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What a weekend!!! Thank you Speedvision!!! I fell asleep somewhere around 3:00 a.m. CDT, which I think was about 6-7 hours left in the race. Woke up three hours later, so was able to finish watching the race. Except for 1.5 hours when F1 qualifying was on, Speedvision carried the entire 24 Hours live on tv. The commentating was good (Danny Sullivan was especially funny), even when the team was getting a little punch drunk from lack of sleep. Some of the interviews, etc. were great. Loved the bit about "Big Blue", the Dick Barbour American-style transporter. They never showed the semi itself, but the trailer was a normal Featherlite one used in the States -- about two car lengths longer than all of the other transporters in the paddock, and they still had their cabs attached! My guess is the semi cab was one normally used in the States too, which would have really made it hugh by European standards.
One comment -- I could not believe the way the Audis and Vipers, in their attempts to get good photo ops for their cars (and to prevent having to drive another lap), held up the racing in the GT category. There was a race left on the track, two 911s were battling tooth-and-nail for second and third place podium positions. The second place car had lost its windshield (and several more of its windows) and was only .3 seconds ahead of another 911 going into the last lap. Because of total track blockage by the three Audis (their speeds were slower than a minibike on the last lap), and further track blockage by the Vipers, this battle was adversely influenced -- resulting in the third place 911 passing the second place car during the last lap. Cannot really say if it would have happened anyway, but it was clearly unsafe for anyone still battling for position on that last lap.
Is this a regular thing at Le Mans? It would definitely bring down the wrath of the gods (stewards) at an event sanctioned by SCCA. Of course, the 911 that lost its windshield (windscreen) did an entire lap with the driver hanging out of the car door when his hood (bonnet)flew open and he could not see out of the front of the car. Obviously, he did the entire 8+ miles without any belts! This was also a surprise to watch that go without any penalty.
Chris Safranek
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[Edited by Gerard on 19th June 2000]
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