MOTOR SPORTS
I was treated to a hot lap around the full 13.6-km course, which is actually
a half racetrack, half public road circuit. I enjoyed the circuit in a McLaren
570S piloted by racecar driver James Littlejohn, who tackled the Dunlop
Chicane, hurtled full speed down the Hunaudières long straight, and attacked
the tight Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners with ease.
GLOBAL ENDURANCE LEGENDS
This year marked the premiere of the Global Endurance Legends class,
featuring GTs and prototypes from the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, we
saw the Audi R8, Bentley Speed 8, Peugeot 908, McLaren F1 GTR, Ferrari
F40 and a Chrysler Viper GTS-R on the track, in part to attract younger
audiences. Drivers were primarily collectors who came to race in their own
cars, funded from their own pockets.
The Classic is more relaxed than the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Today, you no longer have the pressure of winning; you’re just battling
against yourself,” explains Ralf Kelleners, Le Mans 1996 GT2 winner. “You
try to perform well, for yourself, for your team, to obtain a good result, but
it’s not as if your life depended on it! Previously, I had to get good results. If
not, I didn’t obtain good contracts. So now I can enjoy it more.”
Kelleners scored second place in Group C Racing that featured the track’s
stars from the 1980s and early 1990s.
ninety-five years. Experiencing Le Mans Classic is to travel back in time to
revisit an automotive culture that flourished in the 20th century. Teenagers
who once plastered their bedrooms with photos of iconic cars fantasizing
of one day driving them now actually own and race them, and there’s no
other place they’d rather do it than on this mythical circuit that’s one of the
most prestigious races in the world.
“Spectators come to see the cars that made them dream when they
were young,” says Richard Mille marketing director Timothée Malachard.
“They’re coming to see cars in the flesh driving around the track that usually
collectors put away in a garage and don’t use.”
A longtime friend of Peter, Mille has sponsored Le Mans Classic from day
one. His eponymous watch company also sponsors historic car events like
HOW IT STARTED
The Le Mans Classic was launched in 2002 by Patrick Peter, founder of Peter
Auto, who aimed to revive the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the annual
endurance race that has been held at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the past
104 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2018
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