RECAP // STE HODGES REFLECTS ON THE SILVERSTONE 1000KM

Every year, on the second weekend of September at Silverstone, something great happens, something truly fantastic, I look forward to it every year, like a child awaiting Christmas. Every year, I try my utmost to make it to this event, its like a fine wine, it gets better with age. Upon arriving at Silverstone, I turn from a 19 year old Journalism student into a overly excited child, the smell of race fuel, burnt rubber, oil and hot exhaust instantly permeates the air as soon as I climb out of my car.

Then you can hear it in the distance, a car leaves the pits, its only quiet, the car warming up, then, on the fast other side of the circuit, the car gets on the loud pedal, the quiet turns into a vicious, spine tingling bellow. You hear the bellow get louder and louder, from the Abbey chicane viewing terrace, the source of the noise can be seen on the other side of the track, headlights ablaze rounding Stowe corner, the noise becomes more like spinal tap, it goes all the way to 11, the car howls’ out of Stowe, you lose sight just for a second as the car dives downhill into Club, you can hear the crackle and pop of unburnt fuel exploding in the exhaust system.

The car comes back into sight and I can now see what it is, a Zytek LMP2 prototype, now the car is accelerating hard out of Club corner, the razor like sound of V8 and induction building and building as the car bang’s through the gears, the car scream’s past in a deafening flurry of noise and colour, then onto the brakes for Abbey chicane, the orchestra of the V8 now accompanied by a series of deafening crackles and pop’s. This is Le Mans Series and from a Sports Car Fan’s point of view, this is the best time of year, as its my only chance to get to see the LMP and GT car’s going at it during the year... [read more]

Le Mans Series is a truly awesome championship, there is so much variety that everyone will be happy, the Blood and Thunder of the Corvette C6R and Saleen S7R’s, the sophistication of the Aston Martin Prototype’s with their Hollow V12 howl, the yobbish chattering of turbo charged AER Mazda 4 cylinder engine’s and the scream of Ferrari V8, as I said, there is something for everyone.

The racing is fast and furious as well, the fast LMP1 prototypes are spectacular, changing direction like a house fly that’s had one too many Prozac, the same goes for the smaller lighter LMP2 car’s, the GT car’s lumber round a bit more, but they slip and slide on the limit, 4 wheel drifting through the corner’s almost and squatting and squirming under braking, the GT car’s really are old school race cars, loud, fast, lairy and they always entertain. 

Then, we come to Silverstone, home of British Motorsport, host of the British Grand Prix for quite a while now and from next year onwards, the new home of the British round of Moto GP, a brilliant mix of fast sweeping corner’s, slow tricky complexes and a few medium speed corner’s as well.

There are many places to watch the action from as well, but the more savvy fan will know to use the inside of the circuit, the international straight, national straight and the inside of the hangar straight provide better viewing, being closer to the action and also having less fencing in the way as well (A feature which you will hear many a amateur photographer and seasoned fans complain about.)

So, Brilliant cars, close frantic racing over around 6 hours and a great racing track to boot, an amazing weekend, and this year was a belter. Coming into the final round of the championship, the Aston Martin Lola #007 of Tomas Enge, Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz  leads the championship, the #17 Pescarolo of Jean Christophe-Bouillon lies second in the championship after a win in the Algarve but bad luck forced the team into retirement at the Nurburgring 1000km, the championship is open in LMP1, however though, LMP2 has already been won by Quifel ASM, a last minute withdraw from Racing Box handed the LMP2 title to the Portuguese team who are long overdue an LMS title win.

GT1 has already been won at the Nurburgring by the perennial Luc Alphand Adventures with their Corvette C6R. GT2 is a wide open battle between several teams, IMSA Matmut, Felbamayer Proton, JMW Motorsport.

LMP1 provided a fantastic battle, Jean Christophe Bouillon charged like a raging bull through the field, starting last and by the end of the first hour, he was leading the race, the Pescarolo boys must have been pretty damn proud of their car that day. The lead changed in class around 16 times over the course of the race in LMP1, eventually, It was Oreca who took a long overdue win, Speedy Team Sebah finished second and the #007 Aston Martin Lola finished in third place as well, at the same time clinching the Championship. 

In LMP2 the race was a hard one, third place eventually went to the OAK Racing Pescarolo Mazda while RML took a well deserved second place in class, RML have endured horrific luck all year and a good result at last at least means the team can end the year on a high note. The LMP2 win went to Speedy Team Sebah’s Lola Judd Coupe, the team ran a flawless race in both LMP1 and LMP2 and finished very well, congratulations are in order for Sebah. GT1 was a fierce race long battle between the Larbre Saleen, the Alphand Corvette and for Silverstone only, the Gigawave Aston Martin DBR9, eventually it was Gigawave who took the GT1 win, a fitting swansong for the outgoing GT1 car’s, they will be missed.

Finally to GT2, 3rd place went to IMSA Matmut, the heroic Patrick Pilet putting in one hell of a drive in the White blue and red Porsche. Second went to the Spyker of Tom Coronel and Jarek Janis, they easily raised the biggest cheer from the crowd’s at Silverstone and to see Spyker on the podium reminding me of why I love Sports Car Racing, a veritable David trouncing the Goliath’s, Its what separates Sports Car Racing from the rest of Motorsport in some ways. The win though went to JMW Motorsport, they missed out on the GT2 championship by a point, but Gimmi Bruni and Rob bell drove the wheels off their Ferrari F430 GT2 and took the win. 

So, there is you’re Silverstone 1000km, The 2009 Le Mans Series has provided us with a brilliant year of racing, get your self’s if possible to one of the race’s in 2010, it is a must for every Motorsport, Car fan out there, and all I will say is Roll on, the 2010 Le Mans Series!

--
For a look at more photos from the 2009 Silverstone 1000km, click here 

Photo/Editorial: Stephen Hodges