The other day I was looking for something when I stumbled upon an entry ticket for a Le Mans race. Well before I knew it I was looking for more memories of this race I attended in 1998.
Pits with control tower to the right, at start/finish line.
A day I will never forget. It was June 6th, 1998, must have been around eight in the morning when we boarded a train at the Gare du Nord, Paris. We were heading to the circuit de la Sarthe, near the small town of Le Mans, where the greatest endurance race of he world is held each year. Upon arrival at the train station I was acutely aware that the big race is on, even though the start was hours away. There was a certain electricity in the air. We wandered about the town and around twelve entered the track near the grand stand on the front straight away. Here in between the folk who had been waiting since dawn we found a spot and sat and enjoyed festivities. These included old timers parade, one of the Porsche Club, Jaguars, etc. After seeing Mercedes-Benz's Bernd Schneider take the green flag at the start of the race we took buses and moved around the 13 km long track. The Mulsanne straight was a spot I stayed for a long while. I would lie down on the grass and close my eyes and enjoy the roar of the cars as they sped by and tried to separate the Italian from the Germans and the Japanese. Oh, the sweet sound of V12, V8, and V6's.
But enough of my experience, I have attached a video that recaps the 1998 race.
Some 47 cars took the start of the 66th running of the 24 hrs of Le Mans. After 4.773 km, 351 laps or 24 hours later, a Porsche 911 GT1-98 took the checkered flag. It was driven by Laurent Aielo, Alan McNish, and Stephane Orteli. The 911 GT1 was powered by a flat 6, 3196 cc, and had an average speed of 207 k/ph. Porsche also took the second place in the top category, GT1, while Nissan took the third spot. In the GT2 category the team of Justin Bell/D. Donohue/L. Drudi won with a Viper GTS-R. The P1 category was won by the team of W.Taylor/E. van der Poele/F. Velez driving a Ferrari 333SP. The final category P2 was won by drivers H. Pescarolo/O. Grouillard/F. Montagny driving a Courage C36-Porsche.
Toyota GT one at Goodwood FOS
In general, the race saw a significant increase in manufacturer participation. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz brought upgraded GT1's and LMP's, while Toyota brought three of their new and extremely fast GT-One's (not a typo). BMW, in association with WilliamsF1, sent their new BMW V12 LM, while Nissan sent four of their new R390 GT1's.
The race came to Porsche as the faster cars from Mercedes, BMW, and Toyota retired with mechanical difficulties and accidental damage. The remaining Nissans and outdated McLarens were unable to match the pace of the upgraded 911 GT1's. All in all, Toyota could be proud of their car for they had the fastest lap with Martin Brundle doing 220 k/ph. Following this race, Porsche went into a sabbatical, rumored to be part of a plan to allow Porsche's partner Audi to develop their own sportscar without competition from within the alliance. From this came the truly remarkable the Audi R18 TDI. For more information about this car see my blog "a day in the life of an audi driver."
For more information about the baddest Porsche ever to run at Le Mans, see my blog "...Turbopanzer."
For more information about Le Mans please visit: http://www.lemans.org
For more information about the track (awesome map), please visit: http://www.lemans.org/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Pdf/2011/24heures_du_mans/2011_24_heures_du_mans_plan_situation%20.pdf
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