24hrs at Le Mans |The test of a Man

[Music] [Music] try not to worry about a race certainly going into the the biggest one of my career is a concern mostly because I don't know the track but to actually worry about the outcome is so mentally draining or energy consuming that my purpose in floating around Paris for a couple of days is to try and just get into neutral what makes the man's the greatest event in the world is the twice around the clock it's hard to explain to anybody what that's like it is a very very long day it becomes even longer when you have to anticipate the strains on the on the engine and the cars to achieve a finish after 24 hours that is the real crunch of laments it can be pretty big and he didn't already Allan Moffat winner of just about every major saloon car race in Australia is about to embark on an international career at the age of 39 he's starting his career at a stage when most racing drivers are thinking of quitting he's joined the team of Americans dick Barber and Bob Garretson and he's starting at the top at LeMond you're not planning to change this engine before the race [Music] that's great because it's always for mother it's like beginning all over again with the car the team and the track all unknown quantities his Porsche 935 turbo is capable of 230 miles an hour no don't take it about about doing a race we'll run it to about 6070 600 shifting you'll find that you don't have to go that far but you can't go up there just whatever feels worth whatever it feels like and I think the main essence is you know just to be smooth and consistent and you know if you're breaking a law for it there'll be a few others out there that will try and do that well the racing teams the first harrowing experience in fact takes place five days before the race begins each car has to pass stringent safety and mechanical checks before it's allowed on the track the tests are carried out in the large municipal car park in the center of Lamar itself which will be allowed to enter in the practice sessions are inspected we make sure because we make sure that the lines are okay in fact it's a complete inspection to make sure that the car are complying with the FIA regulations and with our own regulations with nearly 100 cars entered this year the technical inspection or scrutineering takes nearly two days of detailed examinations there are a few disappointments most teams are totally professional despite the large contingent of international teams few people have difficulty in making themselves understood motorsport it seems has a language muffets mentor dick barber is looking after three cars in this year's race all porch nine three fives as well as a stable of nine international drivers I'm glad to be do tech you know it's very difficult because all opponents are very serious about LeMond there's so many little things and the screwed meeting is very important because of you have any problems here can ruin the whole chances for your race [Music] we're gonna do one thing and that's where nothing else and we'll either be in the victory circle or there we have engines spread all over the earth afraid with scrutineering over the drivers are given their first opportunity to look at the track this time as civilians on Saturday afternoon the greatest endurance race in the world will start let's hope it's not in the rain the old Lemann start is over the drivers no longer run across the track into their cars it's a flying start and in today's supersonic f-111 type race cars everybody is well and truly strapped in and ready to go when the flag goes down flying start the opening lap of course can be very interesting and also be very dangerous everybody jockeying for position but in a 24-hour race most of the drivers have enough sense to realize that they're not going to win the race on the opening lap [Music] this is probably one of the more exciting parts of the trek a straightaway which is over three and a half miles long reach the top speed of 230 miles an hour driver here does have a take a chance to lift his neck lift his helmet back take a deep breath recharge his batteries a little bit glance down at the dashboard check pressures temperatures and I suppose if you can think about relaxing in a racecar this is where you can do it to a degree and from 230 miles an hour we pull this beautiful race car up in just on four hundred yards it's a dead right-hand corner our first gear corner fortunately have a nice escape Road if anything did go wrong a quick snap here these are delightful little parts of the circuit again 50 yard marker and the famous Arnage corner which again is a very tight extra tight right-hander would be a first gear corner this is one of the most unique parts of the track to me the most different it's a double chicane I've never seen anything like it in my life I left a tight right and just when you think you're ready to hit the hay again another one which takes you up onto the fabulous grandstand straight [Music] this is the site every driver would welcome in a four minute lap a little touch with reality pits are absolutely jammed the pit lanes are jammed grandstands are full it'd be tremendously exciting to drive up through here the date is June the 11th and the L'Amour 24-hour race is still three days off Allan Moffat like all the other drivers has begun his final build-up to what most people consider as the greatest endurance test on the international motor racing calendar 24 hours non-stop at an average speed bordering on 200 miles an hour the infamous European summer again lives up to its name day 1 of practice day 1 of rain come on does he have to drive the car right not necessarily rain or no rain the drivers have no option but to go out on the track to make the most of what limited time they have to practice Allan Moffat is no exception it's a moment of truth his first real drive at Lamar in a car faster than anything he's driven before and driving on a rain soundtrack okay pull the straps down of that yep okay yep I just start the motor while I get the put my gloves on this black belt tied in a box it's okay tighten up you're gonna start er there want me to start it you go ahead dr. Otto yep [Music] [Music] [Music] Rahzel have you get on the power to read wants to guard you give her the plow can see the oyx see the rainbows across the track the first day of practice is considered unofficial but the drivers still have to ten in good times to hopefully improve on the next day during official practice [Music] a good time on this 14 kilometer circuit is around 4 minutes and 10 seconds [Music] Muffit returns to the pits after three laps obviously at odds with both the car and the conditions his best lap time so far is a poor five and a half points it's ringing all over the place and I can't do anything it is getting better but then it gets better and the bloody rains together [Music] [Music] the unofficial and official practice days seem to merge into one the weather conditions are exactly the same Moffat must now improve his speed will relegate his car to the rear of the star so when you turning the corner to the front and then suddenly the bat cracks around and the wheels are all spinning and you're diving at the road and I see really great slides where as my car it's only got 330 horsepower and in the car well obviously X and Reinhart in the 936 of martini car they must be the opposition and a lot of good nine three fives but you know you can have the super preparation you can drive world you can do everything well and then you just got to have luck and you can't win a race like this without a lot of luck it's like Bathurst you've got to have a lot of luck to win [Music] the verse is exactly 2.5 a 2.25 another moment of truth Moffett knew he had to have cut at least a minute of his previous best lap times I keep going up buddy Pamela caught myself a race track [Music] I did get one good run [Music] Friday the day before race day over the next two days more than a quarter of a million people will invade this industrious country town about 200 kilometers southwest of Paris Friday is also the rest day for the drivers their last chance to relax before the grueling 24 hour marathon but the more you know it's and the more you get the car set up the time just comes I mean you probably think to yourself now there's a second or there's a second here but you you get out on that track and after an hour or after two hours you'll probably be going five seconds quicker six seconds quicker I mean so fast here isn't it those corners are so quick didn't notice me yeah it came in talking to himself the first time we took a drive in there we heard this this is a real race car I remember last year when I had been asleep for an hour and it went from darkness to daylight and I got in from my driving turn and I'm on my first lap and and the did signs that sinneth said good morning dick almost scratch the car lost concentration because I was laughing so hard if it's his car goes with our problems then he'll be difficult to beat but having said that I think we're going to run a little faster than the most of the nine three fives I think if we just hang back with all the nine three fives then it's gonna be just a matter of luck isn't it who wins we got a flying start this time is that you know how much of a flier is that compared to in fact it's a it really is a flier because the pace car it's normally a nine to eight Porsche and he'll probably do 150 miles an hour down the more sound yeah and everybody will just be going like hell to catch him effort so by the time he gets round to the pits the feels well strung out and by the time you come through the that she came before the pit he's just flat out from there well when I was at Daytona I had six guys pass me down the backstraight and I thought they wouldn't you know obviously they call it a false start well that baloney that was a long play where it go they watched the first three or four cars and that's it it's very unlikely that it would be a second time right on the page never never never so if you can steal a couple of places you go ahead and steal a couple places [Music] waste a arrives with all the razzamatazz of an American political convention yet it's typically French the clouds are here to see their champions and they'll not be disappointed with names such as Jacky Ickx John Fitzpatrick Rondo lofts Tom Ilan Daniel gaius environment [Music] no matter how much time there is before a race you always find work to do and keep busy and that's what they're doing right now just making check everything one more time and making sure it's pretty this trail of people even though there's only four people that are paid mechanics as you know on the team 18 people that are here we've been working together about six years on various ways part of somebody some of us go back getting along on that so but teamwork everybody knows what everybody else is going to do we sorry that the French team dropped one of their drivers take us off the pole but you know the pole doesn't mean much in this race won't start really racing for about 12 hours the main thing is to get through the first half and then you started worrying about it after that tell me baby them on exactly almost dusty dos jacarandás taken Fujiko many no race like this is so long so many other things come into play besides it's a driver's ability that you know it's a whole when somebody wins here it's not strictly a driver victory it's a victory for the car and for the mechanics and everything because I tell you to keep a car going 24 hours at high speed really comes impossible only time begins and with less than two hours before the start the barber team is prepared for a final briefing and their chief mechanic Jerry there's a belt guard for where the type of injection belt goes take that off there's two wing nuts bolts take that put it in the car kind of do one step at a time then once the car gets back to the pits we'll put the car back together the way it's supposed to be properly okay but the main thing is always to get the car back to the pits it was inevitable it has rained at exactly the same time each day for the past four days bless our great crew for being so patient and diligence and getting the cars to operate for 24 hours and bless dick barber for the spirit that is the best inauguration in the world with a final prayer the teams begin to move into position on the grid the pole position is taken by the best coronal apply after recording the fastest combined lap time during practice of three minutes and forty seven point nine seconds in number two position his dick bombers own Porsche car number 70 with a time of 3 minutes forty eight point four seconds behind them on the second row jacky ickx in a martini court and Japanese driver Tetsu aku's awah in a Cramer port and behind them the Cadenet and Rondo the second bar between Porsche driven by Garretson Moffett Royale is on row 7 [Music] in a rare candid mind the two frontrunners Fitzpatrick and s Corona take time out to discuss technology it's quite good because it's heavy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] as the warm-up lap for the flying start unfold it quickly becomes clear that the weather is to play an important part in the 1918 a month [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] you the nine laps John Fitzpatrick leader who returns to the pits for more fuel the tank holds enough for about 10 laps [Music] [Music] next in is bobbi ray ha who hands over car 71 to Allan Moffat for his first taste of the 24 hour classic [Music] I'm no worried about greater pleading this window in that [Music] okay for the first few laps I was leading and there was no spray from the other car so I could see where I was going but then as soon as I started to overtake slow cars you get the spray really see how far they are in front of you and on the stranger you've come close to running in the back of them and then the rain came down really heavy and in some places you just we just couldn't steer you have to do five ten miles an hour you just could not steer the car there was so much water and the problem was every lap it was different one happy to be one corner in the rain and move on to the next corner is such a big circuit that it's inconsistent but it seems to be drying you he's bought the car from 13th to 12 [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's say the full hour and there's another feel this [Music] you Oh someone the car [Music] you you in the evening sunshine Moffitt ends his first tourist int at the wheel with the car now in 11th position the Yost export has moved into the lead [Music] the son is boy [Music] [Music] behind [Music] I get my beer without there [Music] it's terrifying as I thought it would be and it's all just in slow motion when you get going and forget about the speed forget about what could happen through they they can't gun malls on come up on the traffic and we'd buy them sometimes you don't get bother there's a couple of Ferraris there raining like hell here all week and the worst problem is the Sun in Europe you midnight on Saturday night Moffitt finishes his sentence tent and hands over to Bob counts the porch is now lying to the bomber Fitzpatrick Whitman car has taken away the third portion the team was forced out of the race several hours what's the second gear change down I think the thinker might be hurt a bit okay [Music] I went out of what's the end of the straight moves almost done and you know the fast right-hander [Music] drop no lights no flash [Music] it reminded me very quickly how you can lose a race here you can lose a lot more than the race yeah exactly [Music] you you muffets foreboding of problems comes true at exactly a quarter to 2:00 on Sunday morning car 71 breaks down after all year long the end is impatient the pressure the hassle to get it all together and breaks it tired earlier like your baby you know I and I heard that Indian you know I nearly knew it you know my heart went to my stomach for Muffet it's a bitter blow his hopes have a first up win at Lamar I was going fine one thing it's still in one piece and that $40,000 to throw there [Music] - participated in the greatest show and in the world the greatest event in my career and with some very nice people the guide our 71 professionally Alan you know the first time in a 935 turbo come a little more and do it well and consistently do [Music] drive on a permanent basis with our team because people you know good drivers are easy on equipment are hard to find and these tops in my book the entire bhava teams efforts are now channeled into keeping car 70 on the road and in a winning position but there are problems here two car seventies motor is developed a mysterious miss the car has dropped the third position behind Rondo and Hicks after a quick inspection it's decided to press on and hope the miss clears up on its own [Music] as the morning wears on it becomes more and more obvious that the missing car 70 is not going to kill by itself that there is something radically wrong and the rain is only adding to the problems [Music] [Music] [Music] it has now developed into a matter of trial and error another few adjustments are not a few circuits around the track [Music] [Music] with three hours to go the problem has become critical the car has lost a hundred miles an hour in speed is firing on only four or five cylinders and has developed a bad oil leak [Music] [Music] the plug wires several Pizza well rhondella pas is becoming the center of attention here's the crowd sense that it's firming is the favorite to win the race and this stage is leading the field four laps ahead of the host X martini [Music] but I bet they're running one one boost or something like that now and just going for look at its we got to do that it's we got a gamble and he keeps motoring on because if we stop we're dead so we've got a gamble it was now up to Jerry woods to get the car back on the track long enough to cast a race if the Porsche kept going it could still finish fifth and gain enough points to keep the barber team ahead in his class on the world sportscar championship [Music] this comes in the RICO crime with the race now develops into a battle between the Rondo Yasu and the Yoast X teams will exfoli whittling away the three lab lead held by Joe soon well back in third place is car 17 a Belga 379 be with car 5 the SOT [Music] [Music] after 45 minutes and hits woods finally gets car 70 going again the car is now - one cylinder and its turbocharger ex in carmine is only two laps behind an apart then again the inevitable right on cue Gesell immediately brings Dilip on in for rain times mix Campbell's and stays out on slicks [Music] [Music] but the lapatin is too quick and the weather remains to inclement fix to gain any advantage [Music] [Music] the end is almost an anticlimax but not for long the patriotic French crowd soon lets it be known that a French team has won that this year is love another mount whose own bombs could keep the crowd back [Music] Brian Redman managed to keep the barber car going and finished it pretending the whole on world Sports Car Challenge [Music] [Music] are you thinking one down this witness filled up [Music] that can if it ended up at the crash and the actual store for 40 minutes in the beginning with the razor now it's time to separate the winners for women the losers for just completing one of the world's toughest endurance tests for man and machine for more 24-hour classic [Music] [Applause] you [Applause]

Channel: tz17's Motorsport Videos

Views: 81,820

Keywords: Allan Moffat, Le Mans

Id: RQdw4XS_k3U

Length: 48min 13sec (2893 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2017