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So that was Le Mans 2015! Much to digest from a fabulous weekend but for the time being here is a collection of videos filmed by our crack PHTV crew and - better than that - successfully uploaded to the site for your viewing pleasure. Anyone who's ever attempted to do anything phone or internet related at the event will realise that's no mean feat...
Video: Aston Martin 177 At Le Mans
Video: Matt Catches Up With Le Mans Event Organiser David Williams
Video: Friday Service From Le Mans
Video: What To Expect From Le Mans 2015
Video: Le Mans Circuit In 60 Seconds
Hands up, I didn't make it up late last night. The plan was to try and sleep early, make the sunrise and then grab a few more hours. Alas, that plan will have to wait.
Instead we watched from the Dunlop Curves as the sun went down, which really is something special. It isn't properly dark until well past 10 and the sunset was spectacular. Again the speed is shocking, the P1 cars appearing almost flat from before the bridge until the left.
Cheering Matt just out of shot...
After a swift visit to the Pie & Piston the plan was to sit it out at Arnage in the pitch black. Which sounded great but I was falling asleep in my pint just after 0100h. Call me a wuss but there would have been no point. A tent never looked so welcoming! Predictably enough they have returned raving about the experience...
What better alarm call than helicopters and racing cars? I've not been to the track yet this morning but there's still a 919 out front as I write. Most pleasingly the Viper and at least one Corvette are still out. The former was damaged last night but appears to be battling on through. Come on Viper!
Mercifully the predicted rain has held off too so best head to the track. Can Porsche really hold on?
Thank goodness the rain held off! Saturday at Le Mans has been basked in glorious sunshine, as attested to by the vast swathes of sunburnt skin on display. But it has also made for great racing, which is what we're all here for, right? On second thoughts, don't answer that.
Frustratingly I couldn't watch as much of the support races as I would have liked owing to a couple of logistical issues and filming commitments. But the preview video (shameless plug, sorry) did at least go reasonably well. Feel free to say otherwise...
It's boiling down to a fight between Porsche and Audi
So while I had heard sections of the Aston celebration, the classics and the McLaren's F1 20th anniversary - I know, it just wasn't possible unfortunately - I hadn't watched much racing as 1500h approached.
So it was with a fair deal of excitement that I toddled off to the Ford chicane soon after the start to just see some racing cars. I know, it'll never catch on. First surprise? Just how damn fast the LMP1 cars are. The Webber Porsche 919 was the first car in view, tearing through at an unfeasible speed. Having not seen them for a year it really is a shock first time. The impression is exaggerated to an almost comic level when they're overtaking the already very fast P2 and GTE cars. They appear genuinely like missiles, locked onto line and careering towards the target. Quite a spectacle.
GTE Pro and Am is where it's at says Matt
But not the best thing to watch. Not for me, anyway. That's the GTE stuff. Personally Motorsport always appeals more when there's a tangible link back to road cars - I've always watched more BTCC than F1. And out there now are all the cars we've seen drive down here in racing form. There are 458s, 911s and some of the most thrilling sounds you've ever heard. The Aston does V8 thunder to a fairly naughty degree but the Corvettes are on another level of rip-snorting malevolence. They make your tummy rumble, ears hurt and mouth smile. What marvellous racing cars, and a real shame to only have one factory car after Friday's crash.
Special mention must also go to the Viper team; the car looks superb with it's huge spoiler and yellow lamps, matched by a brazen, nasal, violent V10 warble. I'll be monitoring the progress of that very closely into the night. Now it's time for dinner. And some beer.
Saturday morning, Audi pit garage
Cameras aren't allowed in the back of the Audi pit garage during the race weekend, so you will have to use your imagination for much of this. But a 15-minute tour with with Brad Kettler - crew chief on the #8 Audi - gave a fascinating insight in the sheer scale of the effort involved in keeping an LMP1 car running for (hopefully) 24 hours.
Just hit the start button and go? Not quite...
Forget turn up and go - it takes the involvement of between eight and 10 people just to get one of the cars started. The diesel engine is built with such fine tolerances that it has to be pre-heated to around 65 degrees Celsius before it gets started. And the high-voltage system on the cars is so complex and potentially dangerous that most of the crew aren't allowed near it.
Every detail is considered - tyres are pre-heated in vast warming cabinets before they go onto the cars, and they will be emptied and re-filled with air until this is at the ideal humidity as well as pressure.
But my favourite detail is the brakes. Unlike the relatively recent days the carbon-carbon discs and pads aren't changed through the course of the entire race (indeed Kettler says that there is often still usable life in a set at the end of 390-plus laps.) The discs have got smaller in recent years too, as so much energy is now harvested by the hybrid system under braking.
Genuinely fascinating stuff.
Friday, 2330h, Pie & Piston
What a day. As I write its just past 2300h on Friday in the pub and it's about the first spare moment we've had since waking up. Not that we slept much anyway because of the torrential thunderstorm but that's another story...
First stop today was the Friday Service at Classic British Welcome; what a superb event! All too familiar with early attendees at Sunday Services, we were a little worried that only around half a dozen cars had arrived by 0915h. But CBW is an all-day event so the crowds soon poured in. As always with a PH meet, the range of cars fantastically diverse. Personal favourites include a stunning BMW E21 323i, MG ZS 180 (guilty pleasure), C63 AMG 507 and a Ferrari 456 but there was a whole host more too. Where else can you see a bright yellow Bentley parked opposite a Morgan Plus 8?
Moreover, we had the guys from Aston arrive in both a Vantage GT12 and a One-77. Suffice to say the PH section of the Classic British Welcome drew a lot of fans following their arrival. Even the PH cars in attendance drew some admirers, including a "tres jolie" from one passing local on the VW Caddy!
One way to draw a crowd...
So yes, another great PH meet. Special thanks to all those who volunteered themselves for PHTV, we'll be sure to use your clips very soon. There's a brief PHTV highlights vid from the morning
here
From there via McDonald's, an obscene traffic jam, lots of rain and a brief bit of editing to the drivers' parade. Now it's starting to feel like Le Mans! Streets, windows and balconies lined with fans, racing cars, drivers shooting T-shirts from pick-ups, music, everything. Le Mans really is a car carnival and until the race begins the drivers' parade is the best representation of that. Keep a look out for that video too, it includes catching a free T-shirt and some very, er, friendly PHers. There was also the chair rented for five euros to assist filming but, again, that's a story for future.
There's much to look forward to before 1500h tomorrow as well. McLaren has its F1 celebration (yes, it really is 20 years since a GTR won here) and Alpine has something to show us too. Keep your eyes here and on social media for updates as soon as they arrive!
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