Our mission: the transportation of 4 thrill seeking speed demons to Le Mans.
Our goal: get there safely of course, experience the thrills & spills of a 24hr race and understand the literal definition of ‘beer mountain’.
So how did we fare? The tamest part of the trip was easily the lolling ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge. This allowed us to find our inner-peace, quaff a few beverages (clearly not the designated driver), and discuss tactics, preparing us for the enslaught of roaring engines, car exotica and trying miserably to forewarn our guts about the bloke fodder they were about to be subjected to.
We crossed country weaving in between cars you would sell your brother for (sorry Ben) and some random incarnations of vehicles – the old Routemaster London Bus carrying some delightful folk enjoying a lunchtime beer or 3. We then landed at the course, camping as closely to it as possible because if the beer didn’t do the trick, the fumes certainly would and we needed the growl of the engines to lullaby us into a timely slumber.
The race kicked of in earnest so to summarise the pitch of it all:
Watched a modified Ford Anglia burn out on the drag strip (or small local road) next to our camp site, out-performing most of the exotica costing tens of thousands more
Ordered away from a great viewing spot on the outside of a bend (something dull about it being dangerous)
Watched the first couple of hours of racing including a few excellent prangs
Revelled in the noise of Aston Martins & Corvettes at full chat
Saw cars race through the night at Arnage (including a good bump)
Eenjoyed the last bit of the race where rain showers caused havoc, as leading teams struggled to decide between slicks & intermediates
Got onto the pit lane to watch the presentations, including Aston Martin winning the GT1 class – huge Brit presence ensured massive cheering & flag waving school-girl stylee
Our Sunday night meat feast – typical bloke silage & watching 10 lads from Blackburn drink more beer than is humanly possible & then trying to beat them (all of us being competitive sorts)
http://www.beermountain.com/ captures the essence pretty well.
So what to do when it’s all over and the climax has anti’d? Clearly, 4 men, 1 fast car & time on our hands, meant a leisurely route home via the Champagne region before getting back on the ferry for a shower & shave. Hot water meeting smelly males for the first time in 4 days. A shameless plug but clearly Original Source mint & tea tree did the trick, tingling the areas that needed a good tingle, cooling those subjected to too much heat, and bringing a new lease of life to all of us.
The next challenge will be to improve upon it for next year……..
The Original Source Team Blog 