liathach

Yes! You're right! A nine foot Le Mans Scalextric with Audi R10, and Porsche RS Spyder is what the room needed!

Why on earth would I bring this to your attention? Well, it is the world's greatest motor race next weekend; the 24 Heures du Mans. Now, I'm no petrol head by any means. But I went to Le Mans last year as part of a friend's stag party. And it was just out of this world. Some of the most beautiful cars you've ever seen, hammering around the Circuit du Sarthe for 24 hours. But it wasn't just the race; it was the whole event. The journey there, the restaurants, the rallies.

For starters, we drove down to the Channel coast, and caught the ferry the next morning. This, believe it or not, was the car deck of our ferry.....



There are Jaguar D-Types, Aston Martin DB4s, every Porsche under the sun, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, TVRs, Morgans. Somewhere in there is the little MGB GT that one of the guys and I drove down in (when we managed to get it to start). We took the roof down to drive off the ferry, and drove into the heaviest downpour you can imagine! I spent the next half hour wiping the inside of the windscreen, as we tried not to steam up too much.

It is such a special event, and there is none of the bureaucratic officiousness that you get at British events, queueing for hours while the police and stewards direct you into some field miles from the fun. No, you just park on the motorway, jump down the embankment before a gendarme spots you, and walk in the entrance 100 yards away.

We spent the morning before the race at a car rally in Saint Saturnin where they choose a different marque to display each year. 2008 was Ferrari! And it was followed by a massive rally from the local Harley Davidson group who head the drivers' parade through the town each year.

And that moment at 3pm, when the tricolor is waved to start the race, and you watch as fifty odd cars roar through the Dunlop Bridge and down the curves towards you. A race for the most beautiful of cars. In the GT1 class, the Aston Martin DBR9s up against the Corvettes (God, the noise they make!). The Audi and Peugeot diesels dominating the LMP1 class, whispering by compared to the roar of the petrol engines. The night racing, when they actually go faster as the air cools, hammering down the Mulsanne Straight at 210mph at midnight. The legendary cars of the past, like the Ford GT40, and the stunning Porsche 917, which prompted the insertion of two chicanes in the Mulsanne, when it started exceeding 240mph in 1971, down the 3km run.

By midday, the next day, the cars are filthy, their engines shot (you can hear such a difference!), and you are suffering a little after a heavy night on the town! But nothing compared to the drivers. Can you imagine, although you have had some time out of the car, you haven't slept, And you still have to put in a stint twice as long as a F1 driver, at greater speeds? These guys are amazing.

We finished off our trip last year in a restaurant in a 500 year old water mill, drinking good wine and brandy, and eating some of the best food I've ever tasted. My driver insisted on driving the whole 600 miles home with the roof down. I didn't know what I would die of first - hypothermia or sunstroke.

I can't afford the trip this year, but next year we will be polishing up the Audi TT till it gleams, and driving the 600 miles to Le Mans to introduce my wife and daughter to one of the greatest events of the year.




and a tribute to arguably the most beautiful car ever built....