Where Heroes Are Born: Le Mans Sports Car Race
Why is Kristensen not given the same sort of adoration, held up in the same high regard? Is it just a matter of time? Why do some stars shine so much brighter than their similarly successful peers in the world’s most dangerous professional sport? What makes a racing hero?
Luckily, a 24-hour race provides ample opportunity to ponder these questions — and to get five minutes of a hero’s time to ask them. For his part, Ickx points to Jim Clark as a model of all Le Mans stands for. “He had the most sportif image as a racer, and as a man, in a time when racing was not a business.”
But surely, greatness is about more than just image. “It’s the level of competition,” he says, “you must face the best.”
It’s difficult to get athletes to be eloquent about their own sport. Ever watched a post game interview with any member of the Leaf’s? Sometimes it’s better to ask someone who was on the sidelines.
At another race, months ago, I ran into Neil Trundle, the man who was Ayrton Senna’s chief mechanic for the ’88-’89 Formula One season. Trundle had a seat, front row centre, to maybe the biggest hero in all of motor racing. Trundle got to see how a hero worked. “Ayrton was a very special person. He was very confident. Very pushy. Selfish? Yes, but then he needed it. Schumacher too. Phenomenal driver. Won more Championships than anyone else. But again, very selfish guy. He always needed to be number one in the team.”
The point is that what separates Le Mans and places like it — and what makes it possible for a great, selfish, confident maniac to become a heroic driver — is that each time it’s fantastically different. As racing changes, so too do its heroes. They each write their own legend: Senna in the rain at Monaco, Ickx charging from last place to win at Le Mans, Fangio who wrestled with monstrous pre-war cars and lived — until he didn’t.
Heroes are why these races are worth going to — why hundreds of thousands of people turn up every year to watch. Maybe they’ll witness a hero being born.
All three Porsches survived the night at Le Mans. With the sun high in the sky, the No.19 Porsche, piloted by a band of rookies, charges towards the finish line. They survived to claim Porsche’s first win in 17 years. Ickx is back in Porsche’s VIP tent to join in the speeches and celebrations. The team beat the dominant Audi squad. It was a flawless win, a masterful drive.
Did we see any heroes born? Probably not. But, we’ll be back again next year. Because that faint hope of finding one is what motorsport is all about.
