2006 Le Mans Classic
(8-9th July 2006)
 

Racing at the fabled circuit

Photography by: Pierre Barreau (ACO), Nicolas Cousseau (ACO), Ian Haynes-Bowers, David Lister, Colin Marsh.
 

This year is the 100th anniversary of the first ever Grand Prix - held on public roads near Le Mans. It has also been a year in which I was rather focussed on Le Mans. Whilst I failed to get to the 24-hours this year I acheived my ambition of racing on the famous circuit - courtesy of Chip Connor and the Le Mans Classic event.

The traditional Le Mans start pleased the crowd of over 60,000 spectators.

The Classic is a 24-hour event. During that period six groups of cars (split by era) each enjoy three 45-minutes races. Chip had entered Plateau 4, with a 1964 Alfa Romeo TZ1, and Plateau 5  - with a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competition.

Chip at speed in his Alfa Romeo TZ1.

The Daytona was surprisingly quick.
Chip's friend Danny Sullivan (the 1985 Indy 500 winner!) was the 'other' driver in our team and was able to help us with his profound experience of the circuit - which includes racing Chips' Ferrari 575 in 2004.

Matthew (left) with team boss Chip Connor and Danny Sullivan (right).

Chip (left) and Matthew receive instructions from famous historic racer, Willie Green.

We were also very lucky to have Willie Green providing advice and managing the running of the Alfa Romeo - which had been beautifully restored and prepared for racing by Gelscoe Motorsport.
The TZ1 is a delightful car to drive. It is very light (about 700kgs) and has about 165bhp. It's beautiful to look at and handles very nicely. We were unfortunate to have a mechanical failure  - the alternator bracket broke - which sent us down the order in Plateau 4.
The Daytona is at the other end of the spectrum: heavy and super-powerful. The Ferrari was, in fact, surprisingly nimble and provided terrific traction out of the corners.

Jessie was on hand to give her own warnings!
Relative to the Nurburgring, the Le Mans circuit is quite straightforward. It has some wonderfully flowing sections - none more so than the drag from Mulsanne Corner through Indianapolis to Arnage. The Porsche Curves have their own mystique - especially when oily, as they were for most of the event!

Unlike the Nurburgring the Le Mans circuit is in many places flood lit.

 

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