Stefan Johansson's Blog
Vive la France..NOT!So, time for Le Mans again, the race everyone loves to hate!!
What is it that makes this race so special and wanting you to come back year after year. No doubt the track has something to do with it, the ultra high speed straights and corners, the challenge of the Porsche curves and Indianapolis corners in particular. But in my opinion it is the atmosphere of the place that makes it the most special race on the calendar, along with the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco GP.
Having been absent for a couple of years it was interesting to note how quickly one forgets the routine of this event, what I mean by that is the routine of the FRENCH in particular!! Nothing is ever easy with these guys it seems. It starts the moment you drive through the gate into the track, on a Monday morning, obviously without any form of credentials as most teams are still in the process of picking them up and getting organized in general, yet the same guard who's been there for as long as I can remember will have a lengthy discussion with every single car that is trying to get through, everyone is trying to explain the same thing, " I don't have my passes yet, they are with my team inside the track".or an abbreviated version of that but with a French accent, hoping he will understand you better..not a chance of course. So eventually everyone gets through anyway, but not without knowing that this is the last time without a pass.
The following day it is scrutineering of the cars. This always takes place in an area called Jacobin Square, which is in the middle of the town. This means all the teams have to drag the cars and transporters down there for this thing which have now become an event in itself with grandstands for people to sit and watch a race car being pushed by a bunch of people through various tents for inspections of some sort.the excitement is unbearable!! The drivers have to drag their helmets and driving suits down there for the scrutineers to check that they comply with the FIA standards. I always wondered why any manufacturer would ever think of making a suit that would not comply with the rules, just for Le Mans..hmmm. Anyway, think positive!!
This event is now such a part of the procedure and history of Le Mans that it would not be the same if they changed it, so it has gotten better and better through the year, the crowd is huge and the drivers spend several hours signing autographs for the fans, who are hanging over the fencing in every area, the drivers are being interviewed for TV etc at three of four different stations and it's all very friendly and nice.
Back to the track, time to get down to business and get yourself organized for the week to come. Each driver normally have a trailer assigned to him, where he can go and get some rest during the race, which also serves as a place for him to put away all his gear such as helmets, shoes, underwear, visors etc.
Next thing on the agenda, tickets.every year there is a mad scramble to get enough tickets for the guests that wants to come and watch the race. There is a lady in the main office that is in charge of this area, especially when it comes to dealing with the drivers. Each driver is assigned an additional two passes plus an extra car pass, so as always you head down there to get your allocation. This lady has been there since I can remember, and I did my first race there in 1983, so it's been a while.yet, in this time span I have still to see her lips move to what could be even remotely mistaken for a smile.This time, for unknown reasons they were out of car passes. on the Tuesday before the race. My question was that surely they must know the amount of drivers entered and therefore have a fixed allocation of car passes. The answer.Sorry, we are out.hmmm "But how am I going to park my car then"?? Sorry, we are already out. This conversation by the way is three way, as I am talking to a young girl who is interpreting as "the lady" does not speak a word of English, or at least she will not converse in any other language than French. But really, it's the shrug of the shoulders that seals it.
So no luck on that one, I guess it's off to the nearest Xerox machine and borrow a pass from someone else, surely they must know this is going on with EVERY single team.
Next, time to ask for the extra passes. This time I decided to try and give them a little sob story of how my Daughter that lives in Belgium with her mother wants to come and visit, I only get to see her a few times every year and it would really mean a lot to me if I could get an extra pass or two in order to invite her and a friend that would drive her there, upon which "the lady" managed to pull out a box of tissues from underneath her desk.Brilliant!!!! So, might as well put a couple of regular passes in the Xerox too then..but again, it's the shrug that makes it a formal no.
Already exhausted, and we haven't even started practice yet.
The practice is always run at night at Le Mans, the first session starting at 7pm, and finishing at midnight, which makes for a very long day. If you are jetlagged like I was coming all the way from California it works out better as you have to start changing your schedule from Wednesday on to make it work. After debriefs etc you are normally in bed by about 2am, waking up around 10-11 am. Unless there are any PR activities or other work for the team you are normally back at the track around 1pm, and basically spending the rest of day before practice starts killing time. Checking emails, if you can get a signal anywhere, maybe a seat fitting if you are not entirely happy with the way your seat fits, then back to the same routine of a 7pm start of practice, then to bed around 2am.
Friday is a day off, apart from the parade. THE PARADE!!! This is another tradition that now has become a huge event. It starts at 6pm at the Jacobin Square again, and goes through the entire downtown area of the city, with probably more than 100.000 people lined along the fences on the road.
Each driver team is being driven by a chauffeur in an open top historic car of some description. The start of the run is from a podium and there's generally a long wait as each team is being interviewed at the podium. So, as you can imagine, a 1920's shitbox with an open top on idle is not necessarily the most efficient thing when it comes to emissions so most drivers are close to passing out at this stage.The good thing is that we have another three hours of this to look forward to.Seriously, most of the drivers including myself are completely nacious by the end of the parade. But just to make you feel a bit better they decided this year to stop the parade about ½ mile from the starting point and then have the drivers walk in their racing suits among a very enthusiastic crowd back to where we started.three hours later we are finally on our way back to the track.
After having gotten into the 2am bedtime routine it's now time for the kicker.Warm-up is at 9am, which means with the race-day traffic we have to leave our hotel around 6am in order to make it to the track in time for this final practice session, so wake up a 5.30 am of to the track, warm up for 45 minutes, and then.Wait until 5pm for the start of the race...So by the time the race is finished, provided you make it all the way, you have been awake for approximately 36 hours, as you never really get to sleep during the race, maybe the odd nod of, but not proper sleep. Good that this thing called Adrenaline works..
Our race ended at 6am unfortunately, so I decided to try and get an earlier flight out of Paris back to London where I was going that evening. I called American Express in France and the lady on the other end told me that indeed there was a flight leaving at 5pm instead of the original time of 8.30, so I decided to take this one instead. I had to go to the ticket counter and make the necessary changes once I got to Orly. I was pleased to know that there were flights between London City and Orly as it meant a much easier run to Le Mans from Orly than from Charles de Gaulle, from which you have to go through the entire city in order to get to the road leading to Le Mans. Once I got to Orly I returned my rental car and went to make the changes to my ticket, only to be told that, yes there is a flight to London City, but it's from Charles de Gaulle, not Orly.Grrrrrr, seemingly the lady on the other end somehow forgot to mention this (should I have asked?) , but not to worry, "there is a shuttle bus outside that takes you directly to the terminal at CDG".
So I get on the bus, nod off for a while as I have been up for a good 34 hours by now, finally get to CDG. The bus stops at one terminal before the one I am getting off at. Once I am off the bus I go to get my luggage only to find that my bag is gone!!! Now my adrenalin is going like I am ready to do a qualifying lap.running around like a maniac looking for my bag, but it's gone.someone must have taken it from the first terminal the bus stopped at. I find some officials who are supposed to be in charge of the security, from which I get absolutely no help whatsoever. I decide to check my remaining bag in first and then go and find the right person to talk to in order to file a claim or missing luggage document so I can at least put a trace on the bag and hopefully file an insurance claim. After no less than 6 different stations, all with the standard issue shrug to confirm that they have nothing or want nothing to do with my bag I finally get told to go downstairs to the luggage arrivals hall, where they can file the claim for my bag and put a trace on it. So off I go, time is now starting to run short before my flight is boarding, I take the elevator downstairs and are walking down the hall when all of a sudden I am met by some French police men, turns out there is a bomb-scare so no one can move from where they are.I feel like I have now entered the twilight zone.I can't go back upstairs, can't go anywhere in fact.this lasts for about 20 minutes, now I am running really tight to make my flight, I finally get inside the arrivals hall into the office for missing luggage, explain my problem, bla bla bla, and guess what, THE SHRUG!!!!! This motherfucker want nothing to do with my bag either!!!
I am now running back upstairs, through passport control, where I notice there is a police office, I ask them and believe it or not, these guys actually helped me file a report to bring with me, I made the flight, just, got in my seat and crashed into a coma before arriving in London.
So yet another Le Mans gone, my 12th., and I can't wait for next years race to come along.
I love this race more than any other, and in some perverse way I even love the people involved with it, without them it just would not be the same.
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