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JHS18

2013 24 Hours Of Le Mans

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Rain! Heavy rain! The sky is as black as the ace of spades. Who is scripting this?

I haven't a clue what is going to happen.

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Toyota have given up the hunt, under fears they don't have enough fuel, or doesn't want to risk it in the conditions. Buemi allows Kristensen to lap him again, so that seems to be it.

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#2 Audi wins the 2013 24 hours of Le Mans. It is the ninth for Kristensen, third for McNish, and first for Duval. Twelfth for Audi.

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So, the 90th anniversary of the world's greatest sports car race. How will people remember this year's race?

Will it be remembered for Audi taking their twelfth victory, and Tom Kristensen his ninth?

Will it be remember for Toyota putting up a fight that no-one expected, given everyone had written their chances off before the race began?

For Audi being less bullet proof than we all imagined for a second year in a row?

For the unpredictable weather, that constantly changed throughout the course of the race and kept everyone guessing up until the final half hour?

For the fantastic GTE Pro battle that raged all race between Porsche and Aston Martin?

Porsche taking a largely unexpected one-two with their new 991 shaped 911 RSRs?

Aston Martin, for continuing racing when no-one would have begrudged them for stopping, only to very nearly win?

Sadly, due to the tragic events of Saturday, the race is unlikely to be remembered for any of those things, or the many other great stories up and down the pit lane.

The 2013 24 hours of Le Mans will be remembered for the first death since (depending on who you talk to) 1986/1997.

The racing world has not just a hugely talented GT driver, but a great bloke who was well liked and respected by his colleagues and rivals.

Rest in Peace, Allan Simonsen.

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I feel hesitant to say I enjoyed the event. That just somehow doesn't feel right. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the racing. The weather seemed to be the biggest challenge for the teams to face. Hugely impressed by the teams' ability to predict and cope with that. Reliability was also another strong suit for participants

Like you called it, James..

It was bound to be exciting, but also one not bound to be fondly remembered

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Eric,

I know this is going to sound harsh, but if motorsport is too much for you, then so too should anything be involving a car. More people are going to die going to die driving to work in the next hour than there will be fatalities in motorsport for the whole year.

Difference here being is that the schmuck driving to work doesn't expect to be killed in a car smash. He is neither prepared mentally for it, nor does he drive a car offering any form of real surviviability. The race car driver that gets into a race car knows full well that they might not get back out again. It is a risk that they take. It is a risk that their families let them take.

When I get into the c#ckpit of my car, I sometimes very briefly think about it, and think about my daughter. But I still strap in, and lock and load 125Hp to my back, quite literally.

If NASA had stopped when they had the fire on the launch pad, then you'd have never have had the Space Shuttles.

You can't stop doing or liking something becuase someone, somewhere, gets hurt or killed. That's just life.

It doesn't make their loss of life meaningless, but don't make what they did meaningless, otherwise you make them meaningless.

It doesn't sound harsh. I think it makes sense, though I'm not saying racing should stop (which seemed to be your interpretation with the NASA remark), and I'd contest that no one has ever derived meaning in their life from whether or not I liked something. :P

Nevertheless, my point is this: I'm not denying that things happen all the time to everyone in every situation. I'm just one who believes in spending free time in a way that creates enjoyment and satisfaction. Every time these things happen, I get less and less enjoyment from motor racing to the point that I question if I would get more enjoyment using the time doing something else. Death is reality, but watching death happen doesn't need to be my hobby.

Yes, I watched F1 today. People are complex and thoughts and action can disconnect. My thinking was that, we have that month-long break in August. I'd hate to not watch F1 now based on recent events, and then get over it in August and regret that. So, I'll wait until August, when I have no racing to watch and thus will need to do something else anyway, to do the heavy thinking about whether or not I need a new interest.

But I think my point stands that for me, personally, as one single person, individually...there is no sense is devoting so much time to something that I don't enjoy, and I'm struggling to say I enjoy this sport much anymore. It's hard to say "I like (such-and-such racing series)" when all of them are creating clear safety vulnerabilities. It's not eliminating what you can't eliminate; people will die in race cars, always. But it's doing everything in your ability, and no racing series, not one, is doing that. They're all letting things slide. Monaco, Daytona, Le Mans, Indianapolis...they're the most dangerous tracks on the calendar and they get a pass because they're the "big events." You have NASCAR refusing to install SAFER barriers around the entire track despite requests from drivers. You have the ACO letting Le Mans become totally outdated; someone gets hurt there, seriously, every single year. You have IndyCar saying we need to break the track record at Indianapolis when 230 mph+ averages have been present in all of the recent fatalities at that track. You have this tire issue now in F1...it just starts to get frustrating past the point of sitting down and enjoying it. For me. Personally. As one person. It is no commentary on racing, or racing fans, or anything. Just on me.

Sorry to ruin your thread. :P

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