Did a lot of preparation for this one. For me it was inconceivable not to drive the 917 at Le Mans, so fully expected it to be a Porsche Party. Much surprised to find a Ferrari Fest instead, with GT and me the only party poopers..
Very surprised also to find GT only 1.2 secs ahead in qualy, considering the astronomical gap between us last time we used this car, on Spa. Maybe he wasn't really trying yesterday
Got clean away at the start. Clive did his level best to slipstream me down Mulsanne, and I did my best to thwart it, changing lanes a few times. At the end, after braking, I start to turn into the corner, when a Ferrari out of nowhere flies past my nose, like a bat out of hell:
That was Tony, en route to his untimely demise. I nearly needed fresh pants after that
Consider myself extremely lucky he didn't hit me..
Had Clive in hot pursuit for the remainder of L1, but he dropped back at the start of L2. From then the gap grew rapidly, so other incidents must have taken place behind me. Was approx. 5 secs behind GT until I made a stupid mistake at the end of L5. Couldn't brake in time before the final chicane, and hit the barrier. Lost a lot of time on this and from more, small mistakes the following laps, meaning the gap to GT eventually extended to 30 secs.
Very lonely race after my shunt. Besides a single backmarker, I never saw another car until the finish.
Commiserations to those we lost along the way, not least Tony on L1, and Geoffers who had 3rd in the bag, only to fall into the void at the final part of the final lap.
Grats to GT for another convincing win - and Kurt for making the podium, after Geoffers's plunge into oblivion.
Cheers,
Erling