Fine details can sometimes be the difference not just between winning or losing at Le Mans, but even finishing a race or packing up well before the checkered flag has dropped. Pit-stop practice, driver changes and part replacement must be administered to metronomic precision. While lateral thinking can sometimes save the day (more on this later), it’s important not to experiment too much on race day – whether the type of visor used on a helmet or the food consumed.
Being a big event, it’s also important to get enough sleep and maintain some semblance – if possible – of normality. Like the Indy 500 or Monaco GP, Le Mans generates more interest from the public than any other motor sport event and thus, there will be more fan and sponsor events than usual. Emotions will be running on overdrive and as Harry Tincknell points out, switching off is something a driver needs to work at:
It’s a difficult race to prepare for, as its 24-hours and you could be in the car at any point over that period. I try to get all the physical preparation done in the months leading up to Le Mans so I can have as relaxing a week as possible in the run up to the race. I get as much sleep as possible and make sure all my kit is prepared, not just race kit but things like making sure I have films to watch when I need to chill out. It’s an intense week with all the media sessions, autograph sessions and drivers’ parade so it’s important to be able to switch off. It’s very easy to get caught up in the razzamatazz of the event, but then you wake up on race day and you’re already tired. That happened to me in 2014 so I learnt my lesson!
While most drivers and mechanics will have a particular dietary regimen already in place, the temptation to snack on something foreign or stay up to watch proceedings when not in the car should be resisted as much as possible. Pasta, grilled chicken and fruit such as berries and bananas are de rigor in long distance racing, but a curry is definitely a no go the night before a race!
Hydration is probably the single most important aspect in preventing cramping whilst working in a confined space – for both the driver in the cockpit and the mechanics in an overloaded garage. It also improves concentration. If you drink only when thirsty, you’re probably already in trouble and this includes driving at low speeds.
Martin Brundle explained the unique demands running behind the safety car at night in his autobiography, Working the Wheel.
Because of the length of the circuit at Le Mans, there is a Safety Car at each end. One picked us up and off we went at a crawl while the wreckage was cleared. And now you get cold. Very cold. Its three o’clock in the morning, you have been working hard and become sweaty. All of a sudden you are doing a mere 60mph. The cockpit is peppered with vent, designed to keep the driver cool. Now they are directing chilly air, so much that you start shaking.
PREPARATION