Classic Le Mans 24 Hours 2006 - 7-9 Juliet
 

Well I just landed from Paris after a wekend spent at Le Mans for the 2006 24 hours of Le Mans for classic cars from 1929 to 1979.

And I can describe it without syllables.

!

And to embroider a bit more...

!!!!!!!

It was that good. Words are hard to come by, but I will try.
It was so good it made me ill. My feet are used up, I think I hurt my knee with all the running around, I picked up a dry cough and my head hurts.

If you thought 1 weekend is enough for anybody you are sorely mistaken. This event is big and varied enough to keep you interested for a week. So 2008 will never come soon enough for me so that I can go again!

Anyway to the cars and I will try be brief for now.
First the carparks...
I would venture a guess of over 100 classic porsches, possibly excluding the racers. Star was possibly a very late night sighting of a 1972 2.4S with front-mounted foglights. (Carrera GT does not count as its not classic)

Then several Ferraris. Star was probably the 2 Daytonas, but it was almost shocking to spot an F40 in the dirt amongst some usual fare.
Also the 2 Enzos and 3 new 599 Fioranos where in attendace.

There where simply droves of Austin Healy, Morgan and Triumph floating about and fewer Bently, Maserati, Lotus and other known makes.
Not to mention the 2 Bugatti Veyrons.
So all in all a great attendance and looking out of the camper window at any time was a feast for the eyes.

I almost forgot...Hard to get a straight answer, but it seemed the original Jaguar XJ13 was there!!! Even if it was a Lynx replica it was still the most awesome thing to behold. A true beauty and doubly sad for never having raced. A Jag Xj220 was around as well and too many Ford GTs to count.
Well maybe 30 or so..8)

Rather surprising was a little Facel Vega lineup and a solitary, perfect looking Lamborghini 350GT.

I suppose I should also mention the Christies auction, star of which was a Michelotti-bodied 365GTB Spyder. No idea if it even sold. But a unique car with estimate at 1.3-1.8 million euro.

A little about the racing.
Amazing, amazing amazing.
There where 6 grids of decreasing age.
1929-1939?, 1939?-1956?, 1957-1961, 1962-1965,1966-1971, 1972-1979

I am not too much a fan of the older cars, but those little bugatti T37s stirred the soul along with the rumbling Bentlys and others.

Then some beautiful Ferraris. 250TdF, 750 Monza, 246S Dino, the early Porsche 550 Spyders and even a racing Skoda! Wonderful Jaguars in there too. Top honours to the Ferraris...

Now the fun starts with some 3X 250SWB Ferraris, The best of which was properly driven. Great seeing it being thrown around the Ford esses and scream up the pit straight. Also some stunning Porsche 904s, including a 904/6. Those engines sounded unexpectedly smooth and they where deceptively fast.

Soooo. The proper race cars begin. Enter Ferraris with 3X 250LM, 1964 250GTO (retired early in weekend), 330LMB and even a 250 California spyder!! Of course more Porsches. But the kings where the Ford GT40s. They looked and sounded stunning. Proper GT40s do not have that normal V8 growl, but more of a smooth howl. Almost like a straight 6 does, but way more powerful. The V8 sound was amply provided by a Corvette and some Cobras.

And now the serious contenders. Bring on 3X Porsche 917, some GT40s and whole lot of Chevrons. And Oh my god did that little green Chevron B8 go!! The was chucking it through corners as if it weighed less than 500kg! The B16s where a sensation as always. The some American V8 noise povided by Lola T70s and more Corvettes. The Lolas where seriously fast too, but nothing can top the screaming Porsche 917 for sound up the pit straight in the dark hours!. Except maybe that Matra V12 sounding like an F1 car!

Lastly we have some turbo insanity with a renault, Porsche 936, 935s and RSRs some BMW M1 procars (X6) and some Normal Ferrari BB512LMs(X3).
American muscle provided by an insanely HUGE Camaro (?) and some Lola 210s. Some high-pitched whistling added by Porsche 2.7 RS lightweights. But the Mirage bet them all.

So the racing was well represented no doubts about that.

Other highlights (trying to cut my story short here...)
I was really lucky to have obtained a media pass for the weekend. Almost unlimited access. Even got onto the pit straight briefly.. 8)
It is impossible to describe the feeling walking amongst the crs in the early hours of the morning. Its 3-4-5 in the morning and I wander around the largely empty pit/paddock areas amongs these hallowed machines. A pilot sleeping in his Martini 917, some frantic work on a 904, some chatting around a little camping table in the Aston Martin DBR1 space, the smell of oil and rubber and racing fuel...
The eery quiet echoing with memories of the long past days of racing when it was a brave and adventurous affair. I was never part of that and yet, yet one could feel the ghosts walking amongst these cars, dirty overalls and blood-shot eyes trying to make it all hang together for a few more hours. All with the constant screaming of race-tuned 6, 8, 12 cylinder machines filling the cold night air like a mist of sound.

Did I say eerie quiet above? I did. You can push the race sounds to the background. I found myself spending ove an hourjust getting some good shots of a Ferrari 250LM, time just getting lost.
24 hours was not nearly enough time. Not even close. Especially since the camera battery went belly up around 4 on Sunday morning while I was going out to hunt for pit-stop photos. I can' tell how much agony that caused. I was upset enough to bed at 9 on Sunday morning..too tired to even register which race was on. The real 24 hours must've been a true test of endurance way back when they used 2 drivers only...
Come on 2008, you can't come soon enough!

Oh and since the camera went with a Friend to Maranello, the shots will only be up in a week soonest. I am curious to see how they came out myself.

I am eagerly waiting to cream my pants. Seriously, i can't wait to see the pics. :D

I think my wait is as bad as yours, since a lot of the photos where in very bad light, freehand without a flash to try get the correct colours and feel of the place.

I have a steady hand, but 1/4-1/2 second exposures require a rock solid grip. I had no laptop to download the photos, so I couldn't see if they where focused and sharp. My original source's camera equipment was stolen 2 weeks before the event so I had to make do with a rather standard Nikon D50 and small lenses. 8(.