Nick Mason, now aged 72, and Steve O'Rourke (1940-2003) first came to the 24 Hours in 1979. "When I told Steve I would compete in the 24 Hours, he came with me to have a look at the circuit on our way to the South of France [where Pink Floyd were recording part of their double album "The Wall" at the time]. “And then he said ‘You know what? I think I'm going to do this too!' He bought a drive with the Ecurie Francorchamps and Ferrari and I raced a Lola prototype," Nick Mason said in the first issue of Spirit of Le Mans magazine.

Mason finished 18th at the wheel of a Lola T297 in the under 2-litre class (a predecessor to today’s LM P2 prototypes), while O'Rourke drove a Ferrari BB512 and was 12th past the chequered flag. That P18 finish would be Mason’s best result in five outings at Le Mans but Steve O'Rourke continued to move up the rankings (completing the race four times in six appearances) to finish one place off the podium in 1998 in a McLaren F1 GTR shared with Bill Auberlen and Tim Sugden (fourth).

In 1983 and 1985, O'Rourke took on the role of constructor with the EMKA chassis (the acronym based on the name of his eldest daughter, Emma Kate and used as the name of the company he founded in the early 1970s to manage Pink Floyd). Powered by a 5.3-litre Aston Martin V8 engine, the EMKA twice crossed the finish line, coming 17th in 1983 and 11th in 1985.

Nick Mason and Steve O'Rourke were only teammates at Le Mans once, in 1982 when their BMW M1 had to retire early. "I think Steve and I teamed up only once because we had different opportunities,” Mason explained in Spirit of Le Mans #1. “Steve really wanted to race with the EMKA-Aston Martin project. He financed it with sponsors and he needed professional drivers to make it work. When an amateur wants to compete in the 24 Hours, you need sponsorship and when you get it you have some responsibility to do a good job and bring in some extra driving talent."

What did Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Richard Wright, the other three members of Pink Floyd think about Mason and O’Rourke going off to race at Le Mans? "I guess they probably thought we were insane, but the band really had a relaxed approach regarding what people wanted to do," answered Mason. Gilmour was even bitten by the motor racing bug himself in 1991 when he drove in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico with O'Rourke and his favourite drummer!

Photo: The two EMKAs entered by Steve O'Rourke in the 24 Hours could be seen at  Le Mans Classic this year. This picture shows the car O’Rourke drove with Nick Faure and Tiff Needell in 1985, finishing 11th.