Photos I took at Le Mans 2011 last weekend!

[Z356]

Some photos from Friday pre-race day! z356

[Chuck Miller]

Edruardo,

Two questions:

- Did they still run a vintage Ferrari race preceding the start of the big race?
(When I was there in 2000 David Piper killed them all in his 'Piper Green' 250 LM)


- Did it seem that most everyone around you was from the other side of the Chunnel?
(In 2000 it seemed to me that all of the British Isles must have raised a few inches in the the North Sea ......... )

Cheers

[Z356]

Edruardo,

Two questions:

- Did they still run a vintage Ferrari race preceding the start of the big race?
(When I was there in 2000 David Piper killed them all in his 'Piper Green' 250 LM)


- Did it seem that most everyone around you was from the other side of the Chunnel?
(In 2000 it seemed to me that all of the British Isles must have raised a few inches in the the North Sea ......... )

Cheers

Yes, on Saturday morning they ran first the Le Mans Legends vintage car race. That was only around 45 minutes. Sir Sterling Moss was expected to run that in his Porsche 550 Spyder he recently purchased. But on Friday, during the rehearsal, he decided he was getting too old for this. So a friend rode his car on Sunday. I believe he told the press that day that this, in effect, was his last actual attempted 'race'!

The second race on Saturday morning was the Ferrari Pirelli Challenge. It was full of relative brand new 458 Italia's all modified the same for this specific series. Similar concept as the US Pirelli Challenge except with that seems to have a mix of various gt3's models. I think that Pirelli 'Trofeo" race lasted also just under an hour at Le Mans.

Finally, there were exhibition laps by 'futuristic' race cars, some with hybrid technologies. I think this was a bone thrown to the 'greenies' and politicians. Even running on diesel, the Audis had to stop way more often for fuel than the Peugeots and were still leading because of their superior speed around the track!

As far as foreign fans, the main flags we saw at campsites and at the track were English (not the Union Jack but the Cross of St. George!), Dutch (the orange folks) and Danes. Obviously, there were others nationalities around but none were as jingoistic as those named. By the way, a vevy of young English (attractive girls & guys) seemed to be solely in charge of selling portable radios from 10 pds (earpiece radio) to 15 pds for one with regular stereo headphones. Most in our group bought the 15 pound version and listen to the race commentary in English from British race experts at the site.

Attached are some photos of the Legends and Ferrari Challenge races on Saturday at the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans!