In a change from the usual round of staid and predictable questions, we’ve been quizzing this year’s drivers on a series of incisive and revealing topics, including their most memorable moments, good and bad …
Marc Lieb
My most memorable moment has to be my first win, back in 2005 with BAM! I was co-driving (the Porsche 911 GT3-RS) with Mike (Rockenfeller) and Leo (Hindrey). We weren’t expected to win, it was not a big team, and we had Yokohama tyres, but we just had a perfect run.
Jacques Nicolet
There are two memories for me. In 2009 we finished third in LMP2, with three gentlemen drivers (Jacques with Richard Hein and Jean-François Yvon in the Oak Racing Pescarolo 01 Mazda). That was a big moment for me and for the team. Then, in 2013, to finish one-two with Oak Racing and the Morgans, the first time that had ever been achieved.
Brendon Hartley
For me, my best and worst moments happened in the same race. I was leading the race for the first time, on my début (in the LMP2 Murphy Prototypes Oreca in 2014), and then retiring later in the same race when we’d convincingly extended that leading. That was heartbreaking.
Christian Ried
My memory is a negative one. We encountered technical issues after 22 hours in 2006 with the ex-Freisinger Sebah Automotive Porsche RSR. To get that far and be competitive and for it to fail that late is indescribable.
Nick Tandy
My worst memory, oddly enough, was last year, and it was watching Patrick (Pilet)’s car burning inside the first hour. Patrick was my regular team-mate, and he’s super-competitive and a great guy, and, of course, as a French driver, this race means an enormous amount to him.
Marino Franchitti
My most memorable moment was in 2010, at nine am. I’d just taken the lead in P2 (for Highcroft Racing, in the HPD ARX-01C). The car was epic. As we came down towards the second chicane I saw lights coming up in my mirrors from an LMP1. I left the car plenty of room and he came around the outside. As he moved alongside I looked across and, as I did so, could see the Audi driver doing exactly the same. It was Allan. I hadn’t seen Allan (McNish) since before the start of the race. He gave me a wee wave, and was gone. That’s a lovely memory.
Tim Greaves
I’ll never forget looping the car at Tertre Rouge, and thinking No! Not again! I hit the inside barrier but got the car back moving again, and found it, astonishingly, completely unscathed. I then remember thinking immediately, did the team notice?
Simon Dolan
The best memory is standing with Harry (Tincknell) on the podium (two years ago), with my family looking on.
Tim Mayer
My most memorable moment takes place every year at Mulsanne Corner. The race stewards take a slow lap of the circuit just before it is closed for racing. At Mulsanne there are ranks of local police and marshals with a parade-like atmosphere. The local firemen wear their dress uniforms and the national flags are displayed. It’s the one place where we stop, on that slow lap, and it’s a quite a lovely occasion.
More particularly, the stewards each get an hour off during the race to go and freshen-up, have a shower and change our clothes. Last year, as I tried to leave, the traffic was blocked, so I turned against the traffic and ended up lost on one of the camping grounds at midnight. We don’t normally get to see that. It really was a festival atmosphere, entirely unique, and it reminded me of just why Doctor Panoz adopted the “For the Fans” approach.
Sam Hignett
I’ll never forget the moment when Harry got out of the car at the end of his last stint in 2014. I’d been really hard on him. When he got in, we weren’t in the game, but he was utterly spent as he handed the car over to Oliver Turvey. It was all he could do to say … “Was that enough?” I have never seen a driver give so much to such great effect. (The Jota Sport Zytek went on to win, an impressive fifth overall.)
Olivier Pla
My most memorable moment was when I set pole (for Oak Racing) in LMP2 in 2013. I like qualifying, and to take pole by a full second, here at Le Mans, was very special.
Stéfan Mücke
My best moment is not standing on the podium; it’s receiving the Rookie of the Year trophy at my first race. That was really special.
My worst moment came just before midnight last year. We had an engine failure and retired after running so well. I was so upset.
Alex Wurz
I shall always remember standing at the top of the podium. It’s crazy, it’s a rockstar moment. Once you experience that, you feel determined to go back. The times I did it, (in 2009 for Peugeot and for Joest Racing in 1996), I just felt a feeling I can’t explain.
I have two equally painful memories. In 2008, coming back after my F1 days, and leading by two and a half minutes, only to have a gearbox problem, which was caused by us replacing a part with something untested. Why did we make the change? I have no idea … and then, in 2014, retiring while leading the race (for Toyota). I’m still angry about it now. We should have won that one. Just speaking to you now about it makes me tired, angry and annoyed.
Richard Westbrook
I think the first year I raced here at Le Mans is my most memorable. I was with BMS Scuderia Italia and we finished the race on five cylinders and got a podium. I was co-driving with Timo Scheider and Marco Holzer. We were all rookies and there was no test that year. It seemed crazy that the team chose three rookies. It was also the same car that won the Spa 24 Hours that year too, it was the perfect storm.
In contrast, my worst moment came in 2011. We were a lap and a half in the lead and it all went south. Our car got caught up with a backmarker and it was game over.
Jörg Bergmeister
I’ll never forget 2004, not just because it was the year I won, but also because the week before I’d had a big crash on a bicycle, and had scars all over my body. That made it interesting! To go away with a win eased the pain a bit.
My worst moment came in 2006, when I was with Krohn together with White Lighting, and I was called on the radio and told to pit on the lap I was on, or the next if I could do one more. I was approaching the first chicane. I had a lot of pages on the dashboard, and was flicking through them. It was two or three in the morning. I kept scrolling to see the fuel gauge, to work out if I could do another lap. By the time I looked up again, I’d missed my brake point, and I crashed pretty hard. It was a big mistake on my side.
Sebastien Buemi
I think my second Le Mans is the one that means the most to me, when I finished second. I had to drive in the night, in the wet. I didn’t expect it, and it was so hard, so to finish second was incredible.
Benoit Tréluyer
Being on the podium in 2011 was just amazing. It’s like nothing else in motorsport. Such joy and such relief and so many people really enjoying the occasion with us.
Giancarlo Fisichella
The podium in 2012 was amazing. I’ve been on Formula 1 podiums, but this was a totally different experience. 100,000 people all joining in, so much better than anything that Formula 1 can produce.
João Barbosa
Mt most memorable moment here at Le Mans was with Rollcentre, of course. We were almost on the podium. It was a great moment, with a great little team, and I have very happy memories of those days.
