and far too much red wine. We made sure to raise a glass to Allan. It was a nice way to end race day, as we had a good laugh about our lads’ weekend away. After a while, we got chatting to the waiter and asked him about what Le Mans meant to him.
“It’s amazing!” he said. “For the rest of the year, we’re a small town. But for this week, everything comes alive. It’s wonderful for everyone in Le Mans. I’m proud to come from and live in this town.”
And that summed up everything that Le Mans is. It’s a festival. A fever. One weekend where the racing world unites in a far flung French field.
It’s now May 2014, and I’m sitting in at my desk, doing some work. A world away from that muddy French field in the shadow of the great ferris wheel. I long to return though. So, so much has changed over the past year.
I headed to Le Mans knowing next to nothing about endurance racing. Now though, I’m known by my friends as a “WEC fanboy.” Frankly, I don’t resist that nickname; I embrace it. Since Le Mans, I’ve missed just one WEC race. Although COTA clashed with the Singapore Grand Prix, I managed to catch 90 minutes’ worth whilst wolfing down a Subway in Changi Airport. It was so refreshing to watch that following Sebastian Vettel’s domination under the lights; my favourite moment of racing that weekend was on the other side of the world to where I was.
The cohesive nature of the WEC has opened up endurance racing to a whole new fanbase: I think I’m proof of that. I’m already pumped for this year’s race, knowing that I’ll have an even greater understanding and appreciation of what is unfolding before my eyes.
I think I’ll even make a point of sharing a beer with the Danes this time around, too.