Be frank, dear reader: do you remember what were you doing in the middle of 1998?
That time I was only a kid, watching the World Cup as Brazil started the campaign to be crushed in the end by France of Zidane and SOFREV-ASP driver Fabien Barthez. All I knew that time about motorsports was F1. Sportscar racing would come later, but it was good times indeed.
Why reversing that much?
Because two things fit perfectly between that time and today: an Australian driving for a german manufacturer in Le Mans, and you know who he is.
Tomorrow will be the return of Mark Webber to a Le Mans 24 Hours race, after the mentioned 16-year hiatus, as the last time Webber competed in La Sarthe was in 1998, under the wings of a german manufacturer too, but in that case the one being Mercedes.
1998 wasn't a LMP1 dominated category. That time the Le Mans GT Prototypes were reigning on the tracks, and the Mercedes CLK-LM in special was a phenomenom on sportscar racing. In FIA GT Championship, the silver machine had won all the rounds on that season, only alternating between the No. 1 and 2 cars. But Mercedes wasn't alone in that LMGTP world, as Porsche, Nissan, Toyota, McLaren and Panoz were as strong as them.
But although Mercedes were dominant outside Le Mans, when they got into Sarthe, their journey wasn't that good to remember. They were quick, with the No. 35 AMG Mercedes, where Webber was on, alongside Bernd Schneider(his FIA GT partner) and Klaus Ludwig, took the pole, and the No. 36 car took 3rd place in the grid. But Le Mans always proves that speed isn't everything, and the Mercedes quickly lost posistions, an after 19 laps polesitter No. 35, with Bernd Schneider at the wheel, stopped on the pit exit with engine problems, and with this, Webber didn't had a chance to properly race. The No. 36 car, with Jean-Marc Gounon, Christophe Bouchut and Ricardo Zonta, had the same engine problems and stopped too, on the 31st lap.
The race was won by Porsche, with Laurent Aiello, Allan McNish and Stephane Ortelli at the wheel. Detail to be noted is that McNish and Ortelli became Audi drivers later in time.
Webber would be back in 1999, differently of Porsche, but on that year's qualifying and warm-up Webber's Mercedes CLR became airbone, and after that the car didn't started. Other incident with the silver car would occur hours later with another car-flying specialist, Peter Dumbreck. Both of them only had some bruises in their accident.
It will be interesting how the aussie grit will behave now that he has a really more realiable car on his hands, although the Porsche 919 Hybrid needs to prove that.
Photos: Top Gear, Automobil Sport, Motor Emotion
That time I was only a kid, watching the World Cup as Brazil started the campaign to be crushed in the end by France of Zidane and SOFREV-ASP driver Fabien Barthez. All I knew that time about motorsports was F1. Sportscar racing would come later, but it was good times indeed.
Why reversing that much?
Because two things fit perfectly between that time and today: an Australian driving for a german manufacturer in Le Mans, and you know who he is.
Tomorrow will be the return of Mark Webber to a Le Mans 24 Hours race, after the mentioned 16-year hiatus, as the last time Webber competed in La Sarthe was in 1998, under the wings of a german manufacturer too, but in that case the one being Mercedes.
1998 wasn't a LMP1 dominated category. That time the Le Mans GT Prototypes were reigning on the tracks, and the Mercedes CLK-LM in special was a phenomenom on sportscar racing. In FIA GT Championship, the silver machine had won all the rounds on that season, only alternating between the No. 1 and 2 cars. But Mercedes wasn't alone in that LMGTP world, as Porsche, Nissan, Toyota, McLaren and Panoz were as strong as them.
But although Mercedes were dominant outside Le Mans, when they got into Sarthe, their journey wasn't that good to remember. They were quick, with the No. 35 AMG Mercedes, where Webber was on, alongside Bernd Schneider(his FIA GT partner) and Klaus Ludwig, took the pole, and the No. 36 car took 3rd place in the grid. But Le Mans always proves that speed isn't everything, and the Mercedes quickly lost posistions, an after 19 laps polesitter No. 35, with Bernd Schneider at the wheel, stopped on the pit exit with engine problems, and with this, Webber didn't had a chance to properly race. The No. 36 car, with Jean-Marc Gounon, Christophe Bouchut and Ricardo Zonta, had the same engine problems and stopped too, on the 31st lap.
The race was won by Porsche, with Laurent Aiello, Allan McNish and Stephane Ortelli at the wheel. Detail to be noted is that McNish and Ortelli became Audi drivers later in time.
Webber would be back in 1999, differently of Porsche, but on that year's qualifying and warm-up Webber's Mercedes CLR became airbone, and after that the car didn't started. Other incident with the silver car would occur hours later with another car-flying specialist, Peter Dumbreck. Both of them only had some bruises in their accident.
It will be interesting how the aussie grit will behave now that he has a really more realiable car on his hands, although the Porsche 919 Hybrid needs to prove that.
Photos: Top Gear, Automobil Sport, Motor Emotion
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