Nigel Mansell racing at Le Mans before the very high speed accident
Well, the shutter has been dropped shut on the Beechdean Mansell Le Mans pit garage, the pit wall control unit has been packed away and the team truck is being loaded. Meanwhile the race continues.
The team's dream of a debut Le Mans finish was always going to be hard to pull off, but nobody expected the journey to end so peremptorily and so early in the race. Nigel Mansell's accident on lap 5 which put him in the barrier at Indianapolis must have felt like a kick in the guts to everyone involved, the people who to a man and woman have slogged their guts out to get their racing car on the starting grid.
Here at PistonHeads, we've been proud to follow Beechdean Mansell's journey to Le Mans. We offer our heart-felt commiserations to every single team member, but also our congratulations. In spite of all the trials and tribulations, you guys got there, you qualified and you raced. What a team, and we're grateful and proud that you let PH be a small part of it.
So here's to Le Mans 2011, and maybe finishing the job. And here's to seeing the team in action again at Silverstone in September where we're sure the British fans will be out in force again to support 'Red 5' and the boys.
We can't add much to the press release the team has just issued, so here it is in full. Now we're off to the beer tent to raise a glass to motor racing legends everywhere!
Press Release: Slow Puncture Ends Beechdean Mansell Le Mans Dream
After a solid qualifying performance and
the stunning experience of the start of the 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Nigel Mansell quickly equalling the Ginetta Zytek's qualifying time and showing all the race pace that the former world champion is renowned for, a slow puncture proved to be the cause the incident on lap 5 of the race that ended the Beechdean Mansell Motorsport Le Mans dream. Nigel Mansell suffered concussion after the high speed accident but was released after medical tests to return to Jersey to recuperate
Team Principal Andrew Howard said, "We are very relieved to report that though Nigel is very sore he is OK. The data from the car has shown that cause was a slow puncture to the rear left tyre. Beechdean Mansell Motorsport would like to thank everyone involved in our Le Mans effort, including all the fans who have been very much part of our adventure this week. We are sad that we couldn't fulfil our Le Mans hopes and dreams but we will now return to the UK and prepare for the next race."
It's all over for 2010 as Nigel Mansell crashes out
The Le Mans dream has ended for Team Beechdean Mansell after Nigel crashed out of the race in spectacular fashion in the opening laps.
We're waiting for official details and will update asap. Currently a possible blow-out is being talked about, but there's also been a suggestion there was a wishbone failure. Whatever the problem was it caused the car to spin wildly across the track before crashing hard against the barriers. The safety car was called and the race is under yellow flags as we wait for news of Nigel's condition - he was carried out of the car and taken to the circuit medical centre.
UPDATE - Nigel is OK. According to Leo Mansell he was taken to the circuit medical centre for routine checks.
All-nighter for the mechanics as the race start approaches
It's been a busy night for the Beechdean Mansell crew, who this morning have just finished a total rebuild of their Ginetta-Zytek which had to be stripped back to the bare tub for access to a wonky chassis bolt (not the technical term) discovered after qualifying.
An all-nighter is not the ideal way to prepare for a 24hr race, but spirits remain high and the excitement in the garage is palpable as the countdown to the 3 o'clock start ticks on.
Yesterday was more fun for the drivers, if not the overworked pit crew - they were mobbed again during the pitwalk signing - including by a group of moustachioed well-wishers, and during the traditional evening driver parade through the town centre at Le Mans.
Trouble-free qualifying was smooth but far from dull
The hoped-for rain never materialised for
the Beechdean Mansell Red 5 during qualifying, other than a few spots as night closed in.
The result was a 17th place grid slot by the time qualifying finished, but the team are chuffed. This is their first foray into Le Mans, remember, and as team boss Andrew Howard says, "our goal is to reach the chequered flag on Sunday, anything more will be considered as the cherry on top of a tub of Beechdean vanilla ice cream!"
We popped into the garage this morning - partly to have a general nose around, hanging on the coat tails of the PH competition winners as they got the official garage tour (more on that story later, as they say), but partly to get the gossip from last night's qualifying.
We were hoping for distraught tales of frantic fixes and last-minute panics, but actually it seems to have been a smooth, uneventful session for the team. The only thing that approached becoming a problem was the different driving styles of Mansell and sons Leo and Greg.
Nigel and Leo found a good compromise set-up, but Greg struggled initially before the team finally found a configuration to suit all three drivers. Unfortunately that means the car was set up in race trim for qualifying - hence the result of 17th on the grid.
Up front Audi might be upset that Peugeot took the first four grid slots, but Beechdean Mansell don't have such lofty ambitions; they are happy to have had a smooth, trouble-free qualifying for the Ginetta Zytek on their first Le Mans outing and there is a tangible sense of excitement in the Beechdean pits. Uneventful? Yes. Dull? Quite the opposite.
PH Beechdean Mansell Le Mans Blog: Thurs 11:45
First qualifying, and a first for Smiley!
The 'Red 5' car of Beechdean Mansell Motorsport was 16th quickest at the first official Le Mans qualifying session last night, as the team took the first tentative steps of its debut Le Mans campaign.
On the phone to PH this morning, Beechdean Mansell team boss Andrew Howard was delighted with the result which - as rain is forecast for this evening's session - could easily end up as the team's starting grid position.
"This result is mega considering we have two drivers who haven't driven the track at all before, and three who haven't done it in an LMP1 car," he reports. "It's all about driver experience at the moment, and not about the car. Look at Aston for instance, where they've got people with massive Le Mans experience like Darren Turner putting in times. That's what we've got to build up to."
Nige checks out the qualifying lap times
"We got home before two o'clock last night, but the guys are already flat-out this morning, as the car has to go through a complete regeneration process before the race starts on Saturday afternoon, which includes a new engine, and a completely overhauled gearbox."
"With rain forecast, there's a chance a few teams won't go out at all for more qualifying this evening, but we'll be there not least because we need all the experience we can get with the car in different conditions."
With a flat-out schedule Andrew tells us the guys haven't been able to see much of the team's adopted watering hole in Le Mans - the Union Jack pub. Doubtless a few PHers will find their way there over the weekend...
Under the Dunlop bridge in practice
A diesel-fired Peugeot driven by Sebastien Bourdais topped the qualifying table, with a 3m.19.711sec lap that was 0.6secs ahead of the other two factory Peugeots and which (if it rains tonight) is likely to be the pole-setting time. The Oreca Peugeot lapped a second and a half slower, but ahead of the trio of factory Audi R15s.
In the petrol LMP1 camp, the Lola Aston Martins were 7secs behind Bourdais, and 10secs ahead of the Beechdean Mansell car. In the GT2 class, the Jaguar XKR entered by US team RSR propped up the field with a 4.14secs lap - making it 54th out of 56 on the leader board.
PH Beechdean Mansell Le Mans Blog: Weds 11:00
Video: 'Red 5' LMP1 racer gets final 'go-faster' tweak courtesy of PH
Let's hear it for the team!
Beechdean Mansell LMP1 Ginetta-Zytek
will make its Le Mans debut today (Weds) for first practice and qualifying sessions, with the PH Smiley in pride of place on the wing ends.
No, we can't quite believe we're officially partners with our greatest racing hero Nigel Mansell either, but by way of proof team boss Andrew Howard emailed this video to the PH office last night (see below), filmed as he applied our stickers to the car.
Andrew also sent this fantastic Le Mans team pic showing the fully liveried car with its regulation race numbers and Smiley (woo-hoo!), the former F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell (OBE/total legend) flanked by sons Leo and Greg, and the rest of the team who are flying the flag for plucky British underdogs everywhere. So are there any PHers out there who still reckon they can't find their way to Le Mans this year? (Come on folks, you can always take the other half to IKEA the weekend after...)
News from the team garage this morning is that the mechanics are flat out prepping the car for free practice this afternoon at 4pm, and according to Andrew all should be ready by mid-day.
As Le Mans rookies, the regulations state that both Nigel and Greg need 10 laps under their belts during free practice, while Leo can relax having raced at the event last year. Qualifying starts this evening from 10pm to midnight, and there are two more 'qually' sessions tomorrow. The pole time is usually set in the cooler temperatures of Thursday evening, but Andrew tells us they'll be happy just to be on the grid: "It's all about the 24 hours for us", he told us on the phone this morning, "but if it's raining tomorrow evening it could get interesting. Our Dunlop tyres are pretty good in the wet, and so are our drivers."
While the British Le Mans tourists have yet to arrive in numbers, Andrew says he's been amazed by the warm welcome given to 'Our Nige' and the boys by the French fans.
"We've been here for days now watching the circus build and the atmosphere is incredible. We were the last team through scrutineering, and the drivers were absolutely mobbed then, and also at an autograph session yesterday. It really brings home what it means to have a legendary World Champion on the team."
Doesn't it make you want to be there already?
PS. If you're not going to join the troops invading France this year, don't worry because team PH will be sticking close to the Beechdean Mansell guys all weekend, and updating this article 'blog style' at regular intervals right through to Sunday afternoon. If young Riggers doesn't fall asleep in the beer tent, that is...
Video: The Beechdean Mansell car gets stickered for Le Mans: