WEC

[VetteIfan 0]

Personally I'm rooting for Porsche, but I also wouldn't mind seeing Toyota get a Le Mans win for all they've put in to the WEC. Audi not really on the pace for large parts of the race, plus they've ran in to a lot of problems.

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

Oh man, that's heartbreaking stuff for Toyota :(

[Mexicola 10]

That is seriously unbelievable. God damn it.

[VetteIfan 0]

Still at a complete loss for what I witnessed earlier. One of the most unreal moments I've ever witnessed in motorsport, similar to seeing the Hildebrand crash on the last corner of the Indy 500 back in 2011. Except this was much worse. Racing is some sport. 

[tbtstt 2,385]

Absolutely incredible weekend at Le Mans, the finish was absolutely heartbreaking to watch. 

[MBKF1 91]

With about 30 minutes to go I had to go to work so I watched the final 30 minutes when I got home. I assumed Toyota would have won it and then that... Can't believe it, absolutely heartbreaking.

[APR193 0]

I'm a Porsche fan but never been disappointed for any team I support in any sport to win before. Horrible way to lose/win

[Mexicola 10]

6 Hours of Mexico is a cracker so far, Eurosport are streaming it free on their website. http://video.eurosport.de/wec/video-live.shtml

[MBKF1 91]

I would stay up and watch it, been doing so since I got in an hour or so ago, but my body needs sleep badly so I'll have to catch the rest tomorrow morning :(

[Mexicola 10]

What Matt actually means is that he's on the sesh and is too blooter'd to even attempt to watch it.

[MBKF1 91]

That sounds about right!                 

[MBKF1 91]

Heading to Silverstone tomorrow for the practice sessions for WEC, ELMS, F3 and Formula 3.5 / V8!

[MBKF1 91]

I know this is long but read until the end if you can, some amazing stuff happened yesterday at the WEC, and later on you can catch a glimpse of me in a WEC video! :p

But my summary for the day would have to be 'right place, right time'...

When we arrived we headed to the National paddock which is where ELMS was based. We were wandering about the back of the garages and went to Aston Martin where I saw Tim Harvey (BTCC champion and now a commentator) lingering. He was in deep conversation with someone so I couldn't grab a photo unfortunately.
____________

Then we walked to the International paddock where WEC was based, and we arrived there at the perfect time, about 15 minutes before the practice session began. This meant there were loads of drivers running between the motorhomes and the garages, and therefore perfect selfie opportunities! :p We positioned ourselves between Porsche and Toyota, and I managed to grab photos with all 6 Toyota drivers (Buemi, Davidson, Kobayashi, Conway, Lopez, Nakajima) and 2 of the Porsche drivers (Tandy and Lotterer). I also managed to get photos with Alex Brundle, Harry Tincknell and Pietro Fittipaldi. Unfortunately I just missed Jean-Eric Vergne. I saw him in the distance but I couldn't get to him in time.

Something I will say is that every driver I saw was incredibly polite and were more than happy to take photos with me. Particularly Nick Tandy. I saw him just as he was coming out the motorhome and he was so cheerful, really cool dude. They're obviously busy people but everyone stopped to take a pic with me. Kobayashi was in a rush when I saw him (literally running from garage to motorhome), but I happened to be in the right place so I quickly caught him! Also, something that struck me is just how little Anthony Davidson really is. I have seen it on the TV, but standing next to him made me realise. Probably doesn't help the fact I'm 6'3", but still!
____________

We watched the session from the Wing, and the balcony over the pit lane. Then went to the fan zone where they had bumper cars (great fun), and also some little competitions, which included a Batak (drivers occasionally use it to train their peripheral vision and reaction times). We had a go at it and I managed to get a score of 63 in 60 seconds, which was actually the top score of the day!



But then to my surprise and delight, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber from Porsche came along to have a go. I turned around and saw them standing behind me, so of course grabbed a quick photo with them, and then they had their turn. On their first attempt neither of them actually beat my score! Then on the second attempt, Brendon scored 80. No idea how, the guy was on fire. But Earl Bamber didn't beat my score after 3 attempts!

It was so cool, they stood with us for a good 5 minutes or so and we were chatting about it all. I jokingly said to Earl at the end 'do you reckon you could put a word in for me to become your team mate, if I can beat you on the Batak then I must have a chance!' :D
 
They were filming there too and they uploaded a video to their YouTube channel of it. You can see me holding up my phone behind Brendon at 0:33, and then again standing with him at 0:48! (I'm the guy in the black coat, standing next to the guy in the red McLaren t-shirt).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjsscg8ZWKo

So yeah, bloody awesome. Such nice blokes, real good laughs. And to say I'm better on the Batak than a Le Mans 24 Hours winner, I'll take that! Something that did make me chuckle, there was a screen of the top 3 scores of the day, along with photos of us, and it said:

1 - Brendon Hartley - 80 points.
2 - Matt - 68 points.
3 - Earl Bamber - 64 points.

Cool huh!
____________

Then after that we went back on the bumper cars, watched the F3 race (saw the start from the Wing and then sat at the inside of Club corner for the rest of the race). Then watched the second practice session from the Wing and back to the car to go home. Amazing day.

For £10, what a brilliant day. Amazing access, got to meet about 12 or 13 drivers, great entertainment, and the rain stayed away too! If you live any where near Silverstone I can't recommend the WEC enough. Try and go next year if possible, I definitely will be!

[Mexicola 10]

Cheers for the invite. :(                 

[MBKF1 91]

Mexicola said:

Cheers for the invite. :(                 

Bu, bu, but... you live in Ireland!

[Mexicola 10]

MBKF1 said:

Mexicola said:

Cheers for the invite. :(                 

Bu, bu, but... you live in Ireland!

Yeah, but I'm still using your rotten currency and I'll remind yous of it every day yis fffffffffffffs

[MBKF1 91]

Mexicola said:

MBKF1 said:

Mexicola said:

Cheers for the invite. :(                 

Bu, bu, but... you live in Ireland!

Yeah, but I'm still using your rotten currency and I'll remind yous of it every day yis fffffffffffffs

Get back on topic or I'll ban ya.

PERMANENTLY AT THAT.

[Mexicola 10]

Brendon Hartley sucks!                                         

[MBKF1 91]

Thank you, well done.

OH WAIT A SECOND.

Don't talk s*** about Brendon!

[Mexicola 10]

got yeeeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaaaaaa                                  

[RevolvingPrawn 1]

Mexicola said:

MBKF1 said:

Mexicola said:

Cheers for the invite. :(                 

Bu, bu, but... you live in Ireland!

Yeah, but I'm still using your rotten currency and I'll remind yous of it every day yis fffffffffffffs

But Ireland uses the Euro...