24h Le Mans
How do drivers drink while they race? Who talks to the drivers when they are in the car? Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Sébastien Buemi and Mike Conway reveal the inside info about driving at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is as much a mechanical challenge as it is a human one. As the event is spread over ten days, drivers have to pace themselves so they don’t peak too soon. Doing successive stints during the race is tiring and the drivers are really up against themselves. “You find out who you really are, especially the first two or three times you take part,” says Sébastien Buemi, driver of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and three-time winner of the legendary race in Le Mans. “You realise that even if you don't sleep, it's not a problem. Knowing that helps you to relax and you end up falling asleep easily. I’ve learned how to eat and how to manage my energy. People mistakenly believe that Le Mans only lasts for 24 hours, but we're actually busy for a whole week on and off the track. Some years I was exhausted before the race even started.”
It’s essential that drivers get enough fluids. They have to drink little and often to stay hydrated. That's what keeps them fresh during the race. “We have a drinking system in the car,” explains Mike Conway, driver of the Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. “It's the type of water pouch that cyclists use. The mechanics fit it in the car and the tube is connected to our helmet. The tube is pulled right up to the straw that we keep close to our mouth and we make sure we can catch it with our tongue and pull it into our mouth to take a few sips. If you don't remember to drink, you’ll have trouble finishing the race, because you won’t sufficiently make up for the loss of water to be able to recover properly.”
The drivers and their engineer can communicate with each other over the radio. Drivers mostly provide feedback on the condition of the car, while the engineer talks race strategy. There are specific procedures, however, for using the radio, as Pascal Vasselon, Technical Director of Toyota Gazoo Racing, explains: “It is crucial to be clear and precise. We practice team communication. Only one person talks to the driver, and that’s the race engineer. Voices are always a bit distorted over the radio so, to prevent communication problems within the team, any information for the driver goes through the engineer. In some critical race situations, where both cars need to be informed at the same time, the chief race engineer takes over and addresses both cars. But that’s an exceptional situation.”
With 62 cars on the grid and potential speed restrictions following incidents, is there such a thing as a perfect lap at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? “For me, the perfect lap is when you come through the last chicane and you realise that you didn't get caught up in traffic, you didn’t block the wheels and you stuck to your racing line all the way,” says Buemi. “Unfortunately, due to the length of the circuit and the number of cars, you don’t often get that feeling. We put in 400 laps during the race, and if you feel like you’ve done three or four ideal laps, you’re doing well.”
Dawn is a special time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Once the first crack of daylight appears, it feels like the end is in sight. Yet there are still about ten hours to go. “That's when you realise that you've got through the night,” Buemi explains. “This is crunch time, when the car starts to get tired. It’s hard going between two and four in the morning, but by eight o'clock you feel more awake because your body is used to being up and active at that time. Sunrise is a magical time when you’re driving.”
