Missing In Action

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2000 Le Mans 24

In an outburst of the festive spirit the ACO have launched a competition to mark the 90th Anniversary of the race, assuming that we get to next June that is. Three cars have been selected for each decade that the race has been run and the public is encouraged to vote for one from each set and in return there are some big prizes.

2001 Le Mans 24

The competition can be accessed HERE

2002 24 Hours of Le Mans

However a quick glance at the contenders raises a few questions. Why the Porsche 908 that failed in both 1968 and 1969? Why the Renault Alpine A442 or Rondeau M379 instead of the three time winner (and twice second) Porsche 936? No hint of a Tricolour being waved then.

2004 24 Hours of Le Mans

The same logic is at work when the Peugeot 908 is included but not the Audi R8, a five time winner and arguably one of the greatest endurance racers of them all.

2005 24 Hours of Le Mans

Sacre Bleu! And including the Delta Wing…………..bandwagons and jumping methinks. Still it is the Season of Goodwill to all Men and the prizes are well worth having, just salivate to the top one.

Winner: prizes with a value of 3 570 Euros
Two pitwalk passes for the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours plus the complete collection of the Le Mans 24-Hours Yearbooks from 1978 to 2012 plus the book of the Le Mans 24 Hours 1961-1973, as well as the 2-volume set celebrating the centenary of the ACO, and two invitations for the exhibition whose theme will be the winning cars.

I have the Yearbooks, well all bar 1983, and can attest to them being an essential part of any Le Mans fan’s library. So enter and hopefully enjoy. Just thought I would remind folks of the R8’s record at La Sarthe.

John Brooks, December 2012

Inside the Beltway

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2002 ALMS Washington

Continuing with the theme of witnessing great performances, a high ranking must go to the ALMS race held in the parking lot of the RFK Stadium, Washington DC, an unlikely venue for a motor race, let alone a great one.

2002 saw the Audi R8 at the height of its powers in North America with two cars from Audi Sport North America backed up by another example from Champion, set against two of the aging Panoz LMP01 Evos. The Panoz outfit operated on a fraction of the Audi budget but pushed the Germans hard at every opportunity. One of the most potent weapons in their armoury was their leading drivers, David Brabham and Jan Magnussen.

2002 ALMS Washington

The race was held in very hot and humid conditions, a late strategy call to change tyres and stick the Dane back in the car towards the end of the race cemented an unlikely victory but the Panoz had been competitive right through the race. I recall in Brab’s stint him being threatened by both Capello and Biela on either side of the Panoz for several laps. I remarked to him later that he must have looked like Marty Feldman trying to see what the Audis were up to in his wake.

It was the final win for the Panoz and the race was a one off as the locals complained about the noise, pity the track actually worked as a street circuit. And for Don Panoz victory in DC with a car in a Spirit of America design must have been one of the sweeter moments in the decade of the ALMS.

John Brooks, December 2012

All the Sizes, All the Colours

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2003 FIA SCC Spa

2003 saw the end of the road for the FIA SCC, whose competitors were affectionately known as Mango’s Barmy Army.  Numbers on the grid dwindled and even John Mangoletsi himself was no longer on the scene. Stéphane Ratel and Patrick Peter joined forces with Martin Birrane and David Kennedy in an effort to breath some life into the Championship but matters were beyond all help. The bright light on the horizon was the prospect of the quartet joining the ACO to create the Le Mans Series, the first step on the road to a proper World Endurance Championship.

2003 FIA SCC Spa

The penultimate round of the FIA SCC was held on the majestic Spa Francorchamps circuit, a truly cunning plan was hatched to increase numbers, step forward the British GT Championship. So 24 GTs were added to the 11 prototypes to give the grid a fig leaf of numerical respectability. Of course SRO’s definition of a GT was typically elastic, so there was both a VW Golf GTI and Renault Clio V6 in the mix, seen here interfacing with Jan Lammers in the Dome and Tom Kristensen in the Audi R8. Utterly bizarre and thankfully not repeated.

John Brooks, December 2012

On the Crest of a Wave

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Jean Rondeau and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, on top of their Rondeau M379 B, struggle through the hordes trying to get to the podium to celebrate their famous victory in the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours. I was down in the thick of it, a proud member of the rabble, determined to enjoy every minute of the world’s greatest race. Little did I imagine that future visits to the event would be in a professional capacity, some days the dreams do come true……………….and yes they did get to spray the Champagne, metaphorically speaking.

John Brooks, December 2012

Making a Sears Point

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Every once in a while, if you are lucky, you witness a performance on the track that takes your breath away. For example, I look back to Sonoma County in July 2000. Allan McNish, still smarting from not being allowed to fight for the top step at La Sarthe, put on a display that crushed the rest of the field. By the time the Wee Scot handed over his Audi R8 to co-driver Dindo Capello, he had lapped the opposition. That list included two factory BMW V12 LMRs and two works Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S entries, oh and Emanuele Pirro in an identical R8. I struggle to remember such a dominant display.

Here is Allan on lap two already pulling away from the other Audi, with the Panoz pair shadows in the distance and who knows where the BMWs were?

Days in the Sunshine…………………California Dreaming.

John Brooks, December 2012

Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…………….

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March 1999 and the first round of the American Le Mans Series, also by happy coincidence the 47th edition of the Sebring 12 Hours. No one present could have imagined that the gig would go on as long, or be as successful, as it eventually turned out. Well the party is coming to the end, so let’s all head on down to Hendricks Army Airfield for right old knee’s up next March. It may be the final opportunity to see real sportscars on the runways.

Here from the last century is a proper Ferrari Porsche challenge, a Doyle-Risi Racing 333Sp and the Champion Racing 911 GT1 EVO, classic and timeless……………….Play It Again, Sam…….and if I had been on my third coffee of the day I would have noticed that the headline I apprehended from Casablanca also involved an alliance between the French and the Americans, can’t say that I see much of Bogart in Don though………………

John Brooks, December 2012

Over the Hills and Var Away

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The second year of the BPR Series saw more victories for the McLaren F1 GTR, this time GTC Competition would not throw the title away. From the outset, Ray Bellm and James Weaver were on the pace. On a chilly, crisp day at Paul Ricard during the opening round they had the measure of the field, even the Ferrari F40 GTE.

John Brooks, December 2012

Giving it a Go……

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A beautiful loser, the Mercedes Benz CLR was a very elegant coupé, enhanced by a lack of logos. Of course the aerobatic displays at Le Mans have given the car a notoriety that still causes Stuttgart to wince. It is small comfort to know that it was not alone in the matter of defective aerodynamics, Porsche, BMW and Audi all flew at the time but none on such a public stage. Here Bernd Schneider cuts the Ford Chicane is a desperate attempt to keep up with the Toyotas, all in vain before sunset on Saturday.

John Brooks, December 2012

A Missing Link?

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1995 and one of McLaren’s golden years. Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt and trouncing the opposition in the BPR Global GT Endurance Series with their fabulous McLaren F1 GTR. OK they had a crap season in F1, but regular readers (both of you) will know that such matters are regarded as a mere trifle on this blog.

In the run up to La Sarthe the pack headed to Donington and once again it was a McLaren fest. The above GTC Competition example did not fare so well as the others, being delayed with a broken gear linkage and so relegated Championship contenders Ray Bellm and Maurizio Sandro Sala to 15th place, out of the points. A rare slip from Woking’s finest.

John Brooks, December 2012