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No, Pink Floyd aren't about to tour. But Nick Mason's Ferrari has been back to Le Mans, with much of his original race crew
I HAD SAID I wouldn't do another Le Mans Classic. I drove at the first one in 2002 and it was a magical experience, but each time I've been back the time spent on-track has grown shorter. When even a good lap takes over four minutes, you can spend a lot of time behind a pace car, and there always seemed to be plenty of those. Most memorable was the qualifying session that consisted of an out-and-in, and that was it.
But then came the phone call. 'We're taking the BBLM to Le Mans. Bob Houghton's going to drive and he's buying the tyres. Are you up for it?' A nanosecond's thought and well, yes, of course I was. What could I have been thinking? Le Mans is special and always will be, and pace car or no pace car, a flat-12 Ferrari is a good place from which to watch - especially one that knows its way round the big track.
This particular Berlinetta Boxer Le Mans, to decode the moniker, is already a veteran of the 1979 and 1980 events - both of which it finished - and the caller was Charles who, together with Ben, runs Nick Mason's cars. It's been a while since the car saw competition and, modern regulations being what they are, there was a lot of stuff that worked fine except for the date stamped on it.
ATL provided a new fuel cell and French lubrication specialist Motul provided the oil, which doesn't sound like a big deal until you realise the gearbox alone holds two gallons. New belts, new seat, new clutch, engine and gearbox freshen-up, several sets of brake pads from Performance Friction. And HR Owen helped with some of the bigger bills.
Nick had bought the car for the 1980 race (2800 miles on the clock, just the one owner) but he didn't drive it - he drove a Lola T297 instead, to third in class and 22nd overall.
That was one place ahead of the Ferrari, crewed on that occasion by Pink Floyd's manager Steve O'Rourke, Simon Phillips and...