7.19.2012 Crewe & Le Mans:
Derek Bell And Bentley Inspired By 'Mission Motorsport' Team At Le Mans Classic
Derek Bell MBE a five time Le Mans winner and Bentley's brand ambassador returned to the French race circuit with a 4.5 litre Bentley Blower for the Le Mans Classic in a unique motorsport challenge.
In partnership with the cars, owner Martin Overington, Bell's Le Mans Classic challenge was supported by a 3-man pit crew from Mission Motorsport - a UK charity that rehabilitates seriously injured military personnel by actively involving them in a wide range of competitive motor racing challenges.
Former Royal Marine Commando Tony Compson, with Gary Dunning and James Gillborn was Bell's Mission Motorsport support team.
All three men have suffered serious, life-changing injuries on active service but that did not stop the team from delivering fastest possible pit stops or working through the night to allow the Bentley Blower to race on Saturday.
Martin Overington commented: "It was privilege to work with Tony, Gary and James. They were a huge asset throughout our campaign at Le Mans and Derek and I always felt we were in safe hands with the best possible chance of being competitive."
People are time trialing to set their location in the grid, sometimes they run harder and faster here than they do during the full on race and the spirit is more auto focused ... and an early afternoon sprinkle catches more than one car out and fresh tyres and wet pavement and amateur excited drivers have the predictable results ...
But the clear following the rains make for great photographing and my traveling companion's telephoto lens gets a workout as does my little camera sensor as I try and trace the fast cars ... you have no idea how many blurred shots happened to get just these few partial images ... so many frames of empty track as the car has already gone by as the shutter depresses ...
The light with high clouds is ideal, the cool temperatures and humid conditions once the track dries out are ideal for the engines, they run hard, fast and wail down the straights as they exit the chicanes ...
As the american muscle is the theme this year, the cobra's are out in force, and a force to be reckoned with, they pass with more of a seat pounding thunder than anything else, a great big noise and nothing gets between them and straight down the track, too bad about there being corners though.
After a few laps and the times are set the machines pull into the pits and then to the paddocks, with the paddock pass, not available on-site, must buy in advance, you can get exceedingly up front and personal with the beasts ...
The drivers, fresh from the track, with adrenaline and the 'red fog' still hazing their vision, must wend their way through pedestrians and back to their stalls where the mechanics, fresh water and a lie down are available ...
A few, very few, get some assistance and will be busy this night with reparations to ensure they are ready for the official races tomorrow ...
The day of the races is wet as well and the starting laps have some unintended consequences but fortunately am not witness to any bent metal at all this day ... a few close calls, but mostly just good driving turned in by some serious talent, both amateur, semi-professional and a few seriously professional drivers ...
As a few sprinkles come through the cars run beautifully and a wander down to the end of the track and the fames Tetre Rouge, or red corner is in order, one race-goer apparently wishes to keep his feet dry so he drives his classic porsche along the muddy access roads and watches the races from a comfortable seat, and provides a great photo opportunity for us!
My buddy suggests the oncoming clouds look nasty, I hesitate a moment and almost all is lost, at the last moment we make a dash for it before the heavens open up! The poor british fellas arriving in the open roadster are not so lucky, the steam off their muffler does nothing to hid the disgust and misery in their faces as they roll up ... we all take refuge under a highway overpass, us, four French Police Route Nationale motorcycle cops and innumerable race fans, fortunately on the track, the heat has just ended the cars exit the track and the next batch are held back as the deluge continues for a good 20 minutes or more ...
Soon enough the skies lighten and the big boys are let out, although the rain has stopped, we are treated to some seriously fast and _good_ wet weather driving. I have seen the race in good dry conditions before, but to see them manage these speeds under a haze from the cars in front, glassy smooth wet pavement, just wow ... these boys and girls know how to get it done! Seriously impressive ...
In more than one spot there is standing water and to watch the 'gentleman drivers' navigate these obstacles and each other at speed really makes one respect their ability ... as the heats are generational and even during the initial running of Le Mans you had different classes of cars, you see a serious mismatch in speeds and capabilities within each heat and the ability of the fast cars to navigate the slower cars takes serious skill ...
One of my favorite cars this time is a baby BMW 2002 tii ... this is a car you can buy for a reasonable sum in almost any classifieds (well, maybe not anymore, but for a little four-banger turbo, this baby hums!) hmmm
As dusk falls they let the big boys out to play, even with these 'slower' cars, my camera is not enough to capture them at speed in the darkness, however when they return to the paddocks after their heat they are slowed down by the pedestrians and a few snaps can be grabbed in between the gawking and smelling of fumes ...
I just love the French Bugatti from this era ... the lady pilotes are well represented in this class ... a lot of mechanicing is getting done to be ready for the next heat ... that is the intake on the inside cowling of the blue Bugatti that looks fouled by exhaust, she has been getting some serious back-fires on the track ... one solo driver (many cars have at least two pilotes) has a hammock slung, he will catch a few z's while his boys re-prep the car and the noise and mayhem continues unabated around him, but nothing will stop a forced rest to be able to run into the night ... one poor guy is getting pushed in by the proctors and from the looks on his face the problems with the car may be severe ...
If you visit the museum on the track, you can see a photo gallery of the men of legend on this track ... if you visit the paddocks as the drivers return, you may be surprised to see these legends in the flesh ... Derek Bell, a name of legendary battles as a factory Porsche driver, along with Belgian's favorite Jacky Ickx, is here and piloting an old Bentley Monster Lorries around the track! 70 years plus ... And it seems at least three generations of the Bell family may be in attendance ... we hang back, not wishing to be ever so gauche, but as a great sight to behold... Derek Bell says it only in part "He won two World Sportscar Championship titles in 1985-86, the 24 Hours of Daytona three times in 1986-87 and 1989 and Le Mans five times in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987, mostly teamed with Jacky Ickx in one of the Porsche 936 and Porsche 956/Porsche 962 models. The Ickx/Bell partnership is considered as one of the most famous pairings in motorsport history."
Meanwhile the younger-timers with better headlamps most of them twelve volt by this time at least! and dicing it up as another heavy mist falls on the track ... uh, mr li'l red guy, the track goes _that_away, not the other away ....
As the traffic spreads out and everyone's tyres warm up and the track dries, well, the light is adding fast as is your correspondent and a bed needs to be sourced soon, has been a long day at the track, however the battles will continue through the night and I wake up a time or two to listen to the heavy rains fall as the roar of the cars from outside the bedroom window rise and fall in the distance like music ...
Lest we give the impression that automotive racing is only a lad's event, for the classics more than a few classics of all ages and genders arrive and this lovely couple are pouring over the grid lineups and lists of drivers and cars to keep track of their favorites ... meanwhile the telephoto lens and every digital slr camera in three continents seem to be focused on the track and cars ...
With the morning running my little friend the BMW 2002 is giving not an inch to the monster LMP (Le Mans Prototype) that is seriously fast and is trying to catch her up ... loved the juxtaposition of the red fire gear in foreground here, what fun ...
Traffic jam, Le Mans Classic style, a matching set of racers have to wend their way through the hordes getting from the paddocks to the prep line for their turn on the track ... we wander through after joining some friends at the GT-40 group parking, are in search of some excellent BBQ over by the Wall of Death Demon Drome ... the mixtures of vehicles and people could be called managed chaos, but perhaps it is best just to call it wonderful chaos ...
These are the Porsche's of legend, you may have heard of Steve McQueen, an american bloke who made a movie called Le Mans that was famous for having not a word spoken for the first thirty five minutes of the film, it was just an excuse to see beautiful cars and a fabled track ... and he did it right, words fail, this is a place to be experienced and this type of motoring is not coming again ...
OK, truth time, my little BMW 2002 friend may be seriously fast in my dreams, but the LMP's reel her in like a minnow on a 20 pound test line, she has not a chance against these beasts, but do not tell her that as the heart of the little beastie is too big and the driver too brave to let her stop ... the mellow yellow backdrop of this shot including the sign in the foreground ...
well, what can I say ...
"I was driving the car in the race and we were certainly trying hard. All of our efforts and those of our crew paid off as we won the Performance Index for the event - Le Mans Champions. The little car did it!
I'm not sure that it has sunk in yet, 2 weeks ago we were on the reserve list and now we are Le Mans champions. Hard to believe. But the car is fantastic in the wet and that's how we won it. Neither Norbert nor I had raced on the full track before, so for us it has been the week of our lives. Max Heidegger, who built the car in 1975 has been with us all the way on the project and was in tears on Sunday night after the race when I called him to tell him the result. It has been a huge project for all involved and has dominated our lives for the last year. But the whole team were amazing, they never stopped working and there was a fantastic feeling of being a family.
BMW USA have already asked us to go to Monterey next year as it will be devoted to BMs next year, so that might happen. The car might be in the historic 24 hours at Paul Ricard in November of this year and it will certainly appear at the Ring and Spa next year. The car is with Engels Rennsport in Aachen, so European events are the op priority.
Heidi really was the crowd favourite at Le Mans and we were rather overwhelmed at the support that we had."
Marcus J Mahy
BMW 2002 1975 "Heidi"
Le Mans 1975 Group 2 Winner
Le Mans Classic 2012
Le Mans France
BMW 2002 1975 "Heidi"
Le Mans 1975 Group 2 Winner
Le Mans Classic 2012
Le Mans France
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