John Hindhaugh and the rest of the Radio Le Mans commentary crew paid the Travel Destinations private trackside campsite a visit this lunchtime to meet with guests and discuss the week at Le Mans so far. In casual mood, John, Nick, Graham, Jim and the crew mingled with guests and enjoyed the facilities and the sunshine trackside.
Included here are some photos of the Radio Le Mans visit and not one to be quiet for long John Hindhaugh, also known as “the voice of Le Mans” granted us this exclusive interview:
- (Travel Destinations) What is so special about the Le Mans 24 Hours?
- (John Hindhaugh) This is a really difficult question to answer as I believe that the event moves people in different ways; for me the event is special because of the history, the technology, the speed, but most of all the shared experiences. It’s so much more than ‘just’ the race.
- Is Le Mans your favourite circuit? And why?
- In fairness I’ve never raced at Le Mans, although thanks to Aston Martin I have driven the full, closed, circuit during a test day. I’d say that Le Mans is right up there as a motor racing icon. On the surface it doesn’t look a difficult track but when you drive the Porsche curves even in a
road car, you realise there’s more to the track itself than meets the eye. It’s actually very technical in parts.
- Do you remember when you first heard about the Le Mans 24 Hours?
- Well I know that I must have heard the reports on BBC radio when I was young; the radio was always on in our house when I was growing up. However – and a big cliché here – I really got switched on to Le Mans when I saw the Steve McQueen movie two or three years after release on a very poor 16mm print at an after school event in the assembly hall. I remember the orange plastic chairs and the sunflower patterned curtains as well!
- So how many Le Mans 24hrs races have you commentated on now?
- Well I’ve been going to Le Mans since 1989 – but I didn’t start as a commentator, I started as the studio ‘anchor man’. This year will be my 15th commentary at Le Mans. But I’ve done hundreds of other motor sport events as well!
- Before that what was the first race you ever commentated on?
- As a full blown commentator it would have been a Super 1 Karting event in around 1977 at Felton Kart circuit in Northumberland
- Do you have a favourite race in that time?
- WOW! There are lots of favourite bits actually! However it is normally the last race I did which is my favourite as it’s the one I remember best! However, there was the 100 minute screamer of a race at Long Beach in the ALMS 2010 – David Brabham in the Highcroft HPD taking victory on the last lap from the Aston Lola of Adrian Fernandez… all pretty exciting stuff.
- And a favourite Le Mans moment?
- Well driving the track was special but as far as racing is concerned – JJ Leghto driving through the night and the pouring rain in the Ueno Clinic MacLaren F1 GTR to make back a lap and win, Justin Bell taking class victory in the GT1 Viper, RML winning two years in a row and with my friend Warren Hughes on the driving team for one of them, and most recently Allan McNish winning with Dindo and Tom K. Allan has become a very good friend and I can hardly believe he has only won the great race twice…however my best Le Mans memory is the day before the race in 2006 when we had a special ceremony presided over by the Mayor of Arnage and Consul General of La Sarthe region to celebrate my marriage to Eve. (Eve was nearby).
- How do you prepare for the Le Mans 24 Hours?
- Actually it’s really a bit of a release when we get to heading out to France. What most people don’t know is that we have to pay the ACO for the rights to broadcast and so it takes quite a lot of money to make Radio Le Mans happen. So the months and weeks leading up are really busy as we close off deals and plan the sponsor activity. Fortunately Eve, is a real business brain and brilliant at logistics and does all of the ‘heavy lifting’ as it were. Honestly by the time we are heading for the Channel it’s just a big relief.. oh and a slight worry in case we have forgotten anything!
- How many reporters and staff do you bring with you to Le Mans?
- Because the race is so long the pit reporters work in shift. We normally have 4-6 on rotation. The biggest problem is they never want to take their breaks. Once they get into the swing of it they just want to keep going! We also have a fulltime statistician, commentators, presenter and of course the technical staff. All in all we take about 20-24 people over for the week.
- How do you keep up to speed with what is happening around the circuit?
-It’s much easier now as the whole race is televised. In the ‘old days’ the French TV used to pack up at around 10pm and not come back on until 7 or 8 the next morning. We used to have ’spotters’ with walkie talkies around the track, it was pre mobile phones of course. Now in addition to the TV the listeners can also text the studio or tweet what they see. How times change!
- Do you have a favourite driver of all time?
- Not really. As I know so many of the guys personally now it would be unfair to single one out. Derek Bell was the name that kept cropping up in my earliest memories of the race on radio – he’ll kill me for saying that! It seems bizarre to me that I count him as a friend now. I am very lucky that I can do this for a living. I am really just a fan!
- Do you have a favourite car of all time?
-The Silk Cut Jaguars were all the rage when I first went to Le Mans so they are special and of course the Porsches 917s were before my time but still magnificent. I think that the Toyota GT-One is still my favourite as it was, for me, the ultimate iteration of the rules at the time, quite an extraordinary machine, it never won though!
John and the rest of the Radio Le Mans team are broadcasting now around the track on 91.2FM. You can also listen live at www.radiolemans.com
If you would like to stay at the Radio Le Mans / Travel Detinations trackside campsite for Le Mans 2011, please call us now on 0844 873 0203 to register your booking. Alternatively visit www.lemansrace.com and click on the Radio Le Mans Travel Club for more event details.
Photos courtesy of our friends Neil Chapman & Pete Devine.
