Well, the past month or so has passed by in a blur, and it was all about Le Mans. This being the centenary year, we all hoped it would be a memorable race rather than just a procession. We got what we wanted and more. As I have mentioned more than once, I am proud to be a Ferrari old boy, having made my debut in Formula 1 and in the 24 Hours with The Reds. Have to say, I honestly didn’t expect a Ferrari to win outright, though. I had been asked during the run-up for my thoughts and I reckoned it would be Toyota’s race unless something unexpected happened. Toyota had had the monopoly in the previous five races, after all.
But no. Instead, the AF Corserun Hypercar crossed the line ahead of the Japanese squad. I was delighted to see Alex Lynn finishing third in the Ganassi Cadillac. He was wearing a ‘tribute’ helmet in my colours. There was plenty of intrigue up and down the order and obviously having Ferrari win in such a milestone year for the first time since 1965 made headlines the world over.
The ACO, which organised the event, deserved the plaudits because it pulled off something spectacular without any bum notes. Having said that, I should add by way of a caveat that some of the driving was absolutely brutal. There were some superb drivers out there but others were clearly out of their depth and couldn’t help bouncing off other cars, the Armco, everything, it seemed.
For my part, I thoroughly enjoyed being out in a Porsche 917 for a few demonstration laps, and obviously catching up with the great and the good of Le Mans, both past and present. It was exhausting but exhilarating, and then two weeks later I was back in France for the Le Mans Classic. I had so much fun with the Benjafield Racing Club and still cannot get over just how many cars there were on track: 71, all told, including Blowers and so on. The atmosphere was phenomenal, and I was taken by the enthusiasm of all the guys racing cars that look much the same as they did in period.
How many other marques can claim such a long heritage at Le Mans? I am not saying that as a Bentley brand ambassador, because I have no involvement in such a capacity, but it struck me that there aren’t any other marques that are still active that haven’t been revived after many years in stasis (Bugatti, for example). None that are still involved after 100 years. I w
