[LM24] Le Mans 24 Photographs

[Adam43]

Inspired by Aysedasi's Le Mans Stories and baubles Picture Parade I thought we could have some Le Mans 24 hour photographs to keep us distracted during the great lockdown.

I'll go first.

2005. No idea what camera this was, but it was pre-good camera.

[Aysedasi]

So, shall we say half a dozen each? I have a few (thousand). One from each of my first 6 years.

[Adam43]

Baubles does six at a time. Seems a nice amount. Also based on his approach there can be a theme or not. Who cares?

Are they recent scans? I was hoping to see some of those

Love the Dunlop shot. The colours make it look period.

And TGF in a dodgy 205! Looks a happy chap there. I think he said he wouldn't go back, but it would have been great if he had. He had what it takes to bee a top enduro.

Is that on top of the old pits? In 1990? Wow.

[Aysedasi]

These are 86-91 (top to bottom).

Poignant. The '86 shot is of Jo Gartner and Hans Heyer pre-race. Gartner was sadly killed in the '86 race.

Yes, that's Schuey with Karl Wendliner and Fritz Kreutzpointner in 1991.

The 1990 shot is indeed from the top of the old pits, the only time I ever got up there, and just as well, because by the next year, it was all gone....

[claude2cv]

Here are half a dozen from me. There may be more ;-)

[claude2cv]

I could not find what I was actually looking for when I posted the previous pictures. Here are 6 from my first visit. There should be a health warning as there is some less than scorching weather. It was rather wet that year, I went with a friend on his motorbike and we hardly got out of our waterproofs for the whole of the race

Sean

[Adam43]

Love those photos. I'm 1000s miles away from photos of my early years (earliest is 1990), so I'm all later.

Love the older ones.

Old location of the wheel. And Gitanes adverts! A different age.

[Aysedasi]

Yes, they're terrific Sean. I'll add some more in due course..... I'm currently scanning 1994....

Here are two I scanned from 1992 that you'll recognise....

[claude2cv]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yes, they're terrific Sean. I'll add some more in due course..... I'm currently scanning 1994....

Here are two I scanned from 1992 that you'll recognise....

Thanks Andrew, I always go and pay my respects to that car in the museum.
Having found the scans and put them in the right place I can sort out more in due course.

I have no idea why my last post dropped one of the photos, there were meant to be 6, you will have to wait to see what got left behind.

Camera equipment was fairly basic, a Zenith E with 135 mm lens at first and later a 500 mm lens n the same camera. Can probably get better pictures on my phone these days, but the old photos have plenty of atmosphere.

Sean

[Aysedasi]

Yes, I bought a new SLR last year to take video but my iPhone still takes better video. I'm clearly doing something wrong....

[Aysedasi]

Having literally just scanned these from 1994, I couldn't resist posting them. That year we walked out through the front door of the Restaurant des 24 Heures and watched the cars race by just a few metres away with pretty well nothing for protection if there had been an accident. Not a gendarme in sight. The four guys there are 'Tourists'. I know others who went years before will talk of just leaning on the straw bales, but I remember being very excited on this occasion to be so close to the action. These days, with all the debris fencing, its just a pipedream....

[GT6]

i remember standing at about the same spot in the early nineties and the cars going past at such a rate that your eyes could not focus on them, as said health and safety was not really considered at that time

[Greem]

That's part of the poste I was on (well, more or less where it overlaps with the next one) assuming that it's the building track left just beyond where the Audi garage is.

I didn't have the luxury of debris fence last year, just the barrier, and it took my breath away. I spoke to the wife earlier in the week and told her that the cars were just sooooooo fast that if something went very wring she could rest assured that I wouldn't know much about it!

In the pic, the restaurant is 450m behind me, down the track toward the 1st chicane...

[Aysedasi]

Wow.
Just wow.....

[vincegail]

Some pictures I took during Testday last year. Was able to go to the hotel on the Hunaudieres, and got shots not disturbed by fencing. Too bad Testday is cancelled this year, can highly recommend it, far less people standing in your way!

[GT6]

not sure i am a good advert for test day, but can say i enjoyed being there for test day, it was just the getting back that was the problem

[vincegail]

Yeah, took you quite some while

(sorry )

[claude2cv]

Having managed to lose one photo yesterday, here are half a dozen more from 1980 to make up for it

Sean

[Adam43]

Thanks

I've gone with a theme! All different years.

[GreenMachine]

Kicking of this Antipodean's '2007 Cultural Highlights of Europe Tour', Le Mans in fact turned out to be one of the greater experiences.

Practice


Start


Arnarge


Sunday might, Beausejours (note fireworks smoke)

[Aysedasi]

Some great shots there, and from the others before you. Looking at that camp site, I'm so pleased to be a namby-pamby.......

[Aysedasi]

I'm just finishing off my rediscovery of 1994 so it seemed apt to make my next six from that year.....

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I'm just finishing off my rediscovery of 1994 so it seemed apt to make my next six from that year.....

Surprised to see that you included the Dauer and not a Toyota, considering your opinion of the race winner

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by CTD

Surprised to see that you included the Dauer and not a Toyota, considering your opinion of the race winner

I just liked the shot. I would have far preferred to have had a different car in it. At least there were two genuine GT cars in the shot......

[Adam43]

It is a great shot.