well in the MG C-Type qualifing 2/3 down the grid and nowhere near the back which is pretty impressive considering the car’s 746cc engine. Me & Stu had put in good times and took second place for the fabled ‛ear of corn‛ the quaint French expression used to describe the traditional run across the track Le Mans start.
4pm arrived the next day and the cars were lined up along the pit wall. Stu found himself as the Bentley filling inside a Talbot sandwich surrounded by the Ruston 105‛s. The legendary Buzz Aldrin was the man to set the whole event in motion and did so in the usual continental manner. Buzz lifted the flag and Stu waited, poised for it to drop and signal him to dash across the track, leap into his car and scream off down the track. Buzz then began twirling it round his head with no sign of it ever returning to earth. Stu, still poised and ready for it to drop waited until he saw the other competitors running like crazy and so gave chase. You see in the UK the race starts when the flag is brought down where as on the continent it is when the flag is raised, a small point but one which nobody actually tells you.
The cars all tore off down the track finally unleashed upon the event for which they had been waiting for so long only to be stopped round the corner and re-gridded; though they don‛t really bother with the re-grid all that much. The ‛ear of corn‛ is a false start as it‛s considered too dangerous to use for more than a demonstration. Two years ago I was the youngest person in this particular race and gained a lot of places during that run which is how we originally found out about the 30 second overtaking penalty, with our 9 minutes already accrued this year Stu was right to be cautious.
The race began by rolling start and the first session was underway. Stu was engaged in battle for second place with a Talbot 105 and a Lagonda but eventually saw them off and pulled ahead. Once clear he built up a good lead over the third place car which I maintained during the second half of the session. Up in first place Gareth Burnett in one of John Ruston‛s Talbot 105s would stay ahead and lead each round to the chequered flag despite the glimmer of hope I had felt when I saw him pouring a bottle of rad-weld into his radiator moments before the ear of corn. Nigel Ormond-Smith and Neil Davis went well in their 3/4.5 and were the second quickest Bentley. Martin Overington once again showed us his unique sideways driving style which sadly proved too much for his diff which seized and put him out of the race. Our MG climbed a few places with excellent drives from both Rachel & Adam and would go on to create a unique race which to some would be the most important of the 24 hours......who would be quicker, Rachel Singer or Mags Diffey?
The night session then arrived and Mags, who originally intended not to race at night did so ensuring she was behind the wheel at the same time as Rachel. The battle ensued, leads were taken and lost as the two raced round the circuit in the enveloping darkness. The night session at Le Mans is very special and more than a little eerie. The lights on our Bentley are ineffective at best and that‛s with a 12 volt system, how Adam & Rachel fared in the 6 volt MG I have no idea. Apart from the pit straight and across the apexes of corners there is no lighting at all and distances become very hard to judge. We had fitted a much longer back axle ratio to our Bentley because of the long flat out sections of this circuit and we topped out at 130mph both on the Mulsanne straight and the section between Mulsanne corner and Idianapolis. We were racing against cars who were achieving maybe 60mph flat out and in the darkness with such poor lights you fly past these cars at more than double their speed praying that the bumps down the Mulsanne don‛t make them suddenly change course; a tense moment every time I can assure you.
Stu and Bronson were duelling once again and came into the pits together with Bronson in the lead. I followed him out of the pit lane and knew that due to the new ratio our car had the longer legs. As soon as we got onto the Mulsanne straight I ducked behind my aeroscreen and started to edge ahead. We approached the first chicane flat-out where I proceeded to jump on the brakes brave and late only to find them less powerful than I had envisaged. I knew instantly that I‛d made a mistake and there was no way I would slow enough for the chicane. If I tried to turn-in would I end up going sideways into the gravel where a high centre of gravity and skinny tyres tend to dig in and roll? Only one option, aim the front of the car square at the gravel trap and bounce straight through!
It wasn‛t until a conversation with Bronson after the session that I found out how funny he thought this was and not only had I done it, but so had Stu, in exactly the same place! Perhaps it wasn‛t youthful confidence but the shared stupidity of racing drivers.
I will grudgingly admit that I was a little rattled after my trip to the pit and followed Bronson till my confidence returned. Once it did I edged past him once more only to then open a door for him at the start of the Porsche curves through which he swept past to take 2nd place on the final lap.
Following the night session people grabbed sleep where they could, some went back to the camp, some like myself and Rachel slept in the paddock on chairs and under tonneau‛s. Chris and Jennie Guest made a particularly impressive nest with the tonneau and blankets inside their 6.5 Litre Bentley.
The morning came and bought with it the final session of the race. With only an hour to the start we realised the MG had blown its Brooklands silencer box to pieces leaving a hole larger than my hand; it was no wonder Adam‛s ears were ringing. A borrowed piece of steel, some lock wire and some ingenuity and all the cars were ready for the off. Adam and Rachel finished 35th out of 63 finishers, a very respectable place indeed for such a little car and maybe more importantly Mags Diffey finished 36th a mere single place behind the little MG. In 2010 there is talk of teaming Rachel & Mags in order to beat the trio of female Bugatti drivers that took the ladies’ trophy for the second time.
To the surprise of Nigel Ormond-Smith and Neil Davis they had been placed in the team that won the overall team prize and so walked away grinning with some impressive Silverware.
As for us we held 2nd throughout the morning session and that is where we finished on a straight scratch basis, sadly though there was still that 9 minute penalty to factor in. After the penalty we ended up 7th overall and were once again the first Bentley home by a clear margin, a result with which we were delighted. This was without doubt the finest racing weekend that I have ever experienced and to all those who haven‛t experienced it, you most definitely should.
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