Qualifying for Le Mans this year will be a closely fought and methodically planned affair, where teams will trade tenths of seconds across the 8.47 miles for a place on the 24-hour grid. Never again will we see a pole like that set
by Mark Blundell in 1990
, where his lap in a Nissan R90CK was six seconds faster than any other car. You will hopefully have seen the lap by now; it remains one of the great driving displays. So when the opportunity was presented to talk to Blundell about the lap, it wasn't one to pass up.
Looks fast; goes very, very fast too
What's perhaps most staggering about it all, having watched the lap numerous times, is his assertion that the car could have gone faster "without a doubt". Not only was it Blundell's first and only lap with the car in its infamous 1,100hp, wastegate-stuck-shut-and-radio-unplugged state, the rest of the car wasn't in the best qualifying spec. Because of the reliability issues Nissan had faced, they ran a fairly conservative spec to maintain the car and not lose face with a quali retirement. So that lap was conducted on hard race tyres and with a lot of downforce - the latter being relative of course, Blundell stating he recalls a top speed of 238mph...
Moreover, because the car had had such limited running, he describes the pole lap as a "stab in the dark"; braking and turn in points had to be guessed because the car hadn't been in that configuration before. If a lot of it looks like reactive, instinctive driving, that's because the man himself will tell you it was just that. Blundell goes as fair to say it's a lap that "shouldn't have taken place" because of the "fundamental" problems the car had. That and pulling the radio out, eh Mark? Still, it secured a legendary pole and a place in Le Mans history for Nissan as the first Japanese manufacturer on pole, so hopefully they will have seen the advantage eventually.
"It was a stab in the dark"
"What remains bizarre about the lap also is the fact Nissan wasn't vying for a win in 1990, and Blundell's car in fact retired during the race. Blundell suggests they were still understanding the car having first arrived in 1989 and "not in a position to win". He reckons a top six finish would have been possible, implying how competitive the Porsches and Jaguars were back then. Still, he describes those three minutes as "a bit special", and we most certainly agree more than a quarter of a century later.
There's also time in our chat - conducted on the way down to Le Mans in fact - to talk more about Blundell's other sportscar exploits, plus his view on contemporary racing. It's often forgotten that he's another Brit Le Mans winner, victorious in 1992 with the Peugeot 905. By then turbos were out and the cars were naturally aspirated once more, Blundell saying the performance and reliability were much improved. "Bulletproof" was the word, in fact, and you wouldn't always associate that with Peugeot...
You would look pretty chuffed too...
And of modern sportscars? Though conceding they are clearly very advanced machines, he believes there's "something to be said" for more human influence in the driving and less tech, not just in sportscars but across motorsport. He also admits to being a little disappointed that sportscars now appears to be where Grand Prix drivers head after their F1 career, rather than using it as a stepping stone into single seaters. It would arguably make the fight for F1 seats more interesting if teams had to take a gamble between drivers with speed in single seaters with less power than an F1 car or sportscars with more. Let's leave money out of it for a sec...
There is a Group C celebration at Le Mans Classic this year, where cars like Nissan will be joined on circuit by the old Jaguars, Porsches and Toyotas too. Watch Blundell's lap and any other videos you can see of the period and, if for some reason it didn't excite before, those clips will most certainly do it. What a cool era of motorsport. You'll certainly see PH at the side of the track when it happens!
Mark will be sharing further Le Mans stories at Hexagon Classics' charity evening on Tuesday July 5 at its flagship East Finchley showroom, alongside Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx and Ricahrd Attwood. All proceeds go to Great Ormond Street and the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. See here for more details and to buy your tickets. Every ticket includes food and drink, plus fantastic Le Mans from some celebrity guests.
