Videos

Pikes Peak: the last of the totally bonkers races?

Honestly, I’m amazed it still hasn’t been banned yet. No guardrails, no braking markers, not many turn indicators, nothing. And of course, to the side of the road there’s a precipice. If that isn’t enough, take into consideration that cars manage all that at around 220 km/h. Oh, and close to the top, the air becomes a LOT thinner, so in theory you should take an oxygen bottle.

Bonkers, to say the least 😲.

Le Mans 1968

Produced by Ferodo (yes, the brake pad brand), this is a 30 minutes glimpse into the 1968 race. With footage both from the race per se and the paddocks, it gives a good idea of what was Le Mans 52 years ago. Things were a LOT different back then compared to nowadays. Almost to a point, that if I didn’t know better, I would say it didn’t look “professional”.

So if you have 30 minutes to spare, it’s a nice film. Just for fun, I tried to spot the cars that I have in the film. However I wasn’t very successful, since I only have four cars of that race. And even worse, two are stinkers 😖.

When Mercedes built flying cars

Yes, in 1999 Mercedes-Benz built a flying car for Le Mans. Well, in all honesty I don’t think they specifically made a wingless airplane, but that CLR took flight. Despite the horrific (and absurd) crash, Peter Dumbreck walked away unscathed, a proof of Mercedes ruggedness. Though maybe they should consider a built-in parachute.

PS: That was the second CLR to reach for the clouds at La Sarthe. During practice on the Friday of the race Mark Weber flipped car #4 🛫.

Ford GT: The Return to Le Mans

A couple of months ago Ford released in their YouTube channel the documentary “Ford GT: The Return to Le Mans”. In almost 80 minutes they talk about the whole project, from the original GT40 to the new GT project. And just as cool, you can see a lot of race backstage.

For a race fan this is a real treat, to the point that I downloaded it to watch on a big screen TV. And one last thing: guess what will be the next model review here at W-143? 😎

Le Mans 1955 – CG animation

The French “Le Mans 1955”, directed by Quentin Baillieux , is a CG animation was released last year. This year it won a few awards and was nominated for quite a bunch more.

The film, about the 1955 Le Mans crash is narrated from the perspective of John Finch, Pierre Levegh’s co-driver. Though the film takes a lot of artistic liberty in terms of historical facts, it shows a view that I for one never had of the accident. The animation style is quite dramatic, but I think it works well to show the tragic event.