On 23 April this year, a brake problem with the new Bentley EXP Speed 8 Le Mans car sent it into the barriers at around 200 mph. The car flattened the barriers, rolled and came to rest upside down, but driver Eric van der Poele walked away virtually unscathed. The car’s chassis was destroyed, but the ‘survival cell’ did its job. Eric was back at the wheel the next day.

Since 1923, the Le Mans 24 Hour Race has acted as the testing ground for concepts that have made the mass-produced cars on the world’s roads not only faster, but more efficient and safer.

Motor racing safety only became a serious concern after the 1955 race, when Jean Levegh’s Mercedes 300SLR clipped the rear of Lance Macklin’s Healey as it was slowing and entering the pit lane. The Mercedes crashed into the barrier, exploding and sending its engine flying into the grandstand. Levegh and 80 spectators died in the worst accident in motor racing history. Mercedes withdrew from motor sport and did not compete again at Le Mans until 1987, when they provided support to the Sauber team.

Every year about 200,000 motor racing fans come to watch the race, 50,000 of them from the UK. One of the best places to get up-to-the-minute information in English, and to take part in forum discussions is the Club-Arnage web site. Whatever you can’t find there, you should find at the official Auto Club de l'Ouest (ACO) site.

This year the race starts on Saturday 15^th July, at the traditional time of 16:00. Nowadays, drivers line up on the grid with engines running in normal motor race style – the last ‘Le Mans Start’, where drivers had to run to their cars and start them, was used in 19

The return of the Bentley team to Le Mans is clearly popular with the organizers – the Official Le Mans 2002 poster features the Speed 8. Racing this year as the only member of the GT Prototype class, it has returned practice times which would have put it in 7^th position.

***

How it turned out

Eric van der Poele must have decided that the car's 'survival cell' would continue to protect him. He came off the track after 1 hour 40 minutes, and again several more times, dropping to 13th place at one point. Then he settled down, climbing steadily back to 4th place 9 hours after the start. He and his co-drivers then held that position for the rest of the race.

Le Mans 2003, with Bentley entering a full team of production cars instead of one prototype, should be a race worth watching.

Back to All Articles Index