It's all been a bit quiet on the forum front so I am putting up a few headings for contributions.
Richard, Mark and Phil were at Le Mans over the weekend with their +4s with some success. Now, it's time to publish what happened chaps!!!
Le Mans Bugatti Circuit 4/5th July
Moderator: John Clarke
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John Clarke
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simon king
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Re: Le Mans Bugatti Circuit 4/5th July
Well said John! I was sat thinking over the back end of last week, and of course the weekend, stuff like 'oh I would have been on the ferry now', 'they'll be qualifying now', 'just be starting their first race now, wish I was there', 'should have finished last race now'. However don't worry about making me feel even more like the proverbial parrot tell us all how you got on.
Regards,
Simon
Regards,
Simon
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Mark Hoble
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Re: Le Mans Bugatti Circuit 4/5th July
I reckon they're in a restuarant in Arnage sipping Pernod and talking about how fast they were !
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Mark Shears
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Re: Le Mans Bugatti Circuit 4/5th July
Hi Guys - you make me feel guilty for not replying to you but I have been busy catching up with work (it pays for the racing you know!) and fielding all the emails and phone calls as a result of the Le Mans weekend!
Only one word to describe it - Fanbloodytastic!
I'm sorry Simon but ...it was! I don't mean to rub it in but...
Well here goes!
We had free practice on Friday morning with all comers ( Porsche 911s,a pink Mustang, Minis and other classic saloons and fellow Equipe GTS racers) which I did and then in the afternoon free practice for just the Equipe GTS entrants which Philip Tisdall did in my black car as the red car is (still) not ready. Richard Plant in his lovely Supersports and Colin Pearcy in the ex.Bill Wykeham/ Douglas Blain Plus 4 (the pale blue one) both practised in each session as they were both getting to grips with new cars to them.
We all agreed it is a technical circuit and quite difficult at first and all of us finding something to blame the cars for - you know what they say about a workman and his tools!
That night we all had a big barbeque with our team as we all had wives and sons and daughters and friends with us giving Jim and Christophe a challenge sorting 11 sets of tickets etc!
Saturday morning was a 25 minute qualifying session and as Philip and I were sharing the car we had to both qualify so I went out first but probably stayed out one lap too many! The Bugatti Circuit is 2.75 miles long and it seems a long way round to the pit lane!
I haven't got the results with me here at work so if there are any inaccuracies I am sure the others will put me straight but Richard qualified an excellent 7th,Colin 12th and us 13th. There was a very full grid packed with very quick MGBs, TVR and of course TR4s. In addition there were MGAs, Lotus Elite and Elvas and a solitary Lancia Fulvia driven by a guy who races it like me with the HSCC but who unlike me had driven it all the way down to Le Mans with his wife who had a 20 litre petrol tank between her legs, two tents ,tools and all the other stuff you need for a long weekend racing abroad!
We then had the rest of the day to watch the racing, tinker with the cars or whatever - the youngsters all went to the local water park but that's another story! All the while the sun beat down and I was quite pleased that the first race would be late in the evening when it would be cooler. It then turned out that the French put our race back as the highlight of the day and we assembled in the collecting paddock at 10 pm. After a lap out of the pit lane, assembling on the grid and then a green flag lap behind the course car (Audi R8 can't be bad - it was a job to keep up!) it was almost dark before the lights went out!
I got a good start but got boxed in by the pit wall and the melee of cars but Colin (ex professional touring car driver) got an awesome start, carving his way through the field. I lost a few places in the process but the car was going well and quickly made up for my earlier hesitance hardly realising that within a couple of laps it was pitch dark.
I had made hard work for myself having to make up those lost positions through my own inexperience but with my foot flat as we hurtled up the straight past the Le Mans pits and grandstands and then up to the Esses and the iconic Dunlop Bridge I still had a nano second to realise what a fantastic privilege it was to be racing at Le Mans, at night...
I think we all pretty much finished in the same positions as we started! Christophe had organised Champagne for us all and we were all still buzzing in the early hours of the morning.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny whereas the other days had started cloudy and then cleared to become hot and sunny. By the time of our second race at 12 noon it was a little overcast with cloud and a light breeze - perfect! Philip was driving my car in this race and he got a storming start,overtaking several cars and latching onto the back of Richard.Colin was clearly impressed with this and promptly took the slot!
Indeed Colin was able to eventually pass Richard who was down on power at the top end but there were exciting races all the way through the field - in the same way as the Tucker Trophy, a result of all the cars being very evenly matched. In fact only three tenths of a second seperated all three Morgans with their best laps.
But the best was still to come...
Unbeknown to us Morgan pilotes, who by the way were feted the whole weekend by the French organisers and public who all loved 'the true British spirit of racing' in their Morgan cars, we were to be presented with a special trophy. This turned out to be a magnificent cup generously donated by John Macdonald and presented on the Le Mans podium to the first Morgan car home calculated on aggregate over the weekend. What an experience and it was deservedly won by Richard Plant in his equally superb car. A truely unforgettable experience for all of us.
We then had a most entertaining prize giving ceremony with copious quantities of sparkling Saumur wine generously donated by a fellow competitor who lives in France. Everyone came away with an inscribed glass tankard and a goody bag and thanks all round - Jim and Christophe did a fantastic job and everyone agreed how hard they had worked to give us such a fantastic time. They had even organised the weather as the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining!
And then it was time to pack up and head for home...
I am sure the others will fill in what I have missed out and I hope they will put some pictures up for you - I know Jim has some official ones the ACO took on the podium!
So you see - you didn't miss much really!
Cheers
Mark
Only one word to describe it - Fanbloodytastic!
I'm sorry Simon but ...it was! I don't mean to rub it in but...
Well here goes!
We had free practice on Friday morning with all comers ( Porsche 911s,a pink Mustang, Minis and other classic saloons and fellow Equipe GTS racers) which I did and then in the afternoon free practice for just the Equipe GTS entrants which Philip Tisdall did in my black car as the red car is (still) not ready. Richard Plant in his lovely Supersports and Colin Pearcy in the ex.Bill Wykeham/ Douglas Blain Plus 4 (the pale blue one) both practised in each session as they were both getting to grips with new cars to them.
We all agreed it is a technical circuit and quite difficult at first and all of us finding something to blame the cars for - you know what they say about a workman and his tools!
That night we all had a big barbeque with our team as we all had wives and sons and daughters and friends with us giving Jim and Christophe a challenge sorting 11 sets of tickets etc!
Saturday morning was a 25 minute qualifying session and as Philip and I were sharing the car we had to both qualify so I went out first but probably stayed out one lap too many! The Bugatti Circuit is 2.75 miles long and it seems a long way round to the pit lane!
I haven't got the results with me here at work so if there are any inaccuracies I am sure the others will put me straight but Richard qualified an excellent 7th,Colin 12th and us 13th. There was a very full grid packed with very quick MGBs, TVR and of course TR4s. In addition there were MGAs, Lotus Elite and Elvas and a solitary Lancia Fulvia driven by a guy who races it like me with the HSCC but who unlike me had driven it all the way down to Le Mans with his wife who had a 20 litre petrol tank between her legs, two tents ,tools and all the other stuff you need for a long weekend racing abroad!
We then had the rest of the day to watch the racing, tinker with the cars or whatever - the youngsters all went to the local water park but that's another story! All the while the sun beat down and I was quite pleased that the first race would be late in the evening when it would be cooler. It then turned out that the French put our race back as the highlight of the day and we assembled in the collecting paddock at 10 pm. After a lap out of the pit lane, assembling on the grid and then a green flag lap behind the course car (Audi R8 can't be bad - it was a job to keep up!) it was almost dark before the lights went out!
I got a good start but got boxed in by the pit wall and the melee of cars but Colin (ex professional touring car driver) got an awesome start, carving his way through the field. I lost a few places in the process but the car was going well and quickly made up for my earlier hesitance hardly realising that within a couple of laps it was pitch dark.
I had made hard work for myself having to make up those lost positions through my own inexperience but with my foot flat as we hurtled up the straight past the Le Mans pits and grandstands and then up to the Esses and the iconic Dunlop Bridge I still had a nano second to realise what a fantastic privilege it was to be racing at Le Mans, at night...
I think we all pretty much finished in the same positions as we started! Christophe had organised Champagne for us all and we were all still buzzing in the early hours of the morning.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny whereas the other days had started cloudy and then cleared to become hot and sunny. By the time of our second race at 12 noon it was a little overcast with cloud and a light breeze - perfect! Philip was driving my car in this race and he got a storming start,overtaking several cars and latching onto the back of Richard.Colin was clearly impressed with this and promptly took the slot!
Indeed Colin was able to eventually pass Richard who was down on power at the top end but there were exciting races all the way through the field - in the same way as the Tucker Trophy, a result of all the cars being very evenly matched. In fact only three tenths of a second seperated all three Morgans with their best laps.
But the best was still to come...
Unbeknown to us Morgan pilotes, who by the way were feted the whole weekend by the French organisers and public who all loved 'the true British spirit of racing' in their Morgan cars, we were to be presented with a special trophy. This turned out to be a magnificent cup generously donated by John Macdonald and presented on the Le Mans podium to the first Morgan car home calculated on aggregate over the weekend. What an experience and it was deservedly won by Richard Plant in his equally superb car. A truely unforgettable experience for all of us.
We then had a most entertaining prize giving ceremony with copious quantities of sparkling Saumur wine generously donated by a fellow competitor who lives in France. Everyone came away with an inscribed glass tankard and a goody bag and thanks all round - Jim and Christophe did a fantastic job and everyone agreed how hard they had worked to give us such a fantastic time. They had even organised the weather as the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining!
And then it was time to pack up and head for home...
I am sure the others will fill in what I have missed out and I hope they will put some pictures up for you - I know Jim has some official ones the ACO took on the podium!
So you see - you didn't miss much really!
Cheers
Mark