Editorial

For those at Le Mans expecting to see the winning Audis circulating like a couple of London taxis cruising Oxford Street for fares there was disappointment last weekend. No black smoke or rattley engines, just pulverising functionality that made the whole world wake up to the fact that a) diesels can be very fast, and b) economy really does matter as over 24 hours of hard racing he who stops the fewest number of times can make up time on an ostensibly faster competitor.

I think it was an earlier correspondent, Æsop, who raised the question of the relative performance of Hares and Tortoises but such comparisons would be unfair to Audi – they were that impressive.

Commiserations to Aston Martin Racing after providing the gripping contest of the race yet falling at one of the last fences. Better luck next time.

For those who have either never attended the race at all, or not been for a while, make a date in your diary for next year as the facilities have been considerably upgraded (there’s also a new motorway from Rouen that almost takes you to the door), and it’s a lot more civilised experience than in year’s past.

And of course just a few weeks separate us from another fix of round-the-clock racing at the famous circuit, with the Le Mans Classic event being held over the weekend 7 – 9 July. Full preview to come and I hope to meet as many Classic Drivers as I did last weekend at the ‘main event’.

Steve Wakefield Managing Editor sw@classicdriver.com