09.05.2010, 18:06:46 cet

Le Mans, France 16 June, 2002

”Audi y do that?”
”British Booze”
”Can you Can-Can?”
”Hommages to Matra and Jean Graton”
”Le Mans – 4  Ferrari – 0”
Ferrari Entry

”Le Mans – 4  Ferrari – 0”
The star Ferrari entry was the Prodrive 550 Maranello, which had undergone rigorous endurance tests prior to the team’s assault on Le Mans. It showed its potential in the GTS category during the Thursday and Friday practise sessions, when Tomas Enge planted it firmly at the head of its class with a lap time 0.88secs quicker than the fastest Chevrolet Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin. The pace of his team mates was only fractionally slower, so the strong driver line-up were hoping for a positive result at the team’s first attempt at the Sarthe classic. In the race it edged further and further away from the Corvette/Viper/Saleen battles raging behind it, running rapidly and strongly to build up a lead of over two laps by half distance, when it was running thirteenth overall. However, it developed a small oil leak which was ignited and the car burst into flames in the Porsche curves with Alain Menu at the wheel, who evacuated without injury, but its race was run.

The three 360 Modenas in the GT category could not match the pace of the class leading Porsches, with the # 70 JMB entered car having the strongest driver line-up in terms of lap times, Ferrari fans could only hope for economy and reliability to drag the cars through the field in the race. The fastest example was the first to retire, when it crashed out in the 6th hour with Cort Wagner at the wheel. The other JMB car and the Auto Palace entered example suffered a variety of problems, before succumbing to terminal electrical gremlins in the 12th and 15th hours respectively.

Ferrari Entry

#    

# 58

# 70

# 71

# 74

Keith Bluemel

”Hommages to Matra and Jean Graton”
To celebrate the first Matra victory at Le Mans 30 years ago, the La Sarthe regional council organised an exhibition of significant Matras in a marquee adjacent to the trade village, whilst the celebrated French comic strip character ”Michel Vaillant” created by Jean Graton was featured in an exhibition nearby. This was particularly apt, as the race was being used to make a film featuring ”Michel Vaillant” produced by Luc Besson, and two film cars were within the entry list. These were a Lola-Judd which is a ”Vaillante” in the film, and a Panoz which becomes a ”Leader” in its film role. The film is set for release in 2003.

”British Booze”
Le Mans is not just a motor race, it is a social event, particularly for the thousands upon thousands of British enthusiasts who descend upon the circuit each June. Last year they were drowned by torrential rain, but this year they only drowned in beer, which could be seen being consumed in great quantities in the hot, humid and dusty conditions that prevailed throughout the weekend. They were particularly vociferous on the Saturday morning, when their attention was focused on the Football World Cup, as England were playing Denmark, and the 3-0 victory over the Danes gave further excuse for imbibing even more beer! Some estimates put the British contingent at 80% of the total attendance, and English certainly seemed to be the predominant language wherever you walked, or perhaps they were just louder than everybody else after all the beer.

”Can you Can-Can?”
One of the regular Le Mans ”attractions” for many years have been the Hawaiin Tropic girls in their minimal costumes, but this year they had competition from the can-can dancers from the world famous Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris. The club was one of the sponsors of the JMB team whose Ferrari 360 N-GTs sported publicity for the nightclub on the front lids of the cars. The long legged beauties were in full regalia to give a demonstration of their art on the pit straight at lunchtime before the race, which was well received by the appreciative crowds in the pit lane and packed grandstands opposite.

”Audi y do that?”
Four Audi R8s started the 70th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race and four took the chequered flag at the end of the gruelling marathon, three of them filling the podium, with the fourth example from Audi Sport Japan taking fifth place behind the Bentley EXP Speed 8. The winner was the number 1 car of Biela/Kristensen/Pirro, who completed a trio of back to back wins both for themselves and Audi, quite an outstanding achievement, even though their strongest opposition came from the sister team cars. Not only were the Audis the fastest cars throughout practise and the race, they were also the most reliable, an essential ingredient for Le Mans, and their only real problems revolved around a spate of punctures. They were not alone in suffering these, as a number of cars were similarly afflicted during the course of the race.