Darren Beale

I just got back from my third visit to the Le Mans 24 hour race and it was a good one.

For the previous 2 years we had circa 30 degree temperatures with no cloud cover and it really got unbearable so just to strike a balance this year we had rain, a lot of rain.

Still it didn’t spoil it (no really) and a good time was had by all including Andrew French on his first trip who was obviously in his element.

As always we were camping and our level of sophistication increased that little bit. This year we had a fridge and generator for our beer so it was nice and cold (this has always been a major issue) and the campsite was pretty well organised so there was space enough for everyone.

Highlights were:

• Cold beer (saves paying €3 per small cup on-circuit)
• Going to the Mulsanne Straight at 1AM (video below)
• Aston Martin winning GT1

I could wax lyrical about it lots more but I won’t. We will try and get a decent sized crew next year, as long as they don’t mind camping then they’ll love it!

This was taken on my phone at 1AM after dodging security, jumping a few fences and generally wandering around in the pitch black for a while. It doesn’t do it justice but you should bear in mind that these cars are going over 200 MPH and are shooting past within touching distance with nothing between you and them other than a 4ft high barrier (hence not being allowed to be there)