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I was pleased to qualify the car as fourth fastest LMP1 petrol car. It was a really good result considering the circumstances, putting us in a good position for the race start Saturday afternoon!
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Friday is the day where all of the teams make the final preparations to the cars for the race and the drivers head back over to Le Mans town for the famous drivers’ parade!
It’s really quite hard to explain just how incredible the driver parade is! Sat on the back of our little classic car, loaded up with 7500 Drayson Racing branded drinks mats! We were ready for a couple of hours of fun! Roughly 100,000 spectators line a three-mile long route through Le Mans town. Just amazing!!
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Race day is here, the car is ready and Paul’s starting! Paul makes a solid start in the heat of the race, and I’m in next! My first stint goes ok, but there is a strange feeling coming from the rear of the car, a serious vibration which we chase to solve for the next 10 or so hours!
The team have to pull the car into the garage at 02:00 on Sunday morning due to a problem with the fuel cell. The problems costs us roughly four hours in the pits, meaning that, unfortunately, it’s looking unlikely that we will be classified as a finisher even if we cross the line! The team did an amazing job and with a few hours to go the car was back to its normal self and I had an amazing last stint!
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It’s actually the first time in my whole racing career that I really let myself enjoy the moment. The last lap of my last stint of the 2010 Le Mans 24 hour race I just relaxed and completely enjoyed myself, all the while reflecting on just how amazing an experience it is driving an LMP1 car round Le Mans! Just amazing, and something that I don’t think I will ever forget!!
Regardless of all of our problems throughout the race, all the team really dug deep and finally Paul got into the car for the last stint and to everyone’s delight we crossed the line finishing our first Le Mans 24 hour!!
The experience is something that I’ll never forget, and now all I can think about is next year!
