This was a pilgrimage from every racer's dream. Every boy who ever wanted to be a go-faster wants to go to Le Mans. Of course Steve McQueen and Paul Newman did it and I think James Garner did it as well. I already mentioned how Nick Mason of Pink Floyd raced there as well.
I couldn't go there with a car but that wasn't going to stop me from visiting and paying my respects.
Let's take a look at some cars from previous races here.
This was the first racing car that ever carried any European credibility for Ford and it did it in a big way. The GT40 has a beautiful design with excellent speed and handling. Ford takes Le Mans! (Wiki: Ford GT40)
This is not the competition paint for the vehicle so this particular car's history is not clear although it looks like the 2005 model. What is definite is that the GT40 came in 1-2-3 in 1966 for the first ever overall win at Le Mans by an American manufacturer. The GT40 team did not do so well to start but management of the team was turned over to Carroll Shelby and that's when they started winning.
The "D" Type Jaguar is my all-time favorite with Stirling Moss driving it to great success. In his book, "All But My Life," he said he originally gave up sex for a week before a race to ensure his total focus on driving ... but he decided this was not necessary as his driving career evolved!
Number 7 over there is a Bentley. If you never considered Bentley to be a manufacturer of performance automobiles, check out the specifications on their cars sometime, especially if you're of a mind to drag race one of them.
I shot many pictures but it would take the blog article a day and a half to load if I put all of them out there but I will send them out to Flickr as I've sent all the pictures so far.
And on to the track!
This isn't much of a picture but it took quite a bit of walking to get it. By that time, my right dog was crying for its mother so I had to give it up but access to the track was quite restricted and I don't think I would have done much better. Nevertheless, this vantage point alone gives a taste of one of the most wonderful visions in automobile racing. As Stirling Moss said, "There is racing and everything else is just waiting."
I couldn't go there with a car but that wasn't going to stop me from visiting and paying my respects.
Let's take a look at some cars from previous races here.
This was the first racing car that ever carried any European credibility for Ford and it did it in a big way. The GT40 has a beautiful design with excellent speed and handling. Ford takes Le Mans! (Wiki: Ford GT40)
This is not the competition paint for the vehicle so this particular car's history is not clear although it looks like the 2005 model. What is definite is that the GT40 came in 1-2-3 in 1966 for the first ever overall win at Le Mans by an American manufacturer. The GT40 team did not do so well to start but management of the team was turned over to Carroll Shelby and that's when they started winning.
The "D" Type Jaguar is my all-time favorite with Stirling Moss driving it to great success. In his book, "All But My Life," he said he originally gave up sex for a week before a race to ensure his total focus on driving ... but he decided this was not necessary as his driving career evolved!
Number 7 over there is a Bentley. If you never considered Bentley to be a manufacturer of performance automobiles, check out the specifications on their cars sometime, especially if you're of a mind to drag race one of them.
I shot many pictures but it would take the blog article a day and a half to load if I put all of them out there but I will send them out to Flickr as I've sent all the pictures so far.
And on to the track!
This isn't much of a picture but it took quite a bit of walking to get it. By that time, my right dog was crying for its mother so I had to give it up but access to the track was quite restricted and I don't think I would have done much better. Nevertheless, this vantage point alone gives a taste of one of the most wonderful visions in automobile racing. As Stirling Moss said, "There is racing and everything else is just waiting."
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