So (as everybody seems to start a new reply/sentence, especially on the radio and TV), it’s the last day of the meeting. I decided to be a bit less mobile today, as there were some potentially good races on today. Spent quite a while in the Ist Tickets Lodge and the various grandstands.
The 2 litre Porsche 911’s had one of the early race slots – a whole 90 minutes with driver changes as well. One machine particularly caught my eye was that of Mike Jordan. Amongst other things, he used to race in the British Touring Car Championship. His son Andrew Jordan currently drives for the WSR Team in the same Championship. As expected, the car was immaculate and competitive. These amateur guys take it all quite seriously…..
Then it was off to the grandstand opposIte the F1 pits to watch some of the older cars ( competing for The Greatest Trophy) as they came out of the Chicane. It make me feel a bit old to think that these cars were winning the Le Mans 24 Hour race when I was a little lad. Still sound good though !
To show you something up to date, how about this brand new Mclaren 720 S ? Gorgeous…… Just casually parked between a new Ferrari and a high spec current Mustang, next to a new Corvette. You get the idea – supercars just littered about the place.
Back in the Paddock, I came across a whole string of Daimler Darts. One bonus for having a club display at this meeting is that they have the chance to drive the circuit, theoretically as a parade, but I guess some of them arranged between themselves to have a bit of a go ! Talking to a couple of these guys, you get the feeling of tremendous enthusiasm for their cars. I have to say that the majority of the drivers were on my generation !
Views from the rear balcony of the private lodge into the paddock, with comments
Then, for me at least, one of the highlights of the weekend – a 1 hour race for the Heritage Touring Cars. Please allow me to wallow in a bit of nostalgia. On top of their pit garages, I had a birds eye view of the goings on, including the start, driver changes, etc. Spa was famous for its 24 hour Touring Car races in the past, so this was a bit special IMHO. Pix below are as they went out on their formation lap.
Ready to go on the “proper” starting grid, not that silly F1 affair on the finishing straight……. As you can see, a good view.
With so many cars, it was a rolling start
And this is what it sounded like during the first lap or two – magic !
Sorry !
So that was it for me really, three very indulgent days of noisy racing machines. Now it was back to the campsite for a bit of a regroup and onwards south to Clermont-Ferrand and the Cote D’Azure. In general, the weather had been amazingly kind for the three days – this was to change dramatically on the morn……….