I was fortunate enough to mark off a bucket list item this year: My wife and I attended the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
We are PCA members from the Fox Valley Region and regularly attend the American Le Mans Series races — now the Tudor United Sports Car Championship Series at Road America — in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It is an annual event we do not miss. We also attended Sebring last year, so Le Mans was an eventual, required event.
During the trip to France, I wondered how one adequately prepares for a race filled with the rich history and legend of Le Mans. Of course, I also considered the rich history of Porsche, with the most wins in Le Mans history.
Now, after a 16-year absence, Porsche was returning with the 919 Hybrid and the 991-based RSR. The 911 had already won the 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this year in the GTLM class, so I knew we were in for an exciting race.
We went over our checklist:
- Tickets purchased with access to the paddock area: Check.
- Plane tickets: Check.
- English/French dictionary to handle the most necessary phrases: Check.
We were ready for the event. It had been years since I had traveled overseas. Going through TSA security and being a part of the huddled masses shuffling toward the international gates was inspiring and humbling.
On the other side of security awaited an oasis of duty-free liquor, shops and restaurants, carefully designed to extract the first (or last) tourist dollars flowing through the rivers of terminal gates. American capitalism and ingenuity was in full display as a perfected art.
On a sunny morning with crisp, cool air, we arrived at Day 1 of the race with a tour group to avoid what I anticipated would be a steep learning curve. It paid off as our tour bus parked only 100 yards from the entry to the track. A crowd of 250,000 fans strong was already engaged in the prerace rituals of enjoying great food and staking out the best vantage point to view the race.
I have been to many professional sporting events, but nothing prepared me for the magnitude of Le Mans. The sheer number of people around a track that is over 8 miles long is astounding. The amount of exhibits, teams and cars to observe before the race was fantastic. 54 cars were to start the race, which would begin at 3 p.m. sharp.
When the race started, the Toyota and Audi Hybrids jumped out to an early lead, which was dashed when rain showers began and led to a crash. The showers were accompanied by sunny weather on either side, which gave a surreal presence to the race. The cars dashing by the T34 grandstands where we were seated left a trail of mist, which almost appeared as a vapor trail.
The race went on, and a great battle ensued within the various classes of cars throughout the quiet of the night. Watching the battles led me to think about the Le Mans experience. What is it? It is a great and wonderful spectacle. A celebration of motors and racing. A cacophony of colorful languages spoken in various parts of the world.
The scent of food, fuel, brakes and exhaust permeated the air. It was mixed with the aroma of rain-covered fields of grass from the nearby countryside.
During the race, we heard cheers and clapping from the crowds when a driver recovered from a crash, or when a mechanical issue was fixed with split-second ingenuity. Celebratory car horns echo in the air, mixed with the voice of French announcers bringing the race to life.
Pneumatic wrenches scatter other sounds as the pit crews quickly tend to the cars with perfectly timed precision. Quick revs from the engines and spinning tires scrambling for adhesion out of the pits remind everyone of the raw power of these machines.
There is something communal about racing. The collective goal of achieving speed without compromising efficiency. How else can one explain the desire of fans to travel around the world to spend 24 fantastic hours watching the impossible become real?
On Day 2, the sun rose over a sleep-deprived cache of drivers, pit crews, engineers and fans. The track was covered with a layer of debris in spots. The stout-hearted awoke in sleeping bags alongside the track. The once-bright headlights of the race cars became less prominent as the sun rose. The race continued on into the day.
With about two hours remaining in the race, the 919 Hybrid, No. 20 held the lead. The No. 14 car of the 919 series was not far back. Then mechanical trouble forced the cars to retire. Destiny delayed, but Porsche had the No. 14 car run the last lap to demonstrate Porsche's determination and claim to the future.
In the end, Audi claimed the 2014 Le Mans win. Porsche Team Manthey brought the 911 RSR to the podium for the LMGTE pro class. A large crowd congregated at the finish line to celebrate the race with the promise that it would begin again in 364 days — at 3 p.m. sharp.
