Le Mans 2017
Actually, I hadn't planned to go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans again this year. But after winning a prize in a photo contest about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I suddenly received tickets again, and the itch started. So, on June 14th, I left for Le Mans for the seventh year in a row. I drove to the campsite with a friend in his fully loaded car. It was extremely hot, regularly exceeding 30 degrees Celsius. At the campsite, you'd break out in a sweat if you had to be in the tent for a moment. And you had to be careful that the dried-out grass didn't catch fire when you tried to light your barbecue. For example, if we sat on a dike next to the Porsche Curves, you practically melted. Speaking of melting, a bag of candy we'd brought with us melted into one giant piece in the car: 
The pit walk was also quite busy. The popular teams were again packed, although I didn't feel like it, especially given the circumstances. 
This didn't exactly motivate me to walk the usual kilometers to take photos. Only when the sun started to set did it become manageable again. Then the photographer in me reawakened, and I could start hunting for photos. In that sense, the weather actually contributed to me taking more photos under conditions you almost only encounter in a 24-hour race like Le Mans, namely sunrise, sunset, night, and so on. It certainly presented plenty of challenges, but I'm happy with the result. I feel like I managed to capture the atmosphere of the event despite, or perhaps even thanks to, these more challenging conditions. But you can judge for yourself. 
The race itself was highly unpredictable. The heat and incidents made it a true war of attrition, a true endurance race. The LMP1 field, reduced to six cars by Audi's departure, struggled. Early in the race, Porsche #2 and Toyota #8 encountered problems and were stopped for one and two hours, respectively. The ByKolles retired early on. 
At the start of the night, the #7 Toyota was in the lead, followed by the #1 Porsche and the #9 Toyota. After the leading Toyota retired on the very last lap last year, this finally seemed to be the year they would win. We were watching from our grandstand seats when the leading #7 suddenly came slowly past... "Vrrrp.....Vrrrpp... Vrrrp..." The clutch had failed, and Kamui Kobayashi had just started a new lap and still had 13km to go before he reached the pits. This ultimately didn't work out, a disaster. The #9 took the lead. Shortly after, he came whizzing past us on the main straight. He tried to overtake a Manor LMP2, but another car also came out of the pits. The #9 hit the Manor and went flying through the gravel trap. The Manor hit the tire barrier and was completely written off. Nicolas Lapierre tried to bring his damaged #9 Toyota back to the pits, but even with a full lap to go, he didn't make it. You'd almost think there was a curse on Toyotas at Le Mans... 
So we headed into the night, with the #1 Porsche comfortably in the lead. After this, it looked like it would be a walk in the park for Porsche. Given the bizarre course of events, we decided to stay the night despite our earlier plans. Who knows what would happen next... 
That morning, there was a beautiful sunrise. I was thrilled to take photos of the cars racing up the hill toward the Dunlop Bridge. Since I didn't have a press pass, I had to do it from behind the large fence, but I managed pretty well. 
And sure enough: with three hours to go, the leading #1 Porsche also encountered problems, even at the beginning of the lap. The oil pressure was gone. Andre Lotterer tried to get the car back on the hybrid drive alone, but... he too failed. This meant that a few laps later (the Porsche had a few laps' lead), a car from the lower LMP2 class took the overall lead, bizarrely. The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, also driven by Chinese-Dutchman Ho Pin Tung, was already leading its class but did indeed take the overall lead. The #2 Porsche, which had been idle in the pits for an hour with problems, was still a few laps behind. Only at the end of the race did Porsche manage to close the gap and thus take the victory. The #38 did take the class win and finished 2nd overall. 
In the GTE Pro class, a fierce battle for victory between Corvette #63 and Aston Martin #97 continued until the final lap, with the Corvette ultimately making a mistake and suffering a puncture. The Aston Martin won, while the Corvette ultimately finished third, behind the #67 Ford GT, which overtook it. In GTE Am, the #84 JMW Ferrari, with our neighbor to the south, Dries Vanthoor, taking victory on his debut, took the win. 
It was another highly unpredictable race that remained exciting until the very end. Especially because you experience it all the way along the track, it remains a wonderful experience. Check out the rest of the album below. See you next year!
The pit walk was also quite busy. The popular teams were again packed, although I didn't feel like it, especially given the circumstances. This didn't exactly motivate me to walk the usual kilometers to take photos. Only when the sun started to set did it become manageable again. Then the photographer in me reawakened, and I could start hunting for photos. In that sense, the weather actually contributed to me taking more photos under conditions you almost only encounter in a 24-hour race like Le Mans, namely sunrise, sunset, night, and so on. It certainly presented plenty of challenges, but I'm happy with the result. I feel like I managed to capture the atmosphere of the event despite, or perhaps even thanks to, these more challenging conditions. But you can judge for yourself. The race itself was highly unpredictable. The heat and incidents made it a true war of attrition, a true endurance race. The LMP1 field, reduced to six cars by Audi's departure, struggled. Early in the race, Porsche #2 and Toyota #8 encountered problems and were stopped for one and two hours, respectively. The ByKolles retired early on. At the start of the night, the #7 Toyota was in the lead, followed by the #1 Porsche and the #9 Toyota. After the leading Toyota retired on the very last lap last year, this finally seemed to be the year they would win. We were watching from our grandstand seats when the leading #7 suddenly came slowly past... "Vrrrp.....Vrrrpp... Vrrrp..." The clutch had failed, and Kamui Kobayashi had just started a new lap and still had 13km to go before he reached the pits. This ultimately didn't work out, a disaster. The #9 took the lead. Shortly after, he came whizzing past us on the main straight. He tried to overtake a Manor LMP2, but another car also came out of the pits. The #9 hit the Manor and went flying through the gravel trap. The Manor hit the tire barrier and was completely written off. Nicolas Lapierre tried to bring his damaged #9 Toyota back to the pits, but even with a full lap to go, he didn't make it. You'd almost think there was a curse on Toyotas at Le Mans... So we headed into the night, with the #1 Porsche comfortably in the lead. After this, it looked like it would be a walk in the park for Porsche. Given the bizarre course of events, we decided to stay the night despite our earlier plans. Who knows what would happen next... That morning, there was a beautiful sunrise. I was thrilled to take photos of the cars racing up the hill toward the Dunlop Bridge. Since I didn't have a press pass, I had to do it from behind the large fence, but I managed pretty well. And sure enough: with three hours to go, the leading #1 Porsche also encountered problems, even at the beginning of the lap. The oil pressure was gone. Andre Lotterer tried to get the car back on the hybrid drive alone, but... he too failed. This meant that a few laps later (the Porsche had a few laps' lead), a car from the lower LMP2 class took the overall lead, bizarrely. The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car, also driven by Chinese-Dutchman Ho Pin Tung, was already leading its class but did indeed take the overall lead. The #2 Porsche, which had been idle in the pits for an hour with problems, was still a few laps behind. Only at the end of the race did Porsche manage to close the gap and thus take the victory. The #38 did take the class win and finished 2nd overall. In the GTE Pro class, a fierce battle for victory between Corvette #63 and Aston Martin #97 continued until the final lap, with the Corvette ultimately making a mistake and suffering a puncture. The Aston Martin won, while the Corvette ultimately finished third, behind the #67 Ford GT, which overtook it. In GTE Am, the #84 JMW Ferrari, with our neighbor to the south, Dries Vanthoor, taking victory on his debut, took the win. It was another highly unpredictable race that remained exciting until the very end. Especially because you experience it all the way along the track, it remains a wonderful experience. Check out the rest of the album below. See you next year!