Liz Halliday: woman on the move at Le Mans

FARNHAM, SURREY, United Kingdom (Retrospectively via telephone) – In the 75 years that Le Mans has been running as a 24 hour race, the best finish by a woman has been a fourth place by Frenchwoman Odette Siko in 1932. Californian Liz Halliday, the only woman to drive in the 75th running of the 24 Hours of Le Man version of the aims to change that. She wants to win it all.
Lofty goals – but then when you hear Liz talk about here two passions driving fast cars and riding big horses (she is also attempting to qualify to the US Olympic Equestrian team) – one gets the impression that she might just be the woman to break through.
Halliday, 29, a Californian who now lives in United Kingdom says, “I like a purpose-built car,” referring to the Courage LMP2 car that she drove this year at Le Mans.
“I like a fast car – the faster the better. I like the open cockpit and being out in the air it seems to give me a better feel for the car,” she said.
Halliday is the 49th woman to challenge the track at de Sarthe and to date, she has been a bit snake bit with only one finish. In 2005 the car gave out and she got a DNF or in the French of Le Mans, an abandonment.
Last year, saying that the team struggled would be like saying that President’s Bushs approval ratings have dipped a little in the past two years.
“I think that we had something like 42 pit stops with problems from lap two on. The team really deserved a podium for as hard as it worked – but you don’t get a podium for fourth place in your class and 19th overall,” Halliday said.

This year she left Team Modena, with whom she had driven for two racces this season in the Le Mans series, and wound up with the Noel Del Bello team driving a Courage chassis for Circuit de la Sarthe. Driving with Vitaly Petrov, of Russia, and Romain Ianetta of France, the team had high hopes entering the event.

In qualifying the team did not see a lap in dry weather which Liz noted was a bit of a disadvantage for them when it came to race day; Her lap times in qualifying were quite respectable -- though with a wet track the times really don't mean a great deal.

In the race the team led their class during the first 12 hours only to have a gearbox failure snuff any chances for a podium finish let alone a class victory.

Ms. Halliday understands the history of the race and Le Mans becomes a highlight of her season each year simply because of that history and because the track demands so much from each driver.

"You can not compare Le Mans to any other event in the world. The track is very long (nearly eight and a half miles long) and outside of the Nurburgring it has the longest straightaway in the world. And then there is the history -- each year I have been able to compete here I find myself at sometime during the week thinking about all that history and saying to myself 'Wow! I'm here.'"

However, the secret to winning at Le Mans sometimes goes beyond sheer talent. There is an old racing addage that goes "Cubic dollars beats cubic horsepower" -- and in the end, particularly for an endurance race like Le Mans a bigger budget equates to a greater chance for drivers to use their talents to earn success on the track.

"Audi and Porsche are spending tons of money -- so one of the keys is to find more sponsors to be able to complete on a more level playing field, Ms. Halliday noted. "More sponsors helps the entire team -- it gives us more track time during practice and it allows a better cushion if something breaks on the car," she said.

There is 75 years of history behind her; 49 women drivers -- some of them with great racing history (such as Lynn St. James (two starts, no finishes), Vanina Ickx (three starts, best finish of 16th) and Annie -Charlotte Verney (who with 10 starts has the most of any woman at Le Mans but only a sixth place finish in 1981 as her best), but possible in Liz Halliday the Circuit de la Sarthe has met its match.

Time will tell.

Laurent Charniaux: shooter extraordinaire

North Bend, WA -- One of the great things about an event like the 24 Hours of Le Mans is, like the Olympics, it brings you in contact with many different people, and many different cultures. You can not help but leave an event like Le Mans without having a changed perspective.

One of the treats for me at Le Mans was having Laurent Charniaux sit next to Joe and I in the press room. In our short stay at Le Mans, our view of the world was changed in many ways -- but one of the best things was getting to know this photographer.

We did not know each other from Adam when I arrived Thursday morning. Laurent is a handsome Frenchman (actually he may be Belgian, so I hope that he is not offended by being called French like Hercule Poirot) with clear eyes and a ready smile. He is tall and lithe and when dressed for the track (at left) it would be easy to mistake him for a driver, except for the load of cameras he is carrying.

He is also a heck of a race photographer. I have worked with and around some really wonderful photographers in my time on this earth -- all very talented. However, it was really amazing to see the work that he created at Le Mans. The challenge of covering Le Mans is that it is a week long event -- with the race lasting 24 hours -- and if you are really going to cover the event, there is not a great deal of time to rest during those final 24 hours. To cover this event requires the endurance of a marathon runner as well as the soul of an artist. Laurent has both

Laurent lives in Avignon, France and spends around a third of year chasing a variety of racing events -- mostly on the high profile Formula One Circuit. As this story is being posted, Laurent is in Budapest, Hungary covering the latest race for that series. Over the last month he has been gracious enough to take time from his schedule during the hectic Formula One schedule to answer the following questions. Here is a view of the world of photography and in particularly race photography from a veteran in the business:

In taking a peek of the images that you produced at Le Mans, I see a definite passion in your work. I am wondering if this passion is a passion for the cars or a passion for photography?It’s a passion for both cars and photography.
To be honest I was first a big fan of motor sports as I was karting driver in Belgium and also drove in the Benelux championship when I was 16 to 20 years old. When I understood I was not good enough to be a driver, I decided to stay in this “world” and I decided to learn photography because it was my other passion for years and years.

Tell me how your life’s journey led you to the field of photography. If you were not a photographer, what would you be doing?

I have never thought about that before, I love photography and I don’t want to do something else.

What is it about photography that makes you so passionate about it?

I don’t know exactly; I like to think I keep for eternity a moment that exists for a tenth of a second. It’s like fixing the time. It’s great to see something nice and keep it forever.

Do you have formal training in photography or did you learn like many – from just doing? Do you have other educational background (college or university?)

I learned photography in a art school in Brussels but I stopped one year before the end because somebody offered me a job. Then I started to work as photographer full time.

Did your time in college result in a degree? If so in what subject? It does not really matter except that students need to know that while there is an advantage to having a degree, if they have the passion, the will, and the drive, they don’t necessarily need a degree to be a photographer. For example Henri Cartier-Bresson studied formal art (painting and sculpture) before turning to photography. His background in art I am sure helped him as a photographer – but even without it I think he would have become a great photographer because of the person that he was.

It’s difficult to know, but from my point of view I think doesn’t mater what kind of study we did. If a student becomes an “arty” photographer maybe it’s helpful to have a formal art study as Henri Cartier-Bresson. But I’ve other examples, may be you know Jan Arthus Bertrand who is a fantastic photographer. He makes very famous books as “The Earth from the Sky”. This guy is a very talented photographer and he never studied photography, art, or something like that He just learned everything by himself. I think the most important way to become a photographer is to love photography.

As you have developed your style as a photographer was there another who served as a mentor for you? If so, can you tell me about how you met this person and how your relationship with this person worked?
I developed my style by myself. I’m developing it just to try to do different pictures of the others guys. For example on a race track I try to never go in a place where other photographers go. (Editor's Note: At Le Man, access to the track is controlled by the issuance of both a press credential and a colored vest or dickie that photographers are required to wear. Pink is general access to the track and Yellow is access to the pit area, where you must also wear a driver type fire suit. At left is a hole cut in the fence trackside where photographers are stacked up; it is a place where you will seldom find Laurent.) But I had a mentor too who taught me everything about digital photography. He was one of the leaders on Moto gp circuit in the eighties; his name is Yves Jamotte. I worked for him during years doing F1, Moto GP and Superbike. One day he saw my F1 pictures in some magazines and phoned me to offer me a job. At this time it was the beginning of the digital photography era and he was one of the first to believe in this new technology. I didn’t know anything about digital and he explained everything to me. Some years ago he died but I’m always thinking about him when I’m editing my pictures. (At right, Laurent checks the map of the track at Le Mans in preparation of his next on-track session.)

It seems to me that having a strong background in film photography is an advantage when you switch to digital. Do you agree? Was it an easy transition for you?

I think you are right and I agree with you. The basic and most important thing in photography is how to use the light. Using film or transparencies is a fantastic way to learn the uses of light because you have no way to right the error. (At left, Laurent downloading images in the press room.) If you under expose or over expose your images, your work goes straight to the bin. A lot of people tell me I’ve some different pictures because “my” light is different; I’m sure it’s because I used films for many years. Photographers who never used film think with digital we don’t need to pay attention to the setting of the cameras and exposure because they work on their pictures with Photoshop and they think Photoshop can correct everything -- but it’s not true. Even in digital photography you must take care to light each picture properly. I’m one of the last photographers in F1 to use a light meter and I’m sure it’s good because even in digital if you make a mistake with the exposure it’s not so easy to correct it. Your pictures must be good without any Photoshop correction.
It was not so easy to make digital photographs in the beginning. It’s not really different when you make pictures but the work after an event is completely different. In the past after an event you processed and sent the transparencies and job was done. Now with digital the most important thing to selling your images is speed. Not after the event but sometimes just after we made some images (at right Laurent is working with a client on images that he had just downloaded from the race), especially if it’s some important pictures or photos of something that we have exclusively -- then we need to send them to a potential client very very quickly. Then you must be good using computer, using internet site ... It’s no longer just a photographer's job, it’s a data processing job as well. Sometimes you don’t have time to concentrate on making a nice pictures and that’s not so good but that’s the way it is with modern time, everything must be fast.

Do you have other photographers (or other artists) whose vision you admire; perhaps who may inspire you to look at things differently?In motor sports I’m a big fan of French photographer Bernard Asset who started in F1 photography at the end of the seventies. He was one of the first to shoot with very low speed and his pictures still look great 30 years later. He’s still doing F1 photography working for Renault Team and he’s a big friend of mine (he was at le Mans sitting close to us). To be honest it’s difficult for him now because of the switch to digital photography. I’m also a big fan of Jan Artus Bertrand as well who is one of the most talented wild life photographers today.

In our brief time together at Le Mans, you mentioned that you normally are covering Formula One and that this was the first time in seven years (I think) that you had missed the US event at Indianapolis. How do you cope with all the traveling? Between jet lag, taking care of clients, and just staying sane – how do you do it?

It’s not so difficult because I do only F1 and some big events such as Le Mans, Indy 500 and some World Rally Championship events (WRC). It’s maybe 20 to 22 events in one year then I’m really often at home. Between F1 GP I’ve about ten days to take care of the clients and my family. About Jet lag, after ten years of travel I’ve no problem about it, it’s usual for me. When I’m traveling I try to be cool and relax and enjoy free times in plane to read and listening music.

That kind of segways into the whole issue of family and such. I assume that you are single – but either way with this kind of a travel schedule how do you manage a social life, whether it is with your family or just hanging out with friends. What do you do for a hobby to get away from making pictures?

Once again between F1 GP events I’ve a lot of time to meet my friends, family, and spend time with my girlfriend. My girlfriend and me are living together for two years now and we are thinking about getting married.

It appears to me that Le Mans is a one-of-a-kind event with respect to the commitment that it takes for coverage. How much time did you take off the following week to recover?

Le mans it’s a difficult event because you work one week with hard schedule but after one day cooling out at home enjoying free time I was ready to start a new job.

Covering car racing is pretty cool – I mean how many people would love to get paid to attend the greatest racing events in the world – but from a business perspective do you find that you have to have other areas of commercial work to sustain your business financially? If so, what other areas of photography do you work in? Is there an area where you are experimenting and want to try commercially?

To be honest, in the beginning it was hard. When you start in this world, I mean motor racing pictures, it’s not so easy to get clients and photographers in the place don’t like to see a new guy arrive in the business. I need about five to six years to earn “good money.” Now, I’m quite lucky because I get some good deals, I work with a very good agency and I’ve a “name”. People know my work and my style it’s easier to get work. Now people call me to offer me some shooting assignments when some years ago I phoned them to try to get work.

Do you have a favorite image or series of images that you have made? Tell us why they are memorable to you?

I’ve some, often I like a picture because it’s technically a difficult shot and I succeeded. I like as well a picture that means something important. Example I’ve some very nice shots of Alonso when he won his first Formula One Championship in Brazil two years ago. I was in a different place than the other photographers when he came back to the pits after the race. He climbed on his car, removed his helmet in a terrific silent moment and he looked in front of him to me and began to shout. These pictures are mega because I’m the only one to get them; they mean something to me that is as important as news pictures and it’s great to see the determination and the pride in his eyes. Other example I’m very proud of are some pictures I made of Raikkonen overtaking Fisichella on the very last lap of the Japanese GP in 2005. I was the only one there, the light was incredible because it was end of the day light in Asia; we can see the two cars side by side in the light with a great black background. Once again I like these pictures because I’m the only one to get them and it was “the moment” of this race.

One of the things that many people do not understand about photography is the commitment to equipment that is required; while it is true that photographers make pictures and the camera is just along to facilitate the vision of the photographer – what equipment do you use. How did you choose the equipment that you use? What do you typically take with you to an event? How is flying with equipment these days?
I use Canon because for me it’s the best equipment at the moment. I think Nikon is quite close to Canon but Canon is leading in terms of quality and digital bodies. In an event I use two bodies (Mark II and a new Mark III), some lenses: 15mm, 16 to 35mm, 70 to 200mm, 300mm and a 500mm. For traveling I’ve no problem for the moment, I take as carry-on luggage my bodies, some lenses and my Mac.

Have you ever missed “the shot” that you needed to get?

Yes of course it happened but not these last years. I missed some shots when I worked for Yves Jamotte at the bike races. At this time I had no experience and I had to make pictures both in digital and film. It was very difficult. Some clients wanted some pics on digital and others on film, you can imagine how difficult it was. Of course sometimes I missed an important moment during race. But I have learned so much since then; Yves was a very nice guy for the most part, but work was work and when I missed some pics he was very angry with me. Now with the experience, it’s very rare when I miss a shot when I’m in place. It’s really motivating to get something that the other photographers miss; that’s when I know that I’m really concentrating on my work. (Editors note: At the race in Germany this year, just after the start of the race, there was a virtual downpour of rain. Laurent noted of his experience there: "I hope the race [in Hungary] will be more dry than Germany... But it was a fantastic race, my pictures were not too bad but I didn’t make the good choice (for location) and I was not in the good spot but as you know it’s impossible to make the good choice on every race.")

How do you market yourself? I see that you are representing by the prestigious Image Bank organization. How did that relationship come about and what other things do you do to continue to find new clients and keep old clients? Have you ever been “burned” by a client – if so can you tell us the particulars and the resolution? Any advice to folks to keep from having a problem business wise?

For the moment I have been able to keep my clients; but I also cross my fingers. Now I’ve some “long term” clients that I keep for myself and the agency I work for manages all the new clients and all the business part of my work; I get part of the money they sell in addition of my monthly fee.

How have you developed your relationship with race sites? I ask this because getting access to the course and the pits is critical for you to do your job and many sites are unwilling to give an unknown freelancer that opportunity to make pictures without an assignment.

Once again it was hard at the beginning but when press people of tracks and teams begin to know you, and they know you are serious, and photography is a real business for you, then life becomes a little easier; normally I do not have anymore big troubles getting a pass.

I would assume that you have assignments to cover these events from either magazines or teams? Do you ever cover a race without an assignment prior to getting to the event?

Yes but when I was young and rookie in the job I went to events without a pass and sometimes only with a spectator ticket. I tried to make pictures from the grandstands or paddock. It was good fun because I had no pressure.

Do you make pictures of other subjects just for your pleasure? If so what are the subjects?

The part of France where I’m living (Avignon), is one of the beautiful parts of the world. I really like to make pictures there. When I’m traveling I always carry a body and a 50mm. I really like to walk in a foreign city making pictures.

Do you have a favorite venue (track or event)? What is it and why do you like it?

I like some F1 events such as the Belgian GP, the Japanese GP, the Monaco GP, the British GP, and the Italian GP. I like old tracks, where there is a history. I really love the Le Mans 24 Hour race and some WRC such as Monte-Carlo, once again because there is a fantastic history on these events.

I think that one of the things about racing is that after going to the same race for five or six years it is easy for the track to become too familiar; How do you keep your approach to tracks and events that you have covered each year for several years fresh? Do you find that difficult?

To be honest it’s very difficult sometimes to find new spots. That’s why I try to go where I’m alone because for sure it will be able to make a different shot; but sometime it’s different but a crappy shot. Or sometimes I go to some places with different lenses and then you make different shots. For some tracks it’s very difficult to find new angles -- but not impossible; For example: the track in Barcelona is the track I have shot at regularly because teams do a great deal of winter testing there. All the teams spend so much time there testing new cars and new drivers during the winter. I cannot see this track anymore now, but last winter I stopped at a corner that normally I’ll never stop at in the the years before -- and I found some really nice spots especially at the end of the day when the light was nice. A lot of people asked me where it was because they never saw these shots before in Barcelona. To be honest I was very happy with these images.

I am sure that if you are somewhat close to the various teams you get to meet owners, crew chiefs, and drivers. Do you have to distance yourself from these folks since you are covering these folks journalistically or have you become friends with some of the drivers? (maybe at the F-1 level this does not happen.) Does this affect your coverage of events?

It’s really difficult to be “real” friend with a driver. For example for the moment in F1 I was working in the sport before 19 of the drivers were even in F1. When I made pictures of them in Formula Renault, Formula 3 and GP2 all these guys were really nice, funny and I had so much fun with them at parties and restaurants; but when they are in F1 everything is different. They have so much pressure, they become “stars” and then the relationship is very different. During winter testing it’s more relaxed and sometimes you have some nice chat with a driver but that’s it. To be honest I think it’s better like this.

What background do you have in business? Most photographers that I know have always had “the eye” but most struggled to make photography in a business. How do you deal with these issues?

If you really want to make a business with your passion it’s possible. I know it looks not so easy but it’s true. So many times when I started I was close to stopping and thinking about doing something else -- but I have always believed in me and in my opportunity -- and now I make good money with my passion. It’s great!

But has it been difficult for you to combine the passion of your art with being a good businessman. It would be great if we were all wealthy and could just make pictures for the sheer joy of the process. But at the end of the day, we have to pay for rent like everyone else? Is there any hints that you give to photographers starting out about being good businessmen and women?

Difficult question. It’s not easy to be a good businessman and to be honest I’m afraid I’m not a very good one. Of course I’m able to sell my pictures and I’m able to contact the right people with teams, tracks, and publications. Now Today it’s more easy because people know me. But as every job, you must learn how it works. At the beginning I was afraid to contact people and show what I’ve done during my reportage but as you said at the end of the month you must pay your travel costs, your apartment, your car. Then you’ve no choice you must do it. When you are obliged to do it, you learn quickly.
My most important problem was, when I was starting as photographer, I never had the feeling I had a "real job” and that’s not good. In the beginning, money was not my priority. I was happy to be at Monaco, Indianapolis or Le Mans and I didn’t think about the sales. I just enjoyed the moment. Very quickly when bills arrive you come back to reality. I learned a lot since these times and now I go to an event only if I’m sure of the sales my pictures or if somebody has offered me good job at this event. For sure sometimes business is more important than the fun, but that’s the way it is.

How important are good people skills to you as a photographer? By that I mean that you have deal with people with regularity – other photographers, media people, team managers, track media, and of course track guards. It’s very important to work with people who know their job well; In Formula One all the photographers who get a permanent pass for the year, know the job and the way it works and there is no problem. We have sometimes problem with photographer who covers a single event because he doesn’t know the rules and how it works and very often you miss a shot because the guy suddenly stands in front of you. I can understand when you arrive in a foreign “world” as Formula One sometime is -- it’s not easy to understand everything quickly, it can happen.
Press officers are very important in my job. When you work with a team, a sponsor, or a driver, you need to be in good relation with them. For example the team’s press officer is able to give you the opportunity to go to the box with the team and the driver to shoot something special. He must understand what you need and how to help you. There are some really professional PR people, in which every request is understood and we have no problem to complete the job; unfortunately sometimes you have some bad PR people and then everything is so difficult that you become crazy. If the guy decides not help you, it’s very difficult to get what you need and after that you must explain to the client you don’t have the shot he wants but you know the client doesn’t care about the reason.
Sometimes even some journalists don’t understand how difficult is it to get some shots. One day one of them asked me to make some technical shots of the McLaren. Body works, front wing, rear wings are not the problem but he ask me some pictures of the gear box, engine, suspension. It’s just impossible because all these parts are really protected by the team as top secret parts. The journalist never understood why I was unable to give him the shots. He was new in F1, he came from Formula 3 where everything it’s possible and thought it was the same in F1.

If someone was starting out in photography today (after say two years in school studying photography) what advice would you give to them?

He or she MUST believe everything is possible and he can do it; but he must also be ready to have bad times too. The most important thing in this business is to get a “name”. Then he must try to make different shots using different lenses, going to different places and taking a risk.
I remember my friend Yves Jamotte (the photographer I talked about before) explained to me some years ago: “If you really want to make good money in this fucking crazy job, you must do everything to stay in the business; you must be good at each event you cover, you must be fair with all the other photographers and clients, and you must be patient because it’ll take about ten years to achieve your goal. “
He told me that in 1998 and he was right. Just one thought he forgot to tell me and I would like to add, you must take a lot of pleasure when you work, you must enjoy looking for new shots, you must enjoy photography.

You'd think that Kodak would be the sponsor

North Bend, WA -- One of the amazing things about the race at Le Mans is the number of cameras that attend the event -- and I am talking about fans not the media. It doesn't matter where you go on the track there are fans with cameras.

Sure, a goodly number of them have some sort of digital snapshot camera -- but you would be surprised how many folks are carrying around high end digital cameras -- Nikons and Canons with the latest and greatest in lenses as the above picture, made from the top of the front straight away grand stand shows.

Classes at Le Mans

North Bend, WA -- They say you can't tell a horse without a program -- and the same is true at The 24 Hours of Le Mans, where there are four classes of cars and nearly 50 cars screaming around the 8.48 mile track. So while this should have been one of the first articles, let's look at the classes, what constitutes each class and the winners at the 75th running of this famous race.

There are four main classes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans designated by the following:

LMP1: LMP stands for Le Mans Prototype 1. These cars are among the most expensive race cars in the world, behind only those on the Formula One circuit. (Note: At left you see the Peugeot LMP1) They are sophisticated tigers of speed with the latest in technology (meaning aerodynamics to help them stick to the road) that allow them to attack the famed Circuit De Sarthe. They must weight a minimum of 1982 pounds (that 925 kilograms in euro-speak) and can be powered by several different flavors of engines, including 6,000 cc for naturally aspirated, 4,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines, and 5,500 cc for supercharged or turbocharged diesel engines. This is the class where the fastest cars and normally the overall winners are found, given their larger engines and the ability to use all of that horsepower on this long course. These cars with their specially built chassis, and bodies that look pretty zoomy and turn laps that average over 160 mph for a lap. The bodies can either be open cockpit like the Audis or closed cockpit like Peugeots (though this will change in 2010 where all cars are mandated to be closed cockpit designs.)This year is was basically a race between Audi and Peugeot and although the Peugeot set the fast time in qualifying, when the white flag dropped and the race started, the Audi dominanted the Peugeots (more on that later.)

LMP2: This is the little brother to the LPM1 -- Le Mans Prototype 2 is lighter with smaller engines; Minimum weight is 1652 pounds (or 675 kilograms) and the displacement for the engines is 3400 cc for naturally aspirated engines, 2,000 cc for supercharged or turbocharged engines. While the LMP1 may run engines with any number of cylinders, the LMP2 can run a maximum of eight cylinders. As you can see from the picture at the left, unless you know what to look for it is difficult to to tell a LMP2 from a LMP1 just by looking at the car. So make sure you get a program first thing. While on the Le Mans course where horsepower is at a premium and the LMP1 cars tend to dominate, on shorter and tighter tracks where handling is as important as speed, LMP2 cars have been known to win these events.

Winner of LMP2 class in 2007 was the Pescarolo Sport team that was just a lap behind the Peugeot when the checkered flag dropped. It would have been interesting to see if the Pescarolo team could have overcome the Peugeot team has there been better weather at the end of the race.

GT1: GT Stands for Grand Touring (from the Italian Grand Tourisimo) and basically is a car that is based on production car, meaning that the car must be street legal when it comes from the manufacturer. (At left is the Aston Martin factory car that was driven in part by David Brabham.) It also must have at least two doors that are functional. GT1 rules are for cars that are produced at the rate of one car a month. For normally aspirated engines these cars can have a maximum of 8,000 cc and for supercharged or turbocharged engines the engines can be a maximum of 4,000 cc. Eight for the cars depends on the engine used but is normally between 1125 and 1325 kilograms (in American that would be between 2475 pounds and 2915 pounds.)

The winner of the GT1 class as in fact the very car pictured here, the Aston Martin 009, that finished with 343 laps. The Corvette was second in the class, a lap down to the Aston Martin with no chance of catching up at the end due to the caution flag that was flown during a portion of the last laps of the race.

GT2: This class of cars is for larger manufacturers and the production run rate is a minimum of one car a week. To be honest I am not really sure the difference between GT1 and GT2 -- but it appears to be how big the car manufacturer of the vehicle is; there is nothing that really spells it out, although I am sure that the ACO thinks the rules are quite clear. At left is the Ferrari F 430 which according the program is a GT2 car. Other GT2 cars are the Porsche 911, and the Panoz Esperante.

This class was won by a Porsche 911, number 76, that completed 320 laps. At left is the winner racing down the front straight with the Audi LMP1 car. The car was driving by Frenchman Raymond Narac, an Austrian, Richard Lietz, and an American, Patrick Long. It was the first win for all three drivers.

French cuisine: the good, the bad, and the baguette

North Bend, WA -- Race track food, even in France, is still race track food. That means it is overpriced (though truth to tell the beef brochette and green beans at American Power Boat Association Nationals in Kankakee, Il is to pretty tasty and at $10 or so, is priced right), under portioned, and cholesterol high.

At the race track in Le Mans, it was pretty much standard race fare -- though the names change with the geography. You can find a pretty wide variety but the pricing hits the top of the scale and in all honesty I did not have the time nor the Euros to try many of the meals at the various food courts around the track.

But you could get your share of American food in France, with offers of Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and as you can see here, Barbecue Ribs. And from a pricing perspective it is probably high because the race track will get its cut too. Of course there are typical French meals available too, including the all-purpose French Dip. Then again for some crew members there was no meal at all, just a cigarette in the wee hours of the morning to tide them over til they could take time and have a real sit-down meal.

Meals at our bed and breakfast were interesting too; They too focused on the ubiquitous baguette, on which we spread butter and a variety of jams and jellies. For Joe and I the surprise was coffee -- on the table were large bowls that looked like cereal bowls, but in which they served the morning coffee. As they say, "When if France, do like the French." So we did.

During the race we ate predominately ham and cheese (Swiss Cheese of course) sandwiches in which the bread was -- but what else -- baguette. We got these from a little stand on the fourth floor of the press building and usually washed them down with a Coke. Joe thought that formula for Coke in France was different but I really could not taste any difference -- though my heavy Coke-drinking days are for the most part behind me.

Of course the race at Le Mans is where champagne was first squirted over media and fans from the victory podium, thus creating a tradition that is seen regularly from podiums around the world. And at the food stand on the fourth floor, there was an option for champagne.

I think during the 2-4 am period, Joe tried to mainline Espresso from the machine in the press room but even that did not help him to stay awake between jet lag and an early arrival to the press box.

One of the interesting things to me, having been to events at all levels, is the fact that there was no "free lunch" for the media at the race. Normally at Daytona for example, or at a major league ball game of any variety in the states, there is some sort of a buffet for folks to snack on. At Le Mans you are "seul (sans compagnie)" -- on your own.

It was very nice of our hosts at the B&B to feed us a little supper Sunday evening when we got back to their place after the race.

A couple of other notes on the French food. Monday morning at the train station, we ordered waffles -- that is something that you expect to be French-delicious -- but these were really not what we expected. These were cold and filled with something that tasted like whipped creme. We were of course expecting hot waffles with maple syrup. Probably one of the worst meals on the trip. You can tell by Joe's expression that this is not a meal that he is excited about. In fact he just had a couple of bites and said "Forget this." I scarfed mine down (something about millions of Chinese children starving that would not allow me to not clean my plate.) But it was not very good.

Joe and I had a most excellent meal at Paris -- Chateaubriand which capped off a nice walk from the Arc 'd Triumph to the Eiffel Tower to our restaurant. So it was not a total loss.

However, the worst meal of the trip was one that I did not eat, but which I witnessed. It was raw hamburger with a raw egg yoke on top (at right.) The person eating this meal then poured catsup over the top and mixed it all together. He scarfed it down like it was filet mignon.

As they say "C'est la vie" -- that's life (in France.)

But if you don't mind, let's hold the baguette for the near future!

What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday

North Bend, WA -- It is a true saying -- "What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday." As represented by the French daily sports newspaper L'EQUIPE -- which I think means "The Team" (though my french is less than rusty) you can see that both Audi and Peugeot were winners in the european press.

On the way to Paris on Monday we found a used version of L'EQUIPE and its coverage of motorsports was pretty impressive (considering most newspapers in the US give lip service at best to motorsports) -- it is enough to consider learning French. The cover of the Monday morning edition of L'EQUIPE featured British Formula one star Richard Hamilton winning the GP at Indianapolis with the headline "ROI DES AMERIQUES" which mean King of America if I have my translation right. Next to that headline is a photo of the winning Audi team with the headline "LE MANS RESTE LE JARDIN D'AUDI which means something like Le Man is the garden of Audi. This will give you a little insight into the importance that the European press gives to the Formula One circuit and the respect that the event in Le Mans als has.

The inside coverage of motorsports for the previous Sunday was a treasure trove on articles and advertisements that was very interesting. Consider the fact that the Audi's basically had their way with the pole-setting Peugot's and had it not been for a couple of out-of character incidents during the race the Audis would have been one, two, three in the race with ease. Of course that is why you race -- but in the end the Audi had a 10 lap lead on the Peugeot, which it appears was lucky to finish.

Coverage of the event was in two stories, the first of which was headlined with a picture of the Audi splashing to victory in the rain with the headline "Audi vainc, Peugeot convainc" which again roughly translated means Audi defeats, Peugeot convinces. Accurate and interesting. That the Peugeot team hung in there for the 24 hours put significant pressure on the Audi team, particularly given the fact they were down to one car and had to be thinking "What else can happen?"

A second story was focused on the Peugeot team -- and rightfully so -- this is a French newspaper published for the French fan and Peugeot is a French car maker. The headline here was "Mieux qu'un coup d'essai" which I have no idea how to translate -- something like "Better in the trial than the race" referring to qualifying in the pole position I guess. Below this story there is also a half page add for Bosch featuring the Peugeot car from Le Mans. This partifcular advertisement focused on Bosch and was certainly nice for Peugeot -- given the fact that Bosch is a German company.

There was also inside coverage from the Formula One race and an add touting Michelin's 10 consecutive win at Le Mans -- nice but since they supply 95 percent of the tires there, not surprising.

However, the treat of the day was the full page back cover ad by Audi. It is a very dynamic image with two really nice touches -- first the headline -- which again my translation is not 100 percent accurate -- "C'est normal d'arriver premier quand on a un an d'avance". My translation is "That's normal to arrive first when you are year ahead" which I guess is a shot at Peugeot's three year plan. But the Coup de Grace is the photo -- if you look at the large version of the ad and check the rear view mirror of the Audi -- you will see the Peugeot.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

North Bend, WA -- One of the driving factors for visiting the 24 Hours of Le Mans came from our appreciation of the Steve McQueen movie of the 1970s by the name Le Mans, a film that features the race more than the actors. (Above, Joe in front of a map of the track on site.)

The opening sequence of the movie shows McQueen in a cherry Porsche driving through the French country side to the track. At one spot he stops and in the background one of the other characters of the movie is buying flowers. It is very romantic. I wondered if the romance of this movie was created by hollywood or if this French ambiance was still apparent.


Well the truth is, as someone more sage that I once said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

The actual French countryside has not changed that much over the years. While the city of Le Mans has grown up, the surrounding countryside has stayed in general the same. Sure there has been development -- but for the most part it is still the countryside of France.

One of the things is that the track has changed with the times. In the name of safety and comfort the track has been updated since the movie -- and for the most part this is a good thing. Our time at the race course was simply too short to really get an understanding of the entire layout.

However there are two very good web sites that will assist you with better understanding the track. The first is from Wikipedia and will give general information about the track call Circuit de la Sarthe. Additionally, another pretty cool way to understand that more than eight mile long track is to check out the Google Maps view of the track.

One of the appreciations of this track is that over the 75 years that they have raced here, it has remained true to its original idea of testing man and machine over a 24-hour period of time. While the track has changed, it is still, at more than eight miles in length, one of the great challenges of a race car driver and a race car in the world today.

As we were heading for Paris on the way home, we had already started thinking about returning next year. I noted that mayhaps we should consider another city track -- Monte Carlo for the Formula One race. Joe responded: "Well dad, that is four hours and this is 24 hours. Monte Carlo is two miles and this is more than eight. This is a better bang for the buck."

You can see the differences in the track and the area over the last 30-plus years at a very nice site with the headline Le Mans then and now. As you can see while the track has been updated, as has the local area, it is still a race through the French countryside.

We hope that never changes.