Ben @ Le Mans
Ben successfully completes his first trip to Le Mans.
With a race strategy based on solid consistent laps and hopefully a trouble free run, the two practice days where used to work on set-up and familiarising the drivers with the car and the track. Several teams suffered a major accident and then had the resultant battle with the clock to ready the cars for the race. Sensibly the Bruichladdich Team concentrated their preparation on the race proper. Although not the quickest in class the car proved competitive and everyone was hoping firstly for a finish and secondly a good class position. With 14 LMP2 cars starting it was always going to be a tough test for all concerned.
Marc had the honour of starting the race and drove a solid open stint with Gunnar taking over the driving duties after an hour and a half. He followed Marc with another good performance and with the car gaining 2 class positions by the 3 hour mark. Ben then had his first taste of Le Mans racing and completed his double stint without drama and gained another class position. When he climbed from the car he was wearing a huge smile, having completed his first stint and enjoying every minute of the special atmosphere that is Le Mans.
Marc then took over from Ben to start the second round of driver stints. All was going well until about the 6 hour mark when the car suddenly stopped out on the circuit, was it out of fuel? Had the engine failed? Was it stuck in gear ? was it the end of the race for the 26 car ? With a lot of concerned faces in the garage, the priority was to get it started and back to the pits. With the minutes ticking away the race seemed to be slipping away but fortunately, and with the help of an interpreter Ben talked Marc through a sequence of switching the management systems off and then back on, and ,to the relief of everyone, the engine sprang into life. Marc nursed it back to the pits and a new ECU was fitted, they were back in the race! Gunnar then started his second stint which unfortunately was interrupted twice with a visit to the pits to re-fasten his seat belts, also a visit to the garage to change a faulty starter motor. With the light now fading Gunnar continued to make good progress in the battle to regain positions lost with the unscheduled stops. Bens second stint started just before it became completely dark, he was driving well and rapidly picking up places as other teams in the LMP2 class also experienced both mechanical problems and several contacts with the walls surrounding the 8 mile track. After nearly 3 hours racing in the dark Ben brought the car in safely and handed over to Marc for his first stint in the dark. Although not tired Ben took the chance to try and sleep before his next session and retired to his driver Pod. Marc drove a double stint before handing over once more to Gunnar, all three drivers now settled into a consistent race pace and still hopeful of a solid finish. Gunnar drove well and was the middle of his third stint at about 4.30 am, when suddenly the weather changed and the rain began to fall. Gunnar called for wets and the team decided on a driver change at the same time, so Ben having just woken was back in the car on wets in the dark !.. Quite a wake up call. But he answered the call and drove superbly in the wet, at one point he was sixth quickest overall. He completed a great stint in the most difficult conditions and was pleased to bring the car home in one piece after 3 hours. The fact he had been 6th quickest overall at one point, proved the quality of the Radical chassis and highlighted the performance of the Dunlop wet tyres. Next in was Marc who unfortunately spun on his out lap and was not happy with the choice of tyres, so a quick pitstop saw a switch to full wets from intermediates, after which he settled into a steady rhythm. Gunnar then had the baton handed over to him and his opportunity to experience a wet Le Mans track. His progress was good until a spin on the treacherous surface resulted in contact with the wall.With both the front and rear end damaged he did a remarkable job to get it back to the pits, where the team quickly went to work to get it back on track. The whole crew did a fantastic job in getting the 26 car back in the race and Gunnar continued before once again handing over to Ben.
Ben completed what was to be his last stint without drama and lying in fifth place in class, despite all the dramas the team and the car were still in the race and now watching the clock countdown to the finish.
Gunnar was next in the car, with the plan that Marc would complete the last stint to the finish. However the drama was not over, Gunnar had a puncture and the rain was now falling heavily again. He managed to get back to the pits once more but not only did the tyres need changing the rear wing had taken a knock so the car was wheeled into the garage where the team once again sprang into action under the guidance of Jacob Greaves and Paul Thomas. With some fairly ingenious engineering work having been carried out, the car was wheeled out for the run to the finish. It was decided to leave Gunnar in the car to the finish to avoid any dramas that may occur during another pitstop. He did a great job and even timed his finish so he crossed the line just behind the winning AUDI.
So Ben’s first visit to Le Mans was complete, not without drama, but with a wealth of experience gained and the chance to be part of the biggest race in the world. He was grateful to Tim Greaves of Bruichladdich Team Radical who gave him the opportunity to be there. Both Tim and his wife Wendy made Ben and his friends and family welcome all weekend, so to finish the gruelling 24 hr race 6th in class was a just reward for everyones hard work and tireless effort.
Ben joins Radical LMP2 team for this years 24 hour Le Mans Classic.
Ben arrived home from America on Thursday, did a quick turn round and headed off to Le Sarthe for 10 of the most important laps of his career. After getting the call to say he was included in the driver line-up for the Bruichladdich Radical LMP2 car he had to complete his “rookie test” which involved 10 qualifying laps around the legendary circuit. That was completed Sunday morning on what turned out to be a rain soaked day, which made set-up and tyre evaluation almost impossible. Ben will be joined in the car by Marc Rostan and Gunnar Jeannette both of whom have raced at Le Mans before on several occasions.
Ben is looking forward to renewing his relationship with both the radical team and the SR9 . He drove the Gunnar Van Der Staur car in 2006 at Laguna Seca and showed what the, then, new chassis was capable of.
The First challenge of Le Mans is to get to the finish and the focus of the whole team will be to do just that. If that feat is achieved then who knows what the result will be.
At the moment Ben is going to soak up and enjoy the very special atmosphere created by the challenge of racing for 24 hours against the worlds top teams and drivers.
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